Remembering the ‘iMan’

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well known path, and that  will make all the difference”                                                      Steve Jobs  

He might have been just like any other ordinary man but his deeds were no doubt, extraordinary. Steve Paul Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc passed away on October 5, 2011 after fighting against cancer for nearly a decade, leaving behind a rich legacy of technical innovations. I proudly remembers this great technology tycoon whose name will forever go down in the book of legends.

A man with a vision

Steve Jobs is often credited for making the personal computers what they are today. Thanks to him, today we are able to operate simple yet sophisticated looking computers at the touch of a button and a twist of the mouse without having to memorise and input thousands of complicated commands into the computer. His numerous dreamlike inventions such as Apple I, Apple II, Macintosh and the ever popular i series, comprising of iPod, ipad, iphone, have changed the landscape of technology across the globe forever.

Humble beginnings

Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955 in San Francisco but his biological parents, Abdulfattah John Jandali and Joanne Schieble gave him up for adoption. He was later adopted by the family of Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs from California. The youngster exhibited an early interest in electronics and while in high school attended lectures at the nearby Hewlett-Packard plant in Palo Alto, California. He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, for one semester, then dropped out of school, and immersed himself in philosophy.

In 1974, Jobs took a job with Atari, Inc., where he worked on the early computer game breakout just long enough to finance a trip to India. After shaving his head and backpacking through India, he returned California where he “capped off his spiritual journey with a sojourn at a farm commune.”  Jobs joined a local group of computer enthusiasts, who called themselves The Homebrew Computer Club, in 1975.

The acknowledged genius of this Palo Alto group was a Hewlett-Packard employee named Stephen Wozniak, whom Jobs convinced to join him in a business venture. With a total of $1, 300, which they acquired by selling Job’s Volkswagen microbus and Wozniak’s Hewlett-Packard calculator, the pair set out to design and build what would become the Apple 1computer- named for a summer Jobs had spent working in an apple orchard.

Steve and Wozniak launched the first Apple I computer from his parent’s garage. Success came to him at a very young age. Apple was an instant success in 1976 and Steve became a billionaire at the age of 25.

The giant called ‘Apple’

But luck did not favour him for too long. He was ousted from his own company by his partner and board of members after nearly a decade of hard work. He went through a period of uncertainty. But Jobs never gave up. He went on to found yet another company called the Next. Also he bought George Lucas’ The Graphics Group and converted it into Pixar studio which was an astounding success. Pixar is credited with the production of a series of computer animated feature films such as Toy story and Finding Nemo. Meanwhile things got ugly at the Apple computer. That is when Steve was called back for rescue of Apple. Steve took over the reins of the company as the CEO in 1996 and took it to the zenith of success this time. His magic formula was none other than the ‘I’ series, the first one; ipod was every music lovers dream. Who could have thought of the possibility of a technology that can store upto a thousand of your favourite songs? Ipod, a tiny compact device that can make you listen to your favourite song at the push of a single button was a big hit. Just when the world was reviving from the awe of ipod, Steve struck again but this time with an iphone. The sleek touch screen phone with thousand of interesting applications created huge waves among apple enthusiasts and the sale peaked. He continued to churn out some more technological wonders such as the ipad and itunes.

Even as he made hay in business, he was suffering from a rare kind of a pancreatic cancer. He was only 56 years old when he passed away recently. His dream and persona was very infectious and his success larger than life. That is why the name of Steve Jobs will go into the history of the world’s greatest men. He was a man who shaped the technology across the world and will be remembered for years to come.

Jaaga- A Common Space for Creativity

Jaaga, which means space in Kannada, and awakening in Hindi, was born when Archana Prasad, an artist, noticed the lack of an affordable creative community spaces in Bangalore.

Archana,in association with a group of artists created a platform called Samuha to exhibit their work. But her thirst for a “creative common ground” was fulfilled only when she met Freeman Murray, a technologist from California, in a pure chance. Freeman suggested the modular low cost structure of raw pallaks, a structure built from pallet racks.

Within a year they came up with Jaaga, the structure came up on land donated by city-based architect Naresh Narasimhan off Richmond Road. Today Jaaga is registered as a charitable trust, which offering core infrastructure and mentorship to a few tech start ups, conducts educational workshops for aspiring students, it make available space for tech groups, artists & social organizations to meet and show off their work.

Jaaga seeks to nurture innovative endeavors by providing space, core infrastructure, and a diverse social environment. The space is a free venue for networking, partnerships and collaborative work and is open for use to anyone interested in displaying their art, performing a play or presenting a dance recital. 

Since its inception, Jaaga has hosted more than 300 events, mostly to packed houses. The first event held at Jaaga was the Robert Bosch Art Grant ceremony.

The structure of Jaaga is a made up of red and blue pallet racks put together and looks like a movie set. Meant for supporting pallets of heavy material at multiple levels in a warehouse the pallet rack uprights support loads of 4 tons each and the beams support loads of 1.5 tons per pair. They can be assembled and modified easily without the need of cranes or any other special equipment. With the assistance of volunteers, the 3-storied Jaaga structure was built up in all of 15 hours. The flooring is made up of plywood and metal wires and the walls are made of billboards. Being fully mobile, it can be dismantled and reassembled within hours, can be moved to different neighbourhoods, cities and countries.

Jaaga also hosts an Electronics Lab where people work on next generation lighting systems, and a Media Lab that enables people to explore new media technologies.

A cool place for work

Fed up with your routine work at the cubicle, tired with the revolving computer chairs and corporate work culture?  Well, then it is the time to join the Jaaga Co-working and make use of the Jaaga space to create a fun and productive culture.

Working in a common space led to interesting conversations and the birth of new ideas. With your lap top and internet connection you can make money in a way such as programming, video editing, web design or graphic design.

The idea is for people to form small groups or startups run by founders working alone or in small groups of 2 or 3 could plug into the Co-working and they will get the benefit of a healthy company culture – having other smart people around to bounce ideas off, go to for technical help, or play ping pong in the morning and Jaaga will provide electricity, food and a great culture.

Jaaga Juice

Jaaga Juice is an interactive arts hacker-maker collective comprising of

Archana Prasad(media artist/poet), Freeman Murray(hacker), Clemence Barret(artist/film-maker), Kiran D(maker), Ria Rajan(designer) and Sean Blagsvedt(hacker).

They are interested in hacking cutting-edge consumer and beta technologies to create artworks that are interactive and sentient. The theoretical frameworks that they have begun to articulate and are constantly developing are: Enlightened Singularity and The Living Building.  

Jaaga is not just another room for people from all over, its uniqueness be made up of the diverse social environment it provides and the way it look at art in the community. 

Remembering the Anna giri

The name Anna Hazare occupied a large space in Indian as well as the International media for the last couple of months. His uncompromisingly sharp dispute with corruption as well as the Lokpal bill was discussed each and every nook and corner of India

Anna Hazare is one of India’s well–acclaimed social activists. A former solider in the Indian army, he has brought out the entire country on the streets to fight against corruption.

Hazare well known for up grading the ecology and economy of the village Ralegan Siddhi, located at the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. His continuous efforts changed the erstwhile barren in to a unique model of rural development.

To root out corruption from India, he started Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Aandolan in 1991. His RTI campaign and battle against corruption gave him a place in the heart of millions of Indians. But what made him at the centre point of all discussion is his stand for the Lokpal Bill.

He started a fast at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, demanding the government for a stronger anti-graft legislation. People from all aspects of life came together and joined with this anti-graft crusader in his fight against corruption. This forced the government to stoop before this citizen’s movement.

The Indian Parliament agreed the three key demands of Anna Hazare and his team over the Lokpal Bill such as - Citizen's charter, inclusion of lower bureaucracy and creation of Lokayuktas through Lokpal bill - for Standing Committee's consideration.

The team members of Anna Hazare in his fight against corruption include Kiran Bedi, Shanthi Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Prashanth Bhushan and Santhosh Hegde.

The Gandhian activists has won many awards such as Padmabhushan award, Padmashri award, Priya Darshini Vriksha Mitra award, Young India award, Man of the Year award, Vivekananda Seva Puraskar etc.

From a tenacious soldier to a social reformer, this 74 year-old, anti-corruption crusader is still working for the upliftment of the faceless citizens of India. His zeal and energy motivating millions of Indian’s to fight against corruption.

the thing that called love...

Friends, from the bottom of my heart, I am struggling to avoid this sounding like sour grapes- I have personally never believed in love, girl friends or Valentines day and so. (Now, off course you would like to tell me that I haven’t grown out of the “Eww!! Girls, stage!” and with proud I accept your compliment.).

Sshhh…its college days and it was barely a week into college when our first pairs began sprouting. It started with a few and as time moved, within a month almost every one had fallen …in love …it seemed like an epidemic …spread inside the walls of my vibrant college within a limited space of time and regardless to say most of my friends were affected.

Again, in the forlorn eventide at the hostel, which came just before the sleep less nights of study (thanks to my HOD, most of our nights devoted for study .study and study...), tired by watching all this - love drama and cosy scenes at the college, I hoped to find some solace in friends, but what they did was nothing but mercilessly ruined my moments, those I suppose to spend in my own world of dreams, (hey I am a lotus eater at many point of time…) by repeating the same old campus folk-just about the hottest and cutest in their class and the beginning or failure of a true love). To be frank –still I didn’t absorb the gratification that they are enjoying from it.

Trapped in all this hard-hearted stuff, I felt trifle uneasy; obviously I look for ways out of this vortex called love. I then realized how entertaining a third person angle actually be…and so I began studying this phenomenon. Go ahead …call me weird.

Alright, it is a bit difficult …we call it love. It feels like love. What does love do to your brain chemicals, and is falling in love just nature's way to keep our species alive?

And finally … how to fall in love?

In a college life it all began with holding hands, cuddling and walking home together. Then the alluring magic happens…falling in the ultimate love. The term ‘love’ is an apple of discord due to its different aspects. It often considered as a general expression of positive sentiment or a stronger form of like. It is commonly contrasted with hate as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, more over love is commonly contrasted with concupiscence; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, sometimes it also clash with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships.

A recent study reveals that it takes between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if you love someone.

55 percent is through body language

38 percent is the tone and speed of their voice

Only 7 percent is through what they say

The triangular theory of love 
(yuup..check it now)

Stage I – Lust

Wwoww…This is the first stage of love, in which we try to get a desirable being of opposite sex and satiate our carnal desires. This stage is mostly related with the sexual fantasies that a human being carries in his/her mind. The sex hormone that influence or cause this stage is testosterone and estrogen in both males and females.  

Stage II – Attraction

This is a marvelous stage when one is said to have "fallen in love". The person in totally in thoughts of his/her lover and can think of nothing else that person.

Stage III - Attachment

This is considered to the last stage of love and very much needed for a successful relationship. Attachment is the bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to have and raise children.

Amazingly enough, the amount of love one experiences depends on the absolute strength of these three components, and the type of love one experiences relay upon their strengths relative to each other.

Of course there are few eternal, everlasting and undying ones, there always have been and will be. And honestly, I realize that this is the time for me to admire those lucid and everlasting loves…

A crazy champ

His elevation as a fast bowler in team India is more than symbolic and goes beyond the clichéd notions of just a successful young cricketer. At a more profound level, it reflects the attitude of a dynamic young boy from Florance public school Bangalore, who has emerged as a star in the Indian cricket team with his electric bawling and magical performance.

With his sparkling performance Shreeshanth conquered the heart of millions of people from all across India. His uncanny ability to get the crowd behind him, by capturing loads of wickets with his guile and accuracy exactly made him the dear ones of children as well as the youth.

S. Sreesanth was born to Shanthakumaran Nair and Savithri Devi on February 6, 1983, in Kothamangalam, Kerala. He has one elder brother and a sister.

Sreeshant came to Bangalore from a small town called Kothamangalam in Kerala just because of his passion towards cricket. He chosen Florence School for his academic as well as sports career and time proved the rest. He became the star in the Indian team and played a crucial role in many important matches. His sharp bowling panicked even the so called great bating line in the world and within a short period of time he added many records in his crown.

He joined Florence Public School, Bangalore at the 8 th standard and he finished 10 th with a high distinction. In this special article Florence School Principal Ms. Abida is remembering about her good old boy … recollecting her colorful memories about a shy, disciplined boy.

“He was a crazy champ, he wants everything, and he wants to do everything.

He was a typical student with clean, ironed uniform. He was much disciplined, punctual and a shy kid by nature. He had a strong will to succeed and also possessed a number of hidden talents. He showed these traits when he joined our school”, says Abida.

When he joined here he didn’t know English. His accent was not fluent, because of the language problem he never spoke to his class teachers. But apart from language, he was a brilliant boy. I was his class teacher and also local guardian .So I gave him extra care and within a limited space of time he improved a lot. I made him stand for the election for the Sports captain post and he won.

“When I came from Kerala, I knew to speak only four sentences in English — Good morning, Excuse me, Thank you, and May I come in? The school nurtured me and helped me excel in curricular as well as co-curricular activities. I owe a lot to my alma mater and Florence is close to my heart,” Sreeshanth said in an interview.

The ‘Michle Jackson of Florence’

 

He had many talents apart from being a good cricketer. He used to paint, sketch, write poetry and was also good at dancing. He won a number of prizes for his dancing. He did the composing and choreography himself. Some of his poems were published in Times of India,” remembering Ms. Abida. The trophy that he had won for break dance in national level, still adorns the shelf of Florence School.

Down to earth, approachable hard work and talented is how his friends and teachers described him. Sreeshanth is fast become a star with a considerably fan following .But still he is the good old boy for his teachers. He shared a special bond with the school and paid a visit whenever he is in Bangalore and keeps in touch when ever he can. And that’s what makes him so special to all of them.

Meet the director, all of nine years old!

“When I received the Guinness record, what made me proud was Netherlands was replaced and a new name “India” was written in the Books of history. This made me really proud.’’ 

Kishan Sreekanth has done India proud. At the age of nine he has achieved what nobody in the world has ever accomplished. Kishan found place in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest person to direct a professional feature film. He replaces Sydney Ling, who was thirteen in 1973 when he directed the Dutch film Lex the Wonderdog.

Born in Bangalore to Srikanth HR and Shylaja, Kishan’s tryst with the movies triggered even from early childhood. Kishen started modeling at the age of three; he entered in to the glittering film world at the age of four. When children his age have to be torn away from the television to their home work, waiting for the next Harry Potter to hit the screen, Kishen prefers to call the shots from behind the camera.

The young Kishan scripted and directed a film ‘Care of Footpath’ at the age of nine. The movie ‘Care of Footpath’ tells the story of a street kid who gets to go to school and makes it big. His example meant to be an inspiration for millions of street children. The film was released on November 26, 2006 and it runs 100 days in India. 

The film won 11 international awards, many national awards including Swarna Kamal for the best children's film for articulating the burning desire for education in a slum dweller, from the President of India.

A little genius

 

“One day, at the age of seven, while traveling with my father I saw some children selling newspaper in the street. At the very first moment that appealed me. ‘Why don’t they go to school like us? I asked my father and he said they can’t make a living out of it. At that time I was acting in television serials and also attended my school. I thought why they can’t do like me …while attending the school, they can sell news paper in the morning and evening. When I ask this to my dad he said it was a good idea. But for that I need to inspire them.” Says Kishen

“Well, I didn’t find an answer like a short film which can motivate them. A film may influence thousands of street kids all over. So I decided to make a film showcasing them. I came up with a short story and my dad advised me to put in more characters. Gradually the screenplay came about and people suggested that I direct the film. That’s how all it happened.” added Kishen.

Kishen learnt the art of direction starting from a light boy to cinematographers and from a clap boy to a director on the sets when he was acting.

Besides directing the film, Kishen was also played the lead role. “Being a director is not child’s play. A director is like the ‘captain of the ship’. A director needs to have abundant knowledge & understanding of all the branches involved in the process of making a film, right from pre-production, production till post-production,” says a dynamic Kishan.

The 170, 000 dollar, 135 -minute film produced by Kishan’s mother Shailaja, she herself is a movie music director. The film was dubbed into other Indian languages including Hindi, Oriya, Malayalam, Bengali and Tamil as well as English and got sub titles in 15 languages.

Kishan recently completed the lead role of the male protagonist as Aarya in a Kannada film titled “TEENAGE” Ee Vayasse Onthara, which was directed by his father Sreekanth. The film also features young talents like Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, V Manohar, Tabala Naani, Jayashree and Lakshman.

“TEENAGE, is a film on young teens which revolves around their nuances, innocence and confusions. It is an entertaining musical film with over 10 songs in which I play the role of a guitarist,” says Kishan

Kishan is now planning a big budget 3D Holographic film. The 3D film will again be a teenage film revolving around the interests, fantasies and issues of teenagers,” says Kishan.“I am now writing script for a film which will be shot in Stereoscopic 3D. I am planning to start this by 2012. This is a big budget action movie which will definitely woo the Indian audience.”

Even if he is busy with the acting, Kishen concentrating highly on his education. He cleared his board examination with 93 percent from Carmel English School Bangalore.

To his credit this PUC student of the Carmel Pre University College has 30 feature films, about 300 television soaps and a couple of tele-films.

The young Kishan, who is aiming nothing less than an Oscar in the future, is working hard to achieve his dream. “I want to be in the dreamland of Hollywood. And I am sure that one day I will make India proud again,” added Kishan. 

Hats off to this young genius, who made India proud!