Akash Xavier

How staying away from the computer helped me

My first thought when mom forced me on a trip to to a pilgrimage with her was “What the hell am I gonna do there?” But the week long trip helped me plan a lot of things, coz I fell sick and was mostly resting. For the first time I was planning things before-hand. I had no access to a computer, so all I could do was just think and try out snippets of code on PyS60 on my N70 phone (situation got worse when I was out of network for 3 days, therefore ridding me of GPRS and hence the Python docs online). The only thing I could refer was the PyS60 reference docs which I had in my phone and some saved doc pages on Opera Mini.

I tried new stuff and read a lot about Bluetooth and socket programming in Python. The moment I got back home, I was not only full of new ideas, but also clear plans on how to execute them module-by-module including the logic. Code began to flow from my finger tips like water from a fountain. I never had to think again about the logic. My text tditor (I use Ped) on phone had all the logic I needed for the app. I was just typing on the go.

A few days away from my computer gave me a clear picture of the ‘real’ ecosystem and economic state of my country - India. This helped me understand the mindset of the Indian people (read non-hackers). Therefore giving me a clear picture on how I was supposed to market a tech product or service in such a country where every penny counts (Nope! I was never bothered about spending money. The thought that whether I’m spending on the right cause is what worries me). I dropped my idea of buying a new keyboard (musical instrument) which I always wanted to continue learning. I instead have decided to invest more time and money in what is accessible to me among my likes.