DO WE DESERVE A NATIONAL HOLIDAY?

Written as a frustrated employee on 1^ST Oct 2010

 I am an employee of a leading IT company in India. Everyone knows, or at least would have heard from the hordes of people in this field, how an IT-professional's life is. At least, we get to call ourselves “professionals” when we are anything but that.

India is one of the top countries to provide cheap paid labor to the many US clients. I came across a curious trend working in my 4 X 2 cubicle. Nobody wants to work in an in-house project 

or a domestic project. Everyone wants to work for the accounts which are based outside India. Why? Well, the lure of “on-site”- the favorite word in the dictionary of an IT professional - the rosy dream of getting posted overseas. Who cares if the Indian population needs educated individuals to stand up for them? Who cares if the Indian economy can benefit from stopping the brain-drain? All we care about is getting to US (or UK, for that matter) and earning money in dollars instead of rupees. That is the yardstick for success in this industry. If a person has been to on-site, then his life's destiny is fulfilled. If not, then of course, he's a loser- doesn't know the difference between Java and Unix, and is basically the victim of office-gossip.

But has it ever occurred to our minds that we give far too much importance to others and let them walk all over us? That we are ready to let go of our sense of pride for ourselves and our country and are willing to be doormats just for the sake of an appreciation mail? I, myself, am working for a US based client, who very calmly asked my team to work on 2^nd October, a national holiday. And my team agreed readily.  Of course, it doesn't matter that it is a day to honor the man who was the driving force behind bringing an end to the oppression of India at the hands of the British rulers. Of course, it doesn't matter that the US citizens would never dream of working on the 4^th of July. Of course, our struggles and our leaders were less important than theirs.

And whom should we blame for such blatant disregard of our values and our culture? Is it the fault of the foreigners – who stepped over our rights to celebrate our National holiday? Or is it our fault – the people who allow them to do so for meager gains like appreciation notes and congratulations mail?

Isn't it time that we stopped acting like lap-dogs and be the 'professionals' we call ourselves?

If we, the so-called educated mass, do not appreciate and take pride in the immense sacrifices of the people who got us here, then who will?

IDIOSYNCRASIES OF A TWENTY-SOMETHING MIND

What to do? Who to be? And how to be it?

I want to be nothing but myself. But who am I? Is it my definition of me? Or should I let the people around me define me?
Should I be passionate about my beliefs, irrespective of their confirmation in the minds of others? Or should I let the popular vote sway me?

Is there just black and white? Right and wrong? What if I exist in the grey area? Or better yet.. the 'rainbow land'.. where everything is rosy and colorful and people still believe in fairy tales and the immensity of love. Does that make me a romantic or a fool?

Who said I have to decide one way or the other? When has it to be this or that? Why can't I believe in both sides of the coin and enjoy the contradictions of my own mind? After all, intelligence is the ability to retain opposite ideas in the mind and still be able to function.

So why should I always try to label everything? Why should I try to fit in with the crowd, when standing out is so much more fun!!


~November, 2010

Twenty-Five and Counting!

Twenty Five years. So old. Yet so young. So many dreams shattered. Yet so many new ones formed.
The time when we realize the wisdom of our parents, yet are too young to actually carry it out. The time when we realize we are not invincible,yet have the
strength to take on the world. The time when we realize that we might have finished our studies, but actually know so little.

I can personally vouch for the myriad emotions and the transition a twenty-something year old goes through. Finishing graduation makes one feel like the
king of the world. The studies are done, we are eligible to vote and change the destiny of the country, we are old enough to drive and old enough to drink (though 
not the last two together!). These little things make us feel on the top of the world. We take the same enthusiasm into our workplace. And then comes the shattering
of the dreams- because of course, here we are at the bottom of the pyramid rather than the top. And with these shattering comes a whole new level of
responsibilities. We have to manage our own money, take care of our own bills, pay for the petrol of our vehicles. And that's when we realize how much our
parents had sacrificed and compromised to see all our whims and wishes fulfilled. Of course, we had always loved them but had never really comprehended the
how's and why's behind their actions. Now we know. And now we are so much more grateful.

For me personally, the story doesn't end here. I decided to pursue higher education after working for about 18 months. Just when I had thought that I was comfortably
set in my 4*4 cubicle in front of a computer (which, by the way felt more like home than my own apartment!), fate decided to yank the carpet from
under my feet. I got an opportunity that I could not let go off and returned back to the student life. Yet another transition. There's a hell and heaven difference
between work-life and student-life- though the jury's still out on which is which. I returned from being the master of your own time to being bound in college rules
and restrictions. I let go of all my responsibilities and become the darling child of my parents again. My time table of 9 A.M. to 8 P.M. changed into
all-day classes and all-night study grinds. My 3-bedroom apartment was replaced by a hostel full of friends. 

My life turned inside-out and upside-down and topsy-turvy.
But what's more important is that I enjoyed the ride and learned something new at every stage. 
When everything's said and done, the years of my life have seen a lot of bends and forks in the road and boy, am I glad for it!

Like Douglas Adams said and I quote: "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be".

~Written for a friend as a part of his MBA assignment in November, 2011