The Raise and Fall of Thyself

Wow. I cannot believe I've been away for 2 months. It pains to remember I promised myself to blog more often only in my last post.

However, I have news. News worth waiting for 2 months? Definitely. Atleast, for me. I've had some tough career decisions to make - learning a few lessons along the way. Not to mention help a good friend make a live-love-career decision. Am not going to talk about that. So, the news? I've changed jobs. Not just jobs, but positions and technologies. Its a big jump from web development into the Cloud. (Sounds geeky? Never mind). Of course, I got the raise too.

The new office is really good - a well equipped cubicle, a great workstation, nice new people, free coffee, basement parking and more. My only complaint - the tiled floors. Back in my ex-company, we had carpets and I could run around, swirl in my chair all with great control and without causing damage to myself or others. Here however, even walking has to be a conscious effort for new comers. Fortunately, indoors is more manageable as I can pretend to be playfully tapping the top of the cubicles while really trying to get something to hold on to at the turns.

Some parts of our new building are still under construction - like near the corridor to the food court. So, this morning when hunger beckoned like never before, I didn't hesitate to go for a quick snack down to the food court all alone. As providence would have it, there was some fresh wood dust over the tiles (and light coloured ones that didn't highlight the layer of dust).

The fall was quick. At first impact, I thought I did good by landing on all fours. Next instant, I was on my nose. I still wonder how I managed that. After resting for sometime on the chair the security guy kindly offered, I set off towards the elevators feeling a growing stinging feeling inside my nose and a swelling on my upper lip. Later examination revealed, one of the incisors had cut the skin inside the upper lip.

It was a bit embarrassing to sit holding ice cubes to my mouth for the next several hours. But believe me, not as bad as a 6-foot framed guy slipping on tiles in front of adults who don't seem to find the tiles a bother at all - and then blog about it in first person. Damn! Read more…

To do or not to do...

Sometimes I feel I have an ambition deficit. Now that's bad yes. Ambition is probably one of the things that drive a person. I have, often, empty thoughts. Momentary bursts of purpose. This drives me to feel I am going to accomplish something. But for how long?

I am lazy as many have branded me. I've been told I've got "stuff" and I should use it well. There's a kind who don't work hard but work smart. But, I. I must have been just lucky to survive so far. Now I feel an overload of the deficit. I feel am not doing anything special. Something extra.

I have a good paying job (touch wood). There are good prospects ahead. My career seems stable. What else can I ask for, you think. Am not asking for riches. But I desperately need some inspiration. Look at Pranav Mistry. He's about my age. Don't need to look that far - I can look at my friend's circle. Prashanth a friend from college seems to be doing a lot for his age - and he's having a super learning curve I bet. I can name so many more. There are lots of people who've gone great lengths in their early twenties - and continue to grow. That's what I want. That's what I need!

Of course, the initiative has to be mine. Trust me, am trying something these days. But it seems to be an effort not something that makes me jump out of bed as soon as I wake up. If self-motivation were a hormone, I'd like to inject myself some! This post was supposed to be an exploration a search for what I am missing. It hasn't shown itself so far. I often blame our education system for not pushing the students to pursue something. For not inculcating the habit of researching. Why should only IITians (and the like) be the ones to get encouraged and not other 'lower' institutes? Are only such people capable of doing great things? Not always. But the small percentage of people who, are motivated right from the beginning, who are 'destined' to do great things, bring glory to their land have always shown the edge. Right from kindergarten. That sucks for people like me who have had sudden 'illuminations' after they reached college. By the time I took my education seriously, lethargy was well practised. The extra effort didn't bring any excitement or encouragement. And that is like a soft cushion bed to sleep in....so I slept.

I wonder if its part of being a younger sibling where everything is easy, available and ready for you to consume. Back in college, atleast, I thought, "I want to contribute in a big way to open source projects". Open source was something that I romanticized blindly without ever fully realizing its potential or pitfalls. It was almost quixotic. And M$ hatred and the "Send/Don't Send" messages was great fuel.

This post has been long pending in my drafts. And the only things I'd typed were the first 2 lines and the PS!

I think what I need now is focus. I need to understand clearly what I want to do next and vaguely what I aim to do in the future. Focus should help. Now that I say it, I've been trying juggle too many balls at a time and ended up dropping everything.

Ah! Atleast I feel a bit better now. Blogging after so long has helped. Lets out some energy...

So that's it guys. Focus...focus...focus...focus....

PS: This blog is kind of a sequel to A look in the mirror and Gaah
PPS: This is mostly self talk and might seem dry to you. Sorry you weren't warned.
Read more…

Welcome or Farewell?

We all know how it is these days; ya I mean IT too.
Bankruptcies, closures, layoffs, salary cuts, delayed call letters and all that.

Yet, every company makes an effort to retain employees. They put them into a different stream, train them for that and what not.

Mine too, has always been committed in keeping the good ones. Recently, in order to bring out the 'best of the employees' innate potential they are to launch a programme shortly, which is called U-Turn. As I write this blog, the total structure of the programme is not known fully, but it concentrate on areas like leadership, etiquette (oh yes, that's needed), public speaking etc.

We hadn't a clue about this thing until a few days back. Till then, it was only posters everywhere saying "U-Turn (with a u-shaped arrow) X days to go" and such things. They were even put up at the main entrance. That was pretty confusing for a lot; and scary too! Just imagine, with the situation in the IT industry, a sign that says "u-turn" is read "stop. turn around. go back home"!
Today morning for instance, it was all the more pronounced, with the ominous symbol amidst a lot of balloons, festive garlands etc. I was like, "are they welcoming me, or giving a farewell?!".
Quite an ambiguous sign, I must say!

But then the charming smile from the receptionist was quite a welcome sign :D

Cheers!
~LVS
Read more…

Early Bird Gets the Worm

I have a friend. One who likes to dream she is a bird (a crow, I often suggest) is quiet addicted to her office canteen. People prefer chit-chat, this girl prefers chat-chat.

She often boasts of taking a break from work and running to her cafeteria to grab a quick chat.

I am told, that the canteenwala is the best she has tasted in Chennai, so much that she never misses having a snack-a-day. Oh, did I tell you she makes sure she's the first to queue up outside the counter there? She'll do anything to be there first. Atleast one of the first. There aren't any prizes or concessions for early-birds, just self-satisfaction.

This trend of hers is now a thing of the past. You know why?
No, she didn't run out of money.
No, the chat guy didn't close (maybe later he did, but no).
Maybe, because she was a early bird.
Oh, yes, and she got the worm. Worms.

Probably the tapeworm. Well, after a little laugh from my side (daily), sad status messages on IM, heavy medication and lot of pain. She's managed to silence the squigglers. I am not aware if they lived, but she hasn't heard from them so far.


She has stopped having chat often since. :-)
So how often do you eat junk?
Read more…

The Uncertainty Principle

It has been a year at Photon. During my initial training, and through my project allocations, I have been seated at 8 different places in my office. I understand that different projects are at different floors/bays; yet, I am in only my 3rd (billable) project here.

It is interesting to note that it is only my second PC. My first seat at the company was chosen by chance. Every one of the trainees was pretty excited about the brand new systems running Vista Business. OK, I confess, we did more of fooling around than learning something; played online games, chit-chat, music, remote logging into others' machines (everyone had the same username/password back then!) among other things...

Getting back to our topic, once we were told which projects we'd most likely be working in, we were moved around the floor into different bays. Seat #2. Since it was a relatively new facility, we were still organizing projects into different floors; as a result of which I got my seat #3 in a different floor. This perhaps is the coldest place in my office. One client who sat opposite me even remarked, "oh ya..its pretty cool here" in reply to my complaint that it was too "cold"! This seat also saw my second PC (which I use till now) and was the only empty place left after everyone picked theirs.

Seats #4, 5 chosen by me as a result of having an AC vent directly above my head and error in judgment on deciding on #4. Kunal who sat with his back to mine during seat #1, came to a similar position now :-)

#6 happened once my PM confirmed I'd be under him and was asked to move into his bay (so that he could watch our screens). This is where I was made a billable resource, where I did my first project that was recognized by the client (though not my best here). It is also here where I marked my seat with my name (a lot of people do that, "please don't steal this chair; back pain" are ubiquitous). Soon after this, things went bad for the client and I was moved to a new(er) project. Yes, my 7th seat!

After a month and a half there, am at typing this from my one week old seat #8. Another project, another client, another floor. Actually, this is temporary; until they empty a seat for me in another floor. Guess no one else has moved so much in so little time; anyone?

Am off to my next seat now :-) Will update once I reach my 10th! And, God forbid, it shouldn't be in my other office.

~LVS

Psst: if you're some big guy @ Photon, get me a laptop so its easier for me to move around!
Read more…