A thought has been plaguing my mind lately. It has been disturbing my sleep to a great extent. Dark thoughts cloud my idle mind. If there is one word to describe my mind, it will be restless.
What is it that is making me uneasy? What is it that is troubling me??
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| Thinking |
Maybe a few examples will help.
You would have heard about a disaster recovery center. These are centers designed to be backups when the main systems fail. And for almost all practical cases, they don't play any part.
How about a sixteenth man in a cricket squad? There is no way he is going to get an opportunity to play the beautiful game.
Forget about playing, the chances of him coming on the field as an replacement is also bleak. The probability of running across of the green grass with drinks in hand is also meager.
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| 16th Man in the Cricket Squad |
How about a backup pilot in air? All that he gets to do is sit behind the main pilot and his deputy, and watch them fly the majestic bird in air. And of course see the appreciation in the eyes of the ordinary travelers when they see the pilot walk across to the boarding bay.
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| A380 |
If you are aware of computers, which you should be considering that you are reading this blog post, you must be aware of software. Think about that piece of code written in some software - for handling a case that never occurs.
This could have been done as part of fail-safe coding. It could also have been due to pure oversight.
Are you wondering what is a common binding factors in all these illustrations. I bet, you don't have to think hard. That's because the answer is really simple. The answer is Redundant.
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| Making Myself Useful |
That's what I am exactly right now - Redundant. And believe me, it's really depressing to feel unworthy, useless, needless and superfluous. All that I can be is a machine in such cases.
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| Redundant |
I wonder whether redundancy is bad?
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| Redundancy is Not Bad |
Well, my opinions have changed positively from what they were at the beginning of the post.
If you see closely, in the previous Peanuts example, it is the redundant balloon which can get you up in the air, into the beautiful skies, to see the wonderful sight of dear earth.
And in the last cartoon, you can see that the caddie has become redundant. Yes, he is now a redundant caddie, but also a budding and excellent golfer.
Well, I say to myself - don't be disappointed with being redundant. Hope always Floats!!
