It happened some time ago. I was bit by the programming language bug. I am unable to recall how it happened or what led to it, but I suddenly got curious to know how programming languages worked and all I know was that I was hooked into the idea of creating my own programming language.
\nI think I was inspired by the Nim programming language. I was amazed at the fact that an "efficient, expressive, elegant" systems programming language could exist that has a simple syntax and is shallow enough for a beginner and deep enough for a systems engineer. A couple of years ago, someone advised me to embark on creating a toy programming language. I did not see the utility then. Now, I am convinced that every developer ought to attempt to create a tiny programming language given the learning it provides. So, I think I have to create many small languages and related tools before I create my ultimate final product of a statically and strongly typed, ahead-of-time compiled, general purpose, multi-paradigm programming language that allows for manual memory management and pointer arithmetic (such a newbie idea).
\nThe whole reason I am writing this article is to have a public accountability of sorts so that I won't digress from my goal. That said, I will be posting regular updates and articles related to my endeavour.
\n", "date_published": "2023-12-26T00:00:00Z" } , { "id": "https://undefined.pyfy.ch/blog/some-rules-on-how-to-destroy-the-minds-and-lives-of-young-lawyers-in-india/", "url": "https://undefined.pyfy.ch/blog/some-rules-on-how-to-destroy-the-minds-and-lives-of-young-lawyers-in-india/", "title": "Some Rules On How To Destroy The Minds (And Lives) Of Young Lawyers In India", "content_html": "Hi there! At absolutely no cost at all, you can learn some rules on how you can destroy the minds and (consequently) the lives of young lawyers in India. This guide was prepared from the author's exposure and experience in the legal fraternity. So, the advise in this guide should work well. Read on to gain wisdom!
\nDefinitions:
\nThis is the definitions clause for this guide. Each definition may or may not carry the dictionary definition of the word being defined.\nLawyers: In this guide, the word "lawyers" means "litigation lawyers"; not lawyers who engage only in transactions and consulting. And it definitely does not include "teachers and judges". The excluded categories aforementioned are sometimes, the result of destroyed lives of lawyers.
\n\n\nMind: You know; that thing a lawyer actually needs, which you are intending to destroy.
\n
Lives: This word does not mean to include the economical status of a lawyer. So, when using the word "lives" the guide is figuratively referring to the word "souls".
\nIndia: The largest democratic country in the world.
\nDestroy: This word can also mean, depending on the context, enslave, numb, and, cheat. The idea is to prevent the young lawyer from becoming a noble and honest lawyer.
\nRule 1: Initiate the destruction process when they are young.
\nThis works especially well, if you are a parent or a relative of the young lawyer. If you have already failed in convincing your child or relative to refrain from taking up a profession in law, you can still tweak his or her choices of legal careers. Constantly ask them \"is there any scope for the field you have chosen?\" This works in almost all situations. Or this can be rephrased into the conservative Indian uncle's question, \"ethra kittum? (how much will you get?)\" To the above, add constant nudges to take up \"corporate law\" (because it is the only area of law that actually can pay your bills), prepare for judicial exams, take IAS after LLB (\"because there is no powerful creature than a bureaucrat who knows the law\"), take MBA after LLB (\"because there is no powerful creature than a businessman who knows the law\"). Basically, teach them to crave for money, power, success, and fame; ruin will follow.Rule 2: Get them admitted to a \"good\" law college (aka \"school\").
With the relaxation of the Bar Council's guidelines and state policies, there are law schools popping up like mushrooms (did you know that mushrooms are actually fungi and only a few varieties are edible?). Choose the \"best one\" with the highest \"placement rate\", so that you need not worry about idealistic professors or classmates brainwashing the young lawyer to take up just or public interest causes or, the worst of all, \"litigation\".
Rule 3: Educate them about the only road to salvation: exams.
Teach them that there are actually a variety of exams that are available to choose from for the young lawyer. A few examples are, bank exams (because there is no powerful creature than a bank manager who knows the law), judicial exams (because litigation lawyers won't get marriage proposals), civil service exams (because that's the only exam you can spend years preparing for without having your kith and kin judge you for your incompetence), and the greatest them of all, state PSC exams (because that is the last resort)! This rule can be executed from day 0 of law college (day 0 refers to the admission interview day) till the young lawyer reaches the point of no attempts left (age 35 in some cases). Do not lose hope if you are an experienced lawyer and you see a young lawyer who has started appearing in courts. Take them aside during breaks and constantly \"motivate\" them to save themselves and get out of litigation as early as they can.
Rule 4: Constantly remind them to save the existence of the human race through marriage.
Getting married is a necessity for all humans. Inculcate the idea in young lawyers that litigation lawyers won't get spouses and that relatives won't support any family who decides to marry off their child to a litigation lawyer. This will scare them more than economical challenges
Rule 5: Starve them.
Do not pay young lawyers adequate compensation for the work they do for you because when you were a young lawyer you received the same kind of pittance you are paying them. It doesn't matter if they are not from a privileged family like yours. Just starve them and force them to sell their souls for money. This will trigger them to ask additional commission from clients, engage in champerty, and chase ambulances (now chasing is easier with Google Maps).
Rule 6: Teach them to overcharge clients or else engage in predatory pricing.
Nothing depresses a client more than a lawyer charging an arbitrary fee out of the blue. Teach the young lawyer to refrain from setting a fixed fee beforehand but charge arbitrarily after an appearance or the filing of a petition. If this doesn't work, use methods of predatory pricing to hold on to clients. Use this rule depending on the context. You don't want to accidentally quote a fair price to a client willing to overpay.
Rule 7: Remind them that, if the court they are appearing in regularly does not have air conditioning, then it is not a court and there is no justice served there.
Only the Supreme Court, the High Court, and some Tribunals and Commissions who have retired High Court and Supreme Court judges presiding as Chairmen (men who love chairs) are real courts. Never let the young lawyer realise that Tribunals and Commissions are quasi-judicial. Teach them that the other \"courts\" are not really courts. They are only forums. The consumer disputes redressal forum is a real court. Reiterate this idea often into the minds of young lawyers. They will soon move to the above mentioned higher realms of law practice.
Rule 8: Discourage reading.
Shout at them if you find them reading instructions on a bag of potato chips. Remind them of Google Search, LexisNexis, Westlaw, and such and the fact that they deliver snippets of case laws or legal principles which can simply be copied and pasted to legal briefs. Specifically encourage them to ask other lawyers to provide templates which the young lawyer can simply edit and touch up to file in courts. In this way, the young lawyer actually ends up not reading the provision of law concerned and not see the forms in the statute. After all, reading is only for judges.
Rule 9: Teach them that case law trumps legislation.
Never let them read the actual statute (in addition to not letting them read case law). Even then the judge's interpretation in a precedent is the best capsule form of the law they actually need. Discourage original thinking. Never let them touch the statute book other than for arranging them neatly on a bookshelf. Did you know that bare acts can be used as coasters or mouse pads?
Rule 10: Address young lawyers using terms of subservience.
If you have heard of words like \"chhottu\", \"thambi\", and \"aniyan\"; their counterpart in the legal fraternity is \"junior\". This is the word to use to enslave them within your empire (if you are a \"senior\"). I wish that the cheaper words used by the British such as \"door tenants\", and \"squatters\" were used widely in India. Remember that the word \"junior\" is the best way to play \"ammaavan (uncle)\" in the fraternity. Do not lose your grip on that. Never introduce your \"junior\" as your \"colleague\" or \"associate\" to others.
Rule 11: Teach them that Constitutional values are unattainable ideals.
Never let them, even for a second, think that Constitutional values are actually attainable goals for a nation. People don't believe that stuff anymore. So, even when they argue in courts using constitutional provisions, teach them to do it without conviction or concern for the state of affairs in the nation or state. The Constitution is only for academic exposition. The ideals embedded in it are not to be pursued. They are only good for making money in air conditioned courts.
Rule 12: At the least, teach them that caste and caste issues do not exist in India.
We are a happy family travelling together on a journey as one nation. There are no caste issues prevailing in our society. Judges don't account for the caste of a lawyer appearing before them. The Bar doesn't care either. If the young lawyer is from a \"lower\" caste, just tell them they don't have sufficient talent or merit to actually become great lawyers.
Rule 13: Teach them that what is shown in movies about most lawyers are real.
Teach them that the perception of the society about lawyers is spot on: \"all lawyers are liars; and one cannot survive in the profession without lying\" Teaching young lawyers these tenets of law practice will first confuse their moral senses, plunge them in guilt when they break them, and later push them into complicity. They will think that lying in courts and to clients is the rule and there are no exceptions. They will not care about professional ethics (except for exams and interviews).
Rule 14: Teach the young lawyer that the pursuit of material wealth is no longer ignoble.
Remember the time when people used to despise other people who only wanted to make a lot of money for themselves? Well, teach the young lawyer that such a time is not only gone but that the pursuit of material gain is now \"cool\". Let them widely discuss pay packages of corporate firms and constantly compare it with the pittance they get from litigation. Encourage young male lawyers to upload pictures of their Bullets, Thars, and Aviators onto Instagram; because those are the signs of actual manhood and the fact that they are lawyers to makes the combo deadly. Let young female lawyers discuss dresses and fashion instead of case law and the latest happenings in the polity.
Rule 15: Distract them with cheap forms of fraternity.
After all the depression caused by regret and failure mounts inside a young lawyer's brain, he or she needs a place to relax. How about a bar....association? Bar associations are for festivals, karaoke nights, politics, elections, caste divides, and show of strength; but never for learning, mentoring, and discussions on the Law or laws. And also make sure your target does not fall into the trap of study groups. Instead let them fight among themselves to decide whether Mohanlal or Mammotty is the better actor. You can also think of encouraging them to join fans' associations.
Rule 16: This is the greatest rule of all: only \"government lawyers\" are true, honest, fair, and just lawyers.
Teach them this rule and their destruction is assured. This is because nothing that has happened in history counts. The State is the fairest and the most just political or social entity that exists. The State (or the king; or in our case, the emperor), can do no wrong. So, it is the safest and also a moral duty to become a government lawyer (available in many varieties starting from APP/GP to AG).
There you have it! The guide to destroy the minds and lives of young Indian lawyers. Share it wide and freely. The more young lawyers you stumble, the better.
PS: This guide is not real or serious. It is only meant for satire. If you did not get it from the outset of the article; kindly consider going back to school.\n
", "date_published": "2022-10-13T00:00:00Z" } , { "id": "https://undefined.pyfy.ch/blog/my-it-story/", "url": "https://undefined.pyfy.ch/blog/my-it-story/", "title": "My IT Story", "content_html": "I'm an IT professional who was formerly a lawyer.
\nWhen people hear this about me, most of them are astonished about the career change. Well, it is surprising how a lawyer would move into a career in IT. However, it is not unheard of. I have read about others who have done the same (I've interacted with one such former lawyer). I am sure that there are a lot many examples in the US given the culture and the professional opportunities that people have there to do the same. And I am sure that there are examples of former lawyers in India who moved to IT that are unheard of. And of course, there would be other examples in other parts of the world.
\nAnyway, I switched to a career in IT after being a professional in the legal field for almost 6-7 years. Two of those years were spent in a for-profit entity that served the legal sector by providing executive training and online coaching for lawyers, and one year was spent with a legal non-profit. During the rest, I was a litigator (that's a special alligator breed that only eats legal briefs).
\nI was introduced to computers at the age of seven, in my school where I was taught the Logo programming language. Until I reached the 8<sup>th</sup> standard (or grade), I was taught different applications such as MS Office tools, MS Paint, and MS Windows as part of my school curriculum. These were usual computer science subjects taught in schools that were affiliated with the most twisted school education board ever formed; the CISCE.
\nIn those days, most people I knew did not own a PC. Students like me had to use the school's computer lab to use a computer. The lab was a special place in my school because it was the only room in the whole school (apart from the IT desk within my school's office) which had air conditioning. Even the school principal's room did not have an A/C then!
\nSo, getting into a computer lab and just playing with the computer (including playing actual games) or using it was a special experience for me (and most of my other classmates). Sadly, we had to take turns as the computer-to-student ratio wasn't that big. So, for each class three or four students had to share a single computer during the "Computer period". Or else, pay and use a system during intervals (~recess).
\nThen, in the 8<sup>th</sup> standard, I was taught C++ (yeah, you read that right). We were taught C++ at the age of thirteen by teachers who never told us the use cases of C++ or the huge history and prominence it had in the industry. Of course, easier languages like Python or Ruby weren't part of most school syllabuses at that time. Anyway, we learnt some basic algorithms (mostly by rote), did some practical lab sessions, and wrote programming solutions by hand on paper for exams.
\nThen, in the 10<sup>th</sup> standard, I was taught Java. We were taught Java along with the BlueJ IDE. Honestly, for these 3 years I did not gain much computer programming knowledge except for some concepts like programming syntax constraints, input and output, some basic algorithms, and the fact that you can make simple programs; which I did not care about. During this time, I increased my proficiency in using MS PowerPoint, Macromedia Flash, Fruity Loops, and some tools here and there.
\nTo be honest, I did not enjoy programming at that age. I thought it was only reserved, like mathematics, for nerds. What I did enjoy was installing cracked games and software, do P2P sharing, and chatting online with strangers; you know, all the stuff that the Internet is used for by many. So, I did not venture into programming or hacking.
\nAnd to bring some twist to the tale, when I graduated from the 10<sup>th</sup> standard, I made a stupid decision. I decided to become a medical doctor (don't ask why). So, I chose a completely different stream (a Biology major stream; which did not have CS). So, during the last 3 years in school, I did not formally learn computer science. However, I kept on playing with computers in one way or another. I even joined the school computer club (I got introduced to Linux and open-source software during this period). However, I still did not do much programming except for some scripting on Windows using batch files.
\nDuring this time, I also became interested in music (I had briefly learnt the guitar when I was fourteen) and I joined as a drummer in a college band while I still was in school. So, a lot of my attention went there. When I graduated from higher secondary school (high school in the US), I decided to do law and joined a law college and studied law for 5 years. During this time, I did not learn or do anything that had to do with computer science or programming; though I did become proficient in using Microsoft Word because I had to format a lot of text documents for college work.
\nIt was in 2013, when I graduated from law college and started my first job, I started looking into computing again. As mentioned above, I joined a "legal academic services" firm (a fancy description we invented for ourselves) whose business was powered by a learning platform created in WordPress. And this firm also had a sister concern which was a PR consultancy which did some web development along with branding and graphic design. This sister firm shared their office space with us.
\nYes, this was when my interest in computing was rekindled. Two of my close friends from school (who were also members of the school computer club) started working with these firms in different roles (one was a developer while the other was designer). On the side, they inspired me to learn more about computing.
\nAt this firm, I was surrounded by people doing IT work. So, I was constantly exposed (since it was a small team) to HTML, CSS, WordPress, designing, and branding. Once, I even helped a developer change a bit of HTML code to make a fancy animated UI work properly!
\nHowever, the real moment of inspiration came when a software development intern (who's now working at Apple) showed me a neat little script (written in Python) that scraped data from LinkedIn. I was blown away!
\nI had always wanted to learn Python but never thought of doing such a thing with Python (or any programming language for that matter). I was captivated by the power of programming.
\nSo, I started learning Python using one of the best-known learning resources for Python (available for free then): Learn Python the Hard Way by Zed A. Shaw. I then started creating small scripts with Python. Still, I had no intention to switch to a career in IT. Then, in 2015, I went to the US to pursue a Master's degree in law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ("UIUC").
\nEvery youngster who gets into IT has, at least once, thought of cyber security as a career option. Either to get into penetration testing (aka "white hat hacking"), or do actual cyber security defence. Or to do some "black hat hacking" anonymously. However, there's a lesser-known field of cyber security called "digital forensics". I got an opportunity to study DF as part of my Master's in Law curriculum (yeah, UIUC offered that during 2015-2016 which was a joint program between the College of Law and the Computer Science school) and it was another huge turning point in my tech journey. Initially, they doubted whether I would understand anything about the course as they could not see any formal education in computer science in my résumé. So, I sent them a kindergarten-level Python script that I had written to calculate a person's BMI if weight and height were passed on as inputs (I don't even think I passed them in as command-line arguments, haha!). They were satisfied with that and let me into the course.
\nA lot of people have reported ( by "a lot of people," I mean my relatives, and friends, of course) that they are asking themselves (and my wife Alfia) why I became a "web designer" after doing a Master's program in law in the US. They were expecting me to turn out to be a legal stalwart making millions a year after a "foreign LLM" (perks of living in India).
\nHere's my answer to that. I got into IT... BECAUSE I went to the US to do the LLM program. If I had not, I most probably never would have!
\nAt least, my time in the US, actually accelerated my interest in computing. That's what the US can do to you. It teaches you that sense of liberty that you'll never understand if you are in a country like India. I have once heard of a story of a doctor who switched his career to become a rocket scientist (or it was the other way around?).
\nIt was during the LLM program (the Digital Forensics class) that was I introduced to the addictive world of Linux. I had to learn how to use a Linux OS ("distro" in the Linux ecosystem) and tools based on the command line. I was working primarily on Ubuntu and later switched to Kali Linux (because Kali was popular in the infosec commmunity). I also learnt how the Internet in itself is the biggest learning place in the world and one can learn almost anything there. And to top that, I was taking the DF classes inside one of the best Computer Science/Engineering colleges in the world and the classes were taken together with undergraduate CS students. I attended my first hackathon (no, I wasn't a participant) while I was there. I was surrounded by the "hacker culture". Still, I did not intend to switch to a career in IT (though by then, I had been considering pursuing a degree in Computer Science). However, when I came back to India, I started practising law.
\nI want to take a pause here.
\nDo I regret not having learnt computing and computer programming early on? Sometimes, I do.
\nBut, do I regret having learnt the Law? No, not at all.
\nLearning, and eventually, practising law, taught me to think better. I will never say that it was a waste of time or a bad decision to practice law. If I had not practiced law (and that too fighting cases against the State), I would have become just like some of the Software Engineer buffoons who have no clue about the Constitution or the evil atrocities that are done by the State and businesses in the society. I thank God that I practised law, though it was for a short period.
\nSo, after I came back from the US, I resumed programming in Python along with playing with Linux. It was during this time I programmed my first "useful program" using Python which I named "KATscrape".
\nIt was a script that searched through a cause list (a list of cases posted in a court on a specific day) and counted the number of matters an advocate had on that day. It was made specifically for the tribunal (Kerala Administrative Tribunal; "KAT") I was appearing regularly during that time. This was another turning point. The fact that I could do this encouraged me to learn more. This was a great learning opportunity.
\nIt was also during this time I learnt touch typing. This accelerated my typing skills and helped me learn things slightly faster.
\nFast-forward two-three years: I got married to Alfia, and we moved to New Delhi. I started working with a public policy organisation centred around software freedom, privacy, freedom of speech, and open access. There, I got a FOSS enthusiast colleague (an active Debian contributor; and a good friend of mine now) who taught me more about Linux and I learnt a lot more about programming (and CS things in general) during that time.
\nDuring the COVID-19 lockdown, I rewrote KATscrape in PHP. During this time, I also learnt how to manage VPS instances and host and deploy my PHP app and explored JavaScript and Rust (haha!), a bit.
\nAfter the national lockdown in India was over, Alfia and I moved back to Kerala, and I resumed law practice.
\nAnd Alfia gave birth to our son Ezra in 2021.
\nBy that time, I was desperate to break into IT. I was spending more time learning computer science stuff than law. And working on something related to computing was more engaging for me during those days. In April 2021, a friend of mine (who was a programmer earlier but moved to law; you can read his story when he writes it) suggested that I look for opportunities and also apply to his former organisation. He put in a word for me to the CEO, and I sent an honest cover letter along with my resume giving a background of myself and what I am interested in. They were looking for a pure JavaScript developer, experienced in the MERN stack. However, given the fact that I could also be of assistance in some legal matters, they decided to take me on after a few rounds of interviews on programming in JS, CSS, React, and SQL.
\nHere, I have to thank my former colleague who interviewed me then. I thank him for trusting in my computing skills though I couldn't express them exceedingly well during the second and final interview rounds. He understood that I did know some things and he got (I don't know from where) the confidence that I could learn things by myself if I was hired. He's the one who assured the upper management that I can learn and implement the things they wanted.
\nIt's from there, in 2021, did my actual real-world programming work started. Firstly, I had to learn JavaScript. For that, I was assigned to develop a proof-of-concept login system in pure HTML, CSS, and JS. And then I re-developed the same thing partially in React and TailwindCSS. Then, it was all random tasks from there on; making a Slack app using the Bolt framework (JS), making another proof of concept in Next.js, doing some Postgres database management, deploying stuff on Linux servers and configuring applications for the use of the organisation and on-boarding other team members into them.
\nIt's 2026 now. I have ventured far now into the discipline of computer science and I am continuing my journey. I now have the title "DevOps Engineer II", as I manage all my organisation's servers and applications.
\nI found an interest in systems programming and understanding how computers work under the hood, and I have now been possessed by an idea to create my own programming language. I am not sure where all of this will take me, but, I march on.
\n", "date_published": "2022-10-05T00:00:00Z" } ] }