Pulse was a monthly newsletter published in Infospectrum Inc., the software company I worked in from 2006 to 2011. As the chief editor of this newsletter, I often participated in conducting interviews of senior managers in the company.
Here's the interview we conducted with my friend, philosopher and guide, Tushar Joshi.
• Celebrity: Tushar Joshi
• Reporters: Raghunath Soman, Chandrakant Raju
• Date: 23rd March 2008
Tell us something about your favourites.
My favourite book would be 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, because unlike other self-development books written in West, this one talks about building one’s character first.
Other one is Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I like hard work pictured in that book with character of Howard Rock, which has been my own philosophy.
I watch all sorts of movies, but have a special liking for art films, esp. the ones that show simple people, such as movies of Amol Palekar, Smita Patil. I love watching movies with epic proportions. If I ever get around to building a library, I would collect movies like Patriot, Gladiator, Castaway, etc..
Favourite actors.. Raj Kapoor, and Aamir Khan from the Khan clan.
Favourite actress is Rekha esp. from her Silsila days. And of course I must mention Amitabh Bacchan… He is in a class of his own! My favourite movie of Amitabh Bachchan is Main Azad Hoon. It depicts transformation of an ordinary person into an extra-ordinary man. Favourite food… biryani!
Tushar does not know ANYTHING about cricket. He did not know why Nagpur was celebrating when India won T20 world cup.
You cooked for your team-mates during your Norway visit…
Yes, I can cook quite a few dishes pulav, anda-burji and some Chinese stuff.
How do you relax?
I read books. Nowadays, a major pastime is surfing the net and reading blogs, articles and E-books. Our family often goes for long drives, and movies. Eating pani puri together is something that we enjoy the most.
Tushar was a power lifter. He considers his shift from a trainer profile to IT professional as ‘a wild animal getting domesticated’
One thing that you like about yourself? One thing you wish to change?
Well, I think I can explain things in an easy to understand way, that is to say, I am a good teacher. Of course, my students may have some other opinions.
One thing I would like to change… well, I find it very difficult to say “No”. It so happens many a times that I agree to do something to avoid bitterness, but when I cannot make it due to lack of time, it becomes even more uglier . So I have been trying to get myself say “No” at the right time to avoid further bitterness.
Working as a senior technology manager in a highly complex project, writing so many blogs, and poems… Taking part in many social activities… how do you manage all this?
The answer would be in two parts:
First n foremost, we must get our priorities right. If I need to do something that will make me a better person, I must do it, no matter what.
And secondly, I understand that everything comes at a cost… I must say my family has been paying the cost for my so many activities I owe the time I spent on writing blogs and articles to my family. It is because of their understanding and support that I can do all this. The time that I spend in coding or writing at home is the time I take away from being with them. But that is the price we have to pay. I will not say I am making a compromise with the family time, we sit together and decide our priorities and then the time spent is after thorough discussion and our own decision so it becomes investment and not compromise.
Tushar writes in blogs regularly. Just search by "Tushar Joshi" in Google and the query will return a number of hits about him. Internet is almost like an oxygen for him. Tushar's ORKUT profile has highest number of testimonials that we have come across.
Writing a piece of code and writing a paragraph of article or a stanza of poem… How do you compare these? Do they originate from the same creative source?
A piece of code that works; a well-written article or a beautiful poem…All three gives me happiness; irrespective of whether there are other people to appreciate or not. Appreciation from others is an added bonus! Such creative activities save us from making a machine out of ourselves.
People who have influenced you?
The list ought to begin with Swami Vivekananda. I feel inspired by his sense of curiosity, his unquenchable thirst to find out answers…
I admire the devotion of Baba Amte, and the bare honesty of Mahatma Gandhi. George Washington Carver, the Negro scientist who did pioneering research in agricultural in spite of heavy odd is another person I admire.
In personal life, if there is one person I can name it would be Dr Kishore Mahabal, who is a reader at Nagpur University. I am influenced by his style of asking thought-provoking questions and leaving the other person to find out the answers for themselves. Over the years, I find I have ingrained a bit of his style in myself.
Tushar has been a very active contributor to Vivekanand Kendra. He hates being alone and is at his best being in crowd. He has a huge fan-following of his students.Best pals at IIPL?
There are many friends at IIPL. I will mention only them whom I have seen closely. Harshawardhan Pandit & Dr Saurabh Sethia… both these have been my close pals, as well as professional colleagues.
Another person I appreciate is Milind Tapas… very practical when it comes to work! These people have exhibited trait of never making a compromise on quality and they have been delivering consistently against heavy odds.
In your Infospectrum blog, you have mentioned about your luncheon meetings…
Jay, our CEO, has time and again emphasized the importance of earning our pay-check, and I agree with him. Everything that does not relate to end-deliverables finds no place in our office-hours. Harsh, Saurabh and I meet sometimes at lunch and discuss about our own passions, technologies or current events.
Tushar perhaps has the highest number of certifications in IIPL. He is expert in Java, PHP, mysql, system programming, designing, Linux, C++, VC++…
At this point, Mrs. Seema Tushar Joshi, made an entrance with a tray of tea-cups and biscuits, and we seized this opportunity to ask her a few questions…
How is to be wife of someone like Tushar who is always busy with his work and other creative pursuits?
Before we got married, he had told me, “See, I am already married…. to computers! My work would always be my top priority.” So, in a way, I knew what I was getting into … But I must say that he has managed the balance quite well. Whenever required, he always manages to steal some time from office work he is doing at home, for us.
Tushar is an excellent poet and is equally versatile in Marathi and Hindi. His poem collections date back right to his school days. These poems are on varied subjects, ranging from romantic songs to philosophical poems. You can see reflection of Tushar and his surroundings in these poems.Which of his dishes do you like?
Maggie… he has a unique method of preparing it, with a couple of chilies thrown in, which makes its taste special!
Does he remember your birthdays?
Oh yes! I must say he is quite particular in this regard. In fact, there was a time when he used to prepare hand-made cards and give them to the birthday boy/girl in person, but nowadays, a phone-call is all that he can make, and he never misses that.
Does he take homework of the kids?
By the time Tushar comes home, the kids hardly have time to talk with him. So whatever time he spends with them in late evening is all playtime with the kids.
Tushar: My daughters are very young as of now, and their homework, is completely managed by Seema. I may get more active at a later stage, as they grow up, for taking their homework.
Thank you, Seema-taai…
Tushar, What do you like about IIPL?
We experience a true flat hierarchy at IIPL. The top management, right from CEO is accessible to every one of us, irrespective of whether one is project-manager or a fresher. Another good thing is, we still have a sense of being in a big, huge family… we have not turned ourselves into a factory.
You have been on Editorial board of Pulse before disengaging voluntarily due to work-pressures. How do you feel about the way Pulse has developed? Any ideas, suggestions for improvement?
Pulse has been doing well. It has some good sections that I always look forward to.
One thing I wish to mention is about marketing the Pulse. You need to make it more people-oriented so that each and every employee feels inclined to read it.
Tushar has a huge internet presence. The list below is just indicative of his prowess in cyber-space, and gives an insight into the many facets of his personality.
Technical articles:
http://omitsoft.blogspot.com/
http://netbeanside61.blogspot.com/
General Blogs:
http://zdirection.blogspot.com/
http://tusharvjoshi.blogspot.com/
Photo album:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tusharvjoshi/
Poems:
http://shabdachitra.blogspot.com/
http://yetaajaataa.blogspot.com/
http://anuwaad.blogspot.com/
