Work, life and balance

Recently I met this aunty who told me how sorry she is for people like me in the IT industry. This has happened many a times. When I meet people and tell them I am “a software engineer” and they go on and on as to how hectic it is and how there is no work-life balance in the IT field. I only reply by asking them “name a job with work-life balance”. These days it’s almost assumed that if you own a business or if you want to succeed that you have to work insane hours. This concept transcends all fields and professions.

From the past few days I was thinking if I had to quit the IT field then what would be an alternate career option for me. Unfortunately I couldn’t come up with anything. Not that I am not capable of anything else simply coz I don’t have the neccessary formal training or guidance for anything else.

But I know many people who have neither worked insane hours nor have they had any formal training in their chosen profession. Perhaps, the best example could be my Dad who is an investment consultant. He is neither an MBA nor he ever had formal training in finance. While what I thought helped him stay in the business is his ability to sell ice to the eskimos, he succeded because he knew he need not sell ice to the eskimos. That is he knew what is the right product for anybody. Plus his abilities to put it across in the right way helped him stay in the business. So it is the skills that matter in the end.

Also he was always there for us when we needed him. I can boast of hundred percent parent attendance for all my school functions. This was not because he had nothing else to do or that couldn’t have been anywhere else. He could have very well continued with his work, met more clients, got more business…. But he made sure he was there for his family. That was possible because he knew his priorities. He chose giving quality time to family over other things. So it is we who decide how much we want to give to our jobs. It is a conscious decision, mostly a tradeoff.

So in the end what matters is your skills and where you want to draw a line between work and personal life and not the industry or vertical you work in.

WikiLeaks

It was a normal day and I was googling out some info when I found this very interesting site-” Wikileaks.org” .

Wikileaks is a website that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive governmental, corporate, or religious documents, while attempting to preserve the anonymity and untraceability of its contributors. They claim to help you get out the truth safely.

This is what the first line on their website says “We are of assistance to peoples of all countries who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and institutions.” According to Wikipedia, The site and its project were secret until their existence was disclosed in a January 2007 article after Wikileaks invited the editor of Secrecy News to serve on their advisory board.

Also it was a wiki earlier where everybody could post to it but very soon they abandoned the model and now the articles are reviewed by the anonymous wikileaks reviewers and goes through a internal review process before getting published. In June 2009, Wikileaks and Julian Assange won Amnesty International UK’s Media Award 2009 (in the category “New Media”) for the 2008 publication of “Kenya: The Cry of Blood – Extra Judicial Killings and Disappearances”, a report by the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights about police killings in Kenya. It also covers many top stories including the Guantenamo Bay Camp, which is very much in news these days.

I tried to check if I could find any Indian stories in there. I could spot one story on Goa Scarlett Johnson Keeling Case. It also features Whistle Blowers from India like Satyendra Dubey,Ana Hazare, Arun Shourie and Amitabha Choudhary.

I don’t know how many of you were aware of this, but it was a news for me.

Kasab confesses

Ajmal Kasab is the lone surviving terrorist involved in 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Kasab’s confession is being seen as a ploy to gain sympathy. What the hell. Sympathising with him is like mocking the deaths of all the people who died at CST and the all others who lost their lives in the 26/11 tragedy. While I believe in fairness, and the theory that “Every accused is innocent until proven guilty”, prolonging this trial is like taking fairness and justice a bit too far. In fact this is being unfair to all the people who have lost their near and dear ones in the tragedy.With all the evidence we already have what is the stopping us from nailing Kasab. From his statements it is very evident he has been trained to mislead the court.

With all the amount of money spent on Kasab from the government kitty and the extra security he is become no less than a VIP. What justifies all the amount that is spent on him? This particular matter is not as simple as nailing a normal cold-blooded criminal. It has far reaching consequences in terms of foreign affairs, millitary intelligence, tackling terrorism and the like so everything may not be evident to ordinary mortals like us. But common sense dictates that it is time we stop the drama and take some concrete action before people make a hero of him. He is supposed to have said he cannot sleep because the moment he closes his eyes he can see all the victims of his heinous acts. Don’t know how much of it is the truth. Even if it is what does he expect. Will he feel like a saint after everything he has done. How much ever he pretends to be innocent, an aide to Ismail and mislead frustrated,poor youth, the fact remains. The fact that he is a cold-blooded murderer and nothing else.

Truth or Dare

Do you remember the game we played as teenagers?  Invariably most people opted for a dare. Doing acts of dare is fun but not washing your dirty linen in public.

Everybody these days is talking about the new reality show ‘Sach ka saamna’. One of my friends also wrote about it in his blog. I haven’t watched a single episode of the show(or its American counterpart) and don’t plan to watch it either. What is the fun in knowing the dirty secrets of others lives? I also read somewhere Rajeev Khandelwal is impressed by people who dare to reveal the truth. B*** S***. Who does he think he is kidding? Everybody knows any participant out there is present only for money and nothing else.  And this money no matter what amount is going to ruin their many relationships and their reputation for sure. I would say hats off to the people who refused to be a part of the show(Amrita Singh and the others like her), who dare to accept that it is their life and its details(dirty or otherwise) are not for sale.

Paths of Glory – Jeffery Archer

This is the story of a man who loved two women, and one of them killed him. The two women in question are his wife Ruth and Goddess Chomolungma(Mt.Everest in Tibetian). The story is about George Mallory’s quest to reach the summit of Mt.Everest.

 In real life it is a mystery whether George Mallory made it to the summit. His body was found in 1999 a few hundred feet below the summit. Whether he and his partner Sandy Irvine died on the way to the summit or on their way back is not known. If he had succeeded he would be the first person to scale the everest in 1924 much before 1953. He was carrying a camera with him which has not yet been found. He had promised his wife Ruth that he would place a photo of hers on the summit. The photo has also not been found in his wallet. But the truth lays hidden beneath the sheets of rock and ice on the Everest .

The novel could be described as semi-historic and is different from the other thrillers. It is more of a biography of George Mallory. Though the pace is slow it makes an interesting read. The letters written by George to Ruth are the heart of the novel. The novel is set in the old world English land where bigotry was very much a part of the English culture. Finch makes a very good competitor and keeps Goerge going whenever he wants to quit. You might be tempted to put down the book at times but it is worth reading till the end.

Harry Potter 6 movie

Harry Potter and the half blood prince is the sixth in the series of harry potter movies.

The special effects in the movie are great but thats about it. Not much of a story except for the teenage romance between Ron,Hermoine and Harry,Ginny. It is more like a filler preparing the base for the next movie.  The movie has some comic moments. Absence of Voldemort is felt though the movie is dark in theme( Dumbledore’s death and the sinister hallways).  Looks like there were no classes in 6th year.

It still has the Harry Potter magic but could have been better.

Chandrayaan Technical Snag

Chandrayaan-1, the first Indian lunar probe is facing a technical snag. The star sensors aboard have failed.  This is expected to bring down it’s life. It is a disturbing news.  Let’s hope for better luck with Chandrayaan-2.

On a lighter note, a colleague of mine(Naughty N) today has speculated the cause of this “Chine maal use kiya rahega”(Must have used China products).

The Proposal- Movie review

The Proposal is definitely worth a watch. It has already managed to secure a place in my list of all time favorite romantic comedies. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds put up a commendable show.

Margaret(Sandra Bullock) is an Editor-in-chief of a publishing house and is popularly known in her office as ‘The Witch’. The moment she steps out of her cabin the word travels through the instant messenger “The Witch is on her broom”. Andrew(Ryan Reynolds) is her assistant who also loathes her.

The story begins when Margaret’s (who is a Canadian) Visa application gets denied. She is about to be deported, which also means she would be losing her job in the US. This lass quickly cooks up a love story between her and Andrew. She threatens Andrew to marry her or lose his job.

In order to sell their lie they go to Alaska to visit Andrew’s family on the weekend for his granny’s birthday. Margaret who has lost her parents at the age of 16 finds out what it is like to have a family. No prizes for guessing what happens next. Yes they fall in love . The immigration officer Mr.Gilbertson smells a rat and is most definitely not convinced that they are in love and here comes our villian. Oscar Nunez needs a special mention here for his performance.

Nothing new about the story but has got all the elements in the right proportion. A right mix of romance and comedy. If you still haven’t watched the movie then it’s time you did.

No Kidding-2

The post ‘No kidding’  has got lots of responses. Most of the people find today’s kids hyper. That got my thought process started. Are the teachers and Parent spoiling them? The answer is Yes and No. They are not to be blamed fully. We are all a product of our environment. It is the circumstances and experiences that make us. And so are kids today.We grew up in a completely different environment as compared to these kids.

Few reason kids are the way they are could be:

Most parents do not have time to give their kids and to compensate that loss they give in to every whim and fancy of their child.

There are no joint families anymore. One of the biggest advantage of joint families are that kids learn to adjust and share.

No relatives come visiting to your place in vacations neither do you go to somebody else’s place. Instead you attend a host of classes to improve your personality, skills, knowledge,whatever.

Family outings include “Mom,Dad, Brother/Sister(if any), me and our doggy” in the family car.

Affluency may be good for the economy but not in this case. With disposable income increasing by the day kids don’t share as much as a eraser with anybody. Each has his/her own mobile, computer…

They don’t need other kids for playing anymore. They are busy with watching cartoon, playing video games, with their playstations or surfing on the net.

The emphasis on external appearences is too high not just for themselves but even their parents. I recently heard somebody say he was made to dye his hair otherwise his daughter wouldn’t let him meet her friends.

They have everything available at the click of a button/mouse or just a phone call away.

They get too much of attention in everything they do. Right from what they eat, which school they attend, what homework they do, tuitions they attend, what results they get and what talent they possess and how do they go about developing them.

The level of exposure is pretty high. It is not confined to books or school thanks to TV and Internet. Hence you get to see lots of grown up kids.

Infact growing up in this age must be really difficult with so many expectations. And so much to take in and so little time. Stress levels are really high. Almost negligible outdoor activity. I kind of sympathise with them.

The post ‘No kidding’ has got lots of responses. Most of the people find today’s kids hyper. That got my thought process started. Are the teachers and Parent spoiling them? The answer is Yes and No. They are not to be blamed fully. We are all a product of our environment. It is the circumstances and experiences that make us. And so are kids today.We grew up in a completely different environment as compared to these kids.

Few reason kids are the way they are could be:

• Most parents do not have time to give their kids and to compensate that loss they give in to every whim and fancy of their child.
• There are no joint families anymore. One of the biggest advantage of joint families are that kids learn to adjust and share.
• No relatives come visiting to your place in vacations neither do you go to somebody else’s place. Instead you attend a host of classes to improve your personality, skills, knowledge,whatever.
• Family outings include “Mom,Dad, Brother/Sister(if any), me and our doggy” in the family car.
• Affluency may be good for the economy but not in this case. With disposable income increasing by the day kids don’t share as much as a eraser with anybody. Each has his/her own mobile, computer…
• They don’t need other kids for playing anymore. They are busy with watching cartoon, playing video games, with their playstations or surfing on the net.
• The emphasis on external appearences is too high not just for themselves but even their parents. I recently heard somebody say he was made to dye his hair otherwise his daughter wouldn’t let him meet her friends.
• They have everything available at the click of a button/mouse or just a phone call away.
• They get too much of attention in everything they do. Right from what they eat, which school they attend, what homework they do, tuitions they attend, what results they get and what talent they possess and how do they go about developing them.
• The level of exposure is pretty high. It is not confined to books or school thanks to TV and Internet. Hence you get to see lots of grown up kids.

Infact growing up in this age must be really difficult with so many expectations. And so much to take in and so little time. Stress levels are really high. Almost negligible outdoor activity. I kind of sympathise with them.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Dilbert