Why The Sky Went Too Far….

I was a part of this conversation….a lot of conversations recently coupled with the equally tedious and fruitless task of pondering and came out with this..

There was this lesson in Moral Science I learnt at school. It said that once the sky was very close to the earth. It was so close, people could actually touch it. It was also said in that story, that the sky was the major source of food for the people. People used to break chunks of the sky and eat them and the sky was only pleased seeing that it satisfied these people’s hunger. But soon, people started taking the sky for granted. They said “the sky is infinitely vast, and we are too few. So how does it matter if we waste it” ; and so it began, people started taking bigger chunks of the sky. They ate when they felt like eating..otherwise they just threw it away. The sky now was starting to feel troubled, seeing people whom it fed for so long now taking it for granted.

One day, a small boy, took out a huge chunk of the sky. He just licked it on the surface and then threw the entire remaining portion on the ground. The sky became very angered at this. It thundered and roared and cursed the entire human race that it would go so far that no human could ever touch it again, let alone waste it. It then started moving upwards. Far, far away it went…and till date no human has ever touched the sky again. Needless to say, people died because of the hunger, not only those who wasted the sky but also the few that actually cared and loved the sky.

It has now become fashionable for people to criticize and waste their skies. These skies may be jobs; these may be precious natural resources like water, fuel, food grains all because they can do so. They have taken their skies for granted,

People in my company (and I’m sure, your company too) always say “yaar..is company ka to culture hi kharab hai” or “Is company me to aisa hi hota hai”  or “koi ownership hi nahi leta is company me” or “is company me mere liye kuch nahi rakha hai” or any of the other nothings that people blabber during those ‘intellectual’ discussions.

I think now, what right do you have to say this? Have you ever as an individual taken ownership of your own? Have you ever tried to change the culture of the place you worked? Have you ever, nevermind in however small a way, tried to think that this company was yours too?

I have seen many people come and leave this place during my stay here. People have always contributed, no matter how small an amount to make this a better company. But what about those people who came and they went and did nothing? What about the people who only kept chanting these lines and fleecing the organization by means of allowances or even their not so commensurate salaries?

It is these people who make all the ruckus. It is these people who make this company go farther and think lesser and lesser about its employees. It is these people who spoil the so called ‘culture’.

I remember now, that a guy at a very senior position once commented- “why take /GETs? They only leave. They do nothing all the time and one fine day, they resign”. I used to be flustered whenever I heard this comment. But now, after spending this time, I cannot help but agree. These people have been my seniors, my peers and my juniors and I am ashamed seeing them do these things all in the name of short term financial benefits.

People, if you don’t like it here, you have the freedom to leave. But as long as you’re here, do something. Be a motor, a prime-mover, the engine of however small an activity, however small a function, however ‘unimportant’ a profile. In the end, it is the motors who will rule the world.

PS- there is only one kind of guy whose life is easy, he is called the victim.

PPS- I love this company. This company has given me things, IT guys can only dream of. What I don't like is what some people have done to it today. 

PPPS- Special thanks to a guy who made me feel this way. Whatever good, I shall be from now on, a portion of it will always be attributed to him.

Star Wars- A Delayed Dissection

So, I decide one day, that I need to watch Star Wars. I thought it was the pinnacle, the ultimate source of inspiration for all fantasies…

How wrong was I?

I downloaded all the six installments of this ‘epic’ and started right from the start. That is ‘The Phantom Menace’ and proceeded to watch all that this series had to offer over a period of three days.

I gave the movie one chance, then two chances and three chances and then ten and then I lost count…as I delved deeper and deeper into the crap that the entire series was.

Darth Vader, a character who could have been immortalized had it been penned by someone of Tolkien’s or Rowling’s or Ayn didi’s caliber for that matter was turned to an obstinate fool. The slight amount of respect that I gained for him in ‘The Revenge Of The Sith’ came crashing down once I saw the sequels. A character so complex, he would have been the next Severus Snape or Sauron or Ellsworth Toohey. But all he remained at the end of the series was a character you would see in any of the countless Mithun movies. His aura was butchered and hacked. His charisma had been reduced to zilch. He became one of those ‘also rans’.

Obi- Wan Kenobi, who was rated 37^th amongst the list of AFI’s top 100 heroes of all time was an aberration to be extremely polite. He had nothing to offer. As the ex- mentor of Anakin Skywalker/ Darth Vader, he was shown to possess no special skills except his belief in the Jedi value system. He did not even deserve to mentor Luke for that matter if his characterization is anything to go by. You were expecting a Dumbledore and all Lucas handed out was a ‘Muggle Studies’ professor.

Of Luke and Leia, the little said the better.  In one of the sequels, Leia is shown kissing Luke and right in the next movie, Leia feels his brotherly bond calling out asking for help. 

A character who could have been more used was Yoda but he too fell to the absolute lack of imagination of the authors.

Coming to imagination, the light saber battles were only short of Dandiya/ Raas Nights which we get to see during Durga Puja.  The enemies displayed no emotion as they engaged, the held their sabers as if they were holding a fishing rod…and they killed as if killing people was a duty they were paid monthly salaries for like the Govt Babus. Its as if one had to offer a bribe to get emotions on their faces.

The few positive things I had to take…I saw Natalie Portman for the first time and I loved her. She looked so beautiful; it was almost a sin to touch her. The Jedi farewell ‘May the force be with you’ was decent enough. Jabba the Hutt was lovable. Darth Sidius was OK.

George Lucas invested so much money in creating this universe and did nothing when it came to the characters or the story. He killed my dream. He made me think my life as a low level manager was more exciting than to be a Jedi warrior.  

I cannot help but delete the movie now and find consolation in LoTR.

PS- George, next time you make a movie, please please invest more time and money on the characters. It is them who breathe life in a fantasy, not space ships and robots.  

The Future I Always Fear…

Today was a rather mundane day at office. Being a Thursday, there are only a handful of people who work. Chance or luck or any other fancy word invented by Paulo Coelho brought me upon this magazine. Its actually a monthly published by my company. The very last page of this magazine had an interview with one of the senior guys at my place. I saw it and imagined myself sitting in his place 35 years from now….this is how it goes….

Down Memory Lane

Sudhakar M Kamath
Deputy General Manager- Planning,

Q. How would you describe your journey in this company?
I feel I have been very lucky (?) to join this company. I remember the day I heard the news that I had been selected in the interview. (reminiscing) It was a dream come true for me to join such a prestigious organization. I was very lucky to have joined a world famous project in the initial phase of my career and I have never looked back since then.

Q. What has been your most memorable moment?
There have been numerous such moments. One of the special ones was in Singur. There due to some politician’s hunger strike, we had to take a route which took 5 ½ hours to complete a bus journey which otherwise could have taken only 45 mins. I remember how the bus used to stop every 10-15 metres due to a traffic jam. That whole period of 15 days was like a new revelation for me.

Q. What do you think sets this company apart from others?
This company has given me the freedom to take decisions right from a very young age. I was exposed to various facets of this company very early which is but a utopian dream in other companies. (Excitedly) Forget a job switch, I did not even make a resume after I joined here.

The other side of Mr. Kamath (Yeah Right!)
Your Hometown-
Hyderabad …no wait!!. I think I’m from somewhere in Karnataka…but I definitely think it is Goa…oh hell!! I’ve lived half my life here…I think Im from Pune.

What are you currently reading?
The Ramayana, The Mahabharata and The Bhagvad Gita (Do you expect me to read Playboy at this age???)

Where did you go for a recent holiday?
Croatia. I especially like the Croatian version of Vada Pav that you get over there.

Your Favourite Cuisine- 
I am a huge fan of Ecuadorian cuisine. They have a national dish called 'Chicken Ecuadori' which is prepared only on special occasions like someone's marriage.



Your Favourite One-Liner
I don’t enjoy other’s failures and I don’t like others to use me as a scapegoat for their failures (Killer Punch!!)

Just imagining myself there, answering these pointless questions put jitters in me. The truth is that people who stick around here for long are here because this company pays people to do what they enjoy most- leisure. People from around here make this company their last one because here, they can happily retire doing nothing all their life. Whoever, has joined this company as a GET has always left it. If he didn’t it means

a. He didn’t get admission to any MBA/ MS college
b. His hometown is only an hour’s drive from here
c. His girlfriend/ boyfriend lived here and they got happily married or the last
d. He just didn’t have it in him to go higher

Will I really answer these questions 35 years from now? I definitely don’t fall in the first three categories. Am I the fourth kind?…Only time can tell….

PS- May turn out to be less fun than the previous ones. But I'm sure you've got the message that is 'Don't ever become this'.

Quarter Life Crisis

Uff…what a great amount of trouble I have gone through as I begin this…was struggling to find something to write about something which I myself would like to read…which reminded me of the fact, that this was a blog not a newspaper column where I have to ..as the term goes “cross my t’s and dot my i’s”.

Now that all the hoopla surrounding July 2nd is now over, maybe its time I thought about what ive gained or lost during this period.

Three years is generally the time when people leave their jobs, switch to other companies either because of the pay or that their girlfriend works there or because they want to stay closer to home or the latest trend that is higher education. New recruits who stay behind after this period are generally only superannuating.

I remember I once commented about a friend who has been in this BPO since five years..that he had reached his retirement age and should now quit the job and switch to some new place.

The problem with staying too long in a company is that the experience you gain starts turning into baggage. And baggage my friends is expensive to carry about. There are limits to the period people don’t get influenced by the culture of the company they work.

There is another problem of juniors joining your company. I as a person have always valued intelligence more than experience. These new recruits display more intelligence and suddenly all the thought that I was young and better than most of the other people around vanishes like a puff of smoke. You are left lingering and pondering over your future as these people steal the day right under your nose.

Yesterday, as I was having lunch in the company’s canteen with a few colleagues, one of them remarked that I was actually four years older than her. I until then was living in a false hope that I still had many years to go when this comment came and I realized that I had actually spent three years in this company. And the more disturbing thought that I was now even closer to the ‘marriagable’ age when mindwise (as most of you will agree) I have not yet reached that peak from where things only start to go down.

Sometime back when I was watching this Friends episode where all the characters turn hyper on turning 30. I thought 30 was not too old, why are all these people feeling this way? It now dawns upon me that I am not getting any younger.

I just feel that there should be some thing you could drink or do or eat to stay young or atleast feel young. The company does value your experience but it is the intelligent who will solve problems and move ahead. It is that age should not play a role in affecting your mental faculties. I would definitely want to wear the clothes that I’m wearing now or the thirst for knowledge that I have now or have the miniscule amount of intelligence that I display now when im 10 years older.

Why should people become this boring and ‘bhai saab’ like when they get older and reach this age? Why should they start talking about the ways they can save their money when they should be living life to the fullest? Why should you try and be responsible when you actually enjoy the irresponsibility in your personal life? Why should you let go of all your friends with whom you’ve spent so much time when you get married? Why isn’t life simple like it used to be in the older days?

Someday, these questions haunt everyone and for most the haunting might have already started. But the fact remains that all of these are going to happen no matter what…

PS- 'There is no off position to the genius switch'- Anon