Office on Weekends.

One thing I always liked about when I was in school as well as in college was Friday afternoons. Coz that’s the day the tots of weekends wud pop out of mind and have series of plans like Cricket, Movies, Friends, Hang out and lots more. But coming into office the focus has really shifted. My work demands me come on Weekends too and Thank god it’s not every week. Its jus on Shift basis and you get weekday comp off if ya do come on weekends. But that doesn’t really mean too much as always weekend hols are more fun than the one on weekdays. Dunno why but my mindset is fixed on it. And about coming office on weekends, it’s almost a different story. You find empty cabins and you end being you're the only person in the whole module. AC's off and you hunt for fans to keep ya away from heat and sweat. A mood of silence prevails over our keyboard strokes will be the only noise that wud be heard. But to keep it bit lively I turn on my Music player in my Nokia 7210 and hear over the favorite beats of mine. Thanks to technology we almost do everything with it.
But I get a lot of spare time in weekends at office not like busy days I have durin my weekdays. Only a little bit of work but I had to hang arnd from 9 to 6 jus to ensure everything goes on well. So what do I do durin the spare time? Almost do everything I cud. Read a book, Browse thro articles over the net, fix up templates for weekday jobs jus to make my work easy for the rest of my week, And of course Blog!!! I hardly find time to do it but I don’t want to leave it as it increases my writing skills. So I really don’t know what to say about Office on Weekdays... Is it a boon or Bane???

JAI JAWAN

I was 12 yrs old to be precise when dis thing happened. Until then I never knew that a place called KARGIL existed. At that age all I knew was India was on war with Pakistan. Have faint remembrance of watching news as dad was glued onto newspaper and news channels to keep track of the events happened. And finally the news came out as India has won the war. My mind pondered what war all about is and what for it is being deployed. At that age I came to a conclusion that it’s an outburst by two countries over some issue and they fight with modern day weapons like guns and missiles. And India won and celebrated just like a victory celebrated over a cricket match that India had won.

But today the 10th anniversary of the event saw series of coverage’s by media regarding the event. Saw a special show by NDTV at my office durin lunch break (Yup office on Sundays!!! Coming up in the next post). Saw all the happenings all throughout the war and watched the Real Heroes toiling hard to safeguard our nation. Knowingly or unknowingly tears popped out of my eyes when the jawans recollected the incidents, and also about their fellow colleagues who had lost their life for the nation. There was one jawan when asked about his fear for death he just said ' Death is nothing but just a part of Life ‘. Hats off Jawans. You're the real heroes. I even recollected an incident that I recently read in a book. The book was all about the series of happenings in Mumbai on November 26th 2008 (The day which almost none of the Indians would forget). The incident happened when The Taj Hotel was under siege. There were a group of ppl who were held up in the kitchen and they were trying escape through the emergency exit but feared going out as gun shots were still heard nearby. A commando arrived at the spot started leading them out from danger. But everyone feared that they might get shot as the gun battle was going on very nearby. Seeing their fears the Commando shouted 'Listen Everybody!! No worries THE FIRST BULLET WOULD GO THROUGH MY BODY I'M LEADING THE WAY FOLLOW ME'. I had no words to express after reading this. We salute you for all your Deeds.

And amidst all this thoughts one more thing popped out in my mind. Why all these things happen??? . It would have been nice if there aren’t any conflicts amidst any courtiers. But when will it happen? Bla bla.... Huh!!! I'm grown up now that’s the problem... We think too much...

From an INFOSCION to a POLITICION

Nandan Nilekani in his new avatar as a Cabinet Minister had penned hisexperience after his first day in the Parliament. The last entrystopped when the House was just about to begin. Let’s see whathappened thereafter….“The House was in pin drop silence.. I was brimming with anticipationand excitement!!!! Manmohan had informed me that my introduction wasone of the important points of the agenda. I hoped that I will be ableto make my speech properly. After so many interviews and conferences,I was nervous today!!!! After the Speaker indicated that theproceedings of the House could begin, Manmohan formally introduced meto the entire House. He mentioned that as the head of the UniqueIdentification Authority of India, I was responsible to ensure thateach and every Indian had a digital smart card as a proof of hisexistence.

Manmohan spoke about why I was selected and also some references tothe various projects executed by me in Infosys were mentioned. TheHouse listened with rapt attention. I was asked to say a few words andI did exactly the same!!! I thanked the Government of India for havinggiven me this opportunity and I assured the House that I would striveto successfully deliver this project. The Speaker then formallyinducted me into the House and before the proceedings could move anyforward, there was a small commotion on the other side of the hall.It was Minister of Textiles who had a comment to make before the nextpoint on the agenda. He made a request that I should be attired in amore austere way instead of a flashy suit. It did not go well with theimage of a minister who should live to serve the common man and shouldbe less ostentatious in his habits. I stood up to reply. I offered myapologies to the Honourable Minister and assured that I shall be in amore acceptable dress next time. I felt that he was right. We alsoused to have corporate dress code in Infosys. So it's here as well!!!!I sat down and felt somebody nudging me. I turned around and to mysurprise; it was the former Indian skipper and one of my favouritebatsman Mohd. Azharuddin.

I remembered that he had recently won theelections. I smiled at him and mentioned to him that I used to likehis game very much, shaking his hand. No Rolex, I noticed. Azhar toldme that he would “fix” me an appointment with an Italian designer whohad designed his dapper Kurta suit. An Italian designer in Milan doingKurtas!!!!! I made a note of this and reminded myself to give thisexample to Friedman for his next book,” The World Markets areflattened”.Since there was no doubt about the “Fixational” capacities of Azhar, Itold him to give me the details and I would consider.

The proceedingsof the House went on with numerous bills being debated and passed as Isat as a passive audience waiting for my project’s turn to come up..After the lunch break, it was the moment for me!!!!MY PROJECT”S FIRST REVIEW CAME UP FOR PRESENTATION.I was at sea. My laptop did not have any reserve power. I went toManmohan and apprised him of the situation. I was sweating. He calmlyreplied that this would not be a cause of concern. I was flummoxed!!!!The Speaker asked me to explain to the House on what were my plans forthe Unique Identity Project. I replied that I have a plan prepared for30-60-90-120 days’ milestones and I have presentation to make forwhich I need a power socket, a projector and a screen. I had no ideawhat was going to happen after this.The next couple of minutes were a complete jolt for me. I wascompletely in a tizzy. Let me just summarize what happened. A JointCabinet Secretary Committee was set up to judge the feasibility of myrequest. The Under Secretaries for the Ministries of Power, IT andBroadcasting will prepare a Viability Report after scrutinizingNational Security threats to my request. This was because the powersocket comes under Power, laptop comes under IT and projector comesunder Broadcasting.

I have also been told to reconsider my timelinesof 30-60-90 days and start thinking in terms of years. Probably, theyare right. I did not have the foresight in this matter.The summary of the issue is that I need to come up with a moreinclusive, democratic, comprehensive long term plan for this projectto be executed over the next five years. I have also been given apresentation slot 3 months from now (by which the issues related tothe power cord etc will also be resolved). I am filled with mixedreactions. I was planning for a quick resolution; the management wantsa strategic solution.

I come out of the House and text Murthy.“You won’t believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on aNATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!!!!!!!!”