Friday, December 1, 2006
Radio
Thank God for Radiociti...its not a great fm channel, but at least its English....saves me from the assault on the ears that the Tamil FM channels are. I like some of the Tamil music, but it mostly has a tendency to be loud, crass and festival kind of music which I hate. So the bus radio plays Tamil FM channels in the morning, while I have the English FM plugged into my ear. Should get a mp3 player on of these days...Currently facing a money constraint as it is the time of the year when you have to make the tax saving investments. So MP3 players and other personal luxuries will have to wait.
World Aids Day
Today is World Aids Day and it is something we should all be very concerned about. It is one of those global scale disasters waiting to happen...along with climate change and environment degradation...and yes, like the others it threatens people in developed and underdeveloped nations..albeit the current threat of AIDS is higher in developing and less developed countries due to lower awareness and education levels, poor healthcare systems and general apathy.
A fact like there being 5 million or so AIDS victims in India is in itself scary. But what is positively jarring is that 90% of these so called infected people have no clue of their infected status. So they are just moving around, copulating like bunnies and unknowingly transmitting the infection. Really makes you think....maybe it is time to establish a police state where everyone is required to periodically take tests...and everybody's status is put on public record...I mean how do you know if your date or fiance has the infection....(I am esppecially suspicous of people in this regard, particularly after my cousin's experience of having got married, and knowing post-marriage that his wife has serious kidney problems). The situation being that there is no cure for AIDS yet, the only answer lies in prevention.
I am not saying that AIDS victims should be shunned. All compassion should be shown to these unfortunate victims, but at the same time, all steps have to be taken to prevent spread of the disease. Medical progress has been great in the past decade, and now HIV/AIDS victims can expect to live a normal life using ARVs. Compassion will be to ensure availability of ARV's to the inflicted at affordable prices.
One step the Indian government can initiate to help prevention is to make HIV testing services easily available and accessible to people. These testing centres have to maintain high quality and safety standards for their services. I mean everyday you are likely to hear something about aids, but testing services are hardly talked about. Nobody knows where to go when he/she has a doubt regarding their own or somebody else's status.
Of course, it goes without saying that we have to keep up the existing efforts in educating people and promoting awareness. This is a problem that can easily get out of hand and hence warrants everybody's attention.
A fact like there being 5 million or so AIDS victims in India is in itself scary. But what is positively jarring is that 90% of these so called infected people have no clue of their infected status. So they are just moving around, copulating like bunnies and unknowingly transmitting the infection. Really makes you think....maybe it is time to establish a police state where everyone is required to periodically take tests...and everybody's status is put on public record...I mean how do you know if your date or fiance has the infection....(I am esppecially suspicous of people in this regard, particularly after my cousin's experience of having got married, and knowing post-marriage that his wife has serious kidney problems). The situation being that there is no cure for AIDS yet, the only answer lies in prevention.
I am not saying that AIDS victims should be shunned. All compassion should be shown to these unfortunate victims, but at the same time, all steps have to be taken to prevent spread of the disease. Medical progress has been great in the past decade, and now HIV/AIDS victims can expect to live a normal life using ARVs. Compassion will be to ensure availability of ARV's to the inflicted at affordable prices.
One step the Indian government can initiate to help prevention is to make HIV testing services easily available and accessible to people. These testing centres have to maintain high quality and safety standards for their services. I mean everyday you are likely to hear something about aids, but testing services are hardly talked about. Nobody knows where to go when he/she has a doubt regarding their own or somebody else's status.
Of course, it goes without saying that we have to keep up the existing efforts in educating people and promoting awareness. This is a problem that can easily get out of hand and hence warrants everybody's attention.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Passive Wail
Anger fore than most other
At not yielding to a brother
Lost in the love of a life
Drowning in The minds strife
The day is lost so it seems
And tomorrow too, A distant scream
We that are late in taking the stand
Pander our freedom, kneel at fate's hand
Where art thou, O true friend of the dawn's mist
Like a cup, he giveth and holdeth your sorrow
Who's heart is pure, beyond nature's borrow
Thy comforting hand, lost in my meek morrows
Stupor engulfs me, lethargy consumes
In its numb heaven, the mind assumes
It bereaves the fall of a tower built
With bricks of gold and the mortar of dreams
In that soaring Gaia, I aspire to roar
The folly of these words, the dream a whore
The wise man sayeth, tis but a trickster's bow
This is me, This is real, This is now
Into that brewing storm, Carry forth your trumpet call
Do not falter, for you will be beaten down to Gabriel's hall
To be loved beyond measure, tis a quandary
When the mind's in doubt and you keep not a boundary
At not yielding to a brother
Lost in the love of a life
Drowning in The minds strife
The day is lost so it seems
And tomorrow too, A distant scream
We that are late in taking the stand
Pander our freedom, kneel at fate's hand
Where art thou, O true friend of the dawn's mist
Like a cup, he giveth and holdeth your sorrow
Who's heart is pure, beyond nature's borrow
Thy comforting hand, lost in my meek morrows
Stupor engulfs me, lethargy consumes
In its numb heaven, the mind assumes
It bereaves the fall of a tower built
With bricks of gold and the mortar of dreams
In that soaring Gaia, I aspire to roar
The folly of these words, the dream a whore
The wise man sayeth, tis but a trickster's bow
This is me, This is real, This is now
Into that brewing storm, Carry forth your trumpet call
Do not falter, for you will be beaten down to Gabriel's hall
To be loved beyond measure, tis a quandary
When the mind's in doubt and you keep not a boundary
When the wedding bells toll...
Tis the season of marriages...a lot of people I know and who are close to my age are getting married ...or getting engaged and they seem to be perfectly happy to walk down that road. I for one am absolutely frightened to even think about it...not that marriage is monstrous or anything (and I am not getting any younger). You can feel ready for something as major as that only when the other aspects of your life are a litte settled and patternised. Mine is so far a day to day existence and all efforts to steady anything have not worked...so far. But I really do appreciate the people who have the courage to take that leap.
I had a friend in college, who for the entire period I knew him (which is two years) couldnt wait to get married..and he is now. But the urge lasting for two years is a something of a record in terms of persistence.
In the Indian context, once you reach 26 or 27 years of age, then there is the inevitable push from parents to get married and settled down. Why parents, any relative or friend you meet always has to ask 'When are you getting married' and your celibacy is the chosen topic for amusing discussions at social gatherings. The Indian fixation on all things marriage does get quite ridiculous at times. You may venture out to say that you are not ready for it yet, but you will be hammered back with one thousand reasons from all and sundry on why you 'absolutely must' get married. Add the ecstasy that parents get in finding a bride for their sons by way of an arranged marriage, and you make a very inhospitable environment for a 26 year old who does not want to get married.
Dowry adds to the jamboree of madness, and parents expect untold riches to come into the family alongwith a milky white bride. Its a big thing in my state, even among the well educated people. Of course its been dehorned and recharacterised as parents gifting their daughter for her well being in her future life. I used to think that dowry was a big evil growing up, but now I dont know. Is it as evil when the girl's parents willingly give her wealth and there is no coercion from the part of the the groom or his family? I have elaborated on the evile of dowry to my elders several times and one of the interestig answers that I have got is, 'Is it that the girl child is not entitled to the wealth of her parents? Is it only meant for the male child'. The moral dilemna continues..
The Indian psyche, I have felt, is somewhat bent towards displaying affluence and showing up your brethren. And marriages are a perfect conduit for such displays. Everything about it has to be large scale and better than the next one, be it the bride, the dowry, the reception, the ceremony or even the wedding invitations. Its more a celebration of your money rather than a celebration of love.
And in these interesting times, we trudge along the beaten path, trying to find our place....
I had a friend in college, who for the entire period I knew him (which is two years) couldnt wait to get married..and he is now. But the urge lasting for two years is a something of a record in terms of persistence.
In the Indian context, once you reach 26 or 27 years of age, then there is the inevitable push from parents to get married and settled down. Why parents, any relative or friend you meet always has to ask 'When are you getting married' and your celibacy is the chosen topic for amusing discussions at social gatherings. The Indian fixation on all things marriage does get quite ridiculous at times. You may venture out to say that you are not ready for it yet, but you will be hammered back with one thousand reasons from all and sundry on why you 'absolutely must' get married. Add the ecstasy that parents get in finding a bride for their sons by way of an arranged marriage, and you make a very inhospitable environment for a 26 year old who does not want to get married.
Dowry adds to the jamboree of madness, and parents expect untold riches to come into the family alongwith a milky white bride. Its a big thing in my state, even among the well educated people. Of course its been dehorned and recharacterised as parents gifting their daughter for her well being in her future life. I used to think that dowry was a big evil growing up, but now I dont know. Is it as evil when the girl's parents willingly give her wealth and there is no coercion from the part of the the groom or his family? I have elaborated on the evile of dowry to my elders several times and one of the interestig answers that I have got is, 'Is it that the girl child is not entitled to the wealth of her parents? Is it only meant for the male child'. The moral dilemna continues..
The Indian psyche, I have felt, is somewhat bent towards displaying affluence and showing up your brethren. And marriages are a perfect conduit for such displays. Everything about it has to be large scale and better than the next one, be it the bride, the dowry, the reception, the ceremony or even the wedding invitations. Its more a celebration of your money rather than a celebration of love.
And in these interesting times, we trudge along the beaten path, trying to find our place....
Monday, November 27, 2006
Penchant for Punishment
Another beautiful day as India continues to get its ass kicked in South Africa. Sometimes I wonder how colossal a waste of time it is when a whole nation spends time watching its team getting whoop assed...wouldnt it be much better if we didnt watch the severe beating and deny cricketers the pleasure of drawing fat pay packets for losing spectaculary? We seem to be suckers for punishment...
Thursday, November 23, 2006
A Newbie in IT land
Another day with nothing much to do but wait and watch the stock market worm graphs wiggle up and down. I can imagine what hell it must be to be a stock broker...this anxiety multiplied by ten. But maybe the fact that you are playing with other people's money eases the pressure a bit.
Its been six months since I have been working with one of India's prominent IT firms as a business analyst. Only MBA's are appointed as business analysts...but I really cant see why...we dont seem to do anything of consequence here. These past six months have only served to solidify my belief in Dilbert's principles which in effect say that management or MBA's dont really serve any purpose, other than to further complicate and jargonize the atmosphere.
In my company, an entry level MBA can have three types of work profiles.And I have been through all of them:
1. Business Development: Projected as cutting edge marketing communication with client in order to sell millions of dollars of services to clients after discerning their need. You'll have to factor in the competition and their capabilities too. In reality it is plain documentation work, wherein you build new proposal documents over existing templates with the client name and logo changed appropriately in the right places. You have to collate material recieved from technical folk, the manager who does the pricing, etc. And once you have done it there is nothing left to learn. Yet they expect you to keep doing the same pointless thing like in a sweatshop or something. To top it all off there is no direct interaction with the client. There are several intervening layers of account managers, client partners, project managers and other fiends who put you through thousands of review iterations with mundane changes. "If this comma is here instead of here, it will mean that we understood the client's requirements to a greater deal."
And there is no decency is the way work is demanded, "This XX million dollar proposal has to go out in three days, we need a cut today, and revised version everyday till the final version on the third day" No wonder the BD team, of which I am not a part, has an atrition rate of over 80%
2. Business Analysis: This is more up the MBA's sleeve I would say. He has to study the business model and come with appropriate solutions/requirements specifications. But such work is few and far between. I had to do an excel based financial analysis. But I sat doing that for 3.5 months, whereas it should'nt take more than two weeks simply because my manager did not want to release me from his clutches. MBA's are assigned as manager's bitches. If they are not allocated, they enter the resource pool as free agents..basically now you are anybody and everbody's bitch.
3.Project Management: The existing project managers don't consider you to be capable enough to lead a team. But they have a mandate to involve you in something. So they string you like a puppet, and make you dance to their tune. And when it comes to credit, they intend to corner all the glory and reliquish you to the background.
Another big part of IT is that you dont have much work most of the time. There are times when you are fairly/overly occupied. But those are bracketed by long periods of inactivity, another consequence of IT companies maintaining large backup labour pools in the name of being resource ready (gleaming teeth here) !!
The only positive of being an MBA in the IT sector (which in itself I think is a scam that just leverages the exchage rate difference very well...more on that in a later post) is that the work loads are not very demanding, and you may get the chance of overseas travel provided your fate lines are all good and align perfectly with those of your manager.
I really feel lost in this environment. It just supressess the motivation to do good work. I do not have a clear reporting line, and the manager I am supposed to report is very hard to even get a hold of. But mind you, if another manager so much as thinks about pulling me for some work, we'll have a turf war on our hands.
So I am not happy...so what millions are not happy with their work. Does that mean I have to quit if I am not happy? but then what?..move to another corporate logjam. A recent tata safari ad had this line which I felt was quite apt. I dont know if it is quoted from source or an original one. "Its not that slavery has ended, Its just that we have stopeed recognizing it"
I guess the only place where we can work to our definitions is in an entrpreneurial business...and that requires courage to overcome fears that shackle us. Till then, we'll have to make do with cribbing and bitching.
Its been six months since I have been working with one of India's prominent IT firms as a business analyst. Only MBA's are appointed as business analysts...but I really cant see why...we dont seem to do anything of consequence here. These past six months have only served to solidify my belief in Dilbert's principles which in effect say that management or MBA's dont really serve any purpose, other than to further complicate and jargonize the atmosphere.
In my company, an entry level MBA can have three types of work profiles.And I have been through all of them:
1. Business Development: Projected as cutting edge marketing communication with client in order to sell millions of dollars of services to clients after discerning their need. You'll have to factor in the competition and their capabilities too. In reality it is plain documentation work, wherein you build new proposal documents over existing templates with the client name and logo changed appropriately in the right places. You have to collate material recieved from technical folk, the manager who does the pricing, etc. And once you have done it there is nothing left to learn. Yet they expect you to keep doing the same pointless thing like in a sweatshop or something. To top it all off there is no direct interaction with the client. There are several intervening layers of account managers, client partners, project managers and other fiends who put you through thousands of review iterations with mundane changes. "If this comma is here instead of here, it will mean that we understood the client's requirements to a greater deal."
And there is no decency is the way work is demanded, "This XX million dollar proposal has to go out in three days, we need a cut today, and revised version everyday till the final version on the third day" No wonder the BD team, of which I am not a part, has an atrition rate of over 80%
2. Business Analysis: This is more up the MBA's sleeve I would say. He has to study the business model and come with appropriate solutions/requirements specifications. But such work is few and far between. I had to do an excel based financial analysis. But I sat doing that for 3.5 months, whereas it should'nt take more than two weeks simply because my manager did not want to release me from his clutches. MBA's are assigned as manager's bitches. If they are not allocated, they enter the resource pool as free agents..basically now you are anybody and everbody's bitch.
3.Project Management: The existing project managers don't consider you to be capable enough to lead a team. But they have a mandate to involve you in something. So they string you like a puppet, and make you dance to their tune. And when it comes to credit, they intend to corner all the glory and reliquish you to the background.
Another big part of IT is that you dont have much work most of the time. There are times when you are fairly/overly occupied. But those are bracketed by long periods of inactivity, another consequence of IT companies maintaining large backup labour pools in the name of being resource ready (gleaming teeth here) !!
The only positive of being an MBA in the IT sector (which in itself I think is a scam that just leverages the exchage rate difference very well...more on that in a later post) is that the work loads are not very demanding, and you may get the chance of overseas travel provided your fate lines are all good and align perfectly with those of your manager.
I really feel lost in this environment. It just supressess the motivation to do good work. I do not have a clear reporting line, and the manager I am supposed to report is very hard to even get a hold of. But mind you, if another manager so much as thinks about pulling me for some work, we'll have a turf war on our hands.
So I am not happy...so what millions are not happy with their work. Does that mean I have to quit if I am not happy? but then what?..move to another corporate logjam. A recent tata safari ad had this line which I felt was quite apt. I dont know if it is quoted from source or an original one. "Its not that slavery has ended, Its just that we have stopeed recognizing it"
I guess the only place where we can work to our definitions is in an entrpreneurial business...and that requires courage to overcome fears that shackle us. Till then, we'll have to make do with cribbing and bitching.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Sensex and the herd mentality
I have been following the sensex for the past few months and have witnessed its growth from 12500 levels to the 13600 levels it is at now. Kinda feels like we are on a bubble that is about to burst very soon like it has happened in the past. Or is it possible that it is just a reflection of the stupendous growth of the Indian economy...hard to tell. But there is no doubt that the current run up to 13700 is partially supported by strong Q3 earnings announcements across the board. The other pillar for the run up has been increased FII inflows, but these are anything but stable. Indian markets are already on the pricey side in terms of P/E. What happens when the FI's decide to take their party elsewhere and the retail investors like me are left to lick our wounds. Retail investors can at best, ride the wave created by Institutional investors; and are not by themeselves capable of influencing the market movements by a big deal. So in effect the retail investor usually stands to lose and is better of investing in mutual funds wherein he gains the advantage of the scale of the fund.
Nonetheless I have been peeing into the wind and investing in the secondary market like a dog in heat. My humble portfolio has not been able to match the returns of the sensex. At least things have not gone so bad as to erode my net worth. I keep consoling myself that my maturity horizon is different and hence I will get my due (the retail investor species are known to over rationalize their wrong decisions)....keeping my fingers crossed.
Nonetheless I have been peeing into the wind and investing in the secondary market like a dog in heat. My humble portfolio has not been able to match the returns of the sensex. At least things have not gone so bad as to erode my net worth. I keep consoling myself that my maturity horizon is different and hence I will get my due (the retail investor species are known to over rationalize their wrong decisions)....keeping my fingers crossed.
Recovering from a nasty bout of the viral flu...that can really drain you out, but at least I was able to stay away from work. Today I am back at work with nothing much to work on. Browsing is my main pastime on such lazy days when my bosses are nowhere to be found. Some of the sites/blogs that speed up these non productive hours are:
Son of Bosey - Hilarious Indian Blog
RandomCraponline - Random stuff, not that safe for work
PHDcomics - Comic about post grad/doctorate students
Gizmodo - Tech blog
CNET - Tech Site
And then there are the sites that track the indian stockmarket such as Moneycontrol, myiris and rupya which is a blog.
So these are my daily haunts.
Son of Bosey - Hilarious Indian Blog
RandomCraponline - Random stuff, not that safe for work
PHDcomics - Comic about post grad/doctorate students
Gizmodo - Tech blog
CNET - Tech Site
And then there are the sites that track the indian stockmarket such as Moneycontrol, myiris and rupya which is a blog.
So these are my daily haunts.
Monday, November 20, 2006
An introduction
Thought I should start to put my thoughts down somewhere...and somehow defeat that little conniving voice inside your head that keeps you from studiously maintaining a diary or a journal. I really have no clue if I should write on some theme or just generally mouth off about anything and everything. Not that I expect this little blog of mine is going to get a wonderful reception and be read by people all over the world...but hey, what's the harm in dreaming a bit.
I used to maintain a journal. Entries were daily at first, but that gradually degenerated to weekly, monthly and even a few yearly entries. Now that journal lies in some forgotten nook of my parent's home.... but somehow it always used to be interesting to go through the earlier posts and be amazed at how naive and stubborn I used to be. That's the motivation behind this effort. Of course, we never know if a journal/blog maintained here on blogger will stand the test of time...you can never tell the way Google is pulling all stops to rule the planet.
Another important decision is whether to remain anonymous on this blog and be able to completely express my thoughts and offend anyone I want to...or to take the more courageous route of expressing my thoughts with a published identity. I absolutely hate making decisions of any kind. So I'll procrastinate on that decision, and for now, just describe myself briefly.
I am one of those people who still don't know what to do with their lives. I have got degrees in engineering and business, and worked in IT. Yup mostly followed where the herd went....well at least its safe and I didn't end up as an unemployed waste of breathing space. That said, I am currently a well paid and highly regarded waste of breathing space. I hate my job (don't we all...). I would love the freedom of doing my own thing but just cant seem to let go of the security of a salaried job. So its pretty evident that I hate the decisions bit and just have too many likes to be 'focused' on something. I am in a serious long running relationship, but I am not sure if it is what I really want. I have no favorite music or food. I am the generalist par excellence.
So that's me...at least at this point of my life. Why 'Wicked Willow Tree', no reason in particular... The target is a blog a day, lets pray I dont fall victim to the diminishing returns rule again.
And I have the habit of putting '...' everywhere. Please forgive the intrusion to reading if it is one. I like to think of it as a signal to pause for a moment and gather your thoughts.
I used to maintain a journal. Entries were daily at first, but that gradually degenerated to weekly, monthly and even a few yearly entries. Now that journal lies in some forgotten nook of my parent's home.... but somehow it always used to be interesting to go through the earlier posts and be amazed at how naive and stubborn I used to be. That's the motivation behind this effort. Of course, we never know if a journal/blog maintained here on blogger will stand the test of time...you can never tell the way Google is pulling all stops to rule the planet.
Another important decision is whether to remain anonymous on this blog and be able to completely express my thoughts and offend anyone I want to...or to take the more courageous route of expressing my thoughts with a published identity. I absolutely hate making decisions of any kind. So I'll procrastinate on that decision, and for now, just describe myself briefly.
I am one of those people who still don't know what to do with their lives. I have got degrees in engineering and business, and worked in IT. Yup mostly followed where the herd went....well at least its safe and I didn't end up as an unemployed waste of breathing space. That said, I am currently a well paid and highly regarded waste of breathing space. I hate my job (don't we all...). I would love the freedom of doing my own thing but just cant seem to let go of the security of a salaried job. So its pretty evident that I hate the decisions bit and just have too many likes to be 'focused' on something. I am in a serious long running relationship, but I am not sure if it is what I really want. I have no favorite music or food. I am the generalist par excellence.
So that's me...at least at this point of my life. Why 'Wicked Willow Tree', no reason in particular... The target is a blog a day, lets pray I dont fall victim to the diminishing returns rule again.
And I have the habit of putting '...' everywhere. Please forgive the intrusion to reading if it is one. I like to think of it as a signal to pause for a moment and gather your thoughts.
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