Blogging is becoming a more or less weekend activity recently. Nevertheless, its so much of exercise for the brains as it requires some thought process and construction of plot and base etc. Or that's what I presume, because it's the reader who should be deciding that. The recent days have been smooth and sound. Things are slowly moving on, on a personal front. Living with very nice people, helps a lot. Usual days listening to good traditional manuscripts in the form of music on the way in and out of work, thinking and observing mental activity and obsessions!
Why do we always want the best? The route we take to the office should be the quickest. The advertisements always stress upon the superlatives in the articulately constructed product descriptions. The biggest space, widest range of products, largest superstore, strongest adhesive, tastiest burgers and the list goes on. We want the fastest machines. We want the best seat in the bus, train or flight. We want the best view of the sea during holidays.
We want to be the most different in the crowd. But we forget the very basic fact of nature - every one is different. Everyone is special. Again trying to generalise out of special cases, we’ve constructed statistics of measurements. Measurement of anything and everything is so important to humans. We always want to know the progress. Let’s say, if I were to ask any of my cousin their academic progress I would ask the rank in the class. Despite of knowing that academic systems of most of the countries do not test real talent, I do it - subconsciously. Many people without any formal degrees are live examples of the failure of the education system as a whole - globally.
We all know what the destination of the journey of life is, death. Its about enjoying the ride isnt it. But its still a race, and we still want to be first. This is a never ending process, recurring in many different shapes and sizes throughout our day. As very well put by one of our colleagues, even if the path is dark and you can’t see a thing, you can still run at your fastest. The only thing that tells you the direction, and that you right is -
Light
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
procastinating - its just human
I’ve been wanting to write something for quite some days now. Lots of things to cover starting from the last days of roaming around in India, colorful and watershed holi celebrations, travel back via Mumbai and extremely busy week on return.
Just haven’t got the time or energy to recap all this, will be trying to do this over this weekend.
Fun is about the difficulty of gathering thoughts to describe a few things from self experience. Saint Kabir’s musings, translated into simple poetry and songs get straight to the heart of all people who understand the language. Imagining the effort to create such master pieces is stupifying to us right now, but it would have just been routine for great enlightened beings like Kabir.
Kabir resided in one of the holiest cities of India which was populated by many learned beings. People who had studied all the religious texts thoroughly were surprised at the simplicity of Kabir’s mystic poetry and the way it connected to the hearts of laymen. When they inquired Kabir about the possible reason of this – his reply was the following verses -
तुम कहते हो कागज लेखी |
मैं कहता निज नयन की देखी ||
(You are describing what’s written on pieces of paper while I say what I understand out of lifes daily experiences)
Kabir’s death was an irony in itself because here was a man who preached secularism and peace all his life through all his work and there were big violent fights over the question of his last rites after his death!
All the religious and spiritual texts and material try to describe simple living of human beings and the behavior patterns of human mind. But to explain a very simple thing, the output gets really jumbled & complicated.
Life’s Confusing Jigsaw
Just haven’t got the time or energy to recap all this, will be trying to do this over this weekend.
Fun is about the difficulty of gathering thoughts to describe a few things from self experience. Saint Kabir’s musings, translated into simple poetry and songs get straight to the heart of all people who understand the language. Imagining the effort to create such master pieces is stupifying to us right now, but it would have just been routine for great enlightened beings like Kabir.
Kabir resided in one of the holiest cities of India which was populated by many learned beings. People who had studied all the religious texts thoroughly were surprised at the simplicity of Kabir’s mystic poetry and the way it connected to the hearts of laymen. When they inquired Kabir about the possible reason of this – his reply was the following verses -
तुम कहते हो कागज लेखी |
मैं कहता निज नयन की देखी ||
(You are describing what’s written on pieces of paper while I say what I understand out of lifes daily experiences)
Kabir’s death was an irony in itself because here was a man who preached secularism and peace all his life through all his work and there were big violent fights over the question of his last rites after his death!
All the religious and spiritual texts and material try to describe simple living of human beings and the behavior patterns of human mind. But to explain a very simple thing, the output gets really jumbled & complicated.
Life’s Confusing Jigsaw
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Day 11: Digging through old disks, archives & files - smiling away
Very surprisingly, I got hold of an article I wrote long ago for a competition called ‘Main Bhi Shakespeare’ back in my Wipro days. Here it is, as it has been quite a while since I posted a loooooong article. As I’m Going through my old archives, laptop drives & disks, finally something that I could share apart from the numerous smile generating moments.
Entertaining
For Me Atleast!
------
23rd November 2006
Wipro (Electronic City, Tower 15, H3G ODC) Bangalore
It seemed like a regular day in office, things were progressing at their usual speed and then suddenly… the VOIP on my desk was set ablaze a call from onsite. I stared at the receiver, calculating the time difference. It was just 10:05 AM here, which meant our UK Client and Onsite team should be in their beds early in the morning. My experience in the SIT Team taught me that when VOIP rings unexpectedly at abnormal times, it usually means long working hours. It was my team lead from onsite, informing me that the project on which we both were working was cut short by a week and we were supposed to exit it by this weekend and that he would be in office a little late. It usually is like this isn’t it. Deadline - Whoever has named it – has been spot on. Exit by this weekend meant that I had to send out the Exit Report for review to him today. At the bottom of the hierarchy we always feel as if the people on the top are not logical who don’t understand that there are only 24 hours in a day and a person has a physical limit of working efficiently. Typically working in Electronic City where the
productivity is halved just because of the Hosur ‘Chaos’ Road. I had just stepped in the Office after one hour of maneuvering my bike on the Hosur Road. It would not be hyperbole to say that the very thought of traveling on the Hosur Road is tiring, leave alone traveling. Everyone I know feels the same. It was just this brief talk of about ten minutes, which pushed all my evening plans out of the window. But, an optimist by nature, I told myself that going late just meant lesser traffic. I had to analyze what all was done and what all remained to be done before we could exit this project. After half an hour of analysis and estimation, I gathered that I didn’t need to panic coz there wasn’t much left. It was manageable today and I thought it would be nice if I would be able to get home before the date changed. But Murphy’s laws play their part. Another phone call, this time it was the desk phone, flashing my teammate’s mobile number. He informed me that he wasn’t keeping well today and won’t be coming to the office. Bells rang in my head. I felt, there’s nothing called as contingency. I hated Murphy for postulating his laws. Now even my estimates were out of the window. I partially understood why there were so many people in the smoking zones of the office. Working alone just meant freedom was another optimistic thought that struck me then. Another round of estimation, made me feel hungry.
A few of my friends who joined Wipro with me a year ago, have decided that we should usually have lunch together. We have made sure that we are in the canteen at the most by 12:30 so that we avoid the huge queues inside and outside the canteen for coupons and food. We strictly make sure we are there on time, because if we fail to do so the lunch usually takes more than an hour including all the queue delays. Everyone has his/her own points in the discussions over lunch. The ones who’d have a lot of work would crib about that and the ones with no work would crib about that. So evolving over a period of time, we’d decided not to discuss work over lunch. As we’re a homogeneous mixture from all parts of India the lunch table then usually became a battlefield for the Northy’s vs. Southy’s arguments. In the earlier times, we used to tease the friends from here by guessing the quantity of ‘sambhar’ made in Bangalore every morning, or their abnormally long names or indistinguishable gender misunderstandings due to the names and so forth. We used to enjoy the unexpressible ignited behavior after that. Frequent decisions of going for a movie over the weekend are decided over lunch. Today’s topic was rather more serious about the Integrity Policy of Wipro. One of our friends team mate was chucked out of the job on Integrity Norms. Her story was really a sad case. We have this internal certification tests that employees take. This team mate of his was giving one such test in the assessment centre. After completion, the screen usually displays whether the Employee has cleared the test or not, but in her case it didn’t. So she was taking out her notepad to note the marks she’d obtained. Due to her bad luck, the invigilator stepped in precisely at the same time and noticed the activity. He took her name. This incident happened approximately two months ago and she’d got mail from her manager this week asking her to resign by this Friday due to undisclosed Integrity issue. She’d been trying to explain the case to almost every senior person she possibly can but in vain. She was trying out somewhere else now. People were enthusiastically discussing on this. Some were on her side, while some were not. I couldn’t decide. I thought it was very easy to sit back and crib about everything that’s happening around you whether it may be at work about the Employer or whether it would be the government. But it’s very difficult to even think from their perspectives. But again the optimist in me believes that whatever happens - happens for good. May be something better is in store for the unfortunate employee.
I had to hurry back to my cubicle. On the way back, as I passed the library, I thought of the time I spent there during my free pool days. during those days, we used to silently laughed at people snoring heavily during the post lunch times in the library. That time was real fun. No worries at all about delivery. No deadlines. Just read the books of your interest in the library. Wait for some event happening in the Amphitheater and participate. The situation of the hosts of the programs is really pitiable when the audience starts behaving with them. Every event and the following DJ night was thoroughly enjoyed. Although frustration built over a period of time, but a soothing sleep in the dormitory was welcome anytime. I’d discovered the differences in the food served at possibly all the canteens across the sprawling campus. I was at my tower in no time. While I unlock my machine, I usually guess the number of mails in my inbox, surprisingly never do I guess it accurately, reconfirming my decisions on not to gamble or invest in the stocks. Now it was time to take the situation head on and get through with it. We follow the process very strictly because of our client manager. He’s a guy who gives us all the freedom but expects 100% out of us
and rightly so. During my short stay onsite, I had a chance to know him better. He’s a very organized guy who gets into office at 8:30 and gets out of there at 5:30 sharp. Although I don’t know much about his personal life, but his interests in Cricket, Soccer and betting on Horse Racing are to a fanatic extent. Everyday as he’s preparing to leave for the day he would invariably tell us “Boys..!! Get out of the office ASAP!! They pay us well, but not well enough to stay here too long!!” and with thunderous laugh he would walk out.
After some serious work till six, I thought I needed a break. You can tell when it’s six without looking at the watch when you notice people around you slowly make their moves to catch their respective buses, I felt like having a cup of tea. The pantry area was short of cups. This was a usual scene in the evening as people take cups inside the ODC’s in spite of the big signs in the Pantry. I also sometimes wonder about the sheer quantity of Tea/Coffee/Milk being consumed by the software geeks in companies like ours and others. The Pantry boy after 6:30 takes a round of all the places and picks up each cup. I really pity this guy. I filled my water bottle and stood in the coffee area sipping water slowly and noticing people swiping out. It’s a nice scene. I walked and stretched around a little, also had a look at the newspaper which reported yet another Indian defeat in Cricket and usual criticism of the coach’s strategy. Again came back to the Work station. I’ve a group of people who send me useless forwards. I’ve made a rule putting mails from them in a junk folder which I check only if I’m feeling too tired and need a smile. I checked on that folder to notice an amazing number of 55 mails. The pick of them was the one which said “Software Engineers Preamble: We, the unwilling, lead by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.” I could stop laughing out of my seat. Forwards, I thought were so refreshing at times. I got a call from my room mate telling me that the cook wasn’t coming today. I pleaded them to pack something for me, coz I would be late. This call again triggered me back to work and after lot of tiding up I was just about done at 11:00. After a lot of review and rechecking, I felt relieved while clicking on the Send button of the mail and attached Exit Report.
At last, the work for the day was done. Finally, I got up from the heated seat, stretched and slipped into my good old jacket and walked out. he calmness and serenity of the campus at night is quite intriguing. The security guard at the gate noted down my bike number, mobile number and the area where I lived. Usually while I’m driving, I tend to think that an organizational leadership is just like driving, where success would be getting to the intended place on time. The importance of an able leader can be compared to an alert driver who notices the slightest opportunities and plunges onto them reducing the distance to destination. But not today, the drive back home, after a tiring days work is always like a slowly progressing Progress Bar while downloading a big file on a low band width internet connection. A hot water
bath after reaching home was very soothing. Micro-waved the food, that my partners had thankfully bought for me watching TV. I don’t remember when I went off to sleep, but the only thing I remember was the ring of the VOIP that changed the whole course of the day.
Entertained.
Entertaining
For Me Atleast!
------
23rd November 2006
Wipro (Electronic City, Tower 15, H3G ODC) Bangalore
It seemed like a regular day in office, things were progressing at their usual speed and then suddenly… the VOIP on my desk was set ablaze a call from onsite. I stared at the receiver, calculating the time difference. It was just 10:05 AM here, which meant our UK Client and Onsite team should be in their beds early in the morning. My experience in the SIT Team taught me that when VOIP rings unexpectedly at abnormal times, it usually means long working hours. It was my team lead from onsite, informing me that the project on which we both were working was cut short by a week and we were supposed to exit it by this weekend and that he would be in office a little late. It usually is like this isn’t it. Deadline - Whoever has named it – has been spot on. Exit by this weekend meant that I had to send out the Exit Report for review to him today. At the bottom of the hierarchy we always feel as if the people on the top are not logical who don’t understand that there are only 24 hours in a day and a person has a physical limit of working efficiently. Typically working in Electronic City where the
productivity is halved just because of the Hosur ‘Chaos’ Road. I had just stepped in the Office after one hour of maneuvering my bike on the Hosur Road. It would not be hyperbole to say that the very thought of traveling on the Hosur Road is tiring, leave alone traveling. Everyone I know feels the same. It was just this brief talk of about ten minutes, which pushed all my evening plans out of the window. But, an optimist by nature, I told myself that going late just meant lesser traffic. I had to analyze what all was done and what all remained to be done before we could exit this project. After half an hour of analysis and estimation, I gathered that I didn’t need to panic coz there wasn’t much left. It was manageable today and I thought it would be nice if I would be able to get home before the date changed. But Murphy’s laws play their part. Another phone call, this time it was the desk phone, flashing my teammate’s mobile number. He informed me that he wasn’t keeping well today and won’t be coming to the office. Bells rang in my head. I felt, there’s nothing called as contingency. I hated Murphy for postulating his laws. Now even my estimates were out of the window. I partially understood why there were so many people in the smoking zones of the office. Working alone just meant freedom was another optimistic thought that struck me then. Another round of estimation, made me feel hungry.
A few of my friends who joined Wipro with me a year ago, have decided that we should usually have lunch together. We have made sure that we are in the canteen at the most by 12:30 so that we avoid the huge queues inside and outside the canteen for coupons and food. We strictly make sure we are there on time, because if we fail to do so the lunch usually takes more than an hour including all the queue delays. Everyone has his/her own points in the discussions over lunch. The ones who’d have a lot of work would crib about that and the ones with no work would crib about that. So evolving over a period of time, we’d decided not to discuss work over lunch. As we’re a homogeneous mixture from all parts of India the lunch table then usually became a battlefield for the Northy’s vs. Southy’s arguments. In the earlier times, we used to tease the friends from here by guessing the quantity of ‘sambhar’ made in Bangalore every morning, or their abnormally long names or indistinguishable gender misunderstandings due to the names and so forth. We used to enjoy the unexpressible ignited behavior after that. Frequent decisions of going for a movie over the weekend are decided over lunch. Today’s topic was rather more serious about the Integrity Policy of Wipro. One of our friends team mate was chucked out of the job on Integrity Norms. Her story was really a sad case. We have this internal certification tests that employees take. This team mate of his was giving one such test in the assessment centre. After completion, the screen usually displays whether the Employee has cleared the test or not, but in her case it didn’t. So she was taking out her notepad to note the marks she’d obtained. Due to her bad luck, the invigilator stepped in precisely at the same time and noticed the activity. He took her name. This incident happened approximately two months ago and she’d got mail from her manager this week asking her to resign by this Friday due to undisclosed Integrity issue. She’d been trying to explain the case to almost every senior person she possibly can but in vain. She was trying out somewhere else now. People were enthusiastically discussing on this. Some were on her side, while some were not. I couldn’t decide. I thought it was very easy to sit back and crib about everything that’s happening around you whether it may be at work about the Employer or whether it would be the government. But it’s very difficult to even think from their perspectives. But again the optimist in me believes that whatever happens - happens for good. May be something better is in store for the unfortunate employee.
I had to hurry back to my cubicle. On the way back, as I passed the library, I thought of the time I spent there during my free pool days. during those days, we used to silently laughed at people snoring heavily during the post lunch times in the library. That time was real fun. No worries at all about delivery. No deadlines. Just read the books of your interest in the library. Wait for some event happening in the Amphitheater and participate. The situation of the hosts of the programs is really pitiable when the audience starts behaving with them. Every event and the following DJ night was thoroughly enjoyed. Although frustration built over a period of time, but a soothing sleep in the dormitory was welcome anytime. I’d discovered the differences in the food served at possibly all the canteens across the sprawling campus. I was at my tower in no time. While I unlock my machine, I usually guess the number of mails in my inbox, surprisingly never do I guess it accurately, reconfirming my decisions on not to gamble or invest in the stocks. Now it was time to take the situation head on and get through with it. We follow the process very strictly because of our client manager. He’s a guy who gives us all the freedom but expects 100% out of us
and rightly so. During my short stay onsite, I had a chance to know him better. He’s a very organized guy who gets into office at 8:30 and gets out of there at 5:30 sharp. Although I don’t know much about his personal life, but his interests in Cricket, Soccer and betting on Horse Racing are to a fanatic extent. Everyday as he’s preparing to leave for the day he would invariably tell us “Boys..!! Get out of the office ASAP!! They pay us well, but not well enough to stay here too long!!” and with thunderous laugh he would walk out.
After some serious work till six, I thought I needed a break. You can tell when it’s six without looking at the watch when you notice people around you slowly make their moves to catch their respective buses, I felt like having a cup of tea. The pantry area was short of cups. This was a usual scene in the evening as people take cups inside the ODC’s in spite of the big signs in the Pantry. I also sometimes wonder about the sheer quantity of Tea/Coffee/Milk being consumed by the software geeks in companies like ours and others. The Pantry boy after 6:30 takes a round of all the places and picks up each cup. I really pity this guy. I filled my water bottle and stood in the coffee area sipping water slowly and noticing people swiping out. It’s a nice scene. I walked and stretched around a little, also had a look at the newspaper which reported yet another Indian defeat in Cricket and usual criticism of the coach’s strategy. Again came back to the Work station. I’ve a group of people who send me useless forwards. I’ve made a rule putting mails from them in a junk folder which I check only if I’m feeling too tired and need a smile. I checked on that folder to notice an amazing number of 55 mails. The pick of them was the one which said “Software Engineers Preamble: We, the unwilling, lead by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.” I could stop laughing out of my seat. Forwards, I thought were so refreshing at times. I got a call from my room mate telling me that the cook wasn’t coming today. I pleaded them to pack something for me, coz I would be late. This call again triggered me back to work and after lot of tiding up I was just about done at 11:00. After a lot of review and rechecking, I felt relieved while clicking on the Send button of the mail and attached Exit Report.
At last, the work for the day was done. Finally, I got up from the heated seat, stretched and slipped into my good old jacket and walked out. he calmness and serenity of the campus at night is quite intriguing. The security guard at the gate noted down my bike number, mobile number and the area where I lived. Usually while I’m driving, I tend to think that an organizational leadership is just like driving, where success would be getting to the intended place on time. The importance of an able leader can be compared to an alert driver who notices the slightest opportunities and plunges onto them reducing the distance to destination. But not today, the drive back home, after a tiring days work is always like a slowly progressing Progress Bar while downloading a big file on a low band width internet connection. A hot water
bath after reaching home was very soothing. Micro-waved the food, that my partners had thankfully bought for me watching TV. I don’t remember when I went off to sleep, but the only thing I remember was the ring of the VOIP that changed the whole course of the day.
Entertained.
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