I first heard about the "100 hours per week" concept when I joined as Human Resources Manager at a small 40 people business consulting firm. Hogwash, was my first reaction...
For a similar viewpoint, also see this link http://www.sworddance.com/blog/2009/07/05/the-100-hour-work-week-myth/
Friday, January 1, 2010
My Response to Chetan Bhagat on the "3 idiots" post on his blog- "A book, a Film and the Truth"
Dear Chetan,
5 Points for you to respond to:
1. You are simply pulling a charade to sell another 100,000 copies of “Five Point Someone”. Please spare us the silly melodrama of “there were tears in my mother’s eyes”.
2. Loser, you sold the script of a mere INR 11 Lakhs, or did you take the rest in cash to avoid paying taxes. You are a typical Delhi-wala after all. And if you actually did sell it for so low, you deserve to get a kick. Or maybe after the “One Night at the Call Centre” to “Hello” debacle, that is your market rate.
3. Please under stand that your books have no comparison with the kind of script that “3 idiots” has and please understand that the celluloid industry in India doesn’t really care for writers who can’t write the script.
4. Finally after all your claims of intelligence and IIT-IIM background, we expected you to have done a better and detailed contract regarding your credit and representation.
5. Finally going to the media was quite a lame thing to do. Pandering yourself for cheap publicity does not augur well for someone who is trying to project himself as future youth though leader.
A word of advice- Admit you got the short end of the stick and move on. Be a man!!!
To read Chetan Bhagat's blog post, click on the link http://www.chetanbhagat.com/blog
5 Points for you to respond to:
1. You are simply pulling a charade to sell another 100,000 copies of “Five Point Someone”. Please spare us the silly melodrama of “there were tears in my mother’s eyes”.
2. Loser, you sold the script of a mere INR 11 Lakhs, or did you take the rest in cash to avoid paying taxes. You are a typical Delhi-wala after all. And if you actually did sell it for so low, you deserve to get a kick. Or maybe after the “One Night at the Call Centre” to “Hello” debacle, that is your market rate.
3. Please under stand that your books have no comparison with the kind of script that “3 idiots” has and please understand that the celluloid industry in India doesn’t really care for writers who can’t write the script.
4. Finally after all your claims of intelligence and IIT-IIM background, we expected you to have done a better and detailed contract regarding your credit and representation.
5. Finally going to the media was quite a lame thing to do. Pandering yourself for cheap publicity does not augur well for someone who is trying to project himself as future youth though leader.
A word of advice- Admit you got the short end of the stick and move on. Be a man!!!
To read Chetan Bhagat's blog post, click on the link http://www.chetanbhagat.com/blog
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Pinging Fuppet
It happened all because, some big honcho wanted to hire an almost senile ex-Army Bong as some Techie Head at some remote jungle in the heart of India. Like they say, cometh the hour, cometh the man and hence like all other times, I decided that this task must be accomplished at my typical speed, which is lightning!
So off I went tramping to another office at the far end of town, so as to ensure that the wheels of bureaucracy moved a tad bit quicker. It was the pre-Diwali celebration at office and so all the ladies were turned out in their best dresses, though some looked ill at ease in dresses which they must have forgotten about the day they got married. But that is the price you have to pay to look good or atleast die trying to.
They say that in life you will face many an unexpected twists and turns... Well this certainly was totally out of some macabrely twisted novel. As I walked into this massive building, I realized that I was standing out like a sore thumb in button-down collars and cuff-clinks, though I must say that I still think I looked dapper.
The Head for this business vertical being another unique Bong specimen (alas I'm one too), was quite pleased to see me and immediately decided to introduce me to rest of her team/ subordinates. Then it happened...
Unfortunately all I remember of the remaining part of that visit that I kept staring at her. She had the most amazing eyes and an absolutely bewitching smile and extremely pretty hands and and and... I has recently been mentioned to me that I had followed her around like a proverbial "lost puppy" and made quite a fool of myself that eventful day!
Well to make matters simple, I had turned into a strong believer of "love at first sight" theory.
to be continued
So off I went tramping to another office at the far end of town, so as to ensure that the wheels of bureaucracy moved a tad bit quicker. It was the pre-Diwali celebration at office and so all the ladies were turned out in their best dresses, though some looked ill at ease in dresses which they must have forgotten about the day they got married. But that is the price you have to pay to look good or atleast die trying to.
They say that in life you will face many an unexpected twists and turns... Well this certainly was totally out of some macabrely twisted novel. As I walked into this massive building, I realized that I was standing out like a sore thumb in button-down collars and cuff-clinks, though I must say that I still think I looked dapper.
The Head for this business vertical being another unique Bong specimen (alas I'm one too), was quite pleased to see me and immediately decided to introduce me to rest of her team/ subordinates. Then it happened...
Unfortunately all I remember of the remaining part of that visit that I kept staring at her. She had the most amazing eyes and an absolutely bewitching smile and extremely pretty hands and and and... I has recently been mentioned to me that I had followed her around like a proverbial "lost puppy" and made quite a fool of myself that eventful day!
Well to make matters simple, I had turned into a strong believer of "love at first sight" theory.
to be continued
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Job Most Interesting
Many a article, blog and even a few books have been written about the so called life in an Indian call centre. To many its a complete mystery, to many hordes of caffine fuelled, sleep deprived teenagers working in air conditioned environs but to me it was a period of life filled with the most incredible and at times hilarious events.
A top B-School grad working as a so called HR Business Partner at one of the top Indian BPO was not exactly how I'd dreamed my life to be... But then like they say, we are only following our destiny. Anyway here I was in the city of Pune during a summer not too long ago.
The first thing that one needed getting used to was the crowd of youngsters all trying to outdo each other in terms of being weird, weirder and weirdest... And obviously the multitude of women... girls ahem!!! It seemed like heaven till I had to deal with them; which came later...
Even the HR team had a majority of the fairer sex... One thing must be said that the ladies in our team were an unique lot... One was wise beyond the years, one was a dynamite, one a crybaby, one a chilled out curly haired beauty and the last who had joined with me was nutcase, who once sprayed water on me when I cracked a joke while she was attempting to drink water... what a mess!!!
But the baap of the place was our boss... an ex-Army major, who had penchant for Fish philosophy and fast cars. His apprehension with me was that I had a chip on my shoulders and he decided to knock it off, by giving me my first assignment... Go get all the employees to fill the employee satisfaction questionnaire. Only hitch was that (a) nobody knew who I was, so I was eyed suspiciously (b) there were more than 2000 employees who came over 3 different shifts covering all time zones (c) paper could be taken onto the process floor, so I had to catch people either when they came out for coffee breaks or even worse pee breaks & (d) the piece of paper had more than 65 qs. To sum it up, I was screwed for good and I had this sinking feeling that I was gonna be an utter failure in my first assignment.
to be continued
A top B-School grad working as a so called HR Business Partner at one of the top Indian BPO was not exactly how I'd dreamed my life to be... But then like they say, we are only following our destiny. Anyway here I was in the city of Pune during a summer not too long ago.
The first thing that one needed getting used to was the crowd of youngsters all trying to outdo each other in terms of being weird, weirder and weirdest... And obviously the multitude of women... girls ahem!!! It seemed like heaven till I had to deal with them; which came later...
Even the HR team had a majority of the fairer sex... One thing must be said that the ladies in our team were an unique lot... One was wise beyond the years, one was a dynamite, one a crybaby, one a chilled out curly haired beauty and the last who had joined with me was nutcase, who once sprayed water on me when I cracked a joke while she was attempting to drink water... what a mess!!!
But the baap of the place was our boss... an ex-Army major, who had penchant for Fish philosophy and fast cars. His apprehension with me was that I had a chip on my shoulders and he decided to knock it off, by giving me my first assignment... Go get all the employees to fill the employee satisfaction questionnaire. Only hitch was that (a) nobody knew who I was, so I was eyed suspiciously (b) there were more than 2000 employees who came over 3 different shifts covering all time zones (c) paper could be taken onto the process floor, so I had to catch people either when they came out for coffee breaks or even worse pee breaks & (d) the piece of paper had more than 65 qs. To sum it up, I was screwed for good and I had this sinking feeling that I was gonna be an utter failure in my first assignment.
to be continued
The Friend Who Never Was
They say jealousy is the greatest of many evils. Many are fortunate to be oblivious of it, some however have to face the green eyed monster and some live to one day share a tale like this.
In many ways it all started because all the other girls were so seemingly pretty, rich and had everything perfect in their lives. She often used to wished that some guy would also pursue her with the same ardour as the others.
They say the flights of imagination knows no bounds. So when the conversation about guys, boyfriends and escapades was at an all time peak, she dropped the bomb...
"There is someone in my life"... The stunned silence and the look on their faces was such sweet revenge. They were all equals now and suddenly she could go one up. So out came the bouncer... "And he is an industrialist's son based in Mumbai"... How convenient, close and yet not close enough for them to go check.
What happened next was perhaps one of the most devious tales that will ever be spun. As all the girls gasped in unison, the momentarily silence was followed by rapid-fire questions... when?, where??, how??? and the complete works!
The ball was in play and now there was no turning back. So in short the story came through as young man on visit to B'lore had offered her an empty seat across him at a CCD. Obviously he was very good looking, very rich and completely in love with her since that fateful day.
One of the girls who she was sure hated her the most wanted to see some "proof of life". God how she wished to one day claw out her face and especially that smirk from her face!
Don't have one as me not the types acts mushy. Ours is a mature relationship and based on lot of mutual respect for space and privacy. However if you are so keen, go ahead, here is his mail id, why don't you write to him? Surely he will reply... The guy is very thoughtful and really knows his way around with words.
It was almost as if the smell of burning hearts and egos was diffusing into the evening air... such sweet revenge!!!
In many ways it all started because all the other girls were so seemingly pretty, rich and had everything perfect in their lives. She often used to wished that some guy would also pursue her with the same ardour as the others.
They say the flights of imagination knows no bounds. So when the conversation about guys, boyfriends and escapades was at an all time peak, she dropped the bomb...
"There is someone in my life"... The stunned silence and the look on their faces was such sweet revenge. They were all equals now and suddenly she could go one up. So out came the bouncer... "And he is an industrialist's son based in Mumbai"... How convenient, close and yet not close enough for them to go check.
What happened next was perhaps one of the most devious tales that will ever be spun. As all the girls gasped in unison, the momentarily silence was followed by rapid-fire questions... when?, where??, how??? and the complete works!
The ball was in play and now there was no turning back. So in short the story came through as young man on visit to B'lore had offered her an empty seat across him at a CCD. Obviously he was very good looking, very rich and completely in love with her since that fateful day.
One of the girls who she was sure hated her the most wanted to see some "proof of life". God how she wished to one day claw out her face and especially that smirk from her face!
Don't have one as me not the types acts mushy. Ours is a mature relationship and based on lot of mutual respect for space and privacy. However if you are so keen, go ahead, here is his mail id, why don't you write to him? Surely he will reply... The guy is very thoughtful and really knows his way around with words.
It was almost as if the smell of burning hearts and egos was diffusing into the evening air... such sweet revenge!!!
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