A snap with Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan !

This blog is really special for me. December 23, 2009. It started as a usual day for me. Since our business in UK and US were enjoying the holiday season, my friends at office decided to take a long lunch. December is a month not only to be remembered for Christmas but also the traditional Music season in Chennai. There are a lot of Sabas in Chennai which are really busy with music and food! Since it is a Tamil Margazi month, no traditional Hindu marriages happen during this time. So food caterers expose their skills to attract new customers so that they can rope them in during the marriage season.

Karthikeyan, Senthil, Satheesh, Vanchinathan Siva and Caushik all set out for Music Academy in TTK Road, Alwarpet. After being negleted to park our car in the academy campus, we found a adjacent lane where we parked our vehicle. All set to taste our lunch.

We went inside the Canteen and I suddenly saw a person in a red shirt. I couldn't believe my eyes but it was Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan.

In the morning I read about him in the following link which stated Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan enjoyed music at the Music Academy.



He ordered his filter coffee and started walking away from us to a nearby table. Honestly,my mind was blank at that time and not sure what to do next. I slowly asked Caushik "Is he Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan?". He said "Yes" and we forgot about the food and stated discussing. We all wanted to talk to him but we were really hesitant how to start. It was decided that Caushik will go alone and ask him. He talked to him for a moment and all four of us walked towards the table. I always believe everyday is a learning day. A Great scientist, one among the illustrious list which India has produced, spoke with us for a few moments, inquired about us. We waited till he finished his coffee and I requested him if he could spare a moment with us for a snap and he agreed to it. We were all very happy.

The next day morning, I bought my favourite weekly tamil magazine Anatha Vikatan. Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan is one among the Top 10 people for 2009. It is no surprise but the important point that stuck me is the following.

"Dr.Ramakrishnan [through his friends] is taking care of a few [number not mentioned] Muslim children by providing them necessary education. The children are those who lost their parents during the Gujarat riots of 2002."

Few things that I admire about the great Scientist
1) Passion towards his area of research and telling the world that he has a lot of
work till to do and insisting that Science is bigger than Nobel.
2) Helping the people who are in need amidst his busy schedule.
3) Passion for Music.
4) Global visionary than narrowing down to imaginary lines that divide the globe.

I would like to conclude that *IT* makes a lot of difference in you when you see great visionaries and talk to them. There is definitely a "Change" in you.


A small comparision, it seems the name "Venkatraman" is closely associated with Nobel.
- Dr.C.V.Raman - The Nobel laureate in Physics. With Expanded initials it is
"Sir Chandrasekhara VenkataRaman"
- Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan - The Nobel laureate in Chemistry 2009.

Myself, Venkataraman Karthikeyan [With expanded Initials of my dad Sri.P.Venkataraman], who is fortunate enough to take a snap with Dr.Venkataraman Ramakrishnan.

Small 'a' ?

I really wonder how children easily grasp things very quickly. It was party time for Jaidev yet again. Party time meaning he slept only at 11:30 PM last night. I believe he enjoys melody songs very much. He slept listening to the song "Athindhom" from the movie Chandramuki.

Jaidev woke up at 9:00 AM today. He started with the usual tone inquiring about his Thatha. Appa has reached Erode by the time I write this blog. J was glancing at the ABC book and suddenly on seeing the lower case 'a' he said "small a". We were amazed at the way he casually said that. I 'think' children need to be moulded between the age 1-5 not by rushing them to play school or teaching them stuff. J creates a perfect routine for himself. He sets up his own timetable for everything. Timesharing in operating systems are not only for machines but best examples are children on how they time slice their time in the activities they like. We always say that we are bored and kill time by doing nothing. We should all learn from the little ones in our own family how they utilize the time and keep everyone happy.

Team Work

I'm a firm believer of team work. Classic example is the 1990 German team which won the soccer world cup. There were no all time greats in that team. But they were able to win the world cup because of one single reason "Team Work" lead by a great coach Franz Beckenbauer. In software paradigms, there may be new jargons (agile, scrum, extreme, pair blah, blah..[could there be one programming model [husband and wife??]) but the underlying principle is simple. Work as a team but it doesn't mean people can piggy back on people who work . A gyan cannot be completed with a comparative story with ANTS. It is not Another Neat Tool (ANT) but real ants. You know what? I just googled for the word ant in the anticipation of getting a result for the insect ant. Alas again I get a computer tool called "ANT" from Apache which I use day-in-day out. Are search engines only for programmers? I think it is time to sleep. Taking off tomorrow to office as Appa is travelling to Salem and Erode.

Sri Sowdamman

Lord Ganeshaya Namaha ! This is my first blog. There is a saying in Hindu mythology that we should start any good thing with a salutation to God Almighty. I'm no different and I submit my first blog to God Almighty.