Category: Life

Crib Crib Crib Contd

Crib Alert: Higher. Read at your own risk.

Continuing with the previous rant, next on agenda is the society of mutual admiration. I have spoken about this earlier as well. Its funny how it is self propagating till the egos reach an astronomical proportion. Initially cooperating and then eventually competing with each other. Right now, from what I can see, that transition from cooperating to competing has begun. And the games would get only interesting.

Next up is affinity to the Fourth Estate. All the experts, on the Internet, off the Internet, in our minds, in their minds are on one hand proclaiming that they are not here to get famous. And on the other hand, everyone wants their 15 seconds of fame. Even if those 15 seconds are buried on the nineteenth page in the bottom corner in microscopic font, it shall be put highest on the long list of similar achievements.

Achievements is yet another aspect. I have met people who have started three companies and hence they are experts on starting up. All three had to shut down is a different story. Then I have met people who have been blogging for 8 years now and hence they are India’s first bloggers. Then I met this girl who is an awesome public speaker and her claim to fame is that she manages a school for the underprivileged. And this in her opinion makes her an authority on NGOs in India. If someone asked her where do NGOs file their returns, she would not know as she is not a “business person”. Then my best friend is a property dealer in Greater NOIDA and hes been doing it for about 11 years now. And he thinks he is the next KP Singh. There are plenty of such examples. Reminds me of that book, Extraordinary popular delusions. In this case, they are not really popular delusions, but, personal ones. If Mr. MacKay was alive, I would have pleaded him to write a version.

Last agenda on this long rant is lack of opportunities to broaden my horizon that universities and companies in the west provide in abundance. For us Indians, education is something that you get over with in one stretch (typically end with a MBA, MCA, MTECH, MD etc). And then you start working. Studying for few years, taking a break, working, traveling, cooing back to study et al are alien concepts. If you are 27 and you did your MBA three years ago, sitting at home to figure out your next career step is nothing less than a cardinal sin that even a dip in holy Ganges might not help. One might argue there are people who are doing it now. But what percentage of the population? And why? This is a different tangent all together. Lets not go there.

Coming back, so once I start working, its an absolute no-no to stop, identify/learn/develop a new skill and change your industry etc. Even if I want to remain in the “industry” I am in (we don’t look at life and work as separate entities), advancement means promotion. Thats it. We don’t care if we advance the industry/profession or contribute something to it. All we want to do is reach the next level, faster than our peers. After all if pados kay sharmaji ka beta is a National Sales Manager at 28, there is no way I can be just a Regional Sales Manager. Universities here shrug you off moment they confer the degree/diploma on you. Universities abroad offer an environment where you can grow. Where you contribute. Where you learn even after you have been awarded that diploma.

Again, have to cut it short. Probably a part three might come soon. Like Moby asked, why does my heart, feel so bad?

Crib crib crib

Sunday mornings. Ideal time to relax, read, watch movies, laze around, eat, get a massage, get my hair cut, sleep etc. Right now, its 10 AM, I have just woken up, already late for office, I can hear my parents watching TV, the phone ringing incessantly, a water bottle by side, and thinking about issues as random as life, the futility of it all, QLC, work, celebrities, silver spoons, people who have it easy,

A Sunday morning rant. At best.

P.S.: I have realized that I do now have a distinct writing style. All I need to do is find some people who like what and the way I write. Then chase a publisher. And then publish a book.

Life 2.0. Part 1: Work

So after ab0ut a week of rest/leisure/running-around/buying-computers/explaining-to-mom-why-i-resigned/thinking/procrastinating and hazaar other things, I am back to action. I started work. No, I did not join any company but I started thinking about life and what I want to do next.

Working for myself is way different from working for someone else (GE Money or Creativeland Asia). Let me write them down in bullet points.

  1. Home Sweet Home. While working for self, I work out of home. This means I have to tolerate door bells, telephone bells, courier deliveries, maids and other such sundry things. I also have to be polite to mother India who is trying to feed me with her best preparations. I have to get creative while answering questions from relatives (in some cases lying to them). There, no one wanted to know how much I earned, how bald am I, how long does it take to reach from CP to East Delhi etc. No questions asked, easy life.
  2. Money. Not to mention that constant worry of where that next rupee would come from. After all I am used to an extravagant life style. In Mumbai, I knew my paycheck (not that fat) would arrive by the first week and I could splurge it on gifts, knick-knacks (all those tiny obscure things that I got for P, rruts, random people), pool (lost most of the times to Gandhi and won most of the times from Gawri), restaurants (next time you are in Mumbai, try Caravan Serai) and teeshirts (white/black, one large block on print on chest and thats about it).
  3. Place. While working for someone else, I could concentrate. There was tea/coffee/soup (which sucked btw) on demand. The loo was always clean (ok not always, but mostly). I had a place that no one else could take. My desk. My drawer. Here in Delhi, I dont even have a room to myself. The things that my “almost girlfriend” gave me when I was leaving Mumbai, I dont have a place to put them up (show off). P.S. I hope you ARE reading this and you now know why I haven’t unpacked gift #5 :).
  4. Computer. I did not share my Macbook with anyone. Although it was company property but the company had entrusted it to me and it meant I could customize it the way I want, it had my music on it, my passwords were saved onto it and so on and so forth Here I share my desktop with my dad and my cousin. Thankfully my sis is still in Mumbai. And since they belong to the Garg clan, they are curious by nature and on top of everything else, they know how to access hidden folders in Windows.
  5. Media. I had access to printed copies of ten newspapers, 20 odd periodicals including Wired (which IMHO is one of the greatest publications ever). Now I have to rely on RSS feeds and a electronic screen to know what is happening in the world. I have a fetish for printed material. I dont think as long as people like me are alive, printed media is ever going to run out of business. Here I get three newspapers that I don’t even read. I have no clue why I dont.
  6. Time. Time management is an issue. Not trying to brag but I loved reaching office before anyone and playing my music out loud (Hindi songs mostly). And here, I wake up at leisure, laze around, roll in my bed, dream, snooze etc before I even get out of my bed. Leave alone computers. That sense of discipline has vanished. Though I used to work strictly till 5:30 PM, I somehow had time for reading, writing, blogging, meeting people, coming up with ideas and all that. Here I am always short of time. I haven’t read my RSS in days, replied to my mails, twittered, FBed, Linkedined or even blogging.
  7. Resources. I could use copious amounts of pens, pencils, pantone books, notepads, staplers, post-its and other items of miscellany. Now I need to scavenge a pencil, write on the edges of newspapers, buy my own post-its and keep the use in check.
  8. People. I had access to tons of wonderful people. They had brains, talents, ideas and they were my window to the world. Every individual was special and taught me something. Now, only people I have access to are people I meet for cyntax and thats about it.

There are like another 12,334,233 items in this list but since time is somewhat precious now, I shall not delve on em. And then there is rant on Mumbai vs Delhi. On similar lines. But again, tonight is not the right time. Any thoughts anyone on how to fix these things?

P.S.: While ending, got an idea. I will make this a multi-part list. Since I am effectively restarting my life (and hopefully this is that reset button we always talked about), in each part, I will rant about my life on one specific thing. Today it was on work. Next would be Mumbai/Delhi. Will think about the third when am there.