Last two years has been the most exciting of times in terms of the blog world for me. I got to know new people. read different styles of writing. absorbed new ideas. and ofcourse a whole lot of things i could still keep wondering..
and after getting into corporate circles, its not easy to keep in touch. as blog is the first in the firing line ( ofcourse orkut remains all time fav).
and So it happens that i did not post for a long time....but yes now i hv access to blogger in office even. so that i can write a para or two as and when i feel to break the monotony of work life. and with broadband hoping to be set up in a weeks time....the blogspot will come back into my life.
and i also request my other friends who hv not been blogging to get started so that we can relive the earlier days..and have a great time here..
tata and see you again soon.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Intelligent Promises
I remember a famous joke that is often written.
The shop owner teaches the new joinee about two business mantras:
1. fulfill any promise made to customers
2. refrain from making promises
I have never seen a starker example of how a business house can make intelligent promises based on pure mathematical probability and make huge profits.
The E-Zone is a popular consumer durables and electronics retail outlet. The outlet is large spacious well maintained and attracts affluent crowds very easily.
Their Promise :
" If you find a better bargain, we pay you double the difference in price"
Sounds very reassuring. I bet not many will then take to determining the true market price of a good. since it is a format of the big bazaar and other stores, customers are completely sure it has to be the cheapest. is it so really?
i went for a refrigerator purchase recently. i decided to scan the market and searched in around 7 well known outlets. and the ezone. the price difference? Rs 800 higher in ezone. while they did promise to fetch the lowest price.
now that its not the lowest price, customers can take the invoice of teh lowest price in market and claim double the difference from ezone and purchase the refrigerator.
Now The beauty of the strategy:
1. having such a scheme eliminates the need for market research for determining competition prices in market. if there are huge price variance, intelligent customers will try to make ezone pay double the difference. so that can correct the skewed price levels in a more dynamic manner. and they don need to spend good money for determining market info which they can very eficiently gather from customers and that too more faster!!!!
2. now the catch is : will ezone really correct the prices? they don need to! for the crowd coming into ezone, they will not spend a whole day in retail outlets searching for a refrigerator. they wd rather spend it in a holiday outing or a hotel or a movie! so there would be no need to correct prices. if very less customers are claiming double the difference, they wd do well to keep the prices as usual and pocket the huge margin they can get from less intelligent or lazy customers who wd rather pay than slog. that way, the probability of somebody trying to claim from ezone is very less. when the claim s are high indeed, they can correct prices.
So they have not only eliminated effortts for researching into market prices but also use probabilities to make good profits.
and thats the most smartest business model i hv ever seen.
if there can be any oversight from my part, it could only be that i researched the market when a price promotion was on....it might also be the case..but the above hypothesis could also be true. and that is for you consumers to check!
Wonder how efficient our markets are in adjusting to such variances....
The shop owner teaches the new joinee about two business mantras:
1. fulfill any promise made to customers
2. refrain from making promises
I have never seen a starker example of how a business house can make intelligent promises based on pure mathematical probability and make huge profits.
The E-Zone is a popular consumer durables and electronics retail outlet. The outlet is large spacious well maintained and attracts affluent crowds very easily.
Their Promise :
" If you find a better bargain, we pay you double the difference in price"
Sounds very reassuring. I bet not many will then take to determining the true market price of a good. since it is a format of the big bazaar and other stores, customers are completely sure it has to be the cheapest. is it so really?
i went for a refrigerator purchase recently. i decided to scan the market and searched in around 7 well known outlets. and the ezone. the price difference? Rs 800 higher in ezone. while they did promise to fetch the lowest price.
now that its not the lowest price, customers can take the invoice of teh lowest price in market and claim double the difference from ezone and purchase the refrigerator.
Now The beauty of the strategy:
1. having such a scheme eliminates the need for market research for determining competition prices in market. if there are huge price variance, intelligent customers will try to make ezone pay double the difference. so that can correct the skewed price levels in a more dynamic manner. and they don need to spend good money for determining market info which they can very eficiently gather from customers and that too more faster!!!!
2. now the catch is : will ezone really correct the prices? they don need to! for the crowd coming into ezone, they will not spend a whole day in retail outlets searching for a refrigerator. they wd rather spend it in a holiday outing or a hotel or a movie! so there would be no need to correct prices. if very less customers are claiming double the difference, they wd do well to keep the prices as usual and pocket the huge margin they can get from less intelligent or lazy customers who wd rather pay than slog. that way, the probability of somebody trying to claim from ezone is very less. when the claim s are high indeed, they can correct prices.
So they have not only eliminated effortts for researching into market prices but also use probabilities to make good profits.
and thats the most smartest business model i hv ever seen.
if there can be any oversight from my part, it could only be that i researched the market when a price promotion was on....it might also be the case..but the above hypothesis could also be true. and that is for you consumers to check!
Wonder how efficient our markets are in adjusting to such variances....
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Bangalore Blues
Long time since i m writing a post. even as i am writing this post the trainer has just entered the room n is setting up his laptop ready for the next (possible) dry session on Team Lead solutions ( well team lead illusions would hv been more apt perhaps..reasons for which will be explained subsequently)
i always wanted to write on the new experience of living in bangalore even though i have been on and off here on vacations all my school and college life.
so will try to round up on some specific observations in the one month i have spent here.
13. For those ppl in office where orkut is blocked, power scrap works. the pitfall is u cant post a scrap but can view ur scraps as well do detailed analysis of orkut profiles as always at home. nice getaway.
14. Bengalooru should be better called Ben-kulooru with the kind of cold i experience at night and early mornings
i always wanted to write on the new experience of living in bangalore even though i have been on and off here on vacations all my school and college life.
so will try to round up on some specific observations in the one month i have spent here.
1. IT hit me on the face really. from the huge spacious lifts that they have. no wonder for 5000 people working form a single complex, nothing is more simple. its almost like landing into an airport everyday. one will get lost in the crowd easily.
2. Project management trainings are a big pain when Bschoolers r joined with technical ppl. the trainer keeps asking Qs to tech ppl. tech ppl know it n they dont need the training. Bschoolers don understand whats happening anyway n hence don need the training. why the training?
3. House hunt was an unforgettable experience. seeing bottled up houses costing over 10k a month for a 2 bhk was not sth i looked forward to. i bet i have gained enough expertise to pore over the finer points in building a house! its a classic real time optimisation problem!
4. There is a strong correlation between sleep and classrooms rather than sleep and time of the day. i never get sleep at my desk but the moment i m in a training, yawning becomes inescapable be it 10 am or 1 pm. there is also a very strong correlation between power point presentations and sleep with a R-Square value = 0.999999......
5. Bangalore buses, gone nuts ( see latest post of anu), cant even name bus routes in english....that too for a city having huge non-karnataka population..and supposedly cosmopolitan!
6. Given the obscene traffic, If you wanna make it soon to office, do NOT take an auto over a bus..both are same and useless for all practical purposes at 8 am!
7. Automen return a change of 1 re also honestly while the govt bus conductors will not return a change of Rs. 41 also unless being constantly bugged abt it n look at u askance when u ask for a return of Re 1 !
8. I have never seen a PSU more productive ever before. i applied for a bsnl landline on saturday and the line was fixed on wednesday. that is 3 working days for you.
9. Few people wd hv dared to think someone would steal my mobile. a mobile with no other function than sms n talk at Rs. 1200 with no particular eye stealing appearance. i reckon it was the bext handset i had. i hv a colour one now ( ofcourse that too at Rs. 1300 with a lot of facilities) but i miss my old mobile which was easy to navigate n simple in appearance.
10. Bangalore has one of the worst electricity service at one of the most costliest rates ( a bill wd be typicaly 4 times the amount i wd hv paid in madras!) . power cuts are perennial. on hindsight, the electricity board is doing a favour by shutting down power frequently and thus reducing our E-Bill. Post May there is no need for fan helping us more with our power bill.
11. Even newly built flats do not have proper arrangements with carpenters, plumbers and technicians. Suman may hv to consider this seriously.
12. The best lunch u can ever have is thayir sadam in office. a dozen food courts in the cafeteria will not beat curd rice. Guess what my northie colleagues ( who gen don take curd) taste my curd rice everytime in lunch. Thayir Sadam truimphs!13. For those ppl in office where orkut is blocked, power scrap works. the pitfall is u cant post a scrap but can view ur scraps as well do detailed analysis of orkut profiles as always at home. nice getaway.
14. Bengalooru should be better called Ben-kulooru with the kind of cold i experience at night and early mornings
15. Thats all for now..i don remember much as i din expect to blog today as blogger was also blocked. i m in a different office where this site opened. I hope to get my broadband connection in place soon so that i can live back my IIT days of blog n chats atleast in weekends.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Friday, The 13th
We dont believe in some superstitions..( ofcourse we do in some others)
yet it all seemed like the perfect design....even the date of the event.
a brief prelude..i m a person who has always been the last moment man having a time of life with fate....the list includes the last free seat in engg college, last one to enter mba batch in my college, last day of summer placement, last company, last guy to get placed..and ofcourse so many other last minute happenings in every other walk of life like last minute appearance at major competitive examinations..and i believe i hv devloped a skill ( and more importantly a liking) for such adventures....and i wd hv been really pained if i had not the fortune to get the perfect end to a project life fraught with incorigible planning and hapless execution.
and so it was the fateful friday the 13th which was to be the last of my list of last min happenings..
the scene :
manish, suman and ph to share pain with me. we were given over 3 months to complete a business plan and we ended up finally with just 3 days to successfully submit the same. ofcourse the most of the 3 months was spent rather constructively in making dvd prints of all possible movies and documentaries avaliable on earth. then there was the dozen odd rajni movies and scores of vivek comedies to catch up with notwithstanding the time spent in uncovering telegu movies remade in to tamil, dialogue by dialogue.
the story:
2 pm : we were supposed to be at the presentation hall ready with our reports, ppts and what not.
ph n me still in room. we were not ready with both. i was documenting some changes in the report while he was at the ppt. our life in any yardstick was most miserable.we had done all the report making stuff in our lab and on a system which was nourishing a virus. the pen drive which had the ppt downloaded from one of the biologically challenged computers blew my system seconds after insertion. it looked like some witch craft. we resorted to orther means n tried makingh the ppt again. suman's lappy had drained off. manish had to give his comp. we had no laptops to carry for the presentation. suman n ph had almost competed a brilliant ppt
it was 2 pm as we were still fighting with the report n missed out on our lunch. manish n suman were at the presentation hall n were waiting for us. they called me up n i say we'll be there in an hr and hang up. suman goes crazy n lands up at my room in the next 10 mins. he was to leave for hyderabad by 4 pm and we just cud not delay our presentation any longer..
the other grps had started off their presentations. it was 3.10 when we thought we r done. we leave for the presentation complete the same, masterminded by ph who is famous for his blisterinng ppts with his inimitable style of delivery.
i take a hard look at the report we had made n found there were fatal errors..sorry blunders..and we leave for the lab again to make the changes. and we choose the same virus driven pc and copy the modified file to the drive n to my mail. 3.30 pm it is.
i get the bike key of sudhanshu as me n ph leave for getting the printout. now the bike just does not start..10 mins of non stop kicking n i give up....now i felt like kicking myself.
we take an auto.
if u wd watch the beauty, we r from hostel 13. it was the farthest from som. all of a sudden i begin to hate 13 like anything ( and yeah i happen to be born on 13th in one of these months)
we stop at hostel 8. crowded. hostel 7? we switch on the comp..the comp gets hanged..theguy says we cant do it. so we head to hostel 12. hostel 13 had a crappy xerox guy whom we cud never depend on.
now hostel 12 is packed. it was the btp ( btech project) submission day at 5 pm. n we are there at 4 pm. no wonder we wonder what next. the printer just then goes down. some time is spent in repair. and then finally it is up again. we ask, how long will this take..i get a rude answer....the guy has 150 pages..after that 3-4 guys still wait before the machine like jackals sticking out thier tongue....and getting despo.
we decide to retreat. we go back to hostel 13. yeah we made it. 10 mins of wqait n we got the sysetem. i download the doc from my mail..well not yet....systems blinks..file corrupted....i decide this hostel 13 is always crazy..n run for hostel 9..without a bike it had to be foot on hot day....like dog day afternoon.
i grab a system there in propel my pendrive n it says file corrupted..now the whole cycle is jeering at me. a file modifed n saved in teh virus loaded system will not open anywhere on eartjh. i hv now way now. the last option is to get back to room. remake the cnages all over. n then print it.
i run back to my room. me n ph run thro the doc once again n make all changes. it is well over 5 pm. 5.30 to be exact. the prof ios a visiting prof, n we cant meet him after this..it was the last presentation of the course at the classroom. ph rushed n made a print. as i set arranging them the xerox guy says no binding..ph scampers to hostel 12 again n gets a folder. now i arrange a bike n dash off to som. 5.45 pm..the last of the presentations finishes now....we made it. we submitted the report finally all changes duly made. manish was our time keeper who constantly kept us abreast as to how much time we hv n what best is possible out of the given circumstances..
i dont know what it felt like....it was not about a submission or a nice grade for whcih we had to slog....
just that the report atleast needed to be okay if not grt....professional if not perfect....
i think we cut a fair deal.
corporate life is not going to be a place for such hanky panky work with all the recklessness we hv sincerley submitted ouself in the course of this course....
only time can tell....anyhow memories r momeories....
and
friday the 13th is the best of them!!!!
yet it all seemed like the perfect design....even the date of the event.
a brief prelude..i m a person who has always been the last moment man having a time of life with fate....the list includes the last free seat in engg college, last one to enter mba batch in my college, last day of summer placement, last company, last guy to get placed..and ofcourse so many other last minute happenings in every other walk of life like last minute appearance at major competitive examinations..and i believe i hv devloped a skill ( and more importantly a liking) for such adventures....and i wd hv been really pained if i had not the fortune to get the perfect end to a project life fraught with incorigible planning and hapless execution.
and so it was the fateful friday the 13th which was to be the last of my list of last min happenings..
the scene :
manish, suman and ph to share pain with me. we were given over 3 months to complete a business plan and we ended up finally with just 3 days to successfully submit the same. ofcourse the most of the 3 months was spent rather constructively in making dvd prints of all possible movies and documentaries avaliable on earth. then there was the dozen odd rajni movies and scores of vivek comedies to catch up with notwithstanding the time spent in uncovering telegu movies remade in to tamil, dialogue by dialogue.
the story:
2 pm : we were supposed to be at the presentation hall ready with our reports, ppts and what not.
ph n me still in room. we were not ready with both. i was documenting some changes in the report while he was at the ppt. our life in any yardstick was most miserable.we had done all the report making stuff in our lab and on a system which was nourishing a virus. the pen drive which had the ppt downloaded from one of the biologically challenged computers blew my system seconds after insertion. it looked like some witch craft. we resorted to orther means n tried makingh the ppt again. suman's lappy had drained off. manish had to give his comp. we had no laptops to carry for the presentation. suman n ph had almost competed a brilliant ppt
it was 2 pm as we were still fighting with the report n missed out on our lunch. manish n suman were at the presentation hall n were waiting for us. they called me up n i say we'll be there in an hr and hang up. suman goes crazy n lands up at my room in the next 10 mins. he was to leave for hyderabad by 4 pm and we just cud not delay our presentation any longer..
the other grps had started off their presentations. it was 3.10 when we thought we r done. we leave for the presentation complete the same, masterminded by ph who is famous for his blisterinng ppts with his inimitable style of delivery.
i take a hard look at the report we had made n found there were fatal errors..sorry blunders..and we leave for the lab again to make the changes. and we choose the same virus driven pc and copy the modified file to the drive n to my mail. 3.30 pm it is.
i get the bike key of sudhanshu as me n ph leave for getting the printout. now the bike just does not start..10 mins of non stop kicking n i give up....now i felt like kicking myself.
we take an auto.
if u wd watch the beauty, we r from hostel 13. it was the farthest from som. all of a sudden i begin to hate 13 like anything ( and yeah i happen to be born on 13th in one of these months)
we stop at hostel 8. crowded. hostel 7? we switch on the comp..the comp gets hanged..theguy says we cant do it. so we head to hostel 12. hostel 13 had a crappy xerox guy whom we cud never depend on.
now hostel 12 is packed. it was the btp ( btech project) submission day at 5 pm. n we are there at 4 pm. no wonder we wonder what next. the printer just then goes down. some time is spent in repair. and then finally it is up again. we ask, how long will this take..i get a rude answer....the guy has 150 pages..after that 3-4 guys still wait before the machine like jackals sticking out thier tongue....and getting despo.
we decide to retreat. we go back to hostel 13. yeah we made it. 10 mins of wqait n we got the sysetem. i download the doc from my mail..well not yet....systems blinks..file corrupted....i decide this hostel 13 is always crazy..n run for hostel 9..without a bike it had to be foot on hot day....like dog day afternoon.
i grab a system there in propel my pendrive n it says file corrupted..now the whole cycle is jeering at me. a file modifed n saved in teh virus loaded system will not open anywhere on eartjh. i hv now way now. the last option is to get back to room. remake the cnages all over. n then print it.
i run back to my room. me n ph run thro the doc once again n make all changes. it is well over 5 pm. 5.30 to be exact. the prof ios a visiting prof, n we cant meet him after this..it was the last presentation of the course at the classroom. ph rushed n made a print. as i set arranging them the xerox guy says no binding..ph scampers to hostel 12 again n gets a folder. now i arrange a bike n dash off to som. 5.45 pm..the last of the presentations finishes now....we made it. we submitted the report finally all changes duly made. manish was our time keeper who constantly kept us abreast as to how much time we hv n what best is possible out of the given circumstances..
me and ph then leave for the canteen at close to close time. as i much one of those cutlets we discuss abt the pendrive phenomenon n i jump out..i missed my pendrive..to be sure it was sujay's....u rush to hostel 9 again..GOD'S GRACE it was kept carefully the shop guy..and i heaved a sigh of relief..
i dont know what it felt like....it was not about a submission or a nice grade for whcih we had to slog....
just that the report atleast needed to be okay if not grt....professional if not perfect....
i think we cut a fair deal.
corporate life is not going to be a place for such hanky panky work with all the recklessness we hv sincerley submitted ouself in the course of this course....
only time can tell....anyhow memories r momeories....
and
friday the 13th is the best of them!!!!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The game is over
and finally the game ended. after 3 tough hours. WCM was a nightmare so much so that reading ash-abishek articles n page 3 flashes seemed better on the night before exam.
and finally the last exam of my educational career will not be a memory to cherish.
however, there is reason to rejoice. i should be able to pass the exam, God's Grace.
a home camp for 20 days n some nice times back with tamil soaps is awaiting me at home. its time for packing n last min photos n some meetings with known ppl in bombay.
it is a long time since i will be back home without the burden of the next task. bangalore is not far off n madras life is some thing i shd enjoy as much as possible in the near future should my base shift after that..
madras..my wonderful madras..i m coming back home....
and finally the last exam of my educational career will not be a memory to cherish.
however, there is reason to rejoice. i should be able to pass the exam, God's Grace.
a home camp for 20 days n some nice times back with tamil soaps is awaiting me at home. its time for packing n last min photos n some meetings with known ppl in bombay.
it is a long time since i will be back home without the burden of the next task. bangalore is not far off n madras life is some thing i shd enjoy as much as possible in the near future should my base shift after that..
madras..my wonderful madras..i m coming back home....
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Setting New Benchmarks....
I dedicate this post to my dear friend sujay who has completely demoralised me in the past few weeks for reasons that will become clear in the course of this post..so just hang on..right, now read on..
_______________________________________________________________________________
Nothing like 'it' ( read IT)
IT has been a great revelation indeed. It brought with it sweeping changes. lifestyle, job-pay equations changed. real estate went haywire. The penchant for naangu kannaadi suvargal became infectious. Pubs got a facelift with a new thriving 'the young n the glamorous' software professionals. parties were becoming as banal as my daily dose of thayir sadam..suddenly everybody was talking about a knowledge revolution ( though there was no great knowledge in fact :P ) . people were becoming eligible bachelors at the age of 21. outsourcing was a super jargon. tell u what the single most fundamental that IT has contributed has been the supernumerary stupefying jargons which nobody understood yet used in a prolific fashion. english was seen the greatest strength of indians. british ppl for all their brute ( centuries/decades back) were suddenly being worshipped for their seminal contribution to the flourishing of english in the 'land of snakes and sadhus'. suddenly corporate governance and clause 49 seemed so vital to india's ethical standards. cool was the most hapening english word. dude changed to dood changed to God knows what next. onsites became the in-thing. you had to be the infoscian or cognizantian ( famous for long term onsites) who could get brides by the numbers. US was no longer a distant dream. you did not hv to do an MBA to rake in the moolah. two wheelers were left to aam junta. presence of coconut oil on ur head became a rarity. new terms emerged.. DISK --> double income singlke kid. DINK --> double income no kid et al.
In between these developments, emerged a very new phenomenon which i shall now take great pains to describe. It is not only an interesting phenomenon but also something that goes against established norms of work and compensation.
IT has been the leaders in Benchmarking. The parameter though is quite a novel one..
Bench marking in IT for " MARKING OF BENCHES"
for the very few priveleged who yet do not undetstand what benches mean..i got a simple proposition!
what do u do at home when u don hv work..u sit on a sofa...so what hapens if u don hv work in an IT company..you sit on bench!! did it sound so simple? we have not even thought abt the effort one makes in drving past crowded roads and a dozen traffic signals to just get to those benches which r kinda waiting for u . i initially used to dream that there would be huge reception hall which would be well garnished by as many modern art pantings. in the centre of this huge hall would lie long benches on which these young whizkids would be well ensconsed waiting to be called for an occasional project. i m not joking. i really imagined of such a scenario. the picture looked like a a police station which would hv these guys sitting on a bench waiting to bee seen by the inspector. and it was a matter of difference in terminologies betwen the two..about crime sheets an time sheets. or like u come daily and sign at the police station for a bail, u wd sign up these time sheets....
for my cousin who has come home on a short visity..being at home or at office is just a matter of aesthetics....he has a comfortable sofa at home or he can use the bench at office. tv at home is replaced by a computer well equipped with a yahoo messenger and a gtalk. orkut will not be or-cut for a while even though it is becoming an isue these days....suddenly IBM stands for 'International Bench Machine' ....bench experiences can be useful case studies for work conflicts in organisation behaviour lectures. you get paid not for the work but for ur number. IT people needs leaders. and they need them in herds :P . We see documantaries and sirappu paarvais abt how IT people are stressed out seeing the same screen of computer..( yeah they do..how can they keep reading others scrapbooks for so long and find out whos after who..and who are the hot bobs and the babes). yahoo and google thrived slowly because of the software ppl market who hv mostly no other job other than to use these " efficiency" tools !
the syptoms are amusing but nonetheless dangerous. initially people were stressed out that they din hv jobs and money. then they were stressed that they did hv job and not much money. now they r stressed due to good money and no job. perhaps the chairs need to be more aesthetic in design.
companies pay big money just to keep talent. they want to make profits while still operating against the fundamental economic principles. they talk all abt efficiency while the bench does not contribue to the bottomline. getting big deals from clients becomes more similar to the mechanics of marriage fixing in regional india. bench strength is like the fixed assets that they pledge while taking a loan or a collateral for offerng dowry to the boys side! the more the bench strength u hv the more theprobability of getting a huge order. you r hired using atttractive job designations while only Perumal can determine ur future.
take the interview room for instance. in between you and the panel is this bench ( also called a table) which is the barrier. u hv to swim across the bench to get to the other side of the table.perhaps it is a symbolic way of telling how life is.
just like a a guy taking orders in a restaurant becomes a saraku master , one becomes a bench master in IT, if he is unlucky ( or even lucky) .
well, i did opt for IT. and sujay made me sure that i felt small after feeding me with enough theoretical frameworks on the emergence, principles, operational mechanics of benches and the future outlook of these benevolent bench machines.
well, i dont know what i will be doing..i hv chosen it. I hv left everything to Perumal. and looking forward to taste the IT experience.
finally its all a matter of luck. even in my chemical company there were guys who used to do well in training and got worthless plants and i got a good plant after having been through a pathetic evaluation and ending up amongst the bottom few.
So whether one gets into a bench or not is not a matter of choice. but nor is it a matter of talent or so i guess.
whatver, the concept of benches remains as mystic as ever.
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy.
all bench and full pay makes jack..............
????
isn't that something to ponder....well i don hv a clue..have you?
_______________________________________________________________________________
Nothing like 'it' ( read IT)
IT has been a great revelation indeed. It brought with it sweeping changes. lifestyle, job-pay equations changed. real estate went haywire. The penchant for naangu kannaadi suvargal became infectious. Pubs got a facelift with a new thriving 'the young n the glamorous' software professionals. parties were becoming as banal as my daily dose of thayir sadam..suddenly everybody was talking about a knowledge revolution ( though there was no great knowledge in fact :P ) . people were becoming eligible bachelors at the age of 21. outsourcing was a super jargon. tell u what the single most fundamental that IT has contributed has been the supernumerary stupefying jargons which nobody understood yet used in a prolific fashion. english was seen the greatest strength of indians. british ppl for all their brute ( centuries/decades back) were suddenly being worshipped for their seminal contribution to the flourishing of english in the 'land of snakes and sadhus'. suddenly corporate governance and clause 49 seemed so vital to india's ethical standards. cool was the most hapening english word. dude changed to dood changed to God knows what next. onsites became the in-thing. you had to be the infoscian or cognizantian ( famous for long term onsites) who could get brides by the numbers. US was no longer a distant dream. you did not hv to do an MBA to rake in the moolah. two wheelers were left to aam junta. presence of coconut oil on ur head became a rarity. new terms emerged.. DISK --> double income singlke kid. DINK --> double income no kid et al.
In between these developments, emerged a very new phenomenon which i shall now take great pains to describe. It is not only an interesting phenomenon but also something that goes against established norms of work and compensation.
IT has been the leaders in Benchmarking. The parameter though is quite a novel one..
Bench marking in IT for " MARKING OF BENCHES"
for the very few priveleged who yet do not undetstand what benches mean..i got a simple proposition!
what do u do at home when u don hv work..u sit on a sofa...so what hapens if u don hv work in an IT company..you sit on bench!! did it sound so simple? we have not even thought abt the effort one makes in drving past crowded roads and a dozen traffic signals to just get to those benches which r kinda waiting for u . i initially used to dream that there would be huge reception hall which would be well garnished by as many modern art pantings. in the centre of this huge hall would lie long benches on which these young whizkids would be well ensconsed waiting to be called for an occasional project. i m not joking. i really imagined of such a scenario. the picture looked like a a police station which would hv these guys sitting on a bench waiting to bee seen by the inspector. and it was a matter of difference in terminologies betwen the two..about crime sheets an time sheets. or like u come daily and sign at the police station for a bail, u wd sign up these time sheets....
for my cousin who has come home on a short visity..being at home or at office is just a matter of aesthetics....he has a comfortable sofa at home or he can use the bench at office. tv at home is replaced by a computer well equipped with a yahoo messenger and a gtalk. orkut will not be or-cut for a while even though it is becoming an isue these days....suddenly IBM stands for 'International Bench Machine' ....bench experiences can be useful case studies for work conflicts in organisation behaviour lectures. you get paid not for the work but for ur number. IT people needs leaders. and they need them in herds :P . We see documantaries and sirappu paarvais abt how IT people are stressed out seeing the same screen of computer..( yeah they do..how can they keep reading others scrapbooks for so long and find out whos after who..and who are the hot bobs and the babes). yahoo and google thrived slowly because of the software ppl market who hv mostly no other job other than to use these " efficiency" tools !
the syptoms are amusing but nonetheless dangerous. initially people were stressed out that they din hv jobs and money. then they were stressed that they did hv job and not much money. now they r stressed due to good money and no job. perhaps the chairs need to be more aesthetic in design.
companies pay big money just to keep talent. they want to make profits while still operating against the fundamental economic principles. they talk all abt efficiency while the bench does not contribue to the bottomline. getting big deals from clients becomes more similar to the mechanics of marriage fixing in regional india. bench strength is like the fixed assets that they pledge while taking a loan or a collateral for offerng dowry to the boys side! the more the bench strength u hv the more theprobability of getting a huge order. you r hired using atttractive job designations while only Perumal can determine ur future.
take the interview room for instance. in between you and the panel is this bench ( also called a table) which is the barrier. u hv to swim across the bench to get to the other side of the table.perhaps it is a symbolic way of telling how life is.
just like a a guy taking orders in a restaurant becomes a saraku master , one becomes a bench master in IT, if he is unlucky ( or even lucky) .
well, i did opt for IT. and sujay made me sure that i felt small after feeding me with enough theoretical frameworks on the emergence, principles, operational mechanics of benches and the future outlook of these benevolent bench machines.
well, i dont know what i will be doing..i hv chosen it. I hv left everything to Perumal. and looking forward to taste the IT experience.
finally its all a matter of luck. even in my chemical company there were guys who used to do well in training and got worthless plants and i got a good plant after having been through a pathetic evaluation and ending up amongst the bottom few.
So whether one gets into a bench or not is not a matter of choice. but nor is it a matter of talent or so i guess.
whatver, the concept of benches remains as mystic as ever.
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy.
all bench and full pay makes jack..............
????
isn't that something to ponder....well i don hv a clue..have you?
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Napster
My dear friends....
this is the story of the Napster. the story of a deep dream. In fact i should say, this is the dream behind every dream.
This is not about the internet age. nor about the music age of copying and sharing music. this is not the story of globalisation either..
This is a different napster.
One that karthik and me cud live and die by it. u need to live through it to experience the method behind the madness..
Napster = One who is involved heavily in afternoon naps.
Take my words. The story of a napster is not easy to tell. We r talking about the trials and tribulations that the napster undertakes. he seeks to seek the truth of sleep itself. the genesis of sleep.
Never has been a period in life as eventful as the last two years. when the solemn occasion of the moment of truth happens at the stroke of two in the afternoon. we don't really possess a gong under our cot. but there is one right inside our belly. and it rings cracking hard as hell can get. and all it requires is that there is enough in the stomach to actuate it. here is a sensor that acts on both internal and external impulses. the external one is the climate and the time of the day. however it is statistically observed that no matter what the climate is, the time of the day takes absolute precedence. punctuality takes power. there is no mercy for late comers here. if it is 2pm u cant afford to flout..
initially i din realize the value of a good window screen. i overlooked the fact that it was so critical to the mission that one has set out on.
well..vallavanukku pullum aayudham!
With a bit of help of bed sheet and stuffing it in the corner of the window i cud assuage the temporary grief abt the absence of a proper light regulation system..the going has not been easy. the bed sheet loosens easily. will power and persistence play a pivotal role in fulfilling ones calling from heart. after all , it is when the eyes close that the heart opens. mind you we do not need light at the end of the tunnel here. the darker the better it is. dreams is where one is enthusiastic about searching in darkness.
There is a driver behind every action. of course barring those vehicles where the driver is located in front. and in the present context it wud be technically correct there is a driver behind every inaction
As a home bred south Indian, it was not hard for me to identify the causal identities behind every successful sleep. all that it takes to get that extra kick from a scintillating sleep is curd. form does not matter here. different forms propagate the same end through different mechanisms. we are referring to the semi solid ( dahi) and the liquid forms ( chaas).
As a chemical engineer i always dreaded those organic chemistry mechanisms which i rarely understood. and i never really loved to understand those biochemistry mechanisms as well. but the psychological explanations of bio mechanisms through concepts of basic organic chemistry came to my help.
there r two mechanisms namely SN1 and SN2 . I choose to call them Sleep-Nidhra Mechanisms 1 and 2.
the first one SN1 is relatively simple. it is based on elimination. and it involves a cation formation. i call this cation as the provo'cation which provokes one to sleep. the form of reagent is the fluid one. the mind is charged with this provo'cation and it creates a centre which attracts factors rich in sleep inducement. the reaction is anti photochemical in nature as sunlight can hamper the reaction. the reaction is fulfilled with the elimination of enthu for studying and the centre rendered unstable by this provo'cation stabilises with the help of a suitable catalyst in the absence of light and a soft bed. we have reasearched into some catalysts - and we strongly advocate the use of " Bhindi Masala" rich in oil as an effective catalyst. this is so because the cation mechanisms need a electron rich substance. oil is believed to accomplish this by the acid reactions that happen in the stomach which release the electrons to the provo'cation. the bhindi masala provokes the sense of laziness so crucial for the provo'cation to be formed in the first place!
in SN2 we have a transitory complex based mechanism. curd in the semi solid form is the reagent used. here, the curd is neither solid not liquid. and it is a very important point and we need to ponder here a bit. since it is in a state of nowhere ( neither solid nor liquid..like manithan paathi mirugam paathi) there is a key psychological element to be understood. the mayakkam that such a confusing form of curd is enough to cause dilemma in our mind as to whether we r solid in our convictions or as fluid in our thoughts..in this confusion our heads spin. and before we realise we swoon down n fall in the bed. the chemical complex slowly becomes a psychological complex and as we r acted upon by two forces in opposite directions. one forcing us to study and the other beckoning to take it easy....eventually the latter wins and the complex disappears with the conversion of the initial substrate ( the mind) from an active form to a passive form which we attribute the term sleep.
I have tried my best to confuse and infuse a sense of biochemical psychology to explain the deeper meanings of sleep.
In all probability, i should be worshipped alongside freud who explained dreams and i hv actually gone a step ahead in determining the fundamental factors for dream which is the sleep itself.
Please vote in my favour and nominate for a Nobel prize. after all sleep is indeed a noble inactivity.
and without inactivity , is there any activity????
this is the story of the Napster. the story of a deep dream. In fact i should say, this is the dream behind every dream.
This is not about the internet age. nor about the music age of copying and sharing music. this is not the story of globalisation either..
This is a different napster.
One that karthik and me cud live and die by it. u need to live through it to experience the method behind the madness..
Napster = One who is involved heavily in afternoon naps.
Take my words. The story of a napster is not easy to tell. We r talking about the trials and tribulations that the napster undertakes. he seeks to seek the truth of sleep itself. the genesis of sleep.
Never has been a period in life as eventful as the last two years. when the solemn occasion of the moment of truth happens at the stroke of two in the afternoon. we don't really possess a gong under our cot. but there is one right inside our belly. and it rings cracking hard as hell can get. and all it requires is that there is enough in the stomach to actuate it. here is a sensor that acts on both internal and external impulses. the external one is the climate and the time of the day. however it is statistically observed that no matter what the climate is, the time of the day takes absolute precedence. punctuality takes power. there is no mercy for late comers here. if it is 2pm u cant afford to flout..
initially i din realize the value of a good window screen. i overlooked the fact that it was so critical to the mission that one has set out on.
well..vallavanukku pullum aayudham!
With a bit of help of bed sheet and stuffing it in the corner of the window i cud assuage the temporary grief abt the absence of a proper light regulation system..the going has not been easy. the bed sheet loosens easily. will power and persistence play a pivotal role in fulfilling ones calling from heart. after all , it is when the eyes close that the heart opens. mind you we do not need light at the end of the tunnel here. the darker the better it is. dreams is where one is enthusiastic about searching in darkness.
There is a driver behind every action. of course barring those vehicles where the driver is located in front. and in the present context it wud be technically correct there is a driver behind every inaction
As a home bred south Indian, it was not hard for me to identify the causal identities behind every successful sleep. all that it takes to get that extra kick from a scintillating sleep is curd. form does not matter here. different forms propagate the same end through different mechanisms. we are referring to the semi solid ( dahi) and the liquid forms ( chaas).
As a chemical engineer i always dreaded those organic chemistry mechanisms which i rarely understood. and i never really loved to understand those biochemistry mechanisms as well. but the psychological explanations of bio mechanisms through concepts of basic organic chemistry came to my help.
there r two mechanisms namely SN1 and SN2 . I choose to call them Sleep-Nidhra Mechanisms 1 and 2.
the first one SN1 is relatively simple. it is based on elimination. and it involves a cation formation. i call this cation as the provo'cation which provokes one to sleep. the form of reagent is the fluid one. the mind is charged with this provo'cation and it creates a centre which attracts factors rich in sleep inducement. the reaction is anti photochemical in nature as sunlight can hamper the reaction. the reaction is fulfilled with the elimination of enthu for studying and the centre rendered unstable by this provo'cation stabilises with the help of a suitable catalyst in the absence of light and a soft bed. we have reasearched into some catalysts - and we strongly advocate the use of " Bhindi Masala" rich in oil as an effective catalyst. this is so because the cation mechanisms need a electron rich substance. oil is believed to accomplish this by the acid reactions that happen in the stomach which release the electrons to the provo'cation. the bhindi masala provokes the sense of laziness so crucial for the provo'cation to be formed in the first place!
in SN2 we have a transitory complex based mechanism. curd in the semi solid form is the reagent used. here, the curd is neither solid not liquid. and it is a very important point and we need to ponder here a bit. since it is in a state of nowhere ( neither solid nor liquid..like manithan paathi mirugam paathi) there is a key psychological element to be understood. the mayakkam that such a confusing form of curd is enough to cause dilemma in our mind as to whether we r solid in our convictions or as fluid in our thoughts..in this confusion our heads spin. and before we realise we swoon down n fall in the bed. the chemical complex slowly becomes a psychological complex and as we r acted upon by two forces in opposite directions. one forcing us to study and the other beckoning to take it easy....eventually the latter wins and the complex disappears with the conversion of the initial substrate ( the mind) from an active form to a passive form which we attribute the term sleep.
I have tried my best to confuse and infuse a sense of biochemical psychology to explain the deeper meanings of sleep.
In all probability, i should be worshipped alongside freud who explained dreams and i hv actually gone a step ahead in determining the fundamental factors for dream which is the sleep itself.
Please vote in my favour and nominate for a Nobel prize. after all sleep is indeed a noble inactivity.
and without inactivity , is there any activity????
Thursday, February 01, 2007
The Marathon to Matheran
The great thing about budding managers is their ability to handle crisis..and when they dont hv one at hand..their ability to create one as well....
and then their ability for planning , analysis and other jargons they can only read about..
so when i was shaken out of bed suddenly at 7.45 pm..i was not totally amused. one guy forcibly dragged me into his room ( inspite of my repeated pleas that i had left a dream unfinished) n threw me into the computer screen with a gleam in his eyes. so what did we have? a bunch of tickets to jalgaon..why? we were suddenly trying to reach Ajanta Ellora caves....and he was seriously not kidding. by the time i was regaining my sanity, 6 ppl surrounded and were dicussing the operational mechanics of the trip..
so 8.30 pm it was. and it seemed inevitable that the next day wd be spent poring over the caves..
5 guys left early to get the tickets. we were 5 left. all had to withdraw money at the ATMs. we cud get just one auto to reach the main gate. that meant 3 ppl. one of the guys pushed 3 of us into the auto in a rare act of abnegation n became the hero. he was to follow us as soon as he got the second auto. what this hero din realise is he and the other guy who wd accompany him din hv a bloody mobile for communication.
we waited for them at the main gate. took out money n stoof till 9.30 pm. the train for jalgaon was supposed to be at 10.10 pm at lokmanya stn. these guys r nowhere to be seen. no way we cud contact them. and it was impossible to reach the station for the train.
as we were thro the auto, we still din know how we were to get together for the trip. and the next bombshell comes. one gangster from the prev five guys calls up from nowhere and says we r not going to ajanta. some chance call from a frnd told us that ajanta ellora is closed on monday tuesday n we were planning for tuesday. goodness, atleast we knew this before we boarded the train!
so finally we werer to reach kurla station. the plan has changed. different stations for departure. and we din hv a clue how to contact the other two abt this new plan. they wd be reaching lokmanya stn, that is , if at they reach the stn somehow. there was only one chance. they shd call us or the other guys..which we saw had lil chance considering that in the lil time they had for reaching teh station, they wd better move quickly rather than search for a phone booth.
and this new train which wd leave for the new place called matheran, ws for 10.17 pm at kurla stn. that was the last train. we declared we were never going to make it to the station for the train. and then we just managed to reahc the station. some gys were still getting tickets. and those 2 awesome guys without a mobile were still nowhere. and just as if by chance, they landed up at the station 10.15 pm arnd. it seems they had bypassed us and went out of IIT thro the other gate as we lay standing waiting at the main gate n screwing our time as well. and well, they did contact them without which they wd hv just gone for teh station scheduled before.
well alls well that ends well. we managed the train. absolutely crowded. fighting for breath at 11 pm. in a hyper crowded train. it can happen only in bombay. crowds at crazy hours. but i guess, we just pulled it off. planning was pathetic but execution was supreme!!!!
what say?
and then their ability for planning , analysis and other jargons they can only read about..
so when i was shaken out of bed suddenly at 7.45 pm..i was not totally amused. one guy forcibly dragged me into his room ( inspite of my repeated pleas that i had left a dream unfinished) n threw me into the computer screen with a gleam in his eyes. so what did we have? a bunch of tickets to jalgaon..why? we were suddenly trying to reach Ajanta Ellora caves....and he was seriously not kidding. by the time i was regaining my sanity, 6 ppl surrounded and were dicussing the operational mechanics of the trip..
so 8.30 pm it was. and it seemed inevitable that the next day wd be spent poring over the caves..
5 guys left early to get the tickets. we were 5 left. all had to withdraw money at the ATMs. we cud get just one auto to reach the main gate. that meant 3 ppl. one of the guys pushed 3 of us into the auto in a rare act of abnegation n became the hero. he was to follow us as soon as he got the second auto. what this hero din realise is he and the other guy who wd accompany him din hv a bloody mobile for communication.
we waited for them at the main gate. took out money n stoof till 9.30 pm. the train for jalgaon was supposed to be at 10.10 pm at lokmanya stn. these guys r nowhere to be seen. no way we cud contact them. and it was impossible to reach the station for the train.
as we were thro the auto, we still din know how we were to get together for the trip. and the next bombshell comes. one gangster from the prev five guys calls up from nowhere and says we r not going to ajanta. some chance call from a frnd told us that ajanta ellora is closed on monday tuesday n we were planning for tuesday. goodness, atleast we knew this before we boarded the train!
so finally we werer to reach kurla station. the plan has changed. different stations for departure. and we din hv a clue how to contact the other two abt this new plan. they wd be reaching lokmanya stn, that is , if at they reach the stn somehow. there was only one chance. they shd call us or the other guys..which we saw had lil chance considering that in the lil time they had for reaching teh station, they wd better move quickly rather than search for a phone booth.
and this new train which wd leave for the new place called matheran, ws for 10.17 pm at kurla stn. that was the last train. we declared we were never going to make it to the station for the train. and then we just managed to reahc the station. some gys were still getting tickets. and those 2 awesome guys without a mobile were still nowhere. and just as if by chance, they landed up at the station 10.15 pm arnd. it seems they had bypassed us and went out of IIT thro the other gate as we lay standing waiting at the main gate n screwing our time as well. and well, they did contact them without which they wd hv just gone for teh station scheduled before.
well alls well that ends well. we managed the train. absolutely crowded. fighting for breath at 11 pm. in a hyper crowded train. it can happen only in bombay. crowds at crazy hours. but i guess, we just pulled it off. planning was pathetic but execution was supreme!!!!
what say?
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Luxury , Life and The Lord
Pilgrimages are fun. A detour from a boring life. An experience in itself. Well these are some of the common view points. No wonder the Lord comes last..
For the many thousands for whom pilgrimages mean a tata sumo, comfortable leg space and the shortest route bypassing thousands of devotees, the term has becomes a misnomer. I was no exception.
Take a look at the picture. They are not from a local grp who take part in bandhs and protests! They r army of devotees in Trayambakeshwar! What motivates these people who walk miles on foot to reach the temple, stand all day in congested Qs, sing, dance and enjoy all along the way?
You can see ppl from all age groups - 8 to 80 years!!!! there r ppl just like u n me, who care a damn abt how crowded it is or how much they should endure!! there are lil kids n girls who make no bones abt having to stand or walk long distances.
Look at their energy levels....look at self....inspite of all the comforts of life, there is so much we crib abt..say a cut of internet connection for 30 mins..GRRRRRrrrrrrrrr
It is for teh individual to decide if it is a pilgrimage or a picnic..but let us not wallow in the thoughts that we r so humble n devoted if we visit these temples..they r those thousands who r way apart who r the real devotees....
Hail the aam Junta!!!!
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