A Free Mind

SVN Merge Command

2011-06-28T01:04:00.004+05:30

There have been multiple times when I needed to merge changes from a branch onto trunk and I used the "svn merge" command. But for the life of me I can't remember the syntax and spend an hour in activities like cursing myself, trying to recall the command, researching it on the web, etc. Finally I have to ask my colleagues about it.

So now I have decided to write a blog post about it. Hopefully this will help me remember it. In any case, it will provide a handy reference. So here goes:

Make sure you have the source and destination version of the code checked out
CD to the project directory
Give the command: svn merge -c
Eg: $nishant/awesomeproject/awesomemodule/trunk: svnmerge -c 999 ../../uberstylechanges/awesomemodule

You need to do this for each of the modules that were changed. Hope this help. Happy merging!

May the source be with you!

Excédent de l'Amour - Excess of Love

2008-08-31T13:52:00.004+05:30

The other day I was watching the movie "Lord Of the Rings - The Return of the King", for probably the nth time. As usual I couldn't help but marvel at the character of "Gollum" and the transformation of Smeagol to Gollum. The story kept lingering at the back of my mind and then suddenly I realized the reason why it kept coming back. The thing was, that I was surprised by the fact that how a virtous and consummate feeling like love can cause irrepairable damage when the boundaries are crossed!

In the case of Smeagol it was the unrestricted love for the ring that transformed him into the evil Gollum and finally took his life. It was the this love which made him take the life of his dearest friend, and it was this love that outcast him and made his life hell. Albeit he never realized this , staying, as he did, behind the blinds of the overpowering love for the ring. One might argue that the connivance of the ring, with its evil and ineluctable charms, was also responsible for the plight of Smeagol. But come to think of it, the ring could conjure its charms only because Smeagol's attraction to it, actually provided it with a proliferating medium to cast its powers and bind Smeagol. Otherwise what harm does an inanimate object do to a strong human psyche? In fact the character of Sam Gamgee depicted this very fact; he was the only character in the movie who was not once affected by the ring even thought he stayed in its vicinity as much as Frodo.

Coming back to the point of discussion, at this juncture its worth quoting the popular adage that goes as "Anything beyond is poison"; how veritable! Yes, how many times in our lives have we seen access of the purest and most serene human feelings go wild and cause irreparable damage to the people who manifest it and to others connected to these unfortunate souls by the web of human society. May be it be the love for one's child, love for one's religion, love for one's country; we have all witnessed the fallout of the inordinate. There are more crimes that are caused by passion then actually reported by the newspapers under cheeky headlines and spiced up stories. What is more dangerous is that one is so overwhelmed by this flow of excess emotion that one never realizes that he is carving the path of ignominy for himself. In fact one tends to find palatable justifications for one's actions under such and influence, however unacceptable they might seem in the light of unbiased reason.

The question that still remains is that how we, who are indulging in these emotions themselves, check our own selves from crossing the limits? How do we demarcate the boundaries when our own vision is obscured?

Mosquitos, Moths and MATRIX

2008-04-23T22:55:00.006+05:30

First of all people in dissension with the title please excuse it. I am unable to provide a concession to my temptation of getting poetic at any expense. Well, the train of thoughts that I shall proceed to list here was generated during my casual discussion with a venerable (and highly philosophical) friend of mine. He happened to be (frustrated as usual and ) under siege from the lesser organisms called houseflies and (again as usual !) poured out his frustration on these creatures questioning the very purpose of their existence. I was more than happy (and in a sense obliged to reciprocate and) to purport the following theory as an answer:

Let us start with an assumption (and a pretty fair one at that) that we all are living in a MATRIX (yeah !) controlled and managed by some super organisms (Who these creatures are and whether they have developed this MATRIX as "Business Solution" to some super client in out of the purview !) With this assumption we can say that we - the population of this MATRIX, and especially us humans, produce a lot of entropy every day as a part of our daily activities. And as all MATRIX fans know, this entropy needs to be nullified by some function of the MATRIX for it to perform properly. Since there is an absence of the summation variable of this entropy (yes, THE ONE), the entropy should be manifested by distributing it over other functions that are less conspicuous. Here is where our lesser organisms (the mosquitoes, the moths, the flies and the roaches and whatever annoying organism you want here) come into picture. And I present the following arguments in the support of this suggestion:

arg[0]: The class of organisms (if they can be called that in the MATRIX) that I target here have a very small size. This is to serve the purpose of remaining inconspicuous.
arg[1]: The size constraint in turn causes very less amount of entropy being nullified by individuals. So in the face of so huge an amount of entropy churned everyday these organisms have to be present in large numbers. This explains their higher productivity in terms of producing off springs (and producing anywhere and everywhere).
arg[2]: They have no other purpose once they have nullified the entropy. This explains their pretty short lifespans (Man! They churn out generations by the time you just learn to say "Mama"). And perhaps they also need to make way for the newcomers.
arg[3]: As a side effect they might being put to use as omnipresent MATRIX entities to induce termination of other entities (entities causing more trouble than their fair share) within MATRIX . (Smiths all over!)
arg[4]: Designed to cause irritation (unanimous over the entire globe), these things can easily avert strong attention onto them and thus shield their purpose.
arg[5]: These creatures are maintained as cross-cutting aspect to the MATRIX, their productivity control defined by the amount of entropy to be neutralized at any given time.

Phew........! That's fantastic. I'll stop at that from my side for now. Let the discussions and suggestions and ramblings pour in.

Just Rambling,
Cheers,
Nishant.

Revolution paths for India Inc.

2007-05-02T14:34:00.007+05:30

The year 2006 was a year that created history in the Indian film industry with its innovative releases. Amongst many others, two significant movies were “Rang de basanti” and “Taxi No 9211”. I had a chance of watching these two equally fantastic movies. Both of these movies, that showed possible paths for revolutionizing India Inc., provoked keen emotions amongst its viewers. Hence, I cannot help but compare the ideas presented by two. Also I have a feeling that a very essential message conveyed by TN9211, might be drowned in wave of ignition that is brought about by RDB, because one can’t feel the moonlight in the sun. But before I dive into that discussion let me put in brief, the storyline of these two movies, just to make the discussion more relevant.

RDB, is the story of five youth who live an apparent life of merrymaking and fun, and obviously doing nothing. They live in a fool’s paradise and indulge in every activity that promises to be fruitless and worthless. Even so, this doesn’t stop them in thinking about themselves in the highest terms. But inwardly they do realize the truth, and they reveal these themselves in the carousals that follow their boozing sessions. Not even the prosaic, practical and mature company of a foreign national, whom they chance to meet upon, is capable of changing them. This person from England is a dedicated journalist, whose ardor to shoot a film depicting the experiences of her grandfather with Bhagatsinh and company, the legendary freedom fighters of India, is unmatched and by some intuition she chooses our heroes for her documentary. Well, the depiction of the lives of the heroes of India’s freedom movement does deviate our heroes into sense. But they are jolted into reality not until they loose a common friend of theirs, an air force officer, in a plane crash. The crash is ascribed to poor parts in the craft, which made their way in due to a scam in defense transactions. The defense minister comes under the line of fire and he counters in defense, that it’s the amateur and untrained pilots that cause such accident and no scam like thing. The non-violent oppositions to such statements and demands of a unbiased justice by the friends and family or the deceased pilot (that includes our heroes) is met by hostility and violence on part of the government. Enraged by this and afresh from encounters from the lives of Bhagtsinh and his likes, our heroes draw the weapon on the defense minister. Following the assassination, these youth confess their crime, to prevent the immortalization of the defense minister who was starting to get proclaimed as a national hero. The youth are officially murdered by armed forces, a consequence of a political collusion, but they do not fail to raise a conflagration of patriotism all across the nation.

Phew...., coming to TN9211, it’s a story of two atypical characters. One amongst them is a taxi driver (of taxi no 9211) who thinks that the whole world is a very bad place to live in. All about his nature is revealed by the fact that he has changed 23 jobs in 15 years and not for the better. He fools his wife into believing that he is an insurance agent, and is a boisterous and acerbic person, with no limits to his acerbity. Another character is again a youth living in a fool’s paradise, but this time his paradise is secured by the bountiful wealth of his deceased father, a mammoth industrialist. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he is a cavalier in his dealings with life and sincerity and seriousness are alien feelings to him. In his terms, there’s a minor problem is caused by unfolding of a copy of will by his parent in which a fortune worth Rs. 300 crores is bequeathed to a very veteran confidant of his father and his father’s empire, so to say, rather than his prodigal son. So our “Mr. Cool” arraigns the benefactor, claiming to have another version of his father’s will in which he has been pronounced as the legal heir, and that the later will was made by his father in the healthiest conditions. It’s noteworthy to point here that even his father’s death had not caused him to ameliorate his ways. Well so, as destiny had it, on the day of hearing, “Mr Richie Rich” has to travel by a taxi to a vault to acquire the will, owing to an accident of his car. And by a stroke of luck he hires the taxi 9211. The events that follow are really amusing and the depiction of the attitudes of both these characters is marvelous. “Mr. Richie Rich” causes the taxi to crash, by his insistence to on the driver to drive fast, and starts all the trouble for the already mangled soul and above all leaves the mess for the taxi driver to clear. As for “Mr. Richie Rich” himself, it’s by the loss of the vault key in the taxi itself that he atones for his extravagant smartness. It’s a clash of the titans that follows, and both are bent to destroy each other in every possible way, and needless say that they have an equal aptitude for the task at hand. Well almost near to the end, owing to their own faults, one has nearly lost his fathers fortune (and of course gained by the loss of his hippocratic friends and girlfriend) and the other has lost a loving wife and a kid, both of whom are worth countless fortunes. So chastened by the nature and mended by two angels; “Mr. Richie Rich” by the veteran friend entitled to the fortune and the taxi drive by his prosaic wife, both find themselves befriended to each other and that too on a day on which they share their birthdays. And in the end it’s all well, with both of them learning the true way of living life and the key to success, of course with no losses bore by any of the parties. “Mr. Richie Rich” also finds a renewed love interest in a damsel, by a lucky accident of their cars.

So moving on, to the comparison, RDB does ignite an unmistakable flame of patriotism in every Indian and also gives a very apt metaphor, by depicting the corrupt politicians with the tormentors of India, in the era that anteceded India’s freedom. And it is worth noting that, such leaders are even worse as they have the same origin as you do, and you don’t smell the rat in them or condone them, unless they inflict some pains on you or your dear ones. But the pathway suggested by RDB to amend the deteriorating conditions of our country; to revolutionize India Inc., cannot be reckoned at all in my opinion, due to the reasons that I now present. Before following the foot steps of Bhagatsinh, we must realize his greatness and comprehend this legend. Bhagatsinh was a man with impressive foresight, unmatched maturity, and unrivalled leadership qualities and of course zealous patriotism. He had a flawless vision and governance for himself as well as for the country in his mind and all this at an age of 23. The track of so called violence adopted by him was impeccably justifiable in view of his capabilities and all the more in view of the conditions on India at that time. His ways were calculated and his vision, if not for the unfortunate loss this great man at an inappropriate time and if time would have come to put him in power, would have never ushered in chaos, violence and any such vices. Unfortunately, we Indians are not so fortunate enough and time has never given us opportunities to sustain such great leaders. Much has been said about Bhagatsingh and I, in my capacity, am in no way capable of analyzing this legendary character deeper than what has already been done.

What I strive to drive through at this point though is that Bhagatsinh was a man with self-governance and clear demarcated pathways for his actions. HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING. The question here is, do we, the youth of today, know it? I guess the answer is NO, for most of us. Drawing weapons only due to a blind passion ignited suddenly and certainly without any kind of self-governance is certainly no way to improve the conditions of our country. If at all this methodology succeeds, certainly not before a devastating civil war, the question that we will face will be that do we have the clairvoyance, prudence and the ability to rule our country and to take it to new heights. Well looking by the ways of our lives and maturity levels the answer is self-evident and almost axiomatic. Above all, the most immediate loss, before any possibilities of acquiring a rule, is that of losing “a generation that has awakened”, as the punch line of RDB suggests; a generation that would have possibly started to mend it’s ways, a generation that would be befitting the likes of Bhagatsinh after a few years of such a self-persistent Renaissance. And this is what is shown in RDB. Remember it took a death of a man and grievance and sufferings of his tormented mother, to awaken the five youths in RDB, and the story lost them for almost nothing. They did ignite a spark, but they themselves would be needed by the time to come, to sustain that spark and grow it to a purifying flame. Let me remind here that the memories of a crowd are short-lived and so we need leaders to champion a cause.

And in spite of all this, if success marries the effort to bring in such a rule, it will usher in only utter chaos and deterioration. We have very well seen this during the first 50 years of our independence that if, even a democratic rule, with lack of self-governance and responsibility on the part of the “demos” – we the people, could cause such an astronomical devastation, then there is no saying what a “Rule of the gun” would do. (Let me acclaim here that we are recovering from the aforementioned devastation in a quite satisfactory manner, such a manner that bolsters our optimism). A parallel example is of countries of world where such violent revolutions have been successful but with no useful consequences. And with more violent revolutions following, in a viciously cyclic manner, the future of country is lead to nothing but utter ruin of the civilians. But yes, the way that TN9211, prophecies is that of self-governance, of self-improvisation, of self-amendment. It is like a fable alluding to the well known adage “CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME”. What I am pushing in is that if each of us mends his/her own ways without cursing the world around, looks into his/her own shortcomings and amends it, no one can stop us from scaling the heights and realizing the dreams of the persons of the likeness of Bhagatsinh. A country, as it is very aptly said, is what its people are, and the magnanimity of the task at hand starts to change when each of us start changing on our own. The process may be slow in producing results, but put in patience and perseverance in it, and slow begets sure. And this applies to all, no matter if he is a taxi driver or a corporate giant, when it comes to the development of nation; all have an equally important contribution in their own way. And this is exactly what TN9211 conveys to me, although in an impromptu manner. No examples of such nations, with citizens as described, need to be given, as they are citied almost everyday. So finally (ah, I see you are happy now), I just wish that let us all not waste the spark of patriotism ignited by RDB by indulging into actions inspired by temporary burst of emotions and adrenaline, but sustain this quintessential spark and shape it into a fire that purifies us. Let us call out, “Rang De Basanti, the Taxi No 9211 way”.

Introduction (What is this all about...)

2007-05-02T14:32:00.006+05:30

Welcome friends (all and sundry),

Welcome to yet another blog. One of the reasons you are here can be that you were intrigued by the name. And for me this is the reason that needs to be catered to. So here is a post dedicated to “What this is all about”.

“A free mind” is a blog that lists thoughts; thoughts that at times may not be bound by reality or feasibility; thoughts that might prompt someone to ask me to rename this blog to “A blog full of crap”. And I might have done that if the title were not taken by one of my (known) friends.

Now that we have probably solved the naming conflict, lets again back to the contents. No, I am, in no way, planning to write about my diurnal activities from the time I wake up to the time I sleep. This is a blog where I am planning to pen down my views on varied subjects; from future of AI to the present situation in the Indian services industry; from revolutionizing India Inc, as depicted by two good movies to anything else.

These are the views that pop-up in probably every mind when in a state of leisure. Sometimes these thoughts are crazy, sometimes too much of fantasy or too idealistic. But it is important to pen down these thoughts somewhere so that they are not put to waste in the ever blooming garden of mind, because what is crazy or fantastic today may be reality tomorrow. These thoughts might be the seeds of a new beginning. Crazy, did someone say? Well may be it is meant to be like that, may be it is so that the “Eurekas” can be uttered only in a cloth less state. May be you need to be unreal to change what is real.

Like it is very truly said, “If you do what you always do, you get what you always get”. So let’s embark on this journey of doing what we do not do always. Sail along………

Cheers,
Nishant.