Beijing Subway vs. Mumbai Trains

During my recent trip to Beijing, China; I got to make good use of the extensively laid out Subway trains of the capital city. It was an experience unto itself, when I climbed one of the older lines and was instantaneously reminisced of the Mumbai trains...

The crowd in China is to be seen when you try and get onto the subway during the office hour rush (morning 9-10 and evening 6-8). It looks like a tin packed with sardines. You are not required to hold on to anything except what you brought on board with you, holding you up and pushing you either side is taken care of. It is a good reminder that China is still in competition with India on the population :-)

Anyways! that said, it really was a great experience, and very convenient too. We could visit maximum number of places due to the availability of the same subway nearby and stay on to enjoy the surroundings, without thinking of how we get back to our place of blissful sleep. I am mentioning some of the places and associated stations below:

Line 5: Tiantan Dongmen - for the Hong Qiao Market (good place to go for electronic goods and toys)
Line 1: Yong`anli - For the Silk Market (good place to shop for leather good - handbags, shoes, jackets. Also, good place for souvenirs and small trinkets. You need to be careful and bargain well... mostly bring down the price to 10% of the quoted price. More of this is given on a different blog).
Line 8: Olympic Green - For the Nest and Aquarium (Olympic Stadium and a good nice BIG ground to jog in the mornings)
Line 13: Wudaokou - Good eating joints around this place. Student community and you can find many IT companies also around. You can ask for references here, as people speak and understand english. I liked the Japanese restaurant and the disco/bar alongside it :-)
Line 4: Beijing Zoo - good to visit and see the Panda
Line 4: Beigongmen - For the Summer Palace. This place is good to see over (take the 50 Yuan ticket and a guide to go over the place). Serene and green, with the minimal of traffic noise and a lake to sit by :-)
Line 1: Tian`anmen East/West - For the Forbidden City and and the Tian'anmen square. Forbidden City is Ok, but would prefer going to the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace.
Line 5: Ciqikou - Temple of Heaven. Similar to Forbidden City and would recommend it over the other (60 Yuan vs. 30 Yuan) :-)

Journey to Beijing!

It began with work transitioning from the China office to the newly opened center in Bangalore. People started talking about getting the Visa's done and arranging for flight tickets. Our's being more of a startup, all travel arrangements have been outsourced to AMEX. They did a proficient job of getting the Visa and the tickets (although at a good premium :-) ), and off we were to the land of Dragons... I landed in Beijing with little expectations of what I got to see.

The first was the Airport terminus. It was HUGE!! We had to catch a mini train to reach our baggage handling area and that was not the end of it. I heard that there are 3 monsters of similar size, which make up the terminus. China has done a tremendous job of Infrastructure planning and execution. They have built a city based on modern and old values, which is by far the best and seemingly biggest I have seem so far in the so-called "developing nations" category.

Out of the airport, you do not find any touts or people trying to mishandle you. There is order there. You have a elevator, which takes you either to the Taxi stand (marked all the way in English), or the Subway (the underground metropolitian railway line). Here also, you will find a lot of interesting infrastructure. The Airport line is a bit expensive (25 Yuan, compared with 2 Yuan for anywhere in the city), but it delivers you to a destination on the main lines of the Subway. From here, if you have prepared yourself well and know where to go, you catch the appropriate line (much like the london underground) and reach your destination. I decided to take the taxi, as I had not done the above. :-)

The roads are - smooth and spacious. (although most would not agree on the spacious part, if they arrive on Saturday/Sunday) They have a 8-10 lane infrasturcture of roadways running from the airport to the city (with a additional service lane and an emergency lane). The population is courteous enough and do not bother with you on the Subway or otherwise (not a single beggar to be seen). The main hurdle being communication and trying to make the people understand you. First rule I learnt: Talk with a lot of hand gestures and communicate in a syllable by syllable manner, not in mouthfuls, as we usually do.

The air in Beijing is clean and you will find mostly cars (high end ones) or motor powered bicycles. Around our Hotel, it was more of the student crowd which we faced. The hotel was located (on-campus) near the Beijing Aviation University (which was a misnomer, as they taught more than just aviation). Maybe due to the excellent public network (of taxi's, buses and Subway combined), there did not exist a diverse vehicular traffic. Although that scenario changes, when all try to take their cars out in the weekend, when there is no restrictions imposed on the vehicle numbers out on the street (got to know that there is a restriction each weekday on what last digit vehicle can ply the roads, but it is lifted on weekends).

Indian Education!!

Seems like there is a lot going on on the Education System in India. I had written a short blog on this a long time back and thought would explore it more now that it has become a hot topic. So, would love to add my thoughts on it too. :-)
The education system here has evolved mostly around a few basic fields of interests - engineering and medical being the main in these. I would attribute the growing trend of these to the lure of a steady life and the money these offer. Parents are more enamored by the life they see of the few who have made it good and the stories they hear of the wealth made in these professions. Although, these days the trend is changing in the larger metros, we still find the young crowd being more attracted towards these professions. In regard to these professions only have risen the IIT's and IIM's of India. These are good institutes, but the basis of their teaching here is to make better people out of people who already are!! I ask what is the principle behind these institutes which make the person toil over exams and more practicals and then expect them to churn out the same which has been taught by 'rote/mugging' onto the jobs they take up. Yeah! sure these people are chosen few from the various exams which are initially conducted to chalk out the cream muggers from the average muggers. As aptly pointed out by a colleague, these guys destroy their creativity in trying to learn the various heavy books through which are educators are wanting to make us learn on topics which may have little or absolutely no value in the job life. Engineering colleges teach on what not subjects like Compilers and Operating Systems, and the person lands a job creating application software in Java, not a systems job of creating those OS or compiler products. Where are we taking the nation? People have pointed out that these are the premier institutes, but they are more in name than how things are taught. Nowadays the person who graduates from these is looking for more value to himself than to add value to the Organization. Attrition rates have risen and along with that so have the salaries of people engaged in those activities. I don't say that is bad from my prospective, but it is not a good thing also.
To cope up with these the creative try and emulate them; and they end up getting more frustrated and sending their siblings and offspring's on the same path where they saw the lesser frustration and more money. I have a friend in IIT doing her master's, all I hear the lament from her is she has an 'xam or a practical which is coming up and she is awake for the last 2-3 days working on it??!! Isn't that stifling the actual creative mind? The teachers these days don't have time to read the so called 'xams which the students are put through. So, they adopt a cardinal rule of the thumb. How long is the answer? Does it have any illustration and does it adhere to the kunji or answers that they had given the students in the class!!
If the student tries to be creative in the answers, he/she is punished by a lower grade or a negative marking.
On the topic of IIT's and IIM's, whom do they think they are churning out!! Ok, there are a few exceptions who after coming out apply their brains and come up with ideas, but is that enough? Are they really creative or just logically coming to conclusions from their brains which have become mechanical after all that 'rote/mugging' sessions? I think the later is more to the point. IIM graduates boast of big salary packages, but are they actually making a difference also? There is a comment on Joel's site [of Joel on Software fame] about MBA making the Organization bloated and fail!! I agree with him somewhat in that. We really do need to access the kind of education we are imparting and not gloat over the fact that Indian kids are doing better in maths and sciences than the American kids.

Work @ Acmet

Well!

Seems like a long time ago I planned to start with this... Anyways, now that I have settled down to this new job, I think I can start planning and doing atleast (if not all) the things I had planned for...

What I actually wanted to start off with is what am I actually doing the whole day... But, now I think I will relate to the incidents and my learning a new computer language (new for me, Oldie for all those who are there or have used it... )

I start with my first experience with the computer language Java. It was first thrusted on me with the advent of a JVM for an Embedded Platform, which was to be built for a normal training project. This project was basically to start the new MCA (Master's in Computer Application) trainees who would come to our Company for a basic 6 months of Course training. My Project Manager thought this would be a great way to teach them about the processes that we are following and also get them into the mold which would be followed, if they were to join the Company. Thus, started the great experience... I thought that I would have to start studying Java language and started off with just that... It was a great time as I started with the Java Language reference and then got on to the Java Code... that is where i drew a blank as till this time I was reading only the Preface and the Introduction... :-)

Well! I think that is enough of my ramblings for today will start again tomorrow...