My Experience with VisaSpring - Australian Migration

If I can summarise my entire experience of my dealing with Mr. Ranvir Sethi in a phrase, then I will describe it as ‘Highly Satisfactory’. I heard about Mr. Ranvir Sethi and his company VisaSpring from a colleague of mine (former satisfied client of Visaspring.com) who advised me to pursue my PR for Australia through this Consultancy. I was a bit hesitant and apprehensive about his proposal due to some bottlenecks. Firstly I had never met Ranvir or his team in person and secondly I had a travelling job in IT which made me incapable of doing any follow ups. But my friend finally convinced me that Ranvir is a person on whom I could trust, without any doubts, and that he would engage me in a deal, only if he felt that I have a good enough chance of getting the PR Visa. It was very true, since the next day I gave my resume, I got a positive feedback from him and thereafter all the events in my PR journey were positive result-driven in the shortest time. It took just 5 months for me and my family to get a Skilled PR visa. We were so surprised of each stage getting the results so fast that sometimes we could not believe if it was true :).  Finally, at the end of the journey, when we got the Grant Letter, we were absolutely delighted. It was really a dream come true for me and my family. 

Ranvir was easily approachable and suggested ways of getting things done correctly and in a short time whenever I had any problems. Over phone, email, skype etc. there were many ways he was available to help us out. Even though we never met each other, due to his efficient and modern ways to deal with his clients, all went smooth and without any hassle. There was never any kind of rejection for me or my family at any stage of the application process. He made sure that all the input was correct and thoroughly reviewed by him and Neeraj Lama before sending it to the immigration department or the case officer. I must admit that the things went fast also because of this professional way of dealing of Mr Sethi. He always guided us to be ready with the checklist of all the things needed before the start of the next stage itself, so that if there was any shortcoming on our side, we had ample time to make up for the same. He even helped us intelligently save a big sum of money for my wife’s application by showing her English skills during her college studies. Whenever there was any paperwork, where I had no idea of what to fill-in, he provided us with enough samples to be confident in filling them. At the end, I must generously thank Ranvir and Neeraj for getting us the Australian PR and their professional dealing with us. He is up-to-date with the changing rules and regulations of the Australian immigration system and is proactive in suggesting ways to get things done in the favour of his clients.

He listens carefully and attentively to his clients for their particular needs and situations. Based on his past experience, he guides them in the right way to meet their desired goals. He has vast knowledge and expertise in his field and so you can always be assured with him. He is a very practical person and I learned a lot from dealing with him. He provided us support even after the grant of the visa also for a special need. Although, we had fully paid our contractual fees for all the stages, and he could have easily denied when we asked him for help, since there was no obligation from his side after that. But he believes in the principle that clients are not just for momentary business, they are contacts for a lifetime and it’s because of this principle, that he carries such goodwill. Being from the same educational background as him, I always revered Mr Sethi as my senior and he turned out to be so by being our true and sincere guide in the whole process. I am definitely going to recommend his services to my aspiring friends. I wish all the best to Ranvir, his family, entire team and his future clients, in their efforts.

Trekking through Antargange

We had a team outing to Antargange!!
This is a desolate place with an overgrown clump of rocks making a big ridge in a dry area! :-)

The trek was good with a lot of stops for my aging body. But finally reached a plateau which had some shade. A lot of incidents in between made me realize that I need to get back into shape and that is when finally agreed to go on the health checkup sponsored by the company ... (alas, they also finally confirmed that age related health problems are catching up :-) )

So then it came that we would have to rappel down a big crest of a rock to reach the base of that. This was exciting. I did good in that and thanks to my many years of army camp outs managed to rappel down that 2 feet of rock side :-D

Cauvery Fishing Camp - Bheemeshwari

काउवेर्य ट्रेकिंग ट्रिप
Originally uploaded by gagneet.

We were to start on this Team trip (sponsored by the Company) early in the morning, when we would be getting a pickup near our house. Most of the crowd was arriving at the office complex and the rest would have to be picked up on the way to the trekking spot. Got a bit late due to the late arrivals at the office complex. Finally, we started off around an hour and a half late. The journey was good, with our former boss showing up in full regila of a mumbai bhai and acting in the same manner :)
Had a big session of antakshri on the way and enjoyed it throughly too. The journey was a typical bus road journey with the roads in fairly good condition till we finally began to approach the hills and then started the upward drive (on the way also went ahead and bought a bat and ball to play cricket with). We reached the camp around 11; after starting around 7:40 from near my place in JP Nagar. It was a journey of around 115 kms in total (one way). On reaching we were given the welcome drinks and then we got on to our journey/trek up the hillside. It was the first time I realised that I was not in form for such a thing :(
The trek uphill really stretched me to the limit and by the time I was on the top, my legs seemed to be shaking - weakness!! It seems like I have not been having any nutritious diet, but a diet where my palate is only satisfied. I need to improve on that. Climbing the lookout point, I actually felt my legs quiver under me. Then Rafi and JP came up and we decided to continue downhill and try to reach the river bank. We had almost made it till the end, when we finally decided to go back as the others would be waiting. The journey back was really a bad one, with me huffing and puffing all the way up. It finally ended with us drinking all the water in JP's bag and reaching the lookout point again. Had a quick photo session there, before heading back downhill, back to the fishing camp.
Lunch had been served there and it tasted really yummy after all that tiring stretch up and down hill. After that we had a long session of lazying around on the Web. This was a mesh of ropes tied to the ropes and one could jump up and down these to simulate a feeling of lightness which really was soothing... :)
After a lot of monkey sessions, we went on a gondola ride into the river. (the picture taken is of there only). The journey back was uneventful. And then we went for drinks at LoR. But, that being crowded, landed in Filling Station for a quick beer and vodka session. :D

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.

Bangalore - Fun Days!

Nowadays seem to be very lonely and without any excitement. It seems there needs to be something to invigorate you in life which seems to be missing right now. I have started off with the Dune series and seem to be working my way out of boredom, but it simply seems listless without that excitement which I used to feel in Bangalore about the same.

There (in Bangalore) it was that I had a lot of people with whom I could relate to and who shared my interests and hobbies. I could find individuals who had similar ideas about life and interests. But here, it just seems to be work and then a movie or a walk within the sectors. I am getting bored of this monotonous life of everyday work, no play and then get back to work again... :-(

Shall have to check up on alternatives now...

Documentation

Back to the crux of all things - documentation. I suddenly realized why we need the documentation when suddenly a lot of people started to leave and the things that they had started here went for a toss as they have as yet not created any documentation in a Word Doc but only in their minds...

My PM came over today and the thing on his mind was to assimilate and get all the work that had been done by the people, into a single entry point on the version control system and then work on integrating the same for all the products and applications. Currently, the task I am doing is majorly centered on the Windows platform, but now I will have to check on all the products and all the platforms and see where all optimizations can be made so that re-work is not required. It takes a lot of effort and thought to create something but only a little bit of negligence to completely destroy the same. A prime example of the same is the test framework I am currently working on. Now we had a perfect version checker written in Perl, which used to check the version of the product installed by us and the version of the product as given by the executable. But the build and installer person decided that [or rather forgot] that he has to update the version number in the installed package. This made the situation that the version obtained from the package was different from the version given in the setup directory name and again different from what the user was entering it as. So came the problem that when we installed the product, the versions would not match and the product was again uninstalled, but as we were not checking the product version when installing, just the executable file was being checked, we used to install the product again, reboot and then get the version from the command line tool. This was matched with the version given by the user and again a loop as no match means uninstall the product... :-D

The main thing I next need to learn from this was never to trust anything where a human can make an error, as the famous words go, "if anything can go wrong it will" [along with "to err is human"] and the axiom added by my Project Manager from the first organization I worked in - "the thing that goes wrong will happen in front of the customer", which is this case was the QA team who were supposed to execute the automated framework. They took the build and the process went into a loop... :-(

So coming back to the documentation part now, I was as is by habit creating all these documents, but could not comprehend this eventuality of the loop as I have given above. So exactly what does the documentation do? Well! for the first part, it got us immediately to the solution of this problem. From the given documentation we already knew that something was going wrong in the comparable algorithm as every time we got the message that 'Version not Match' and then uninstallation of the product and after that again an installation of the same. On going through the comments [code documentation] for the installation, I realized that I had not catered for human error and thus the solution to the problem was to cater for this, a major thing which I realized for Automation of anything was FAULT TOLERANCE...!! This has to be built into the system, else all our automation efforts fail, if we are just spending time in monitoring the application which has been automated.

As for the documentation part of all the other tasks being done for the automation, I realised that none of the others had any sort of documentation to go with them, except the typical programmers prospective of code and go, the logic and document is within the brain of the programmer who created the wonder of an application in the first place and as I have said earlier an unmaintainable application which if not understood and needs change might be discarded later. Thus, I am now to get down and create a document or ask the people who created these applications in the first place to create the same... [ the second option definitely looks appealing... :-P ]

More coming' up...!!

Batch Scripting

Did you know what all you could do with DOS Batch files??!! Did you think all you could do was start another batch file, call a few commands to run in sequence!! Well! With DOS and batch commands you can do a lot more, right - you can even read and write to a file, and also it has a somewhat restricted sense of sub-routines in it. So, finally I was introduced to the world of DOS Batch Programming. I learned that Batch processing is a lot more than I would have ever thought it to be. Can you image my surprise when I learned that you can do file manipulations using DOS??? And to add to that, even binary files can be manipulated using the simplest batch commands of DOS?!! Ever heard of the command FOR in DOS! Well! If you add the /F switch with the same, you get a wonderful file handling capabilities for DOS. Read up more on the posts by Mic, an avid and resourceful DOS Batch person, who I think would be able to answer all DOS Batch related questions you post to Batch World group on Yahoo!: Batch World

Well! I have had a fine time trying to work out what all I could to with DOS to help in my Automation work; as currently what I have created is a PXE server which can boot a machine into DOS, from here I have to carry on and cal the Acronis Command Line tool to accomplish my work, but all has to be done using DOS commands only as the environment into which the system is booted into is PURE MS-DOS with a few network enhancements. I now had to work out a way by which I can get my system to work by calling the Acronis Command Line tool and install an image for the system which will be Windows platform and configuration as selected by the user, as this is a dynamic thing, I have had to do a lot of work to create dynamic fiels which would do my work and heer I learned about DOS and Batch File commands. Currently, I have managed to get a working script which will help me in installing images stored by me on a server and a user configuration in which user selects his choice of OS file system to install and execute his test framework on:
@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
FOR /F %%y IN (c:\OSCount) DO CALL :READ %%y
SET /A countWr=%my_return% 1
ECHO %my_return%
> c:\OSCount echo %countWr%
ECHO %countWr%
GOTO :END

:READ
SET /A v_sum=%1
SET /A count=1
FOR /F %%x IN (c:\MyFileA.txt) DO CALL :ABC %%x
ENDLOCAL & SET /A my_return=%v_sum%

:ABC
SETLOCAL
IF %count%==%v_sum% ECHO This File %1
ENDLOCAL & SET /A count =1

:END

The above script is reading a file (MyFileA.txt) and getting the line number to be read from another (OSCount) file, which is then incremented for the next execution (the file is written to, we can also append to the file by using double greater than symbol - >>). Also, the variables are being passed as parameters from one sub-routine to another and then returned. So, finally, when we reach the first sub-routine again, the OSCount file is contains an incremented new value and when we run it again, we can get the next line in the file MyFileA.txt.

Although with the above script you can find out many things you can do with DOS batch commands - read a particular line in a file, write or append a line to a file, and even sub-routines in DOS!!! I never knew these were there. The SETLOCAL - ENDLOCAL actually defines a sub-routine in DOS. For debugging DOS batch files, you just do an @ECHO ON at the beginning of the file and execute the script through the DOS command line and viola, you can actually pin-point where you are going wrong - which line or variable is returning what value and where and when.

So, folks all I can say is that get your Windows machines pumped up and start using the powerful features of DOS which you might have never know existed... (PS: I have not added the code sent by Mic here as the link should take you to that, which is more nicely structured and concise!! My code is just a bunch of statements more meant to give an idea of what all DOS is capable of doing...)

Automation - Where, When and How?!

So I finally realized what doing work is!! It is a good feeling and you are all tensed up and ready to get heckled up at any single pretext. I have been going through a lot of these learning phases as one can call it. It all started when our PM asked me when I had just joined this company that there were a lot of problems with the current setup and we had just toooo many platforms on which to test our builds for. I finally got to know what these toooo many platforms were, when I realized that they were calling each Service Pack installed and each file system (3 for each OS - FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS) a separate platform.

So counting all the OS and their respective platforms I came up with the 'magic number' of 51 and then suddenly realized that it was more (about 74) in all, on which we ultimately would have to execute our test framework. Coming to the framework part, this is another interesting story; and typical of the was a software development project works: First comes a super geek, who just sees the problem, codes and leaves with the basic framework setup completed, at the time the application was conjured. Then comes another who has to upgrade it to the latest version of the framework and the product. This person along with a few other underlinings, checks the same and does a modification of the existing framework. Now along comes me... :-) [I know self praise can be harmful, but everybody must take it sometime or the other, as in small doses, it really helps... :-D ]

With the complete documentation training that I have had till date and specially in my first job, I start with just documenting the code, and suddenly find that there is a lot more than documentation which is pending in the code. So, I get down to revamping the same so that it is workable with my new logic [this might have been the thing that the second person who got the code might have done, but not documented as properly] which is rather a lot of comments than code and the comments soon start becoming clear and the code starts to disappear... :-)

Coming back to the issue on hand - that of automating a system which has already been created by someone whose logic and understanding of the problem might be a bit different from what I have been doing, I came to the final conclusion that until I try and do a complete revamp of the existing code and either update or remake the code from scratch, I will not be successful. So, I start with the basics, which is all test cases should run. Now, the code for executing these test cases should run and finally the code should be in a structured manner.

The lesson I think I learn from the many failures of the system when you are trying to get something working is this thing to add FAULT TOLERANCE. In automation, this is one thing which I think I need to learn, should be built-in so that at any point the tests fail, the framework created should auto-recover and start with the next test case. This will be the final step before I finally automate the said framework for all images...

Next will be the actual automation process I employed for setting/installing and executing the test framework on multiple images and multiple systems at the same time. Which hopefully I should be able to do earlier than later...

Object Oriented Work!!

Well! High time it has been that I visited my page and continued on my Ramblings...
The past year has been a very stressful time with me on the tenterhooks all the time as I am VERY weak on OO concepts and that is what is the work that I am currently working on during the time that I have been employed in my present company... :-)

Actually the work began with me being recruited during the interview for a compiler post and then it being transformed to a OO QA role later sometime. I never knew when it hit me that I will also have to go the OO route for me to be competitive enough in the field. But Managers being what they are I was told to complete the work given and start with the current concepts of learning about OO. The concept stage was easy, but implementation took the cake. To add to the injury, we had team mates who thought they knew all the concepts and ideas and wanted us to not learn mor as then we would advance leaving them in the background... :-(

I suppose the work culture that I wanted and had developed is slowing getting eroded away and soon it will be time when I shall again have to resort to the last available weapon with me - CHANGE!!! :(

Work @ iGATE

Another day goes by without too much activity on my part. I have been put into the group for creating the properties file for the new devices sent by the client. The software is being developed for Nokia Client and is called the NOBS - Nokia One Browser Server. This will be a box which will deliver the content to any phone from the content providers place. So anyone who connects via GPS to the content provider [Hutch, Airtel] would be able to view the web pages on his phone. WAP would not be a requirement for these pages, they would be ordinary HTML pages, which would be converted to the respective size and shape for the phone which calls for the request.
The properties page is basically a set of files which determine how the phone looks like and what content and in what manner [size, etc.] to send to this particular phone.

This seems like a not-too-technical and not-too-mind-intensive work and I for the present am not liking it...

Had a treat from Mr. Nitin Mathur as he keeps on saying that I am earning more than him, even when I have not started with the Macromedia job as yet. I really enjoy it when he says that, but I think he is just ribbing me into treating him, so it feels good when i make him pick the tab for the same... :-)

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...

What we do!!

I have started work on a new concept in the development arena. It starts with developing something which inspires you to create something which just kicks ass!! I have gone through that experience and have regretted that... :-(
My Manager is a real good disciplinarian and I give him full credit for making me into what I am. I have been brought up in a sheltered and disciplined environment by my parents [especially Dad] and till I don't have someone to force me I tend to slip. In work, my Manager came to know of my this tendency fast enough and got me in the right track fast enough. I have realized that in Software documentation is the first thing and then are the logical and analytical abilities which come out in the form of comments to the code. Code should be the last thing in a developers mind. If he gets his basics right in comments, code will be a breeze!!
Do/Will I follow his principles when I advance??!! I sure hope I do...