Next is what?

“Unbelievable!” exclaims Aamir Khan sitting on his couch and enjoying the surround sound of the new mobile in his hand. He has had a haircut and looks too mature - This is a new ad for the recently launched i450 music phone from SamsungMobile. The software in the phone belongs to the company for which I work for but one reason which would compel me to buy that phone is definitely Aamir Khan – my favorite actor. He has transformed nicely in the ad world. It seems ages since that Coke ad where he abuses a waiter at a bar with words like “baal ki dukaan” and “flower pot” because that poor chap does not know “thanda matlab coca cola”.

After many days, I had the fortune of getting the TV remote control in my hands this Sunday. Most of the times, either Panini will have her serials to watch or Ultra will have his premier league soccer matches. If both are not there, mum would want to watch her “boogie woogie” style programs. It seems that I had forgotten that TV could also be a source of entertainment all these days. So when I got a chance to watch it, I kept surfing looking out for nice shows. The advertising world has changed a lot after that “cola wars” days. Today, a young girl gives her dad a cheque to buy a new big car, a couple keep calling each other because the roaming tariffs and call rates have dropped to an all time low, a cute pug assists a little girl with chores and is very “happy to help”... Many ads like these are nice and fun to watch.

I like to watch sports and so, whenever I get a chance to watch TV, I keep hoping that there is some live sporting event going on. Sunday was a great day for sports. There was a formula one race going on the Silverstone circuit in England. There was the Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka going on. But the ultimate match was live from the famous All-England club in Wimbledon, where the world’s current number one player and probably the best player ever, Roger Federer was fighting it out against his nemesis – Rafael Nadal.

I crave for watching live tennis or cricketing events live on TV but usually I don’t get a chance. But today I had a choice of watching either. I considered myself lucky. First, I watched the cricket match – after making mockery of chasing by successfully scoring scores above 300 in the league matches, Indians were struggling to score a modest 273 in the finals. It was saddening. Some new guy with a fitting name “mended” the torn apart match by Sehwag's early fireworks into his country’s favour. It was really disappointing for India. The ghosts of the finals had came back to haunt them again. So I switched to tennis.

Since the time I started following tennis, I have had just one favorite – Roger Federer. His utter dominance on the tennis court and his ability to turn any situation to his favor has just never ceased to amaze me. Time and again, he has demolished his opponents with his fierce ground strokes and “never-say-die” attitude. I don’t understand the details of the shots in tennis that well but if a Federer match is going on, I dare not to miss it for the sheer ruthlessness he exudes in his games.

Despite being the champion that he is, I admire Federer more because of his off-court attitude. He is always calm and composed on and off the field – whether in victory or defeat. His mannerisms are worth emulating and his sense of humor, impeccable. Most champions that I know of, for example some of the Australian cricket team members are arrogant about their success and that makes me dislike them but Federer is different. The others just display their power and arrogance but Federer is all grace and humility.

So when I watched tennis that day, I whole-heartedly wanted Federer to win his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title, a record that no other player has been able to achieve in the open era. But if cricket was saddening, this match was even disappointing – at least till the first rain interruption. Federer faced a very rare threat of losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal, the same Spanish lad who has been denying him the only grand slam to have eluded him for three years consecutively, the same guy who defeated him in straight sets a month ago at Paris – in the shortest final ever at French Open. It was a sad day for all Federer fans till then. I just could not watch it. I went to bed wondering what would be the eventual outcome of this match.

But what a final it turned out to be! The longest match to played at a Wimbledon final, the most fiercest battle ever, two players giving it whatever they had, matching each other shot to shot - the critics have still not stopped describing the glory of the match. Eventually, after a marathon time and in complete darkness, the winner was decided. It was as though the dark clouds and the entire court was in darkness only to mourn the fall of a great champion. But the opponent who defeated him surely deserved to win.

Federer has been defeated. He is not as invincible as he used to be. All is fans are faced with the same question - next is what? He faces a threat of losing his world number title to Nadal who is matching him shot to shot on all surfaces. His record of most number of consecutive wins has been broken. But the good thing is that the man himself is not. That’s the best part of Federer. He never gives up. When Bjorn Borg was defeated after 5 consecutive Wimbledon wins in 1981, he walked away from the ceremonies and never came back to playing grand slam again. He spoilt his life with an unsuccessful marriage, bankruptcy, rumoured drug abuse, etc. But Federer is not that kind of a person. He announced after the match that he would come back again and try next year. He praised Nadal wholeheartedly. And that’s what distinguishes the champs from the rest - they stay and fight back. Dont they?

Musings - a year after

“Sir, All that I know in life is this. This has been my bread and butter for almost a decade now. What other job will I get?”

The other day it was raining very heavily and it was late in the night. I was going home in the cab that my company had provided me. I was surprised to find that even in that heavy rain, the driver had not put the “windshield wiper” on. Since I was alone in the cab and didn’t have anything else to do, I started to converse with the driver. It was during that chat that he said the above lines.

This guy was no ordinary driver. He had an amazing talent of driving vehicles. From a small motor vehicle to a large bus, he had driven all kinds of vehicles. He had an experience of driving vehicles in all kinds of terrain and weather. His driving instincts in the city was one for which anyone would envy him for. And he was not overconfident about himself. The only reason that he had not put the wipers on was that the company for which he worked didn’t take care of such an important detail while giving the cab to him. But he had not complained. He just treaded cautiously, following the tail lamp of the vehicle in front of him.

During the course of the conversation with him, I got to know many things. The transport companies never gave the drivers their true share. They used the drivers according their whims and never cared anything about their welfare. Sometimes they had to work very late after midnight and be prepared for hectic day early next morning. But the most startling fact that I learned from him that day sitting in that cab was this – the driver was a graduate and knew to converse fluently in five different languages. He held a bachelor’s degree in commerce. Inspite of this, he had made the above statement!

This set me thinking. Even I am nothing but a graduate. I just finished my degree last year and entered into this corporate world. Today, I will be finishing one glorious year of work-life. It surely calls for a nice celebration. It really feels nice as you are independent and your life is in your hands. It feels like being gifted with all the happiness. Does it really feel so?

Well, the answer is “not as much”. And what is it that makes me say that? Am I not happy at being at the centre of a booming technology stream? Am I not happy at working at a nice place with all the luxuries provided by the company? Am I not privileged that my bank balance is replenished by nice salary at the end of the month? Does it not feel good when a cab driver who is ten to fifteen older to you addresses you as “sir” and asks you to teach him how to use his cell phone? Am I not leading a respectable life in the society? Yes, yes and yes. The answer to each one of these is yes. But is that all that there is in life?

The nicest part of life was the days spent at school and college. We had a big gang of friends who used to have fun in every possible way. We sat near coffee shop or canteen or even in the classrooms after classes and discussed all topics under the sun with so much of enthusiasm. We felt we had the power to change the world. We took responsibility of organizing fests, co curricular events and slogged day in and day out to make it successful. The joy we felt when something worked as expected was immense. We worked in teams even then. There was no misunderstanding, backstabbing, dominating, jealousy - nothing. It was pure fun and even if something dint work as expected, there was no one crib about it. We took collective responsibility for it- not one person was pin pointed or blamed. We worked to please ourselves. Each one of us enjoyed all these as much as the other. It was natural that I expected the same when I entered the corporate world.

But what I have seen in this year at office is quite different. There is a specific process that is to be followed for each kind of work. Sometimes the process makes sense but in most cases it is followed only because someone in the top level management thinks it as a “best practice”. Some will be lucky enough to be put into teams with team mates of their kind. They get all kind of help from seniors and grow well. But the not-so-lucky ones struggle. And then there are those bosses/managers/leads or whatever they are called. They are in charge of your appraisals/salary reviews and they are the ones whom you cannot risk hurting. You have to please them no matter what. Some bosses are nice. They nurture talents in their team and help them grow. People feel motivated to work for them. They inspire innovation and lead by example. Even the teams that they lead will be united. They help each other and work together. Getting teams and managers like that is again, luck.

Then there is a second category of bosses. The ones who want to suck the last drop of blood in you and make you slog like anything. They are those sadist creatures who think that the whole world should follow the rules that they set. Outwardly, they are all smiles and maintain a chum-chum relationship with you. But somehow they make sure that they ruin you. If you end up with bosses like these, you get too much frustrated, work gets so mundane and life becomes hell. Some even start working only to please their bosses and get a good review. Some reach a point where all their creativity gets lost because of the frustration in them and that’s not only bad for them but in turn it affects everyone around them including the company that they work for.

The most unfortunate part of all this is that both these good and bad parts exist in the same company. The ones who suffer will watch the ones who enjoy their work and get even frustrated. They curse their destiny to be in teams like theirs. Eventually, they either become sobre and unproductive or quit and go in search of greener pastures leading to losses for the company.

I have had an opportunity to witness both the good and bad aspects of the work life in this one year at work. Work in itself is really challenging – presenting many situations to analyze, throwing many problems to be solved, etc. Working on all these is nice and I get to learn a lot of things. But the bad aspects of work life mentioned above have taken their toll on me. On some occasions I have given more than 14 hours in a day for work being left with no time for myself, let alone my family. In a particular week, Ultra used to be sleeping when I left home in the morning and had already gone to bed when I came back in the night. In the weekend, he exclaimed, “Thank God I saw you at least today!” In college, even during the exam time, I managed to get some time to watch some sports and movies on TV. We used to even bunk classes and go to the much awaited movie of the year. Now, TV is a thing of the past. The much awaited movie of the year has already come and gone without me even knowing about it. The only day et for ourselves are weekends, where we usually plan loads of things to do and end up executing none.

To the outside world, we are all much envied. They feel that we live in a life of luxury - with nice air-conditioned offices to work in, with high paying jobs affording all that you can dream of, roaming around the city in nice cars, going on trips to expensive places. People feel we have money to burn and try extracting the maximum from us. When in college, I could roam around the city even in the night without any fear. Now, it is not safe anymore – even a rickshaw driver demand more when he ferries a “techie”, a traffic cop fines at least five hundred rupees when he catches us for a petty offence, a vegetable vendor claims almost double the normal rate for his vegetables when he sells in apartments. In a way it is contributing significantly to the high cost of living in these silicon cities. But the truth is we live a life full of stress and fear. At work, we are faced with work pressure, weekly targets, and monthly deadlines. Outside, we are faced with envious people trying to loot money from us in every possible way. At home, we are faced with fatigue and depression which leads to cracks in normal relationships. Besides the job security is totally gone. Any moment, your company could be acquired, shut down or merged leading to total mayhem in the organization. What other skills do we posses if all of a sudden the whole industry comes to a halt – nothing! At least my cab driver who is a graduate knows how to drive in a city with so much of traffic. We cant even do that.

These were all my musings on the occasion of my first anniversary at work. Though work has given me a lot of knowledge and skills technically, one main take home point that I have learnt is this – having the right attitude is all that matters in life. Though life may seem frustrating and depressing during times of trouble, you can always look back at it later with feeling of satisfaction. At the end of the day, this feeling of satisfaction is all that matters. Even if you work for hours together and are not satisified, there will be frustration. But, on the other hand, even an hour's work which satisfies you can keep you happy for days. I want to thank many of my colleagues, (especially my batch mates and mentors in team) who made me realize this. Having the right attitude can in itself solve many of the problems in life. So, in spite of all the tough and sad days at work, I would like to look back at all the good things that have happened to me during this one year and make it even better going further. Tough times don’t always last. But tough people do – Right?

Ultra's Diary

21 February 2001

"My name is G****** S****. I am fine. I am 12 years 85 days old. I study in seventh standard, Cordial High School. I have studied here from nursery. I live in V*****r, Bangalore. I have a brother who eats more, has a soft stomach and studies in tenth standard. He studies well. I have a sister, but wait I forgot - my brother's name is Sh**** Dont feel bad I am absent minded you know. My sister's name is Ra*****. She studies in PUC and does not have soft stomach... "

These are lines flicked directly out of Ultra's first dairy entry when he was in seventh standard at school. I was in tenth standard then. I happened to read this dairy the other day and immediately my mind lost into my own wonderland of thoughts -

Siblings are the best friends that anybody can get. They help us to shape our personality and play an important role in what we become in life. I have been very lucky to have two siblings - an elder sister and a younger brother, both of whom have influenced me a lot. Most of my friends and relatives, have had siblings and have been influenced by them. Unfortunately these days, due to the "one-child-per-family" norm that is followed by most families, siblings are disappearing fast and the so is the fun in growing up.

As a small child, a large part of your growing up and grasping things happens only through imitation. Usually, it is the mother who imitates actions for us and teaches us new things in life. But this becomes more effective if there is a sibling who is near our age who can imitate this for us. Then the learning process is simplified further. My mother was a working woman and as such it was difficult to watch the three of us all the time. When Panini was young, she was left at our granny's house in the village where she imitated her cousins and learnt. Then it was my turn to imitate her. I used to follow her around and do whatever she did. If she drank milk in a cup, I would also ask for a cup. If she sat on a sofa while watching TV, I would sit too. If she put nail polish on her toes, I would do it too. I wanted long hair like her. I even cried ands got a frock for myself so that I wanted to dress like her :-) but all that was when i was too small to know the difference.

As I grew up, I realised that I could not imitate her all the time. By then, I had learnt most of the things from her and was ready for more. So, adapting to a new teacher became very easy. My mother also found it easy to teach me. Nevertheless, Panini was and has always been my strength. As a elder sister, she has supported me when I needed it, protected me, encouraged me to do better. I have been really lucky to have a sister like her. When mom used to go to work, she used to leave the two of us alone in the house. We used to play nice games together and would spend hours together imagining fantasy situations. We used to talk about what we would do if a thief entered the house at that time - how we would take all the weapons in the house and attack him. We used to talk about what we would do when we grew up - I always wanted to be a bus/train driver and she a home maker. We would talk about how we both would handle the other bullying friends in our neighbourhood. In many ways, all these helped a lot in shaping our minds for the future years.

I always used to wonder how it would feel if I had an elder borther and a sister together. Then it would be more of a learning experience as both of them would guide me. Ultra dint need to wonder about that. He had an elder sister and a brother. I am not sure whether I have handled the responsibility of being an elder brother as well as Panini has done to me. But I have always adored Ultra. When he was a baby, (a real cry baby) I was jealous of him as he was given all the attention. I still dont know why Panini never felt anything of that sort about me. Most of the time, I was the one who used to make him cry. But as time passed, the feeling of jealousy was replaced by some feeling more powerful. I just admired his ability to grasp things soon and his intelligence. Maybe it was because he had two people to imitate and learn. But his ability to relate to things and find out new things was awesome. He. in turn, has always followed my foot steps, trying to learn by imitation. He used to watch me play video games, he mastered it. He used to watch me use the computer, he became a computer expert. When I started writing a diary when I was in tenth standard, he started one too. When i stopped, he too stopped :-)

Ultra is a nice brother to hang out with. Except for the time when a soccer match is going on when he gets a bit hyper, he is fun to be with all the time. He makes fun of my plump body and that is reflected in the way he has drawn my picture (top left corner of this page - blog profile pic) and in the diary entry that he has written. He is a real "Gizmo - Geek" in sense he can master the art of using any gizmo/gadget within minutes. He is humorous too. Panini, Ultra and I spend hours together talking about anything and everything under the sun and manage to have a great time together. Sometimes even a silly discussion can lead to hours of entertainment for all of us.

Ultra and Panini have always been my strengths. They have always been there for me supporting me, cheering me up when I was down, celebrating when I was successful. I guess everyone i know who has a sibling has similar story to tell about theirs brothers and sisters. It is a real gift of God to have been born with siblings. For those who are not that lucky, there is no need to worry or feel sad. You will always get friends who become as close as your siblings. Isn't it ? But just choose yor frineds with care. Bye for now. Will keep posting soon.

Notes:

1. Names are changed to protect identities.

2. I know it is wrong to read someone else's diary and publish it without their consent. But the copyright issue in this context has been taken care of

Letter to the void

This post is in reply to a comment posted by Saravanan. Please read the comment before reading this post to have a better idea.

Dear Saravanan,

Thank you for bringing this up. Please read the post carefully. I have never said that I hate all the politicians. Neither have I said that "We are all good; we don’t have bad sides at all and politicians are all bad; they don’t have anything good at all". And no matter how many chances you give me, I would never want to be him, nor closely related him.

I have known you closely and since you are a man of finance, I can safely assume you are just looking at the financial success of politicians. You are looking at it like a business which yields crores of money so that you can achieve your long term dream of “financial freedom”. Many people of our country are looking at it the same way. No wonder then, political wannabes ransack party offices just to get the much coveted Party tickets and contest elections.

But does this have to be done at the cost of your nation? Are we not from the land where we perceive our country as our mother? Of what use is the whole lot of money to you if you cannot ensure the happiness of your mother? Isn’t our country the same?

Look at what your “much admired” son of soil has done – he has used the name of his soil to make money. In your own words, “he has controlled the whole state according to his whims and fantasies”. Is it not equivalent to using his own mother? I would never want to be like him even in the wildest of my dreams. Would you?

Though I agree that politics is not my cup of tea, I have been a very keen observer of the politics in my country and as a responsible citizen I want to be involved in the democratic process of electing our leaders. Right from the time I was a kid, my father used to explain to me the importance of choosing the right leaders. I was very fascinated by the idea that in our country, we get to choose who we want as our leaders. Not unlike most of the countries where there is monarchy/dictatorship where the fate of the country is pretty much sealed. In our country, we have an active part in shaping the country. Is it not why we fought for our freedom? Lakhs and lakhs of our country men withstood cruel treatment meted out to them just to ensure that our land does not fall in wrong hands. They made sure that ultimately “we” could control the destiny of the country. Is it not a privilege by itself? So whenever elections used to happen, I used to be very excited. I used to observe the whole process of nomination filing – campaigning – political rallies – voting day – the result day and finally a new leader swearing in. Whenever I saw a blot on my dad’s finger after he voted, I used to wonder when will I get a chance to do this? So when I turned 18 and got a card my joy knew no bounds. I do enjoy this fundamental right that the country gives me. I do abide by the laws of the nation properly. I fulfil the duties that my nation asks me to do in my capacity and so I deserve every right to make a comment on its affairs.

The politicians of our nation have a responsibility to the people. We in turn have a responsibility to choose our leaders wisely. Though not significant, each one of us has a definite role to play to shape the country of our dreams – an India so rich and powerful that the whole world can just bow their heads in admiration towards. That is what I wish my country became. That is what each of the freedom fighter who sacrificed his life for the nation dreamt. And that is what motivates each of our soldiers on the front to stand guarding the nation braving cold winds, snow and rain. That is what every farmer who toils in his fields growing food for us thinks. That is what a statesman is supposed to think. Even though, we may not live to see a country like that, we can atleast die peacefully knowing that we have contributed towards that end.

And even if one of us fails in this duty, the whole cycle gets halted. If we don’t vote wisely and give power to unworthy people, the country suffers. If the soldiers don’t protect us from enemies, the country suffers. If the farmers stop growing food for us, the country suffers. Similary, if the politicians stop caring for the nation the country suffers. I don’t hate all politicians. Neither do I say that they are all bad while we are all good. I am just saddened that the progress is halted because of the whims and fancies of these few people.

Now you might ask me – how does it matter to me whether they rule properly or not? As long as I am getting my salary and have my job, it is enough. But don’t you think it matters in the long run? Today, Bangalore is the hub of IT and electronics biggies of the world. Why? It is only because of the attractive schemes that the government provided to these companies that drew them here. They provided land, water and power at subsided prices. They gave tax sops. Also, they provided them with talented people by giving permission for a large number of engineering colleges. It was because some government before had a vision – to make Bangalore a prosperous city. But do you think it will remain like this for ever if the government keeps on neglecting the demands of the industry? It certainly wouldn’t. We need a very stable government that takes care of issues like these so that we can progress as a nation.

Politics has become dirty – agreed. But no one is expecting it to be cleaned up all by itself. No one is asking them to spend money on elections. In fact the election commission has banned the use of money to get people’s attention. So why do they need to spend money lavishly now only to come back and recover ten times of it later? I am amused that you think this is honest and in the best interests. The only interest it satisfies is the greed of our politicians. It is only those greedy people I detest. I don’t want them to clean up the whole nation and build a great nation overnight. But it can atleast do some small things that make a huge difference. Can’t it?

For example, the international airport that opens on 23rd is too far from the city and there are no proper roads to it. Can it not sternly argue with the builders of the new air-port and keep the old one open at least till proper roads are built? The fees for medical and engineering courses have sky-rocketed in the past few years shattering poor students dream of studying professional courses. Can it not provide scholarship to these students? People have lost interest in the judiciary these days because all politicians commit crimes and get away with it. For a change, Can they not abide the law and set an example that judiciary is still strong in our nation?

If they cant do good to our nation, let them not. If their only intention is to make money, let them do it. But atleast, they should not stop good things from happening right? Why did the NICE road get stalled? Could it not be opened for public long back? Why do many infrastructure projects get stalled years together for want of funds? Can they not be sped up? If tomorrow, Bangalore’s IT companies feel that some other city is a better option than ours and close down here, what will happen to all of our jobs? Will it not be a mistake from someone else for which we will suffer?

I am sorry if I was harsh to you sir. I dint mean to hurt your thoughts. It is just that these topics are very sensitive and the lack of attention to them by our policy makers makes me so frustrated. It is really a good thing that you brought them up. Please think about these in detail and get back to me with your thoughts.

Best Regards,
Mama

Note:
1. NICE – stands for an ambitious infrastructure project by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise. They have taken up many nice projects in Bangalore and Mysore cities.
2. May 23rd is the scheduled date of opening for Banagalore International Airport at Devanahalli, about 50 km from city centre. After that, the existing airport will be closed for even short –term flights.