We are well past that childhood.. But cherish those memories!!

 

Long time indeed.. and hope everything go well with all of you there..

 

Being a story teller I am, let me narrate yet another, real one indeed, as usual!

 

My daughter comes back from School every day at about 1:30PM in the afternoon.. She makes it a point to buzz me soon after lunch at around 3PM (she takes more than an hr to finish that ordeal, watching CN non-stop!)..

 

Well, it was a mundane Thursday evening.. Worried that I didn’t get a call from her till 4 in the evening, I decided to call home.. To my surprise, she herself picked up the phone.. I asked her why she didn’t make it up as usual and how worried I had been till that moment.. My sermons didn’t make sense to her in any way.. and she sounded damn serious.. and made a shhhhhh sound to shut myself up… Well, I was out (a bit tensed too!!) and asked her the reason why..

 

She said.. shhhh.. they are there.. don’t make noise, please.. daaad, speak in a low volume…Unable to contain my anxiety (I was nervous by this time..), I couldn’t help asking.. Tell me dear, who is there? Is there a stranger in? Where is Grandma?

 

Silence at the other end…I could feel my heartbeat going up by a notch… Daaad.. I told you to keep your voice low.. Grandma is talking to them.. I can hear their concerned voices there.. Well.. I was about to run down to the ground floor, still talking to her on my mobile.. Hey… what are you talking about? Who are they? Have you ever seen them before? Male or female? How many of them? Are they inside the house? Do they look neat and clean? And can you figure out what Grandma is telling them?..

 

Long silence again… Boy, I lost out.. Thought of calling my wife and rushing home.. Daaad… now the search team has come.. They are right here.. I can see the leader shouting out at Grandma.. They are a bit upset.. And they all seem to be worried… and Nandu has started crying…

 

My God… I was at the parking bay this time… Ready to jump in and drive home… Daaad.. you still there?? Yeah.. telll me girl..? What’s up now… Daaad… the search team finally managed to find me hiding under the desk… Aunt and Nandu have found me and they are all excited.. Grandma is relieved now….. I am going to get out.. There is no point hiding anymore.. By the way, what time you are expected home tonight…?

 

I just hung my mobile… Sigh… Long Sigh… But I scored that sweet incident in my memory for ever… When she grows into a lady, I am going to narrate this to her again… I can imagine her face blush…J

 

So long

Roy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survival of the fittest!

Bangalore… Part II

 

Into the third month.. and let me talk a little bit about my professional experiences.. At the outset, It’s a tough world, and surviving in the team, especially in a leadership role, takes all your grits, wits and nerves!

 

It’s a tad easier when you have a bunch of pals who think alike, and are from similar personal and professional backgrounds.. But the story changes when you have people who, invariably, think different and are from diverse personal, professional and cultural backgrounds, with stress on the last attributeJ

 

To add a fourth dimension to this diversity, you have the client, again, a diverse team, with stress on ethnicity this time, adding an international flavor!

 

I find it extremely challenging to communicate with the stakeholders, both oral and written! Imagine, a situation, wherein every word you choose is going to be important, and would reveal your personality and every word you speak would talk volumes about the inner youJ

 

You should negotiate, you should cajole

You should convince, you should get the buy-in

You should clarify, you should not confuse

You should lead, you should not sound arrogant

You should be simple, you should be assertive!!

 

Boy, are we not talking about contradictory, sensitive, attributes and personal traits here? I am sure Yes, but then that’s the tough part of corporate world. And there is not much of a choiceJ

 

Did I say I enjoy the profile? I may not, explicitly, but I love the responsibilities. It gives you opportunities to prove yourself.. And to stretch to your limits and explore the inner you! And finally say, hey.. what the heck.. I can do it.. and here I am!

 

So long..

Roy

Now..... and then!!!

 

Home again:

 

Feel good on setting up home again.. you know it's tough when your wife and kids are away and you just gotta live a dry life.. And now we just enjoy the warmth of togetherness!

 

Our home away from home is a little abode, on the first floor, in a silent Koramangala residential area!! Pretty neat and serene, with trees dotting all over the place.. Believe me, I could spot a few monkeys nestling on a peer tree just beside my house:-) There are couple of parks around, a shopping mall, though small in size, and a few grocery stores.. And yes, the milk man is there for sure!

 

I have not started working out yet, but would do rounds of brisk walking around the inner ring of our premises.. it's just fun and you get to meet lots of pepople around!! Come 9'o clock, it's time to drive kids school.. I continue my way to office.. It's just a couple mins drive from the school..

 

Back to work:

 

My office is right on the main road, painted blue and yellow! Since I come in early, I usually end up getting a comfortable parking lot!! Not started working full time in my project yet, there are a million formalities to be completed, both project related and misc before you really go full swing! Anyways, I just enjoy this passing phase, contemplating the tough days ahead!!

 

Tea breaks do coincide with our times.. as I said before, people keep talking about tech stuff always.. billable times, appraisals etc.. Mostly, I finish off my tea, savouring the happenings around.. Lunch is awesome, being a lover of food I just enjoy the Buffet system.. it's fabulous,  and tasty.. At times, they dont come on par with the packed meal I used to have at eSoft with a garrulous crowd, discussing anything under the sky!! Thats something I miss, and things wont come back again:-)

 

Back from work:

 

Six'o clock is a good time for me to pack off my bags, because of less work during this initial days.. The four of us head to the nearest park, kids play around a lot while we just enjoy talking to each other!! Post seven, it's time to savour the paaani puri from the road side vendor.. Now, have you ever tasted this rustic, north indian favourite? Anyone? Me was a starter too.. didnt like it a bit on the first day.. Somehow, I am addicted to it now.. rounds and rounds of small puris dipped in sweet or sour paani, served in a small round leaf bowl.. you know, it's just plain rustic.. miles away from the urban pop-corns and burgers.. I am just captivated by the charm and the enthusiasm with which the boy serves them one by one, until he says you are done.. It's after round 7, I guess!!

 

So, people who have never tasted paani puri, dare to take a small risk taking cues from my note??

 

And the rest is just routine.. and it's just life, day in and day out!! And, slowly I started liking the place and the life here..

 

My wishes are always with you...

 

So long

Roy

 

Follow your passion!

I know, it's a tough decision, especially when you make a career decision, to let your passion rule.. There is a big difference between deciding to do something you are passionate about and run with the masses, ending up in a lucrative corporate offer! There are exceptions, and they come with a bang, bagging all media attention, suddenly becoming youth icons.. morale boosting stuff indeed for ordinary mortals like us!

Following the footsteps of Sarath, the IIM Ahmedabad graduate, who tossed a dream offer from a premier retailer to follow his passion, that of venturing his own business of setting up a chain of hotels.. Growing up in a very humble background, selling idlies in the streets, never made him think otherwise and grab the corporate offer with a smile. Rather, he chose an unconventional track! This is what passion is all about. Anyone who came up with this word deserves a pat at the back.. You never look for a better word here..

The moment I believed that this could be an exception, and after all, setting up a chain of hotels would see him prosper, because of the high return industry profile.. But this lad, Satyajith Sadanand, really caught me off-balance.. throwing up yet another I-Banking career to setup up a football club in this cricket crazy land!! I would have easily let it pass, had it been in Europe or US for that matter, where club socker is a huge industry!! But then, as I said before, 'passion' is altogether a different game.. And there is no money-value attached!

So long
Roy

Boom in the Job Market..

IT boom and massive hirings??

Yet another boom in the economy fuelling massive intakes in the IT sector.. look around; you would see Job fairs everywhere, put up by stalwarts in the field to smalltime headhunters.. 'We are hiring' signs are ubiquitous scenes everywhere in Bangalore, Chennai and the IT stubs...

What's happening here in Kerala?

I am wondering how much of this happenings have a significant impact in Kerala.. Considering the Engineering graduates and the % of actual hits (those who were/are able to make it in an IT co..)You see the alarming gap.. Now, look at their counter parts in the humanities stream. Despite the BPO boom and the massive hirings there, what % of this is being bagged by graduates from God's own country? I would say it's almost nil..

Campus placements are happening only in a handful of Engineering Colleges, out of a smart figure of 100+.. And the same in arts colleges would be around 4. The only relief came from Progeon, the InfoSys BPO recently recruited from Women's College, Trivandrum.

And the reasons?

How would you explain this happening in India's most literate state? The no. 1 reason would be the inability of our graduates to 'handle' English Language... how many of them can write an essay, without those silch grammar? How many of them can handle a gurelling interview? How many of them can perform in a group interview/group task? You get the answers I guess..

The need of the hour?

A total revamp of our curriculum could solve the problem to a certain extent. There should be language labs in every course. Group excercises, presentations etc. would complement the learning in class rooms.. Soft skills training sessions should be held frequently..

On the placement front, colleges should have proactive placement officers.. They should be well read and industry aware.. They should have good PR and Networking skills.. If you happens to be in a college where the placement officer doesn't have a clue about what BPO is all about, it's time to ask him/her to go brush up their industry fundae:-)

so long
roy

Way to Topical Blogging

I have been thinking for so long to give a clear direction to my blogging... a definite portfolio to ramble on.. Am at a loss If asked to size the gamut of subject matter I have handled so far, but would definitely be more than a handful.. Of late, the feeling to make my blog topical has gotten more intense..

The reasons I have for this 'hard' decision would be...

It's time to show the world that you have grown up.. and say serious, concentrated stuff.. And bloggers like Rashmi Bansal, Sidin Vadukut, Gaurav Sabnis etc. have been inspirational, in the true sense of the word:-)

Then there are the BSchool aspirants.. the first name that comes to my mind is Dave.. his writing is awesome and is so passionate about his dream.. his blog is a treasure house to anyone serious about going to a US BSchool. On a side note, BSchooling still remains my dream, but I need more time to pursue that:-)..

Now, the real challenge is to give direction to my blogging... in the coming days I would be thinking more on these lines.. and don't get surprised if I come up with some crazy stuff...

more when I have something serious..

so long
roy

The surprise visitor...

A tragic end!!

been anxiously following the bottle-nosed whale that happened to be a surprise visitor to all Londoners.. in the river thames, the intruder from deep-atlantic remained a charming sight for onlookers.. for most, it was a dream come true; seeing a whale for the first time in their lives:-) wish I were there:-)

A surprise visitor to Thames!

the cute monster succumbed to fate, albeit the rescuers' hard fought efforts to save the mammal..

Efforts in vain..

so long
roy

Ideas that matter!!!

Alex Tew...The boy who did real Biz on the Web!

Only the story of Alex Tew could bring me back to blogging. The 21 year old undergrad from UK made millions by cashing in on the Net... The idea that made him win was selling pixels on his home page, at the rate of 1 dollar a pixel!! The lad who struggled to complete his studies looks back and grins.. he now has numerous offers from companies across the globe:-)

Some people are born with a biz-mind for sure!

BBC's take on the story..

so long
roy