Life Skills For The Young Technocrat (From A Hermit's Perspective), Rahul Dubey, PHD

Life Skills for the
Young technocrat

(From a Hermit’s perspective)
Rahul Dubey, PhD

Life skills for the young technocrat Page 2
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Background:
The technical institutes of the world contribute

thousands of new engineers to the workforce. Most of
these young men and women are not prepared for the
demanding work environment. Sometimes they cave-
in under enormous job pressure and societal
expectations.
Most of them go through cycles of feeling high and

low. The wiser ones amongst them can handle the
stresses of modern life but a majority of the
technocrats are unknowingly part of a stressful rat
race that is not even allowing them time to realize
this.
It would not be incorrect to label the 21st century as a

century of computing and communication advances.
These advances have changed the way we live, work
and interact. One of the serious fallouts of the
advances is the changed lifestyle. Most of us agree
that the 21st century has brought in great amount of
stress in people.
The 21st century generation is not willing to reconnect

with the world, when there were no emails, mobile
phones and 24 x 7 operations. They are all too
absorbed in their own technical world to even think
about staying healthy and sane.
The following pages contain a collection of ideas,

borrowed from the technical world to help us live a
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better life. Most of the techie world examples are

based on the ubiquitous computer – which every
techie loves.
These ideas are put forth using technical world

analogies through the story of the Hermit and the
techie. It is not feasible to live by what has been said
in this story. In fact, realistically speaking, it is not
possible to be in control of life situations, as is
mentioned in the different examples (if we could, we
would no longer be humans!). The great gurus
flounder, while they preach to the world. They
basically share the lessons that they have learnt from
their failures.
The writeup hopes to help one reconnect and have a

good life by presenting these examples. There is a
possibility that certain examples from the technical
world do not fit in with the lifestyle statement. But the
motivation is to align the thoughts as close as
possible. Also there are ideas which are similar, but
are represented differently.
About the author:
The author is a faculty at a technology institutute. He

teaches courses on digital system design. Most of the
examples used in this anecdotal writeup originate
from computers and their working, student
interactions and numerous cups of tea with faculty
colleagues.
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This story is about a young technocrat (techie) who is

braving a quarter life crises. Although he has a great
high paying job, big house, gets to travel to different
countries, yet somewhere he is not happy and
satisfied.
The CEO of the company senses the indifferent

attitude and also sees signs of burn out in our young
techie. The techie in the story has already put in
several years for the company, so the human
resources department decides to send him for a
weekend break. It is supposed to rejuvenate him to
take up greater responsibility at the office.
Someone at the office tells him about the weekend

break to the Hermit’s ashram. The Hermit is a retired
technocrat, who has renounced all worldly pleasures
and lives in an ashram. The Hermit is attributed to
diluting and making sense of the problems young
people face by giving examples from the world of
technology. Although young techies first sneer at the
thought of learning life skills from a Hermit, they seem
to savor the experience, after their return.
Our young techie finally decides to visit the Hermit on

a weekend, by convincing himself that there is nothing
to loose. He enrolls for a weekend course to spend
time at the ashram meditating and experiencing
catharsis.
The first thing the ashram asked him to do was to

deposit his mobile phone and laptop computer.
Initially our friend was reluctant to part with his mobile
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and computer, but since he did not wish to return

back from the outskirts of the city, he complied.
The first meeting with the Hermit was in the open; in a

courtyard surrounded by trees. There were several
other registered participants who had assembled to
listen to the sermon. There were carpets laid down on
the ground, where everyone was supposed to sit.
There was curiosity as to what the Hermit looked like.

When he came out, the gathering saw the Hermit
wearing a loose cotton shirt and jeans. He did not fit
the monk like image our young techie had in mind.
There were no saffron robes.
He had a glowing countenance which was not

dimmed by daily tribulations of life. He seemed
content and happy. No deals to close. No code to
debug. No deadlines to meet. No loose ends to tie.
He seemed to be reveling in the moment. He seemed
to have a clear perspective on life; much like the time
when one returns from a funeral.
He came and sat on the podium, under the tree. He

introduced himself and then sat still for some time.
The gathering seemed to be getting restless. They all
expected the Hermit to say something.
“Do you all know why we are sitting here, in this open
courtyard with trees around?” asked the Hermit.
No one spoke up.
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“Both Gautam Buddha and Isaac Newton, got insight

into the way the world is, while sitting under a tree!”
he smiled to put the gathering at ease.
“Although the tree is symbolic, the message is to be

close to nature. All of us seem to be getting away
from outdoors.”
Our techie friend was distracted on seeing some

black garden ants walking on the carpet. The Hermit
could see his discomfiture. He decided to use the
garden ant to illustrate a point.
“How many of you have heard the Panchtantra story

of the four Brahmins who try to bring a tiger to life, by
the power of their accumulated knowledge?”
Several people raised their hands.
“Ok, tell me, can we create a black garden ant like

creature, using all the accumulated knowledge of
mankind?”
There was silence.
The Hermit went on to tell the audience about the

challenges in creating a garden ant.
“The major issues would be intelligence, weight and

flexibility. These ants start walking even after falling
off from tree branches.”
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“I do not wish to belittle our scientific

accomplishments, but we need to realize that nature
has lots to teach us.”
“If you visit a research lab, working on one of the

latest gizmos about to be released; you will find lots of
techies working on multi-core CPU’s, minimizing
power consumed by hand-held devices, creating
better audio and video compression standards,
coming up with new sensors and using artificial neural
networks or some kind of genetic optimization
technique.”
“The scientific community journals are filled with

thousands of research papers on these areas.”
The Hermit had earlier been part of a major research

lab. He had quit his position at the lab, when he
decided to share his realizations and ideas with fellow
techies.
“But if you think with a calm mind, you will see that
many ideas originate from nature.”
“With the coming of cable television, computer and

the internet, most of us are confined to the luxury of
home. We do not have the time to go outdoors.”
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The Hermit then went ahead and recited the poem on

“Leisure” by William Henry Davies.
What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.”
Most of the participants had memorized this poem in

school, but had never fully understood its message.
The poem aptly described the hectic lives they were
leading with little or no time to reflect.
Since it was close to lunch time, the Hermit concluded

with certain recommendations that our techie friend
jotted down in his notebook.
• Take time out to go to a nature park or to a neighborhood

park.
• It is great to spend time outdoors and take our children along

with us. Not only does this make our engineering seem
primitive, but it is also a great way to relax and learn.
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After lunch, the group reassembled indoors. There

was a sense of lethargy and the body was begging for
rest. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see
rocking chairs put up in the seminar hall. Each
participant was allowed to take a nap. After the
snooze for half an hour the lights were brightened and
tea and coffee was served.
When the Hermit walked in the hall everyone seemed

to be recharged and attentive.
He sat down on the dais, and asked a question.
“How many of you have been through the process of

dealing with a non-responsive computer - one that is
hung up?”
Several hands in the audience went up.
“What do you do when nothing seems to work?”

asked the Hermit.
“Restart or reboot the computer,” answered one

participant.
“I will now put on my computer engineering hat to

answer this”, said the Hermit.
“We all know that the easiest ways,(and one of the

most effective!) of dealing with a non-responsive
computer is to perform a power reset. Turn the power
off and then on again.”
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“When a power reset happens, the computer’s

microprocessor brings the program counter (PC) and
stack pointer (SP) to a predetermined location. The
job of the program counter is to keep track of the next
instruction to be executed, while the job of the stack
pointer is to organize in memory, different variables
from the programs that are running.
“Programming errors or when switching from one

application to the other, cause the PC and SP to
loose their bearings. When this happens the computer
just stands there staring at you!”
“Very much similar to the situation due work overload

and multi-tasking at the office!” observed one
participant.
“Yes, and resetting brings both PC and SP back to a

pre-determined location,” added another techie.
“In our lives also, there are times, when one feels
jaded with the routine office work,” continued the
Hermit.
“How many times, you feel like calling it a day and

walking away from it all?”
Many participants raised their hands.
“For the sake of comparison, let us say that the hung

up computer is like a dazed state. There are many
times when humans also reach this hung state. One
way to get out of this state is to perform a reset on the
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thought process. A short nap or a good night’s sleep

helps.”
Reset
“How does a nap or meditation help?” asked a techie.
“How many of you defragment the hard disk of the

computers?” asked the Hermit.
Some of the participants raised their hands.
During normal operation, the computer stores files

and data non-sequentially on the hard disk. When
you start the de-fragmentation process, you will
observe the data is scattered in small clusters.
After the de-fragmentation is done, you will see that

the computer collates the data and places it in an
orderly manner on the disk. This improves the data
access speed of the system.
Similarly there is lot of unrelated information

contained in our minds. Sitting quietly and just
focusing on our breath, gives the mind some time to
organize itself – just like the hard disk.
Perform a power reset on yourself once or twice a day

– either by taking a quick nap or by meditating for a
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short while. It may be difficult to find a place to take a

nap in a cubicle, but closing your eyes and shutting
off from the nitty-gritty of the external world, performs
reset functionality. Concentrating on the breath is a
good way to slow down and refocus the mind.
By the time the discourse finished, it was evening and

the Hermit invited the group to take a stroll in the
ashram campus.
“Talk through the campus and enjoy its beauty. Do

not let thoughts from the workplace enter your mind,”
he advised as the group set off for the walk.
As the group walked through the ashram, they

realized that it had been really long, since they had
taken time off for a walk at sunset. It was a beautiful
sight to see birds returning home to the trees, and the
rise of the full moon. These every day celestial
occurrences seemed so grand. It was as if they had
all been away from this for so long.
Once they returned to the ashram, tea was served.

The Hermit sat amongst the participants at one of the
tea tables and started to chat.
Many members were animatedly talking about the

experience they had of being away from work and
being close to nature. The Hermit talked about the
advantages of such excursions.
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“Withdrawal from a given problem, at times yields new

perspectives, which can eventually help in solving a
given problem,” he said.
“The concept of introducing negative feedback for a

stable system occurred to Harold Black during a ferry
ride to work. Since the lab notebook was not with him,
he wrote down his idea on a newspaper. Many novel
ideas have not come in the conventional workspace
environment, but in restaurants, while walking or even
when taking a bath. Archimedes can vouch for this!”
After dinner, the group again assembled in the

courtyard.
The sky was filled with sparkling stars when the lights
of the ashram were dimmed.
The Hermit walked up to our friend and said, “You are

a project manager at work, what is your job profile?”
“I need to make sure that all the individual tasks

integrate together correctly,” replied the techie.
“That means you have the complete picture in front of

you”, observed the Hermit.
“In an engineering drawing course, a student draws

different views of an object. He draws the top view,
side views and isometric view among other different
views. This gives the ability to look at the same object
from different perspectives”, explained the Hermit.
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“Sometimes, we tend to get upset and anxious when

small things go wrong. At times like these, we need
to see the complete picture.”
“What complete picture?” asked the techie.
“At times viewing a problem from a distance makes it

look more manageable. Whenever you feel low, take
a walk in a starlit night. Though it is difficult to find
starlit skies in today’s polluted cities.”
“The stars remind us that we are all tiny players in the

grand scheme of the universe. It is time to go easy on
your problems, not to take life too seriously and to
have a good time while we are here on this lovely
planet.”
This perspective of looking at things tells you not to

get overwhelmed by problems, thought our friend.
Suddenly all insurmountable problems seemed more
manageable.
The next day at the ashram was supposed to begin at

day break and everyone went to bed before the date
changed. The room was designed with a transparent
glass rooftop,
with the stars
clearly seen in
the night. It
was difficult to
sleep late, as
the morning
sunshine
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spread out in the room. Early in the morning the

participants went for a walk in the ashram lawns and
then a Yoga instructor guided them with breathing
exercises.
When they assembled after breakfast in the

courtyard, the Hermit asked them about the
importance they give to their health.
One participant shared his concern of less sleep

hours and unhealthy eating habits.
The Hermit narrated an incident from his work life.
“As an engineer working in a factory automation

design firm, I visited many factories. One such visit to
a plant manager’s office is etched in memory. On the
walls of his office, I saw several charts showing that
the uptime of the machines of the plant to the order of
95 to 98 percent.”
“Being a continuous process factory, stoppage or

downtime would result in production loss – which was
unacceptable to the management.”
“It was the job of the maintenance staff of these

process plants to keep the machinery running,
explained the maintenance manager. Lots of
preventive maintenance was carried out weekly,
quarterly or annually to ensure maximum uptime.”
“Come to think of it, the human body is also a

machine. It is much more sophisticated than any
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machine to be found in any factory. It is one of those

intelligent machines, which tries to heal itself when
damaged.”
“The research world is trying extremely hard to come

up with artificially intelligent, fault tolerant and self-
healing mechanisms. But we are still a long distance
away from creating a machine like the human body.”
“Most of us do not stop to think about this machine

that keeps us alive and moving. We have a calendar
which tells us, when the car is due for service, but we
seem to forget our own undemanding machine.”
• Let us eat right and exercise to ensure that this machine stays
fighting fit. Exercise for some time in the morning and evening.
• Exercise creates a positive feeling that keeps you energized
all day.
After the brief talk on the need for good health, the
Hermit asked if anyone’s absence from the office
yesterday or the invisible tether of the email had
stopped the world.
The realization sank in that since yesterday no one

had checked their emails or voicemails. There was
this urge to go and check if anything was amiss.
Once in a while the chirping of birds distracted the

audience from the morning talk. The cheerful chirping
of the birds prompted the Hermit to ask,
“If we were to think of God as a computer engineer,

do you think he would make pre-programmed or
programmable systems?”
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Everyone was flummoxed

by the question.
“Would you agree with me

that birds and insects
around us have limited
thoughts and abilities as
compared to humans?”
Everyone nodded their

heads.
“These birds go about their daily lives without thinking

much and being satisfied and happy. They have
survival abilities, but no thought processes otherwise.”
“The pigeon who is trying to make a nest on that air

conditioner does not feel dejected when all the twigs
fall off every day. It tries to make it again.”
“It is difficult to find an unhappy sparrow or parrot, in

this world. All creatures seem to be pre-programmed
in a particular way. Unhappiness or dejection is not
part of their program.”
“Just like the microprocessor, which can be

programmed to work as a bomb timer or as a heart
pacemaker controller, humans are programmable. We
have this programmable brain that helps us think.
Good and bad. It is a dual edged sword that has to
be used correctly.”
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“How many of you think thought is supreme?” asked

the Hermit.
Many people raised their hands.
“Why do you think thought is supreme?” was the next

question posed by the Hermit.
There was silence. No one wanted to answer this

question.
“I have read many places about the power of thought.

To me it had almost become a cliché when some one
said, thought is supreme!”
“But come to think of it, thought, when looked upon as

software of the techie world, thought is supreme.”
“Let us start with this simple fact. If we were to

compare the revenues of all software firms in the
world vis-à-vis the revenues of the semiconductor
companies – guess who would be the winner?”
“The software guys – hands down!” observed a

veteran from the software industry.
“The key to software’s strength is that you can come

up with newer applications using the same hardware.
The personal computer can run a variety of
applications – from Office, Games, Internet Browser
and lots more. It is up to the creativity of the
programmer, how he uses the personal computer
hardware.”
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“Those of us, who have fulfilled their basic necessities

of life (Remember the song from Walt Disney’s
Jungle Book – “Just the bare necessities, that Baloo
sings with Mougli as they walk down the jungle path),
can be considered to be at the same level of a
personal computer’s hardware platform.
“Most successful people agree on the fact that there

is no limit to the hardware or society approved stuff
you can get, to make you happy. You can have a
PhD, millions in your bank account, a luxury car – but
still you can be unhappy.Material things can provide
temporary happiness but it is the thought one hold’s
that provides for the future. This brings us to the
magical realization.”
“You are as happy as your thoughts. Without good

software (thought), the best of hardware (material
stuff) is useless.”
• Think of the current pay cheque vis-à-vis your first pay

cheque. Which was more memorable?
• Many times the priceless moments are free and for the
asking. They do not need materialistic investments.
The session broke for lunch to reassemble for the last

time before the weekend came to an end.
“The last lesson, which I wish to impart to you before

you leave, will act as shield from the joys and sorrows
of the world,” said the Hermit.
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“How many of you have noticed the porcelain

insulators on overhead electrical transmission lines?”
“We saw several of these towers on the way to the

ashram,” replied one participant.
“I think all of us have seen these insulators, whose

job is to support the electrical wires which carry kilo
volts of electricity. It is also used to ensure that the
electric potential does not travel to the supporting
structure.”
“You can imagine the effects, if this insulation were to

rupture. Complete devastation through a short circuit.
There are fault detecting circuits which shut down the
line, when this happens!
Let us for a moment consider what would be like, if

we insulate ourselves from the external world.
Suppose we did not let external events upset and
rattle us.
Remember Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s

Fountainhead. In the novel, Roark went about doing
his own thing, without caring for what everybody had
to say. He had a rock like self confidence which the
world could not dent. See how Roark and Rock
rhyme!
“In a similar fashion, we need to ensure that our self

esteem, self-worth and confidence are insulated and
protected from the external world.”
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Another way of looking at it is to tell yourself that you

have nothing to loose. We are all humans with the
same set of abilities. We have created all kinds of
artificial titles (CEOs, Project Managers, Vice-
Presidents and so forth). These are just temporary
roles assigned to us.
Go out there and do your thing. Do not worry about

the outcome. You have nothing to loose. Everything
that you hold dear is insulated. Enjoy the world as a
child does. He does not seem concerned about
falling down, getting dirty or the right place to play.”
“I have shared my thoughts about many things, but

before you leave I wish to answer some questions
that you may have.”
The techies asked questions related to their work

place and their struggle to keep up with the fast pace
of their jobs.
Q1. A techie complained about being left behind in

the rat race of promotion and salary.
The Hermit emphasized the need for long term goals

in place of short term gains.
“We have young techies and executives striving to

make a mark for them selves. They slog through our
crowded transport system, work long hours, work
weekends to establish themselves in the company.
Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong in working
hard, but we need to realize that there is a finite
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amount of energy that each one of us has. At times

we get into a fast burn mode to meet deadlines.
There are some of us, who are in the fast burn mode
most of the time and they burn out early in the game
of life.
A good idea is to step off the accelerator once in a

while. Sit back and think where things are leading to.
Spend time with your loved ones.
The laptop computer is a ubiquitous device that most

of us use.
The power consumed by a laptop (microprocessor) is

related to the frequency of the clock and the voltage.
When not in use, (detected, by finding inactivity of the

keyboard) the computer starts operating at a lower
frequency and reduced voltage (translating to lower
speed) to conserve battery life.
Learn to slow down, enjoy your work and extend the

quality time of your life.
All of us know that steel is one of most used alloy in

the modern world. It is known of its strength and
resilience.
Steel does not get into this form very easily – it has to
go through a long drawn tempering process which
gives it the qualities that we attribute to men of steel.
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Most of the good managers have gone through this

process of seeing the good times and the difficult
times. They have learnt how to ride out the tough
times, by using their experience.
Reaching the top in terms of salary and promotion is

an organic process and cannot be cut short.”
Q2. A young CEO complained of being impatient with

his subordinates and frequent mood swings.
The Hermit gave some pointers on the benefits of not

reacting impulsively. Also a long term goal helps one
get over glitches on the way.
“In this era of high efficiency and large workload, often

there are unreasonable demands on the workforce.
The boss walks in and sets an unrealistic deadline for
a project. There is this insidious email from a
colleague who wishes to foist his work to you. All this
can make you real angry.
There are many who go ahead and respond to the

unjust demand by loosing their cool and reacting
impulsively (a spike).
They have a heated dispute with the boss or reply

back to the obnoxious email from the subordinate or
colleague.
This only makes matters worse.
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This also happens at home with the kids. Sometimes

for no great cause, we tend to react harshly with the
kids – only to repent later on.
I have repented all the exchanges I have had, when I

had lost my temper.
Not only did it spoil my mood, I did not achieve

anything out of it.
There is a saying, “Count to a hundred, before

reacting.”
The process of counting to a hundred acts as a filter,

which soothes the anger spike. Give yourself time
before responding – this will help in a well thought out
reply.
Also one does not have to respond to every argument

or provocation. We need to choose our enemies, wars
and arguments with discretion.
Certain times small distractions fade out when one

has a long term goal. Most human achievements can
be traced to challenges and long term goals.
President Kennedy’s mission to the moon is an
example of a long term goal. These long term goals
help to ride out the small bumps along the way. The
idea is to keep the end goal in mind, in difficult times.”
Q3. A new entrant to the workforce wanted advice on

being more organized at work and at home.
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The Hermit focused on the need for documentation

and keeping one’s material needs to the minimum.
“What distinguishes humans from other animals on

this planet?
We share many of our traits with other animals.

There are intelligent dolphins, dogs, apes… But
humans have taken the lead in running the show on
planet earth. One of the advantages that human’s
enjoy is akin to the domino effect.
Humans have developed means to disseminate their

experiences and knowledge by documenting it.
Since the arrival of paper and data storage means,

human knowledge has grown manifold. This has been
accentuated by the coming of the Internet.
There are many times when we have repented for not

documenting well.
Documentation puts off most people. Techies are no

different.
Project managers have to thrust documentation down

the throats of their engineers – like bitter medicine. As
a techie just starting out, I would advise you to
document well.
Human memory is volatile. Not like the Random

Access Memory (RAM) of computers. We do not
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loose our memory after a nap or a sleep. But most of

us will have difficulty debugging a code written six
months back.
At home one needs to manage time and keep your
materialistic requirements to a minimum.
The modern lifestyle has become very demanding.

You may be talking on the phone, when the door bell
rings. As you walk to open the door, your newborn
child starts to cry.
There are lots of things to keep track of. There are

multiple credit cards, repayment of various loans,
multiple email accounts, bank accounts, mobile
phone, taxes and much more. Every time you miss
out of a deadline, there are people waiting to levy
large penalties (for example, the credit card
companies).
If a microprocessor needs to attend to many tasks in

a given time, the microprocessor does have any time
to rest! One of the jobs of an operating system is to
schedule tasks which the microprocessor has to carry
out. If there are lots of task closely spaced with hard
deadlines (deterministic!) the CPU’s loading factor
goes high.
This also applies to humans. Multi-tasking for long

periods get us worked up.
One way out of this labyrinth is to keep things simple.
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Keep one’s needs to the leanest possible. Do not

tether yourself to too much stuff.
Unless you are a senior executive with a personal

secretary to take care of all that we have been talking
about, it is advisable to lead a Spartan lifestyle.
Cut loose from all the paraphernalia of multiple cards,

loans, emails, PDAs, and bank accounts. Life
becomes much simpler and manageable, by not
having to worry about servicing these self generated
interrupts.”
Q4. A techie was constantly trying to cope up with

various projects single handedly and this had made
his life difficult at home and at work.
Some of us find great deal of satisfaction, trying to

operate solo. We do not want to delegate
responsibility. There is lack of trust in the ability of the
subordinate to do the job right. But many real life
projects are not one man projects. Teams of
professionals collaborate from different locations.
Contemporary microprocessors now support multiple

processing units. Dualcore and Quadcore are some
commonly used terms to specify two or four
processing units. The idea is to balance the work load
amongst different processing units to achieve faster
results. The same analogy also applies to electrical
power grids, where there are huge turbines coupled to
electrical generators. When the electrical load goes
up, the mighty turbines start to slow down. As the
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speed of the turbine starts to reduce, the frequency of

the power transmitted to our home also decreases.
More turbines are brought in to share the load. These
turbines are synchronized and work in tandem, just
like multiple horses pulling a chariot.
A successful organization is usually the result of team

effort, where no member of the team feels unfairly
loaded.
Q5. Why is breathing right so important, asked a

participant?
“I quote from hatha yoga pradipika,” said the Hermit.
“When the breath wanders, the mind also is unsteady.

But when the breath is calmed the mind, too, will be
still. Therefore learn to control breath.”
Our breathing pattern is a good indicator of the state

of mind.
Quick shallow breathing usually indicates behavior

when you are trying to cope with the situation. Slow
deep breathing is associated when you have mastery
of the situation.
When one goes to the Task Manager of a computer,

you see various processes and applications that are
running. Certain times there are tasks running in the
background that one may not be aware of.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Similarly there are many thoughts which occupy our

mind and deprive us of present moment enjoyment.
To fully enjoy the present, all the tasks and
applications need to stop so the mind is free to
engage in the present activity.
International Standards Organization (ISO) requires

periodic recalibration of test and measurement
instruments. Similarly we need recalibrate our
breathing rate by breathing exercises. This relaxes
the mind and puts you on the right track.
Q6. How can I be successful in life? (final question)
“There are very few of us who get our software codes

to work the first time. The compiler spews out syntax
or other errors the first time.
That does not stop us from writing code. We are

confident that even if we make mistakes, we can set it
right by keeping at it. The computer does not get
damaged because it just tried to compile an incorrect
code.
The same thread of thought can be extended to

everyday life. Consider the position in life that you
are presently in as the most conducive condition
possible. Try and build upon it. Do not worry about
what has happened and what will happen.
Make a small list of what you want to accomplish in

life and then start chipping away.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
I finish this by this quote by Buddha,”
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for
the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present
moment wisely and earnestly”
As our young friend headed back to the hustle and

bustle of his daily life, he stopped at a coffee shop
and summarized the experiences of the week end.
A. Analogue world.
There are trade offs everywhere. No ones or
zeroes, black or white.
B. Be your own controller.
Do not let the external world sway you.
C. Connect with nature.
Be outdoors with God’s creations.
D. Document well.
Consolidate your work for the future.
E. Eddy currents – cause heat but no torque
Finish or terminate overdue activities so that you
can move on to new stuff.
F. Flowchart your plan
Spend good percentage of your time in the design.
Implementation follows.
G. God’s creations.
Learn from them. Children, birds and animals.
H. Have a long term goal.
Helps in getting over small obstacles.
I. Interrupts and interrupts.
Be wary of them. Do not get caught up in them.
J. Judgment matters.
Pick your opponents and issues wisely.
K. Knee jerk reactions.
Think before replying. Filter out your response.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
L. Live the moment.

Lim t→0. Zero in on the present. Past x[t-1] and
future x[t+1] samples are meaningless.
M. Marathon, not sprint.
Do not burn out very fast. Long way to go.
N. No pain no gain.
Lenz’s law. More mechnical effort, more
electricity.
O. Ooze confidence.
Possess the can do attitude.
P. Protect your self worth.
Insulate your self esteem. It is not on the line.
Q. Quite mind.
A quite mind thinks clearly and weeds out noise.
R. Reset yourself to stay sane.
Detach and come back stronger.
S. Software – thoughts.
Keep lofty thoughts and aspirations.
T. Take good care of your body.
Well oiled machine is needed for traveling far.
U. Undertake new activity
New experiences lead to new perspectives
V. Vacations and breaks
Rejuvenate.
W. Withdraw and rethink.
Serendipity. Unexpected results.
X. eXperience - the tempered you.
No shortcuts.
Y. Yoga
Recalibrate your breathing and mind.
Z. Zoom out
Get a better perspective on things
________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
He decided among other things to think like the

Hermit in times of difficulty; frequently find solace of a
quiet mind, and take regular time outs from daily
routine.
________________________________________________

Life Skills For The Young Technocrat (From A Hermit's Perspective), Rahul Dubey, PHD

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Life Skills For The Young Technocrat (From A Hermit's Perspective), Rahul Dubey, PHD

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Life Skills for the

Rahul Dubey, PhD

The technical institutes of the world contribute

Most of them go through cycles of feeling high and

It would not be incorrect to label the 21st century as a

The 21st century generation is not willing to reconnect

The following pages contain a collection of ideas,

better life. Most of the techie world examples are

These ideas are put forth using technical world

The writeup hopes to help one reconnect and have a

About the author:

The author is a faculty at a technology institutute. He

This story is about a young technocrat (techie) who is

The CEO of the company senses the indifferent

Someone at the office tells him about the weekend

Our young techie finally decides to visit the Hermit on

The first thing the ashram asked him to do was to

and computer, but since he did not wish to return

The first meeting with the Hermit was in the open; in a

There was curiosity as to what the Hermit looked like.

He had a glowing countenance which was not

He came and sat on the podium, under the tree. He

No one spoke up.

“Both Gautam Buddha and Isaac Newton, got insight

“Although the tree is symbolic, the message is to be

Our techie friend was distracted on seeing some

“How many of you have heard the Panchtantra story

Several people raised their hands.

“Ok, tell me, can we create a black garden ant like

There was silence.

The Hermit went on to tell the audience about the

“The major issues would be intelligence, weight and

“I do not wish to belittle our scientific

“If you visit a research lab, working on one of the

“The scientific community journals are filled with

The Hermit had earlier been part of a major research

“With the coming of cable television, computer and

The Hermit then went ahead and recited the poem on

What is this life if, full of care,

No time to stand beneath the boughs

No time to see, when woods we pass,

No time to see, in broad daylight,

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

No time to wait till her mouth can

A poor life this if, full of care,

Most of the participants had memorized this poem in

Since it was close to lunch time, the Hermit concluded

• Take time out to go to a nature park or to a neighborhood

• It is great to spend time outdoors and take our children along

After lunch, the group reassembled indoors. There

When the Hermit walked in the hall everyone seemed

He sat down on the dais, and asked a question.

“How many of you have been through the process of

Several hands in the audience went up.

“What do you do when nothing seems to work?”

“Restart or reboot the computer,” answered one

“I will now put on my computer engineering hat to

“We all know that the easiest ways,(and one of the

“When a power reset happens, the computer’s

“Programming errors or when switching from one

“Very much similar to the situation due work overload

“Yes, and resetting brings both PC and SP back to a

“How many times, you feel like calling it a day and