Appearances...

Yes, in this world we have to keep up appearances for the sake of others. But, just imagine how suffocated you would feel if you were forced to keep it up day in and day out for the sake of people you love! Especially when those people are total idiots (pardon the strong phrase), who can not distinguish between genuine affection and the hollow words of shallow people who say a lot but neither fulfill nor have any intentions of fulfilling what they promise.

I put myself in the shoes of such a person for a few minutes tonight. I found the experience un-bearable... absolutely un-bearable. I felt that I would go insane, and all this in under half an hour. But this person has been at this game... this silly, idiotic, but ultimately necessary game for almost all her life. Just thinking about the frustration she would have felt drives me crazy. Yet, here she is, taking it all in with a calm which baffles me.

I thought of many solutions, but as long as those idiotic people whom you happen to love remain as idiotic as ever, all these end up just complicating an already complex situation. I just do not know how much longer I can stay silent and let this gross miscarriage of justice continue!

Recommendations galore...

Is the US really a land of equal opportunity? Well, maybe not. Back home we make a hue and cry about fair chance and equal opportunity. If someone gets selected in an interview because he got a recommendation from someone we immediately cry foul play. But, here that seems to be the norm. Back home, if you were good, you were atleast called for the interview so that you get a chance to prove yourself. Maybe futile, but your case still gets heard.

But here, it seems as if you don't even get a chance to be heard. People only call you for an interview if you have a letter of recommendation from someone they know. Otherwise you don't even know that such an interview existed. This is not the case for, pardon the phrase, 'desi's' alone. This applies to everyone in the US. And everyone justs accepts it for a fact.

This rant might be due to the fact that I come from a particularly politically active state where such bull is generally not tolerated. And due to the same reason, I find it very difficult to swallow the fact that professors have virtually unlimited discretionary powers over the students. Some acts, which back home, would've immediately caused a strike is accepted without question.

A race against time...

Why is it that it always has to be either work or personal life if you want to rise in your career, climb the rungs of the corporate ladder... reach the top and so on. Why is it that you've to put in insane hours (or be very very very good) if you want to climb the ladder?

Why can't it be both, something like eating the cake and having it too... :D. Well one of the reasons for this could be the mind boggling speed at which we seem to be going. I mean, here we are, working close to 10+ hours a day (earning a pretty penny doing that by the way ;) ) but at the end of the day for what and why???

I believe the way of doing work has got a lot do with the culture of a people. The Brits for example make it a point not to put in insane hours. I know of British companies (IT companies mind you) where employees start leaving by 5 and the company shutting up shop at 7 pm. I mean closing the doors, locking the gates, turning off the lights kind of shutting shop, not the kind we are used to in the Indian IT industry, where activity might only be getting started by that time :D. It's not that the folks in UK leave early forcing their off shore counterparts to slog at work. They seem to ensure that the offshore folks do the same as well. Can you imagine an Indian IT company where EVERYONE leaves by 7!!! I can't....

This is not just the case with IT companies. Shops and establishments in general close up by 7 or 8. Except for a few super markets no shops would be open after 7 or 8. People who have been in the US and then moved to UK are the hardest hit by this difference. People from US, who are used to the shops remaining open till 10 or mid night (maybe all night) thunderstruck when they hear "Sorry sir, the shop closes at 7. Please come back tomorrow.". I mean where is the power of the consumer...

Because most of the Indian IT industry relies on US customers we have been following the same insane hours that people put in the US (hey, I'm not complaining... IT has brought wealth to a huge number of Indians... I too have benefited from this very much)... but just wondering... is it worth going this fast????