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'.