'Traveling' syndrome

I have rarely traveled long distances for commuting to my work. I always hated traveling without any purpose. Somehow managed to stay near the place of work (please don’t ask what useful work I did in the ‘saved’ time).

Now for the past 15 days, I am traveling for around 40 kms each direction, consuming some 3 ½ hrs in the process. It has definitely been a different experience. People get into the vehicle early in the morning around 7 and their faces already resemble convicts about to go to the gallows. So tired and uninteresting. The next second, they fall asleep as if they are deprived of sleep for days. All the jerks and trembles along the road do not seem to bother them at all. After around an hour, a sudden jerk near the main gate wakes them up and they get down from the vehicle with their faces swollen and tired. All these at 8.15 in the morning. And the story doesn’t end here. Similar experience can be had in the evening time too when people go back.

I feel it is preposterous to travel like this everyday. It inflicts a huge cost on one’s private life. He is damn tired at the end of the day and feels as if he spends a large part of time in office, which may not always be the case.

Is it going to be the order of the day?? Many more IT and manufacturing companies are coming up in locations like this which involve traveling for longer distances everyday. People just do not have any option but to travel like this. Many of these locations are in the far-flung suburbs of the city and people cannot always afford to stay near their workplace. Entertainment, proper schooling for children and other facilities are invariably not available in these places. This leaves them with lesser options. They try to console themselves by the fact that even if their office was in the city, it would have been an equally horrendous traveling experience.

All these boil down to providing adequate infrastructure. Governments have been very proactive in giving red carpet welcome for corporate investments. Unless they work overtime to improve infrastructure in these areas, it is going to be difficult for all – the employees and employers alike. Not only this, the time, health and money loss as well as pollution created by such long distance traveling are not going to help the society in any way. We are all set to become robots.

Inclusive growth??

It has been over 2 weeks since I joined back my job after a gap of 2 years. There have been lots of changes in these two years. The expansion of capacity by investing in a new plant, which was underway when I went, is over by now. This facility, along with the newly constructed automotive glass division, lies in an over 180 acre land and is massive by all standards. There is also a very big rainwater harvesting pond constructed at a huge cost and looks impressive near the entrance. I heard it attracts migratory birds during seasons.

On a whole, the place has completely changed over how it was a couple of years ago. The growth in and around this place symbolizes the India growth story. There have been huge investments by various companies in this area. The list includes giants like Nokia, Hyundai, BMW, Samsung, Dell, Asian Paints, Flextronics, Mahindra Renault, to name a few. I am pretty sure that very soon, this place will witness huge development, ushering in prosperity to thousands of people. There is also a recent report which talks about the new airport of Chennai coming here. I am eager to wait and watch whether all these developments result in inclusive growth. If not, it is bound to create unrest amongst the lower rung of the society.

On hearing these corporate names, one thinks of the recently dumped Communications minister Dayanidhi Maran. He had been an outstanding minister, bringing in lots of changes and progression in the IT and communications industry. Hats off to him. He had been instrumental in bringing most of these investments to India. People here appreciate him for diverting most of these to his home state Tamilnadu, but I differ in this. If the companies themselves chose to invest here considering better investment climate and incentives, then it is fine. But if he had tried to push these to his home state, it is not fair on his part since he represents the whole country and not just one state. If this is encouraged, every central minister will openly work partially in favor his/her home state. The Prime Minister should get involved in matters where such allegations are raised and see to it that everything is transparent.

But what can a Prime Minister do when he has no say even in choosing his ministers?? One fine day, he looses his communications minister and a replacement is announced from Chennai. And worse, the name of a new minister of state is also announced in Chennai whose credentials are highly questionable. She is the wife of a gangster who was killed in an encounter. She was given an MP post and now made a Central Minister, and that too Minister of state for Home. Long live democracy.

Change

Recently read an article which talked about the pace of change that is taking place across the globe. What was achieved in 1800 yrs was achieved in the next 100 years, and then the next 50 years and the numbers seemed coming down in descending order. That is the pace of technology and the ability of man to keep pace with the change. The article talks about changes happening in less than a year nowadays.

It is really interesting to read such articles, except that it also serves as a warning to us to keep pace with the change. It doesn’t matter any more as to what is my previous experience, what are my qualifications, how many degrees have I added to my CV etc. They are all passé. They are just for entry in an organization and may be for matrimonial. HR will meticulously file them in their record books. That’s it.

What matters is how am I able to adjust to the new environment, grasp things quickly, deliver what the management expects, talk in the terminology which it wants, predict how is tomorrow going to be and so on… The changes are going to happen earlier that I could predict. One cannot be handicapped- on practical and theoretical knowledge as well as technologically. The next generation is chasing and will fast catch up and leave one behind.

I am joining back my organization after two years. I am sure lots of changes would have occurred. I expect to see lots of new faces, lots of expectations from the management and mainly, lots of challenges from the word go. Hopefully I am able to fulfill all these expectations, and mainly, be able to achieve mental satisfaction on what I have done.

Time is the best judge. Let me wait for the verdict.

Will these change??

Went to a famous temple (SriKalahasti, 4 hrs journey from Chennai) on Sunday... awesome temple, really liked the place...

But it is really saddening to see the levels of commercialization of temples nowadays... it is money everywhere... while opinions can differ about having different entry ticket rates, there cannot be 2 opinions about people asking extra money unofficially... it should be completely prohibited... these people use the sentiments of the pilgrims to extract money which should not be allowed... because of these people, the main purpose of visiting temples stands defeated..

Various Hindu organizations complain about religious conversions and vindictive treatments meted out to Hindus… it will be better if along with these, they also concentrate on correcting the deficiencies that exist within the system which will go a long way in preserving our centuries old traditions. Too much commercialization in these things is bound to drive people away.

From Curd Rice to Pastas- Final part

And then came the eventful 2nd year. After 2 months of summer project, I was diagnosed with slip disc that was to spoil a large part of my second year. Was just there at college for a few days when one of my beloved batch mates Reshma passed away. Even before I could recover from the shock, I had to fly back home due to the horrendous times I had due to the slip disc, which also meant I would be missing college for a month. Had a really tough time then and was for the first time, concerned about my academics and future. I had taken Portfolio and Capital Markets as one of my electives and I just couldn’t afford to miss classes. Thank God, some how managed to finally clear the subject.

From then on, there really had been no major academic pressure at all. 5th and 6th trimesters normally do not mean much here, except that one has to clear the papers with reasonable attendance. With the phrase ‘reasonable attendance’ open to interpretations, we did not have much issue with the same. No more academics please.

Soon, gtalks and IP messengers had become order of the day. My nicknames started getting added at a great speed :). Many times, while chatting, I was oblivious to what was happening in the outside world, prompting many a guy to raise eyebrows. What is wrong in chatting by the way?? It had brought in too many good friends to me. It had brought in new acquaintances. I started going out for dinners and coffees, which again shocked and surprised many. Why this world is so cautious when a guy goes out with a girl?? Can’t friends go out? I have never believed in 'Harry Met Sally' concepts. All said and done, it was these same guys who had later understood me clearly and supported me many times. Hats off to them.

And my stint as head of Social Responsibility Forum at NM has brought in so many new learnings and made me realize a lot about the problems of the society. I only hope I could work more on the area.

Then came in the main event of 2 years – Placement. I had by then decided to go back to my previous company and hence was out of the placement process. I was lucky to be out of the process, given the pressure on all d guys. I could see different faces of my batch mates then, some quite and calm, some fully tensed, some always studying (unseen in the previous 2 yrs)…. It was something that tested one completely, from his knowledge to patience to perseverance to communication skills… may be I should have participated in the process…It is one of the major learning experiences in an MBA life..

Another unforgettable experience is the Goa trip. Although it was a short trip of 3 days, I had awesome fun throughout. Be it the journey itself, or the beautiful Palolem beach, or Kartik’s presence - all were extremely enjoyable. I will make it a point to visit this place again very soon.

Overall, the 2 years have ended up much better than I expected. I never regretted any of my past decisions and I have no reason to believe I will regret this 2 yr break too. I had so many learnings and got so many friends I would have otherwise never got in my lifetime. Now I will be going back to Chennai to continue my professional life. But one thing that I will take with me to my grave will be these awesome 2 years of NM life. And it will not be 'curd rice to pastas' - it will have both of them.. :)