My Introduction to Information Technology

I am an avid learner and my interest lies in grappling with underlying concepts. Over the years, I have cultivated a state of mind that is receptive to any form of knowledge and that quickly recognizes the universal behind the particular. I reach for the comfort of generalization rather than labouring under details. I enjoy abstract flights that take innumerable facts in their stride and offer a last word on their existence. I developed a natural taste for philosophy as it perfectly answered my aptitude. I couldn't relish fiction that hangs around characters to unfold the theme. 

During my school days, the chapters in the text-book ended with a summary that read 'know to learn', and it never appealed to me. I was happy knowing rather than learning things. This attitude continued throughout my engineering. I did extremely well in my practicals and viva voce as the questions asked were mostly conceptual. I remember my digital electronics viva in which I was asked questions on a chapter that's generally left out by all students - logic families. And, my entire viva was from that one chapter. It was one of the days when my intelligence and intuition were at their peak. I was asked to describe the internal circuitry of an inverter. I had no answer to it till then. Common Emitter Configuration that gave 180 degree phase shift, was my spontaneous reply. Later, I was asked to relate the input and output pins of the AND gate with the internal circuitry and I also answered it correctly. That viva was a reward to my conceptual approach although I failed in that paper twice in the written exam! 

The learning aspect involved in the knowledge process was puny before my eyes. It is a price that a mind pays to move from the known to the unknown, I thought. This attitude had its own disadvantages. This is what made me a jack of all traits and a master of none. I was a misfit in the world which paid great attention to details. My aversion for technology pushed me into a dark age. And, my current job exposed my antiquated beliefs much to my embarrassment. 

I was introduced to blogging and my creativity received a lift. I was made aware of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), RSS Feeds, networking sites, etc., A whole new world opened to me and I regretted turning my back to the information technology revolution. I was amazed at the well-laid structure of a world, whose developments do not reach over many past decades, a world that recognizes no boundaries. A world that is filled with its own adventures and thrills. A world that has brought alive the myths through firewalls, the wizardry through search engines and a virtual reality through online presence. It is indeed an intriguing world out there! 

This job taught me that excellence is in details. Each day was a peep into a world that I was grossly ignorant of. I felt like a Rip Van Winkle waking up to a totally new world that has redefined its progress. A world that has moved from harnessing technology to exploit material resources to technology focussed on harvesting information. The all-pervading spirit of information manifested through the body of a computer. And, pretty soon, humanity will conceive a digital scheme in its origin with God holding the source code to the dynamic pages of our lives.