How to learn Data Science? How to become a Data Scientist?

My journey has been full of turbulence, till now.

I was into a Field Sales profile earlier.
Based on my analysis of upcoming trends and technologies coupled with my business acumen, after carefully assessing for 2 years I decided I will switch to Data Science as D. S was going to have an important part to play in business decisions in the coming decades, I believed.

Now the path…

I first learnt the theory. I practised it. R programming, Statistics is what took a lot of time for me to absorb.

Though I had studied from colleges which are amongst the best in India - B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from NIT SURAT (2011 passout) & MBA in Marketing from K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management and Research(2012-2014), I did not have any coding background. It was all about perseverance and not giving up. I joined online course as well. But these money churning institutes can never satiate/quench the thirst of a seeker of knowledge.

I was based out of Mumbai, I moved to Gurgaon - a hub of startups, in hope of getting a break in D. S. I took up Python to add to my skill sets.

No one was willing to invest in a candidate who had only theoretical knowledge of Data Science and Coding. Whether it was during interviews or searching for jobs on job portals, they all needed candidates with minimum 2 years experience. If you browse for jobs with designation of Data Scientist on your favorite portal you will find that an overwhelming majority of the job openings would need you, a Data Scientist, to have an experience of at least 2 years.

Hence I took up a job in a startup. My principal KRA there was to develop content and take care of social media platforms. I continued in the same profile for 1 quarter. After I proved myself, I have started working on live data, learning from existing Data Science team. Though its a small team with not a lot to do, but at least the transition has started.

The point you need to keep in mind when making a switch is, to be ready to compromise on package and profile for a while if you see a possibility of a gradual transition to your desired role. Be ready to move from one city to another. Maybe even switch countries.

The endeavours must not stop. Its always good to keep upgrading and up skilling yourself. Be on the look out for opportunities. Knowledge of live projects, making the existing data talk(understanding and interpreting the data for others), getting a solution for an existing problem, making predictions about trends, sales, purchase, production etc is a mandate for a Data scientist. Pick them up either by freelancing, volunteering to work for a start up free of cost with their Data science team, putting more effort in terms of work and number of hours in your current company even though you might be working in a different profile.

Good luck!

Asaram Bapu News - Dr. Subramanian Swamy says he is innocent and Not Guilty. Why? What's the truth?

Asaram Bapu Latest News

Now who exactly is Dr. Subramanian Swamy? Dr. Swamy was the one who denied Sonia Gandhi the PM seat in 2004. Sonia had staked her claim to the P.M seat after UPA won the 2004 elections in India. One letter from Dr. Swamy to the then President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, deprived Sonia of her dream to be the P.M of India.

Go through this video link to find out how events unfolded that day in Dr. Swamy’s words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GyT9dqHxLk

Why can Rahul Gandhi not be the P.M of India? By law, according to the Indian constitution, this is also explained by Dr. Swamy in the following video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GyT9dqHxLk

Dr. Subramanian Swamy is considered by a vast majority of people as the greatest anti-corruption, patriotic, nationalist Hindutva crusader of the contemporary era. He has a PhD from Harvard University. By education he is an Economist, by profession according to the recent statistics, he is a lawyer. He has defeated the best lawyers of the country, including Ram Jethmalani who was at his peak at that time.

He won a case against IIT Delhi & now IIT Delhi has to pay INR 40,00,000/- to Swamy as compensation.

Dr. Swamy was the whistleblower in 2G scam case. He started the downfall of UPA, by getting incriminating evidences against the top bosses in Congress and starting courtroom proceedings against them. Thus he paved the way for the victory of BJP in 2014. The National Herald scam among many other high profile scams were unearthed by him.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy is entirely responsible for saving the Ramsetu from being blown up.

What is Ram Setu? 
It is believed to be the same bridge built by the Vanara Sena to help Lord Ram reach Sri-Lanka during Ramayana era. The carbon dating of the stones used in the bridge’s structure prove that the age of the stones to match up with the time when Ramayana was unfolding, according to our scriptures.

Besides it has been firmly established by the scientific researches that the Ram Setu is man-made. The UPA government, led by Sonia Gandhi, had decided to blow up the Ram Setu citing a short route for passage of ships.

He has taken up the case of construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Though he has not been getting any help from the current BJP government. He got No help from BJP for either the Ram Mandir case or the Ram Setu case.

Dr. Swamy has been very vocal in his support for the Saint Asaram Bapu. No one doubts Dr. Swamy’s patriotism, his pro nation and pro-Hindutva stand. But what makes a Harvard pass-out, the most feared anti-corruption & Hindutva crusader of our times stand firmly in support of Asaramji Bapu who is allegedly accused of misconduct by a girl?

Hear it in his words in this video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YegncME19aU

Dr. Swamy whose plausibility in deciphering criminal cases cannot be questioned. He had spotted those scams worth lakhs of crores which required high level of intellectual ability and calibre to understand the intricacies and would have probably gone unnoticed if Dr. Swamy would not have brought those cases into the limelight.

Why is Dr. Subramanian Swamy defending Asaram Bapu? According to Dr. Swamy, Saint Asaram Bapu was opposing Sonia Gandhi’s clandestine agenda of converting gullible Indians into Christians. Hence allegedly, first Sonia Gandhi got a law made, POCSO(Prevention Of Children from Sexual Offences), specially to implicate Asaram Bapu & then the conspiracy was hatched. It would be prudent to note the POCSO law was enacted in 2012 & Asaram Bapu was jailed after some time using this law.

What’s the missionaries and Asaram Bapu connection? First let’s understand how these missionaries work. The modus operandi of conversion by the Christian missionaries is explained… The neglected poor tribal areas are normally the prime targets of these missionaries, though they are very active and work silently in metro cities as well.

The Christian missionaries reach these tribal areas, in the the schools of the tribal areas as well as cities, gram panchayat meetings etc, and draw two images on a black board. One image is of a monkey and the other is of a donkey. They crack jokes on both the animals. Make everyone laugh. After that they say some of you fools believe one of these animals is a God.

Obviously they are talking about Lord Hanuman. They plant the seeds of doubt in young vulnerable and sometimes less educated elders. This is just one of the many examples these Xtian missionaries use. They then use comebacks like “Lord Hanuman is a monkey, how can a monkey be God?

Lord Krishna had more than 16000 wives, how is that possible? Lord Rama could not protect his own wife, how can he be God? Ramsetu is made up of stones, what’s the scientific proof that it was made by your Lord Ram’s monkeys and the stones floated just because Ram was written on them? Then they write Ram on a stone, throw it in water. The stone sinks.

Then they declare, see whatever you have heard till now is all lie. Stones don’t float in water. Scientifically it is not possible. Your scriptures are full of lies. You want to get rid of poverty, get a job, want food, clothes, footwear, want to get married etc?

Come, take refuge with Jesus-the son of God. He will give you shelter.
You will be absolved of all your previous sins & will get a good life. On getting converted, the tribals used to instantly get a bag of rice, slippers, clothes etc whatever they needed most at that hour.

The poor, simple people did not ask for a scientific proof from the Christian missionaries about how Jesus was born to a virgin? As scientifically a virgin cannot get pregnant. Anyways…

Asaram Bapu had stopped these mass conversions & was educating the Indian population via his religious discourses. He was getting a sense of pride ingrained in the Indian population for Sanatan Dharma.

Thanks to the advent & introduction of secularism by Nehru into the Indian culture, the Indians had become directionless & confused about their religious identity. Asaram Bapu allegedly enshrined the values of the great Indian culture & it’s rich heritage among people of all age, gender, caste, social status.

His satsang(religious discourses) became immensely popular & he has approx 10 crore(100 million)followers(sadhaks). Such a staggering number of followers which kept increasing with every religious discourse given every day posed a great threat to the existence of Sonia Gandhi & her secret mission of conversion, in India.

Thus a conspiracy was hatched by Sonia Gandhi, as Congress was in power at that time, with the help of Vatican which has deep pockets.

Character assasination of Asaram Bapu was done by the media channels successfully.

Most of the media channels are owned by foreigners, thus it was easy to get them in the loop as Hindu culture is alien to them hence Hindu culture/Saint bashing would only mean their TRP ratings would shoot up and nothing would be lost for them.

Media has, without incertitude, done a pretty good job as they have firmly positioned Asaram Bapu as a rapist from the common man’s perspective. This conspiracy is described by Dr. Swamy in short. Hear it in his own words in this video… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pxDa542Bss

It takes steely nerves & some real spine to back someone against whom such the so called media houses have been campaigning day & night. Very few will have the courage to back their gut feeling, speak out the truth and stand with Asaram Bapu after all the atmosphere that was created by the media houses.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy is known to be fearless. He is feared by the corrupt and the wrong doers. His attitude was exemplified by his stance in Bapu's case. Dr. Swamy’s backing for the Saint has got a lot of people sit up & take notice. How will the Saint Asaram Bapu’s case unfold, who has more than 6 crore disciples, when will the Ram Temple be built, only Lord Ram knows. 

As it is said, “ होइहि सोइ जो राम रचि राखा। को करि तर्क बढ़ावै साखा॥ अस कहि लगे जपन हरिनामा। गईं सती जहँ प्रभु सुखधामा॥”

Let’s wait and watch…

 

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How to reduce stress while travelling to office, daily?

We all want to know how to avoid stress completely OR at least how to reduce stress while traveling to office as it is a daily activity? We have all seen people seemingly racing against time, trying to outpace others not to win some race, but just to reach office on time. Not just have we witnessed others, probably we are bitten by the bug ourselves & we can't seem to get over the early hours' office frenzy ourselves.

How we wish that our lives would progress smoothly like the water which flows in a streamlined manner in a tranquil river! Wish everything was organized! If others follow set rules of getting up on time, follow traffic rules, be empathetic then at least traveling & reaching office could become a  purely mechanical activity totally deprived of stress.

We see people repeatedly taking a glance at their cell phones or watches to get to know what's the time if they are stuck in a traffic jam on the road or in a long queue or while using public transport like the Mumbai local, Best buses, Uber or Ola cabs etc. As if frantically checking on the time would help them reach faster. The number of times you check on how many minutes you have with you to still make it on time will not cut short the distance that you have to travel nor will it free up the traffic congestion. The distance will remain the same.

By repeatedly checking on the time we only subject ourselves to undue stress. As pointed out earlier, checking on your wristwatch will not cut down on the distance that you have to still travel, neither will it free up the traffic congestion, nor would you want to jeopardize your safety by increasing your speed beyond the safe limits because trust me, it is not worth it! I really want to emphasize on these points hence on purpose I have repeated them.

Let's look at the solution.

1) First thing- Just STOP CHECKING on the TIME. My personal experience is whether I am late or early, I always make it a point to never check on the time till I have reached office. I don't even take calls while traveling. The calls could be personal or official, I don't answer phone calls before reaching my destination. Just don't pull out your phones to find out how much more time you have to make it on time as it only helps to build anxiety. It's been pointed out multiple times earlier, keeping a tab on time does not help. At most what will happen? You will only be late, that is all! It is not going to be the end of the world! Even if you don't reach office today at all, life in this world would still go on!

Rather than worrying, focus on the journey. Enjoy the commute. Focus on your mental peace, try to be calm & composed. Those who are spiritual can chant names of their God whom they believe in. Others can listen to some music or focus on anything constructive like go through the course contents of that course you have opted for, to upgrade yourself. Try to add value to your persona rather than fretting & cribbing about the unorganized world around you! It helps.

2) Get up Early! Yes, that's actually a solution! Rather than waking up & still lying in bed just because you want to somehow manage to sleep for a few more minutes, jump out of the bed. If you wake up early morning, you will realize that you have got such a lot of time for yourself.

People who get up late, are playing the catching up game the whole day where they try to catch up with time or try to catch up with people who have got up from sleep before them!

Try these 2 suggestions:-
Don't check your phone or watch to find out what's the time when you are on your way to office & Get up Early!

They really work. It's working well for me & my friends!

Dubai Tourism. Should you opt for a Dubai Tour Package or not?

Dubai Tourism

For a Dubai Tour, most of the people will opt for a Dubai Tourism Package via a local travel agency. If you ask Indians what is their dream destination or if given a chance which country would they definitely want to see in their lifetime Dubai is one place which will figure in the list of at least
6 out of every 10 people you will come across. That's the reason first timers want everything planned by people who have been organizing tours & don't want to risk their enjoyment while on tour with the anxiety of planning, interacting and fixing deals/negotiating with foreigners in an alien territory.

A lot of people also have the misconception that a Dubai Tour Package would be very expensive, beyond their budget. However this is quite contrary to the factual reality.

Dubai is a dream destination- this fact is contributed to by the promotions it gets from our very own Bollywood movies. The most recent movie "Baby" featuring Akshay Kumar & Rana Daggubati was shot extensively in Dubai. Among the 'Old is Gold' category movies, Sanjay Dutt's Naam was shot in Dubai. These movies & a lot of other movies have been shot in and around Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab etc hence these locations have shot into prominence.

Most of the tourists have Dubai Aquarium, Desert Safari, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina & Burj Al Arab at the top of their list of places to visit.

Burj Khalifa was earlier known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010. It is one of the most wonderful and exotic locations. It has the honor of being the tallest skyscraper in the world. At 829 meters, the peak of Burj Khalifa provides you with a fantastic view of it's magnificent & clean surroundings. It has 124 floors, 57 elevators, and 8 escalators. Witnessing the whole city from
the top is a once in a lifetime opportunity. From the top, you get a bird's eye view of the whole of Dubai which is a sight to behold, a memory which you would want to cherish for the rest of your life.

Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel which is amongst the 'not to miss' list of tourists. The unique part about this hotel is that apart from it being a luxury hotel it has been built on an artificial island which
was specially constructed only to lay the foundation to set up this majestic hotel which was named as Burj Al Arab. It is located at an approximate distance of 280 meters from Jumeirah beach. If you will
look at the hotel from a distance, it will look like a ship. The fact that a small island makes up the base & some of the world famous genius architects have gotten together to demonstrated their skills in full glory in developing a structure which resembles the sails of a ship, is a sight that everyone who visits Dubai wants to witness without fail. These places in Dubai provide a soothing & relaxing experience to one's eyes as well as the brain.

How to make your Girl happy? How to go for shopping with your GF?

How to make your GF/Wife feel that you have been with her, even mentally, while she was shopping or while she was trying various outfits to finalize that one outfit she is gonna wear  for the party at the weekend?

Visualize this scene...

Girlfriend- Which one is better? This one or that earlier one?

Boyfriend- *has a blank mind but gives her a deep look. Kind of thinking hard look*(In reality he did not even hear her question. Was checking Rohit Sharma's strike rate after hitting 200 in ODI against Australia on  Cricinfo*

Girlfriend- Tell me what do you think?
BF-*Now with a blank mind he has a blank look*

GF- What are you thinking about so deeply? This is not looking good, no?
BF- *she is holding a dress, must be asking about the dress* I was thinking what should be added to this outfit to make you look more stunning? Just change of colour, probably more dark?(Wowww! such a life saving, pragmatic monologue)

GF- Even I was thinking that it is making me look fat. See, almost like I have a tummy *looks at her reflection in mirror*.
BF- That's what I was thinking, was searching for words to express my thoughts.

GF-Crimson red & scarlet red make me look jaded as well. Brick red always makes me stand out in the crowd
BF- Huhhh! Red has so many variations?

*Another shop*

GF- These curtains will look good in my room. Walls are of grey colour, doors have a dark coffee colour, study table has pink cloth laid over it & ceiling is white. Will Magenta be fine? Or I think the curtains should also be of grey colour, what do you say?
BF- *Bloody hell! So many things need to be taken into consideration to decide the colour of curtains?* I think this dark one will be good because it will give a soothing effect(safe option- pick a colour giving any vague reason that you can think of)

GF- You mean magenta? No yaar, dark colour will absorb more light. Not good for my room. Grey colour curtains will look good.
BF- Right & you even have a grey T-Shirt!

GF- Wowww! You remember that T-Shirt? *grins* I no longer wear it after that day.

The point is your girl/lady will invariably give you the straight answer or at least drop hints in the conversation unknowingly herself ,as to what option she wants you to choose... Be on the look out for clues in her monologues. You are just loitering along with her while she does some meaningful shopping(from her perspective) to make her feel secure & give her company. It's imperative to make her feel that the choices she makes are the choices she arrives at after some really deep intellectual analysis.

Opportunist - Naam Hai Siddhu! Siddhu snubbed by Imran Khan! What's wrong with Siddhu?

In Hindi there is an adage which goes like "Bin Pendi ka lota". Google.com suggests its English equivalent as "Rolling stone" in some places. The message the Hindi adage conveys is having no inclinations, preferences or leanings. The Hindi adage uses analogy of a rounded vessel which is used to pour water. Since the vessel is absolutely rounded hence when it is left to roll on the ground freely, it can roll in any direction. Sometimes the 'lota' or vessel will lean or move to the left and sometimes to the right. You can neither predict in which direction it will turn nor you can explain or understand why it turned in that specific direction.

If we talk about human equivalents of "Bin pendi ka lota" one might be able to think of a lot of generic examples from history, past, personal experiences etc. However, if you talk about the contemporary scenario, one individual has really caught everyone's attention. He might even leave the 'lota' embarrassed & red-faced. The 'lota' could surrender by putting down its weapons saying "Mr. Navjot Singh Siddhu, you are better than me at MY art." But how come? From where did you pick these skills up, Mr. Siddhu?

Or is it just that you are making your moves with a clandestine agenda up your sleeve?

Siddhu has made a paradigm shift in his loyalties. His switch in sides from BJP(Bharatiya janata Party) to Congress, from being pro BJP, to becoming intensely anti-Modi, anti-BJP, pro-Congress, pro-Sonia Gandhi has zapped even the apolitical individuals & has forced them to sit up and take notice. Siddhu's switch in loyalties is so drastic that he has been absolutely condescending in addressing or talking about BJP & PM Narendra Modi. Images of him touching the feet of Sonia Gandhi have gone viral. No one has a clue as to what is the exact reason...

There was some disagreement earlier between Siddhu & BJP party members because of some issue. It pissed Siddhu off so much that he quit BJP. He was dilly-dallying with the idea of joining AAP(Aam Aadmi Party) or even floating his own party. He took a while to decide & to everyone's surprise, he joined the Indian National Congress(INC) Party. 

After some introspection, his recently developed vocabulary & oratory skills, recalling his wisecracks which he used to come up with in commentary during cricket matches or serials like The Kapil Sharma show etc one's mind refuses to believe that Siddhu's decision to join INC is an imbecile decision. This could actually be a very well thought out decision. Considering the fact that Congress Party is absolutely deprived of balanced orators who can speak with a rich blend of knowledge coupled with recent facts and statistics it could be the most shrewd & tactical decision made by someone in recent times.

We have all heard that when you need to prove yourself, it is prudent for you, to line up among the fools. It becomes easy for you to make a mark & impress people. With the Congress party having a lot of tainted leaders like Shashi Tharoor(suspected of killing his own wife) & the current 'party president' Rahul Gandhi allegedly 'Raul Vinci'  managing to reveal his 'dementia' every time he opens his mouth, Rahul Gandhi & Sonia Gandhi just managing to get bail & several  more cases of corruption lined up against them, Siddhu could turn out to be the show stopper for Congress.

He could turn out to be the standout star performer in the run-up to 2019 elections. Apart from his switch in loyalties, if you look at Siddhu's credentials everything seems to be right about him. From lofting Shane Warne for sixes at will, being a celebrated cricketer, to wielding his willow at Aamir Sohail at Sharjah during an ODI(in which india had scored beyond 300 & he himself had scored a century) & scaring the daylights out from him, his self professed meditation routine & his seemingly unique oratory skills, Siddhu has a large fan following. He might have lost some followers or left a lot of them bemused by his switch from BJP to Congress. His magnanimously criticized, (in)famous visit to Pakistan to witness Imran Khan's swearing-in as the Prime Minister has conveyed the message that he will do what he feels is justified. Whatever was the reason which made him visit Pakistan, though he was snubbed by Imran Khan & not given importance, he has created an impact on the minds of people back home. Congress might increase his workload in the coming elections.

But he could be having something really big in his mind. If he sustains the uniqueness in his speeches which was displayed during his TV stints on commentary & comedy shows, he would easily be a big crowd pulling factor for Congress. Easier for him to shine amongst the allegedly tainted & corrupt, scam weary leaders. He could be shooting for something huge & he wants to reach there in double quick time? CM seat from Punjab, is that what you are eyeing Mr. Navjot Singh Siddhu? Maybe...

What do you mean by Good Communication Skills? How to speak well?

We have all heard this a lot of times - "xyz has good communication skills", "you need to be good in communication skills to be successful", "communication skills xyz..." etc. Lot of people move around with misconceptions regarding communication skills.

It is imperative to first understand what exactly is the meaning of Communication Skills? Good or Bad, we can decide later. 

Communication Skills means, the person should be able to express his ideas clearly providing cogent arguments. It does not really matter what language he uses. He could be using a mix of 2 languages for eg English & Hindi, while speaking. But if he is able to establish a connection with the listener & can address the concerns/points of skepticism/disagreement raised in the conversation he can be considered good. If the speaker gets the listener on-board or the listener completely or even partially agrees to him, though he might be having a diametrically opposite view to that of the speaker, you can conclude that the speaker has good communication skills. 

A person who has good communication skills will be able to get people to endorse his views though he may be speaking in Hindi or Marathi or Gujarati... He can make people make a paradigm shift in their ideologies because he conveys the message clearly & pinpoints the incorrectness in their thoughts, beliefs or analysis. We have all seen the most polished speaker being a spectator while the one who was not as polished being hailed as a good communicator. Empathy plays an important role in communication.

For good communication skills, the ideas need to be relayed clearly by the speaker & at the same time he needs to be a good listener so that he is always connected to the responses and addresses them in a lucid fashion.

A lot of people live under the delusion that if someone is able to speak English well without using any fillers(using 'umm', 'a' etc sounds when getting stuck) he/she has exceptional communication skills. People do use fillers while speaking. The use of fillers could be to either buy time to streamline the thoughts that need to be expressed or simply because they have an underdeveloped vocabulary which does not equip them to speak in a flow though they could be equipped with a smooth flow of thoughts. They could be searching for words, mentally, to express themselves lucidly.

Of course use of fillers may not be appreciated by most of the listeners as fillers prove to be a distraction to most people & they need to focus more to comprehend in totality the excerpts of the conversation. It is possible to eliminate the use of fillers by practice. But even people who use fillers while speaking are sometimes found to be exceptional communicators. The yardstick being they easily get people to support their views or in their endeavors.  

So, coming back, if someone speaks impeccable English & sounds polished, it would not be appropriate to label that individual as someone who has exceptional communication skills just because of his speaking skills. Indians, specially those from the rural areas do seem to get captivated by anyone who can express himself in English. We can conclude that a person who is good in English can be termed as a polished speaker or a good orator. A good communicator will express himself clearly & be empathetic. A lot of people will introspect & change their thought process or their respective stands after introspection after listening to him. 

I would strongly recommend that one must not get obsessed by someone's mastery over a foreign language.