Life as a techie

I got this forward from one of my friends. I'm doing a copy-paste as it is - because I agree with most of the points written here.
We do tend to justify working a lot with the amount we are paid for, and I believe this is a misconception. In fact, I've made a few choices in my own life which are not good financially because I would prefer to make a balance between my personal life and professional life. I know that I can get more money if I sacrifice my personal life but I don't wish to do this trade.
I do tend to over-work myself in some cases - generally because of peer-pressure or because I'd committed something incorrectly- but I try my best to avoid that & I hope to keep doing so.

Here is the article I got in forward :-
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Before I started working for myself, I spent some years in some of the
top IT companies in India and still have many friends working in various
software companies

I wrote a blow recruiting like crazy, about the same time last year
about how Indian companies are recruiting like there's no tomorrow and
the possible consequences. However I was avoiding writing this
particular piece as it seems like an unpatriotic thing to do, to tell
the world how bad the working conditions in software companies in India
have become. And there's always the risk of excerpts being used out of
context to bash up IT in India .


I am now writing this because I just keep hearing horror tales from the
industry and it doesn't seem like anything is being done in the matter,
so I thought I will do my bit and write.

First and foremost, before stereotypes about India kick in, I would like
to clarify that I am not saying that Indian software companies are sweat
shops where employees aren't being paid and made to work in cramped
uncomfortable places. The pay in software companies is very good as
compared to other industries in India and the work places are generally
well furnished and plush offices
India being a strong democracy, freedom of expression is alive and well
and Indians are free to express their opinions and voice their concerns.
Yet, I say that the software industry is exploiting its employees.

IT work culture in India is totally messed up and has now started
harming the work culture of the nation as a whole. Working 12+ hours a
day and 6 or even 7 days a week is more the rule than the exception.

Consequences:

*A majority of IT people suffer from health problems. As most of the IT
workforce is still very young, the problem isn't very obvious today but
it will hit with unbearable ferocity when these youngsters get to their
40s.

* Stress levels are unbelievable high. Stress management is a cover
topic in magazines and newspapers and workshops on the subject are
regularly overbooked.

* Most IT people have hardly any social / family life to talk of.

* As IT folk are rich by Indian standards, they try to buy their way out
of their troubles and have incurred huge debts by buying expensive
houses, gizmos and fancy cars.

Plush offices, fat salaries and latest gizmos can give you happiness
only if you have a life in the first place.

The reason I feel this culture has emerged, is the servile attitude of
the companies. Here's a tip for any company in the west planning to
outsource to India. If you feel that a project can be completed in 6
weeks by 4 people, always demand that it be completed in 2 weeks by 3
people.

Guess what, most Indian companies will agree. The project will then be
hyped up as an "extremely critical" one and the 3 unfortunate souls
allocated to it will get very close to meeting the almighty by the time
they deliver the project in 2 weeks. Surprisingly, they will deliver in
2-3 weeks, get bashed up for any delays and the company will soon boast
about how they deliver good quality in reasonable time and cost. Has
anyone in India ever worked on a project that wasn't "extremely
critical"?

I was once at a session where a top boss of one of India's biggest IT
firms was asked a question about what was so special about their company
and his answer was that we are the "Yes" people with the "We Can Do It"
attitude. It is all very well for the top boss to say "We Can Do It "...
What about the project teams who wish to say "Please....We Can't Do It"
to the unreasonable timelines...I was tempted to ask "What death
benefits does your company offer to the teams that get killed in the
process?". I sure was ashamed to see that a fellow Indian was openly
boasting about the fact that he and his company had no backbone. The art
of saying No or negotiating reasonable time frames for the team is very
conspicuous by its absence. Outsourcing customers more often than not
simply walk all over Indian software companies. The outsourcer surely
cannot be blamed as it is right for him to demand good quality in the
least cost and time.

Exhaustion = Zero Innovation

* How many Indians in India are thought leaders in their software
segment? - Very few

* How much software innovation happens in India? - Minimal

* Considering that thousands of Indians in India use Open Source
software, how many actually contribute? - Very few

Surprisingly, put the same Indian in a company "in" the US and he
suddenly becomes innovative and a thought leader in his field. The
reason is simple, the only thing an exhausted body and mind can do well,
is sleep.

I can pretty much bet on it that we will never see innovation from any
of 10000+ person code factories in India.

If you are someone sitting in the US, UK ... and wondering why the
employees can't stand up, that's the most interesting part of the story.
Read on...

The Problem

The software professional Indian is today making more money in a month
than what his parents might have made in an year. Very often a 21 year
old newbie software developer makes more money than his/her 55 year old
father working in an old world business
Most of these youngsters are well aware of this gap and so work under an
impression that they are being paid an unreasonable amount of money.
They naturally equate unreasonable money with unreasonable amount of
work.

Another important factor is this whole bubble that an IT person lives
in.. An IT professional walks with a halo around his or her head. They
are the Cool, Rich Gen Next .. the Intelligentsia of the New World...
they travel all over the world, vacation at exotic locations abroad,
talk "American", are more familiar of the geography of the USA than that
of India and yes of course, they are the hottest things in the Wedding
Market!!!

This I feel is the core problem because if employees felt they were
being exploited, things would change.

I speak about this to some of my friends and the answer is generally
"Hey Harshad, what you say is correct and we sure are suffering, but why
do you think we are being paid this much money? It's not for 40 hours
but for 80 hours a week. And anyway what choice do we have? It's the
same everywhere."

So can we make things change? Is there a way to try and stop an entire
generation of educated Indians from ending up with "no life".

Solutions

1) Never complement someone for staying till midnight or working 7 days
a week.

Recently, in an awards ceremony at a software company, the manager
handing over the "employee of the month" award said something like "It's
unbelievable how hard he works. When I come to office early, I see him
working, when I leave office late, I still see him working".. These sort
of comments can kill the morale of every employee trying to do good work
in an 8hr day.

Companies need to stop hiding behind the excuse that the time difference
between India and the west is the reason why people need to stay in
office for 14 hours a day. Staying late should be a negative thing that
should work against an employee in his appraisals. Never complement
someone for staying till midnight or working 7 days a week .

2) Estimates:

If time estimates go wrong, the company should be willing to take a hit
and not force the employee to work crazy hours to bail projects out of
trouble. This will ensure that the estimates made for the next project
are more real and not just what the customer has asked for.

3) Employee organizations / forums

NASSCOM (National Association for Software and Services Companies)
and CSI (Computer Society Of India) are
perhaps the only two well known software associations in India and both
I feel have failed the software employee. I do not recall any action
from these organizations to try and improve the working conditions of
software employees. This has to change.

I am not in favor of forming trade unions for software people, as trade
unions in India have traditionally been more effective at ruining
businesses and making employees inefficient than getting employees their
rights and helping business do well. So existing bodies like NASSCOM
should create and popularize employee welfare cells at a state /
regional level and these cells should work only for employee welfare and
not be puppets in the hands of the companies.

If the industry does not itself create proper forums for employee
welfare, it's likely that the government / trade unions will interfere
and mess up India 's sunshine industry.

4) Narayan Murthy, please stand up

Top bosses of companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, etc. need to send the
message loud and clear to their company and to other companies listening
at national IT events that employee welfare is really their top concern
and having good working culture and conditions is a priority. Employee
welfare here does not mean giving the employee the salary he/she dreams
of.

Last word

I am sure some of my thoughts come from the fact that I too worked in
such an environment for a few years and perhaps I haven't got over the
frustrations I experienced back then. So think about my views with a
pinch of salt but do think about it.

--Harshad Oak

Lage Raho Munnabhai

Damn! I don't have words. This is simply an excellent movie. It scores in almost every aspect you look forward in a movie. And above all, it scores in what it conveys and how it conveys. Yes, I am floored by 'Lage Raho...' and I can go on praising it. But this is not the time and I don't intend to write anymore about this movie right now. I'll do that sometime later. This post is just to recommend this movie to all the readers of this blog and everyone else. Go and watch 'lage raho munnabhai', for it's worth it.

Christmas, New Year and A phone call

When I got up today, I knew that this was going to be an interesting, happening and a tough day. My to-do list included participation in tug-of-war contest, preparation of skit for the performance round scheduled in the evening and, of course, my work in RTLC. Tug-of-war and performance were part of an intra-mentor inter group competetion where the entire set of employees were classified into 8 teams, basically based on which manager one reports to. This competition was named as Managers' Mahayuddha by the Cornucopia. Box-cricket was also a part of this competition but we were knocked out in the first round itself. So, I didn't have to worry about that when I was coming to office this morning, as if I had less things to worry about!

Our team was already suffering the loss of one of our star performers - Ajeet who had met an minor accident last week and was unable to participate in box-cricket as well as tug-of-war. Then, two of our team-mates, Pankaj & Pradish, went off to Kgp for recruitment. Well, Pankaj is manager and Pradish is also very senior to us. But I have taken the liberty of treating almost everyone as team-mates for the time being. We were the weakest teams in tug-of-war, going by physical appearances. Even the audience suggested that our team should be allowed one more player :-). But when it came to real sport, our team was better than the other team and we had almost one the first round when the tables turned. Because of lack of space, we were not able to pull any more and eventually we lost mometum while the other team gained some... so, we lost there also! But we did put an impressive show.

Next in line was the skit that we were supposed to perform in the evening... along with the sword that was hanging on my head to finish off this project by this weekend and that, if you are mistaken, is tomorrow. We had already decided on theme and had assigned roles to individuals. And everyone of us was supposed to bring out more funny lines for his/her character and, as expected, no one had done it. Everyone of has to get back to his work as soon as he gets back to his seat. We did very little of pratice/rehearsal where we basically mugged up the lines, tried to remember the flow of events and that's it. And we ended up taking away the seond prize! Not bad... certainly not bad, I shall say...thanks to good theme that we had chosen. This is only the second time that I was part of a skit and part of the group that brings up the whole idea of it. And my record has certainly not been bad. We won in the first one (although my role was quite small :-D) and second in this one (I really had to curb my habit of speaking super-fast). Besides the team that won today, deserved to win. They had put in a lot of effort and they had been practising since Monday!!

In box cricket match, we were a team of 6 each. Matches were 6 overs a side. If anyone hits directly out of box, he is out. Other than that, rules were pretty much normal. In our match, we lost 4 wickets very cheaply. At a score of 4 runs in 2 overs. Then me and Rohit took it to 25 in 4.4 overs when Rohit was tempted by a ball wide outside off stump and he hit it outside the box. By the way, 25 was the highest score by any team till then and before us 4 teams have played their innings. However, our bowling was bad and so was fielding. If only Praveen and Ajeet were available, it would been a much better match and I believe that we would have won. But as one of my friends once wrote - "If pots were pans and ... :D"
Oh! I wrote this much and I have still not written anything about its relation with Christmas and New year. Well, we used to have a party every year for Christmas and New Year.. both combined. This year Cornu-copia (This is a team of mentor employees which is into organization of all such parties and events) came up with the idea of this Maha-yuddha. And this was certainly better than having a party where only half the people will turn up. This was much more involving. And we had great 4 days. Oh! Before I forget, belated wishes for the christmas and wishes for a very happy new year to you!!
Just that I see now that I have finish up my project in one day! Oh boy! That's gonna be impossible. I spoke to my manager and the date is extended to Monday. So basically, if I don't finish it off tomorrow, my new year will probably be celebrated with me coding in office. Now, this is not new. This was the same last year as well. Me and Ayan were in office till 3 am on 1st jan 2005. I'm hoping it to be a different story this year.

However above all, I got this phone call from a friend who is going to US in couple of days. We were not in touch for quite a long time, so it was a very pleasant surprise. I would have liked to savour this fact and the good old memories, only if this day was not so hectic :-(. Or should I be happy that I didn't get a chance to think all about it one more time and get sentimental?

Updates..

It's been 11 days since last post. Well, yeah.. that was not exactly a post. It was just a forward. But for the time being, let's consider that as a post. So, it's been just 11 days since last post. But I have quite a lot to write about what I did in last 11 days, quite opposite to any other 11 days when I am in delhi and when I spend most of my time in office.
We had two days off for Dushehra in office - 11th and 12th, thanks to the large number of people from Bengal and nearby areas in Mentor. I took monday off and went home for 5 days for the much needed break from this hectic schedule. I was to go in Rewa Express since I was, as usual, late for getting a berth in Shram-shakti express which is THE best train to travel between New Delhi and Kanpur. But probably that was for better. I met Prateek and Ravi on the platform. It had been more than 2 years since Prateek & I had not met and that when Noida is his home town and Mohali is not very far away! It was good to see that he is also growing wide and bald just like most of those in software industry :-P. Unfortunately, these two guys didn't have confirm ticket and that meant, without any discussions, that all 3 of us were going to travel on one berth. It was an interesting journey :-), not only because of Prateek and Ravi but also because of an incident that was eye-opener for me. I don't wish to write about that now....may write about that in future. For now, let me just write that I and Prateek had a blast. It was so much fun. Those who already know about the incident, must be able to understand :-).
I landed in Kanpur on 8th, reached home around 8am and after not more than one hour, I was on the way to my village (paternal village, to be precise) with my mom on TVS Victor. It is not a bad bike. In fact, it is really good for anyone who drives in Kanpur. But I had tough time riding it. Reason - gears are exactly opposite in my beloved Honda Unicorn and Victor! I had to be extremely cautious while driving it. And in spite of all the caution, three times I went down on gears when I wanted to go up! :-(. Another problem was those monsoon plants on both sides of the road. Those were 7-8 feet high and the road was not straight for more than 100 mts at any place! It took us around 2 hours to reach there and it was more than enough to miss the 'mundan' (shaving off all the hairs of head) ceremony of my seven month old cousin, considering the fact that we started off approx one hour late from home :-(. But the good part about this trip was that I could meet all of my aunts (3 'bua's and 3 'chachi's .. yes, we are a large family!). Ever since I am working, I could hardly find time to meet them and they have been asking me for that. I had real good time. I, being the oldest of my cousins (& for some other better reasons :-D ), am very dear to most of my elders. Being pampered by so many people is always a good feeling. I didn't have to move even for getting water to drink! :-D. I mean before I could start off for anything, I was asked what I wanted. And despite me saying that I shall do that myself, I was not allowed to :-).
Then, I had couple of interesting discussions with my second cousins (who are almost my age. In fact, couple of months older) about farming. The problems & difficulties they have to face & the solutions that they have found for some of those problems. Can you believe that the interest rate for the loan to buy a tractor is around 12-19% for farmers while that for car loan is around 6-8% for people who earn a lot more!! So much of research is being done for farming but no one cares if the results of these research is actually reaching the root level. Apart from that, I overheard (i.e. I was there but was not a part of) a few discussions, one of which was really disheartening. I feel terribly bad about it because it relates to my dearest cousin sister & I can't do anything about it.
I came back to Kanpur on 9th evening, Spent next 3 days meeting friends and relatives. A discussion with one of my old friends was really funny. He had deduced that the sun actually rises from north-east!! Also that you will get closer to sun and hence feel more hot, if you move towards east. I wonder how he had passed 10+2 exams and, for that matter, all the other exams :-) :-). But then, he has always been deducing 'facts' from incorrect basis. No disrespect for him intended, but I had a good time discussing these issues and convincing him that he was wrong.
Chats with Rani bhabhi are generally very interesting. She likes to talk a lot and she does not give me any chance to get bored. I get to know about a lot of stories about so many people everytime I visit her. Generally, I don't like to listen about the stuff that has no relation with me. But she knows the art of telling those stories! Although this time, I had thought that it would be different because she has just gone through an operation. But she defied my expectations and she was in such a jovial mood that I can't explain.
I also met couple of other relatives but with them it is more of a formal talk. I also get to meet my friend Shweta . And man!! Irrespective of what she writes in her blog, she sure likes Cal for that was apparent from her appearance. :-P
I came back to Delhi on 13th. Return journey was, unfortunately, not as peaceful as it normally is, thanks to those snoring people around me. Those who know me, would understand that if I had problems with their snoring how loud it would have been!
Apart from this trip home, there was this sad incident. My flatmate CV fell ill. He suffered with typhoid and had to be admitted to hospital. Good news is that he is in sound health now except the weakness. In fact, he came to office today.
In other updates - On 15th, our cricket team had a cricket match with KPMG team and we lost. I was not part of team. So, most of the time I and Partha were practising on nets. And because of that my left elbow and right shoulder are still stiff. I guess I should be more regular with sports now that 'Diamond/Veloce' project is over and I am not that busy.
Enough for today, I think. There are some more updates. I Shall come back with those and those I already promised next time, probably :-).
-gauraw

That night it rained

I got this forward couple of days back. I don't know who the writer is. But I vaguely remember that I have seen it one of the blogs. It deals with complicacies of friendship between a boy and a girl. Not 'really' well dealt. But anyway, here it is -
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"Lets go for a walk", said Rahul.

"Yippee. Lets go", said Swetha, almost jumping out of her seat.

It was yet another boring day in the Mysore training institute. Dusk was breaking in. Swetha had already taken two breaks since lunch. Nevertheless, she had been anticipating Rahul's invitation for another break.

Rahul and Swetha had known each other for the last couple of months. They had been together since the training days. People knew them as the best of friends. Rahul, the regular T-D-H type, who spoke with a heavy Bengali accent, was a popular flirt in the DC. On the other hand, Swetha was a chubby sweet little girl, who was always on the lookout for sorrow souls. They enjoyed being in each other's company.

Swetha would disclose all her crushes to Rahul, and Rahul would always be seen taking classes from Swetha, on how to impress a girl in 24 hours. Rahul had helped Swetha to forget her 7-year-old single lane relationship and Swetha would see to it that Rahul would never be lonely. Most of the time, they were together. People admired, some even sneered with jealousy, the relation that these two shared.

The walk today was unusually long.

"This is gonna be one of our last walks", muttered Rahul in a low tone.

"I know", replied Swetha in a soft, almost inaudible voice.

Mysore DC had completed the long cycle training and the postings had been announced the previous day. Swetha was posted at Mysore base location, while Rahul would have to shift to Bangalore. Even though they both always knew that they had to separate one day... they did not expect it to happen so soon.

Swetha, who belonged to the sentimental group, looked at Rahul and managed to pass a disguised smile. "I tried my best for a swap. The HRC is stubborn. She is still holding on to 'EURP P.U. doesn't encourage swaps.' I cannot stay here alone Rahul."

"I swear, I am gonna miss you badly too dear" replied Rahul, again faking a smile.

"Hey don't worry sweetie, Mysore is just three hours from Bangalore. Just call me and I will be here." said Rahul, trying to cheer her up, though his words did not light up Swetha's face.

She just replied with a frown. "You will be busy with your new girl friends and your work. You will soon forget me"

"Hey come on!" said an offended Rahul. "You are my best friend. Can I ever forget you dear?"

"You just wait and see", came an almost sobbing reply.

"Don't start crying dear." Said Rahul with a gloomy face... "Oh... by the way... it's getting late... let's go back" he said, taking a U-turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As destiny wanted......... the next week saw Rahul packing his bags for Bangalore, while Swetha moved out of her PG, to a rented apartment closer to her office. They parted with a few wet handkerchiefs. The bus started moving. Rahul looking through the Volvo glass was trying to say something to Swetha. His actions deciphered, as "I will call u when I reach there. Gonna miss you. Take care... Bye-Bye"

Swetha was comforted by her own tears. She felt very lonely, as if she had lost something. Something, very precious. Consoling herself, she went back to her room, shut the door, and started sobbing again. She had found a very good friend in Rahul, and he was her major support. She had no clue in the beginning that she would get so much attached and more important... too much dependent on him. She sobbed herself to sleep.

A couple of hours later, she heard her mobile ringing. One look at the tiny screen, which happened to display, "Rahul calling..." and she was overjoyed. She answered the call with a "Hey... You reached so soon? How was the trip?"

"Yo dear! Just reached. Bangalore seems to be bliss. The climate is almost like Mysore. It is wonderful... though Mysore was better.... Coz I miss you badly here..."

"I miss you too dear," said Swetha... trying to stop her tears. They talked on for almost an hour. Swetha was all the time advising him, on what to do and what not to do. And Rahul was responding with a "Yes dear" "Ofcourse I will" "Sure, I wont"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of days had gone by. They used to call each other every day. They did not miss the good morning / good evening / how are you / I am fine ... SMS almost every hour. Thanks to the Airtel to Airtel free SMS scheme. Slowly the days went by. Two weeks had past since they parted.

That Saturday, Rahul called up Swetha in the morning and said... "Hey Swetha... you know what... I am gonna have a terrific weekend. We are going to check out Nandi hills today."

"We? What do you mean by we?" asked a puzzled Swetha.

"Oh Oh. I completely forgot to tell you about my new friend. She is so cute. We are in the same project. We both are going to the hill station. Just about to leave... So thought of calling you up and say a hi."

Somehow the "hi" was not so enticing for Swetha. Back there, she was finding it hard to talk to anyone after Rahul left, while on the other hand, someone had already taken her place in Rahul's life.

She managed to mumble out "That's great Rahul. Have a nice time... and enjoy yourself." She was kinda upset, but dint show it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Days went by and Swetha was feeling that the distance between her and Rahul was slowly increasing.

Then one day... the phone at her desktop rang.

"Swetha... you have to go to Bangalore for one week to gather the details of our APPLE project". It was the voice of her PM. Swetha could hardly believe her ears. "Wow! What luck! I can meet Rahul for a week," she said to herself.

She was very much happy and excited over this new twist. As luck would have it... it was Rahul's birthday next week. She thought of giving him a big surprise. Therefore, she hid the news from him. Next week, Swetha was in Bangalore. Thanks to the huge crowd of people, she managed to go unnoticed by anyone, especially Rahul, for the first day. It was evening. She had left office early. She went to the market and brought some beautiful flowers. She had been waiting for this day. Flowers have this magical way of pleasing people... and so she was choosy in selecting them. Rahul was her best friend, and she cared a lot about him.

Taking the flowers home, she had her dinner and was waiting for time to pass. She knew Rahul's address... she left the hotel at 11:30 and hired a taxi to reach Rahul's place. It was a short distance away, so she reached pretty soon. She groped around and found out his flat. The lights were still on. She frowned. She wanted this to be a magnificent surprise and hence had expected him to be sleeping.

Nevertheless, she timidly went to the door and rang the bell. The door opened in a few seconds... There was Rahul. "Happy birthday..." said Swetha. Rahul was stunned. He could not believe his eyes. Taking the flowers, he said. "Oh gosh! Thank you so much Swetha. I never expected you... come on... come inside..." Swetha removed her shoes and went in.

Little did she knew that there was a bigger surprise waiting for her inside. She saw that the room was decorated and there was a birthday cake, which had candles on it. There was a pretty girl standing there in blue denims and a red top.

"Err... Swetha let me introduce you to Neha. And Neha, this is my friend Swetha" The girls exchanged smiles and said Hi to each other.

Swetha felt uncomfortable. She wanted to be the first one to wish him on his birthday. But look here! It seemed that someone else had already done it. Still, controlling her feelings, she did not react. They sang the birthday song together, cut the cake, and had fun. The Party was over. Swetha said, "Rahul, it's getting late, I will leave now. Can you tell me where can I find a taxi?"

"Hey, are u nuts or what? It is very late. You don't need to go anywhere. Sleep here tonight. Even Neha has decided to stay back."

Swetha would never have accepted this, but the last line "Even Neha has decided to stay back" drove her to say, "Well, if you insist, I will stay back." The next day morning, once again Shweta wished Rahul and left for her hotel.

Work was hectic. She met Rahul for his dinner party in the evening. Neha was with him. She found this annoying, but as usual, did not utter a word.

The next day morning, she called Rahul and said... "You mean fellow, you haven't shown me around Bangalore. I am free today evening. Take me to the good places"

"Sure we will do that baby." Was his reply.

The day was boring for Swetha with not much work to do. She waited until five and then buzzed him on his cell. "Where are you Rahul? Come on... let's go!"

"Oh... I am so sorry Swetha; I have this telecon thing... I am gonna be late... just wait for some time... please dear"

"Sure I will wait dear, you finish your work. Tell me where are u, I will come there and cheer you up", said Swetha.

"Hey that's fine dear. No need to take any trouble... Besides, Neha is also here."

Swetha was surprised. She had not expected him to say this. This time, not knowing how to react... she was searching for words to reply... she struggled and said... "Well.. err ... Rahul.. I am.. err very tired.. I think I will go back... err.. Let us go tomorrow..."

Rahul replied "Wow, that's fine... no problem. We will surely go tomorrow okay, thanks a ton Swetha for understanding."

Unfortunately tomorrow never came. Rahul was busy with one thing or the other. She was feeling all the more lonely and desolate. The feeling that Neha had replaced her position sank her. A frustrated and irritated Swetha was waiting for her last day in Bangalore.

That day, she did not expect Rahul to call her. So to inform him that she is leaving, she called him in the evening and told him that she is leaving in an hour. She was shocked by Rahul's reply. "Oh I am so sorry dear; I won't be able to come to see you off. Today I have a very important meeting, I am really sorry yaar."

"Its okay Rahul", said Swetha, thinking at the back of her mind... what meeting could Rahul possible have after office hours.

Heartbroken by the crushing changes she found in her best friend, she left for the Majestic bus station and boarded her bus. She kept on looking outside as if she was expecting a miraculous surprise. But no one turned up. Resting her head on the slide seat, she closed her eyes. Memories of those wonderful times spent with Rahul were flashing in front of her eyes. She did not have any grudges that Rahul had replaced her, but what pricked her was how easily she was forgotten and forsaken. The journey was perhaps the dullest and saddest for Swetha.

Back in Mysore, and back to work, Shweta was trying to cope up with life. After a week, Rahul called her up. She did not want to create an issue, but just could not stand it. She blurted out everything. She asked him to give an explanation. His reply was "Look Swetha, you are a very good friend of mine. But now, there is someone more important in my life. Someone with more priority. Swetha... I am in love with Neha." The words were so cold that Swetha could feel its bite.

Gathering all the bits of her remaining calm, she sobbed and said. "I don't have any problem with that Rahul. But falling in love doesn't essentially mean that you have to forsake your old friends"

"You have never fallen in love. What will you know about love, Swetha?"

Rahul's words shattered her heart. She had never expected to hear this from the person she cared and loved the most. She quietly cut the phone. She shut her eyes tight and cried.

That night it rained.

How dare you ....

This is taken from a guest article on rediff. There is something funny about the way it is written. What do you say?

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How dare you kiss in Chennai?
Chennai, the city of auto majors Ford, Hyundai, BMW, Ashok Leyland. Chennai, the city of software majors TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Xansa.

Chennai, the city of several engineering colleges and thousands of engineering students.

Chennai, the city where the country's first six-lane information technology expressway is under construction.

Chennai, the city of the Big Brother.

Scene One

A park in Chennai. A young teenage boy and a girl are sitting on a bench munching peanuts. The distance between them slowly reduces, and the boy puts his hand on the girl's shoulder and draws her close to him. They are still talking and munching peanuts. No, they are not about to kiss, but their physical proximity is such that they can. That is, if Big Brother does not turn up. And he does.

The terrified kids jump up.

"What are you two doing here?" asks Big Brother.

"Nothing…" the boy stammers.

"Nothing? What nothing? You are doing something," Big Brother thunders.

"We were talking and eating peanuts," the boy's voice is barely audible.

"What? Can't you talk loudly?" Big Bother's voice is so loud that the two young things clasp hands in fright.

"Take your hands off her." Big Brother whacks the boy with his baton so hard that his eyes fill with tears. The girl has already started crying.

"No tears. No crying. Don't you know boys and girls are not supposed to sit so close to each other and hold hands in a public place?"

The boy wants to ask 'What's wrong in us sitting close and holding hands?'

"Don't say she's your girl friend?"

The boy nods.

"Girlfriend and boyfriend? What is this world coming to? Come on, get into the jeep. I am taking you two into custody."

Moral of the story: If you are in Chennai, never sit on a park bench with your girlfriend or boyfriend. And, most importantly, never hold hands. It is not part of the great Chennai Culture.

Scene 2

A party in the discotheque of a luxury hotel. Loud chatter, louder music. Couples dancing merrily on the floor. The music gets louder and the dancers more passionate. Bodies intertwine. Soon, some lips lock.

Enter Big Brother on the dance floor.

"Stop!" his voice booms, but the music is too loud. He keeps shouting, but no one can hear him. He rushes towards the DJ console and terrorises the DJ into stopping the music.

The romantic world of the couples shatters.

Big Brother jumps onto a chair and shouts, "What's this? What's going on here? Don't you have any respect for this great city, and its great culture?"

"What's he saying?" A woman whispers as she comes out of the trance.

"You people better listen to me. This is a great city..."

"How many times will he say that?" Another woman laughs.

"The culture of the city is so great that here, no woman and man should hug each other in public, nobody should dance like mad people. You should learn to dance Bharata Natyam. That's our culture, and not this. Here, no man and woman kiss each other in a public place."

"This is not a public place. This is a hotel, and this is a dance floor," an angry young man shouts back.

"I will arrest you for insulting our great culture. No man and woman should kiss in a hotel even if they are husband and wife. You will be arrested if you do that. Today, I, the Big Brother, forgive you," he jumps off the chair and walks away.

Moral of the story: In Chennai, you should not go to a dance party unless it is Bharata Natyam. You should not kiss your spouse even if you are dancing the Bharata Natyam. You should respect the great culture and traditions of the city.

Scene 3

An engineering college campus. Three students are summoned to the principal's room to appear before a panel of five teachers whose duty is to question 'immoral' students and punish them. The students' fault; they are wearing short, sleeveless tops and tight jeans, and they were caught talking to boys.

"What kind of dress are you wearing? Were you seducing the boys when we caught you? Don't come crying to us if you get raped. If you dress like this, anything can happen. Remember, this kind of indecent dress is not allowed in this city and in this college, understand? Now, go home and get Rs 500 as fine for wearing sleeveless top and tight jeans. If you want good jobs in good companies, you should learn to dress properly, and also learn not to flirt with boys," The teachers shout at the girls.

Once the girls are done with, five boys are called in. They also undergo a dressing down for 'wearing dark coloured shirts,' 'talking to girls' and 'flirting with them'.

"You people will never see even the gates of an IT company," the jury declares.

Moral of the story: If you are an engineering student in Chennai, you should dress 'decently' and never talk to the opposite sex. That is, if you want a good job in a good company.

Scene 4

Angry women demonstrating -- with brooms and flip flops -- in front of a movie actress' house. The women shout unprintable abuses, spit on the gate, burn her effigy.

In an interview, the actress had advised people of the city to have safe sex. She had pooh poohed the idea of pre-marital virginity as an essential virtue.

"You dirty woman, you insulted our great culture. How dare you live here? We will banish you to the Andamans," roars the mob.

Moral of the story: If you are a woman living in Chennai, a city that has Big Brothers who flaunt their several wives/mistresses as proof of their wealth and social status, never talk about sex, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, AIDS, condoms or virginity.

Scene 5

The bedroom of a newlywed couple. It is an unusually cool night, and passion is running high. As they are about to kiss, the voice of Big Brother booms.

"Stop!"

They stop in mid-kiss. "But why? We are husband and wife. We are not in a park. We are not on the dance floor of a hotel. We are in our bedroom. Can't we have some privacy in here too?"

"No, Big Brother is watching you. You should abstain from sex today."

"But why?" The couple dare to question the Big Brother.

"Today is Thursday, the day of abstinence." Big Brother announces.

"Can we have at least one kiss?" they plead.

"No kiss today. You can kiss on Mondays and Wednesdays and can have sex on Fridays and Sundays. This is Big Brother's order. Remember, Big Brother is watching."

****

No, this is not an adaptation of George Orwell's 1984. This is 2005, and the city is Chennai.

Yes, Chennai, the city that has blah blah blah.

Time to write something?

There are times when you have so many things to write and still you do not feel like writing. Today is one of those days. It is really strange because I had been looking forward for the weekend when I'll have time to write.
However, just an update - I got an invite from Abhaya for wordpress.com and I really wanted to try it out. Thanks buddy! :-)
More later!
-Gauraw