Today i happened to meet Mr. Vijay Mukhi. As part of the information security awareness week, my organization had called him up for a small talk on what is's known best for... information security. Now i would not have leveraged anyone, whose talk i may have attended, on my blog. This person is special.

Mr. Mukhi was somewhere close to an idol for me. In some ways he has influenced my career to a reasonalble extent. I used to read his article regularly in the TOI suppliment "Times Computing". At a time when i was in junior college and computers were a relatively newer phenomenon for the masses, his articles were real eye openers. He is one of those guys who modulates the complexity of his talks according to the knowledge level of his audience (This was something i observed today). Now ain't that a characteristic of a good speaker?

The other influence he's had on my career is that the first ever unix book that i'd bought was authored by him. And believe me, i haven't read any other book half as interesting and indulging as that one (Sorry folks i dont remember the name of the book... either ways the book was out of production since i guess 1996, i bought the book probably in late 2001 from the roadside stalls near Flora Fountain in Mumbai). Now Unix/Linux are supposedly difficult fields, and to have a such a rocking start towards what could build up to a career... in retrospect it feels like a dream.

If ever there's an article authored by Vijay Mukhi, i make it a point not to miss it. Atleast i cannot afford to now. He's a pretty important guy in the information security scene in India today, and is presently working with the Indian government as a consultant for various security projects & committees.