I remember the old days. When I used to be in school. I used to wake up every morning. Run towards the bus hurriedly. Eager to meet my friends and have a fun day ahead. Having to go through the same discipline everyday. Having to appears for exams every year. And year after that. The way we used to wait for the recess bell to go and we would run towards the school grounds ... not to eat because of hunger but to finish it off and have a great game of absolutely anything. I remember mostly it would be football. With a cricket ball for a football. I used to be goalkeeper. Not that I was specifically good at that. But I was too lazy perhaps and not self-confidant enough that I could tackle the ball. Moreover I had to finish off all the tiffins of my friends...The time when we had regular assemblies every morning and we had toy stand for half an hour or so. Listening to speeches or poems or plays by students on some particular values. I used to write poems back then. I still have them. I sometimes still write them.
Yes. I do remember the old days when I was young and did not think about a job. When I did not think about a girlfriend. The time when friends and fun was enough for me.
The problem started when it all ended one day. I finished high school and went to college. I couldn’t make out why people were crying about leaving school. I thought they should be happy to leave school and be free from all rules and all terms and conditions. I was wrong. I felt that the night I cried remembering school and all its prefect order day after day.
The problem started when I wanted it all back.
I finished my diploma and graduated only to be worried about how to get into the next level of education. I got into a good college. And then all alone there again I began to miss my diploma college. The place where I had been for three years. The place where I knew people and the place where people knew me. I remembered I first day I had walked into that diploma college. All new faces..just like the first day at school. And the times when we sat on the college terrace. When we used to enjoy the cold coffee at the 'coffee shop' that was nothing but a small makeshift shop. My little parties to myself when I went to the canteen alone and rewarded myself with noodles and shakes. Just for the sake of it.
The problem started when I joined the new college. My engineering college. I had thought it would be better as this college was far better than my previous one with more people and better facilities. I was wrong. The place was better all right but I was all alone. I didn’t know what to do and where to go in the intervals. The problem started when I wanted my diploma college back.
I remember begging my mom to get me back to my previous college. The next day I met someone I hadn’t met in a long time. My school buddies. I found heaven in my college that day. I started adapting to my new place with their help. I had my lunch with them and I hung out with them. Within the semester I had every boy in the class be my friend. And almost every girl. I enjoyed thereafter. We bunked lectures, we attended lectures too. We had fun outside and inside class. We had huge parties at hotels and restaurants for birthday celebrations. Not anymore with our families. Not with mom cooking delicacies for all of them. But we celebrated with money. It was our parent’s money but we did not seem to notice that. We enjoyed picnics at various places in and out of the city. We had the best times of our lives. As Bryan Adams put it " ... those were the best days of my life".
The problem started when we graduated. I joined my job. I was looking forward to this day since I had joined engineering college. I thought this is what I always wanted. This is what I am meant to do. I thought this is and would be my life forever. I was wrong. I got to to sit in an AC office all right. I started earning money too. There was still something missing. Friends. The problem started when I wanted it all back.
I remember calling up friends and they calling me I remember how slowly I floated away from all of them and how deep I began to drown into the work quicksand. I stopped calling people worrying about the phone bills now. I stopped looking out the window of my bus, as I had to sleep since I had to work the previous night. I had new friends by then. Graduates like me who had joined the company. We had all become good friends. We used to attend training together. We used to hangout more as we had money to spend and we were away from our families. There was no stopping we.
The problem started when we finished training and got transferred to different place or projects. I thought this was good and this is what we have been training for. I was wrong yet again. I was stressed with work and tired of sitting in one place in front of the computer all day long. The problem started when I wanted my training days back.
Today I am still working. It’s been a year now since I had joined my company. And I looked at the wallpaper on my home pc. I saw my friends from college all around me. The snap was taken at one the birthday parties. I saw them all and felt them looking back at me. I was in the picture standing in the center ... mainly because of my height. I saw myself smiling back at me and taking me back to the place where the snap was taken. In a moment, I wanted all that back again.
That is when I realized the true problem. We are so used to our past lives that we waste our present thinking about it and we tend to ignore the future. It dawned upon me that as I go thru life after very new step forward I would be looking towards my past rather than the future. The true problem lies not in remembering the past but wanting it back. I had felt so close to something in the past that I failed to see that I had come a long way ahead and that I am no more near that something. I knew I had to let go.
So right now I have decided that no more shall I look back and cry over the past. I will look straight ahead. And as I walk forward towards the sunset I will remember to once in a while turn around and smile... at a bright and shiny past and then face forward and look towards a brighter and shinier future...
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
'IN'dia
These are the places where i have been to. Although many more than this but i am weak at remembering states and theirs cities.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Naan, Baniyaan aur Makaan
Don't get startled
This is supposed to be a series of three articles each of which deals with the issue of Roti, Kapdaa and Makaan i.e. food, clothing and shelter cultures respectively.
This one is about Kapdaa.
Hmm. Where do I start? Should I start with caps and T’s and end up with socks and shoes? Or I’d rather talk about the general fashion culture.
The fashion bhaashan
Now what do people need to wear? Something to cover the upper half and something to cover the lower half. No, I have not been going nuts. If u read carefully, I had asked as to what people need to wear…not what they like to or want to.
Well considering today’s generation, girls, to be specific would rather wear nothing. If u are the partying type u’ll know. Unfortunately, these days even boys like to present themselves as pieces of meat.
Earlier it used to be different. People’s attire used to be region specific. I mean if u still sometimes get to watch republic day parades on national TV channel DD1 you’ll be able to see how different parts of India itself have so diversified cultures. All thanks to the necessity. Think about it. These people have diff types of clothing because of the various conditions that they lived in.
But nowadays one can see that even in the farthest parts of the world u can spot one or two wear denim clothing. Adios to the diverse culture. Talking about denims, jeans, jackets, shorts etc have kind of brought about a revolution in the world of apparel.
Stores have got plethora of designer clothing in denims. These including colors from decent, absurd to weird. If u have been to a Lee or Pepe store u’ll know. They have got these so called worn-out, stonewashed types, regular fits, foot-cuts, casual fits, cargos and even something called anti fits!! If I remember right in my time, I m not that old, just talking about 10-15 yrs back when I was a kid, people used to buy clothes for special occasions so that could flaunt them like jewelry and so that they had a feeling of looking as good as new. But now a kid wants to buy a new pair of jeans that looks old…the worn out type. Students would not shell out 500 bucks for a normal pair but would rather pay 2000 bucks for an old looking new pair. Makes me scratch my head.
Having said that I think you’d have had a good idea about the lower half. I have not written much about formal wear cause I don’t want to pretend that I know about something actually I don’t.
Over the top
Now this does not actually refer to headgear or jackets for that sake.
T-shirts. Every one in the family can wear them. Kids and adults included. And I am not joking. Take a break and visit the malls in Mumbai. At every another step you can see one or the other aunty sporting a T-shirt…with her husband wearing a decent shirt.
And if just take a look around, I mean literally, just take a look around by rotating around ur own body axis and u’ll see hundreds of diff tops u’ll never find even if want to search for one. Boys would be wearing t’s with catchy lines. Girls would be wearing something either plain all over or something knotty all over or something with flowers, petals or leaves everywhere. That’s about it actually. And they complain about not being able to decide what to wear… I myself have been through the transition from wearing cute shirts (as a kid of course), tantra shirts to plain tee’s.
Although I can again keep writing about this and will too in future posts. I have lot of info about ethnic wear, casual wear, party wear and more.
But what I have been thinking is that why have sane people turned to such complicated stuff?
The more that I thought about others I more I began to compare their attire changes with mine. And the answer was before me. Perhaps it is the comfortable, wear-and-go kind of flexibility that this kind of clothing offers. Why would a mother of two will prefer a wrap-and-wrap-keep-wrapping kilometer long sari when she can be more comfortable with a pair of jeans and tops. She can still select decent and sober stuff and can more easily take care of the hyperactive kids.
This may be the reason why my dad prefers shorts to lungis. He just does not have to keep unwrapping and wrapping them every 60 seconds. I myself have been changing my look every now and then with what I feel is comfortable. Long gone are the days when ‘necessity was the mother of invention’. Now its more like ‘necessity for change is the mother of invention’. Or something like that … come up with ur own motto.
So much for wear and tear. Its more of a tear and wear. Watch FTV if you don’t believe me!
As reported by Me, wearing a dumb look on his face and dull colored clothing on the other parts…Just wait till I am ready to party ;-)
This is supposed to be a series of three articles each of which deals with the issue of Roti, Kapdaa and Makaan i.e. food, clothing and shelter cultures respectively.
This one is about Kapdaa.
Hmm. Where do I start? Should I start with caps and T’s and end up with socks and shoes? Or I’d rather talk about the general fashion culture.
The fashion bhaashan
Now what do people need to wear? Something to cover the upper half and something to cover the lower half. No, I have not been going nuts. If u read carefully, I had asked as to what people need to wear…not what they like to or want to.
Well considering today’s generation, girls, to be specific would rather wear nothing. If u are the partying type u’ll know. Unfortunately, these days even boys like to present themselves as pieces of meat.
Earlier it used to be different. People’s attire used to be region specific. I mean if u still sometimes get to watch republic day parades on national TV channel DD1 you’ll be able to see how different parts of India itself have so diversified cultures. All thanks to the necessity. Think about it. These people have diff types of clothing because of the various conditions that they lived in.
But nowadays one can see that even in the farthest parts of the world u can spot one or two wear denim clothing. Adios to the diverse culture. Talking about denims, jeans, jackets, shorts etc have kind of brought about a revolution in the world of apparel.
Stores have got plethora of designer clothing in denims. These including colors from decent, absurd to weird. If u have been to a Lee or Pepe store u’ll know. They have got these so called worn-out, stonewashed types, regular fits, foot-cuts, casual fits, cargos and even something called anti fits!! If I remember right in my time, I m not that old, just talking about 10-15 yrs back when I was a kid, people used to buy clothes for special occasions so that could flaunt them like jewelry and so that they had a feeling of looking as good as new. But now a kid wants to buy a new pair of jeans that looks old…the worn out type. Students would not shell out 500 bucks for a normal pair but would rather pay 2000 bucks for an old looking new pair. Makes me scratch my head.
Having said that I think you’d have had a good idea about the lower half. I have not written much about formal wear cause I don’t want to pretend that I know about something actually I don’t.
Over the top
Now this does not actually refer to headgear or jackets for that sake.
T-shirts. Every one in the family can wear them. Kids and adults included. And I am not joking. Take a break and visit the malls in Mumbai. At every another step you can see one or the other aunty sporting a T-shirt…with her husband wearing a decent shirt.
And if just take a look around, I mean literally, just take a look around by rotating around ur own body axis and u’ll see hundreds of diff tops u’ll never find even if want to search for one. Boys would be wearing t’s with catchy lines. Girls would be wearing something either plain all over or something knotty all over or something with flowers, petals or leaves everywhere. That’s about it actually. And they complain about not being able to decide what to wear… I myself have been through the transition from wearing cute shirts (as a kid of course), tantra shirts to plain tee’s.
Something I remembered just now. I went to this store with a friend who’s a girl. She was buying a top for herself and asked me to help. Here I learnt some valuable information. No matter what u suggest girls will never agree with ur opinion. Another factoid is that if the top (t-shirt) has only a small bit of sleeve then its called MEGA sleeves whereas if its longer than that its called half sleeves…wow, does geometry seem so far away!
Although I can again keep writing about this and will too in future posts. I have lot of info about ethnic wear, casual wear, party wear and more.
But what I have been thinking is that why have sane people turned to such complicated stuff?
The more that I thought about others I more I began to compare their attire changes with mine. And the answer was before me. Perhaps it is the comfortable, wear-and-go kind of flexibility that this kind of clothing offers. Why would a mother of two will prefer a wrap-and-wrap-keep-wrapping kilometer long sari when she can be more comfortable with a pair of jeans and tops. She can still select decent and sober stuff and can more easily take care of the hyperactive kids.
This may be the reason why my dad prefers shorts to lungis. He just does not have to keep unwrapping and wrapping them every 60 seconds. I myself have been changing my look every now and then with what I feel is comfortable. Long gone are the days when ‘necessity was the mother of invention’. Now its more like ‘necessity for change is the mother of invention’. Or something like that … come up with ur own motto.
So much for wear and tear. Its more of a tear and wear. Watch FTV if you don’t believe me!
As reported by Me, wearing a dumb look on his face and dull colored clothing on the other parts…Just wait till I am ready to party ;-)
Thursday, January 19, 2006
To 'See'nema or not to See
Tell me first… or rather ask yourself. ‘When was the last time you came out satisfied out of a movie hall?’
Hmm… I’d say 3 days ago when I watched ‘Family-Ties of Blood’.
Well the movie was good. Amitabh Bachhan was once again at his best perfectly acting out his part as the kingpin of crime. Akshay Kumar undoubtedly at his very best doing the comic scenes. But I think who-is-this-weird-looking-guy rookie Aryeman could have got better exposure.
But hey I am not here to discuss the characters or the movie for that sake. I am here to try and find out that why out of the so many Hindi movies releasing every year only a select few are even worth mentioning. And even those out of the select few are ‘inspired’ from Hollywood flicks. Eg: ‘Ek Ajnabi’ inspired, or more like copied, from ‘Man on Fire’. Now even though I like Denzel Washington I’d rather watch Amitabh. But the point is that why is there a lack of original ideas.
If you ask me that why don’t I suggest an idea, hold on, cause I have asked myself that already. But then I got the answer to my previous question. Although I got quite some interesting ideas I realized that these are the kinds of movies that people would rather call as documentaries. Perhaps that’s why the filmmakers are not concerned bout those matters.
The need for change factor
It seems cinemagoers have diff tastes these days. And it keeps changing. Yesterday they liked action movies more. Today they like the movie depending on the amount of skin shown. I myself rather decide bout a movie by its star cast and this has had its side effects. Mangal Pandey. Do I need say more?! These so called bold movies must have started with some one movie that was actually good and had a decent amount of exposure. But filmmakers must have overlooked the good story part and concentrated on the naked part.
I cannot say it’s their fault completely. A seller cannot sell something unless there is someone to buy it. Our mainstream Indian audience consists mostly of good for nothing teenagers. Trust me cause I was one of them once (actually I am not a teenager anymore but mom suggests I am still good for nothing…but hey ,I blog, that’s gotta count for something ehh!). When I say good for nothing I mean in terms of maturity. At that age and time of one’s life it’s difficult to decide what’s good and what’s not. It’s more of a herd mentality kind of thing. Go where the herd goes. Eat what herd eats. Watch what the crowd watches. Or sometimes it like things hitting the right spot. At some point of time David Dhawan and Govinda were the right mixture for time pass. (Ok sorry for overreacting…they were not an example of good movie making yet they used to relax you for 3 hrs…think bout the laughs and sleep you could get…it was all your choice). Some time ago it was the gangster movies with unlimited gunshots that clicked.
Sad but true
People have lost the love for movies with good storylines. Now they are asking as for something else. Like what more can you give, other than the blah blah story, the so-so characters and all. So filmmakers now rely on the unexpected twists and turns in their movies. Eg: Bluff Master. Another factor that is affecting the movie’s success is the publicity stunts. Ads, music releases, posters etc.
Talking about music releases … I think this has played a major role in attracting the audience (why else do u think people know Emraan Hashmi…his every movie seems to have hit the target thru the music in his flicks). To tell you the truth even I, being a music lover, have been forced to get Emraan’s movie’s audio cds.
Now the ad arena is a different story. Although ad gurus have stuck to the idea of show glimpses of the movies, they now have started showing dialogues from the movie so that people tend to believe that the characters have given a powerful delivery. Eg: Jo Bole So Nihaal (for those who came in late I am talking bout the ‘no if no but sirf jatt’ statement by our own Arnold, Sunny Deol). The most recent effective ads have been, I must say surprisingly, Aryan and Fight Club. And then there is also Rang De Basanti which, I hope, is a success story. Why? Cause if it isn’t we’ll b seeing the end of the Aamir hype. I mean after the Mangal Pandey disaster, if Aamir delivers another flop then he is sure to need a bigger bang than Lagaan to bounce back.
I can keep blabbering about movies and the theory all day long. But I wish really that Hollywood did show some spark in the movies so that I’ll b wanting to see Hindi flicks rather than just Hollywood fiction.
So says Shaxank, your daily movie masala expert…;-)
Ciao for now!
Hmm… I’d say 3 days ago when I watched ‘Family-Ties of Blood’.
Well the movie was good. Amitabh Bachhan was once again at his best perfectly acting out his part as the kingpin of crime. Akshay Kumar undoubtedly at his very best doing the comic scenes. But I think who-is-this-weird-looking-guy rookie Aryeman could have got better exposure.
But hey I am not here to discuss the characters or the movie for that sake. I am here to try and find out that why out of the so many Hindi movies releasing every year only a select few are even worth mentioning. And even those out of the select few are ‘inspired’ from Hollywood flicks. Eg: ‘Ek Ajnabi’ inspired, or more like copied, from ‘Man on Fire’. Now even though I like Denzel Washington I’d rather watch Amitabh. But the point is that why is there a lack of original ideas.
If you ask me that why don’t I suggest an idea, hold on, cause I have asked myself that already. But then I got the answer to my previous question. Although I got quite some interesting ideas I realized that these are the kinds of movies that people would rather call as documentaries. Perhaps that’s why the filmmakers are not concerned bout those matters.
The need for change factor
It seems cinemagoers have diff tastes these days. And it keeps changing. Yesterday they liked action movies more. Today they like the movie depending on the amount of skin shown. I myself rather decide bout a movie by its star cast and this has had its side effects. Mangal Pandey. Do I need say more?! These so called bold movies must have started with some one movie that was actually good and had a decent amount of exposure. But filmmakers must have overlooked the good story part and concentrated on the naked part.
I cannot say it’s their fault completely. A seller cannot sell something unless there is someone to buy it. Our mainstream Indian audience consists mostly of good for nothing teenagers. Trust me cause I was one of them once (actually I am not a teenager anymore but mom suggests I am still good for nothing…but hey ,I blog, that’s gotta count for something ehh!). When I say good for nothing I mean in terms of maturity. At that age and time of one’s life it’s difficult to decide what’s good and what’s not. It’s more of a herd mentality kind of thing. Go where the herd goes. Eat what herd eats. Watch what the crowd watches. Or sometimes it like things hitting the right spot. At some point of time David Dhawan and Govinda were the right mixture for time pass. (Ok sorry for overreacting…they were not an example of good movie making yet they used to relax you for 3 hrs…think bout the laughs and sleep you could get…it was all your choice). Some time ago it was the gangster movies with unlimited gunshots that clicked.
Sad but true
People have lost the love for movies with good storylines. Now they are asking as for something else. Like what more can you give, other than the blah blah story, the so-so characters and all. So filmmakers now rely on the unexpected twists and turns in their movies. Eg: Bluff Master. Another factor that is affecting the movie’s success is the publicity stunts. Ads, music releases, posters etc.
Talking about music releases … I think this has played a major role in attracting the audience (why else do u think people know Emraan Hashmi…his every movie seems to have hit the target thru the music in his flicks). To tell you the truth even I, being a music lover, have been forced to get Emraan’s movie’s audio cds.
Now the ad arena is a different story. Although ad gurus have stuck to the idea of show glimpses of the movies, they now have started showing dialogues from the movie so that people tend to believe that the characters have given a powerful delivery. Eg: Jo Bole So Nihaal (for those who came in late I am talking bout the ‘no if no but sirf jatt’ statement by our own Arnold, Sunny Deol). The most recent effective ads have been, I must say surprisingly, Aryan and Fight Club. And then there is also Rang De Basanti which, I hope, is a success story. Why? Cause if it isn’t we’ll b seeing the end of the Aamir hype. I mean after the Mangal Pandey disaster, if Aamir delivers another flop then he is sure to need a bigger bang than Lagaan to bounce back.
I can keep blabbering about movies and the theory all day long. But I wish really that Hollywood did show some spark in the movies so that I’ll b wanting to see Hindi flicks rather than just Hollywood fiction.
So says Shaxank, your daily movie masala expert…;-)
Ciao for now!
Monday, January 16, 2006
The 'FAST' lane of IT?
Every new day it’s a new story. It’s still a new adventure.
No matter how hard you try to settle down it doesn’t matter.
Whether you are 15 or 50.
Even then you cannot tell one day from another.
Being in an IT industry I work every day on diff problems.
But at the end of the day it’s still the same day as yesterday.
I am still down in the evening as usual.... more due to fatigue than work load.
The Inside Story
After having a hands on experience in here I ask myself ‘why? why the hell did I want to b an IT professional?
And which idiot says that IT is booming and that lots of jobs are available.
Even after being thru 3 months of training, I am not doing what I am trained to do. Rather I am doing something that did not require me to do a diploma and engineering in comp science.And then again my fellow batch mates have no work.
And this is not the story of my company. It’s everywhere. IT firms are recruiting people like never before.I mean in Pune one of the top IT company conducts campus interviews every Sunday.What’s amazing is that this particular company has highest bench count from what I have heard.... and I mean people actually sit around doing nothing for months and in some cases years. For those who are not so enlightened this particular situation is referred to as being 'on bench'.
Reality against Dreams
Then again people say that if u are good enough then you are sure to go places. What I am asking is 'how can every one b that good?' and if they cant b that good does it mean they are to b screwed for the rest of their sorry lives? Sounds unfair to me. If u ask why unfair let me tell you why. One of my friends had just completed training for a particular stream. But he was asked to work on a project as a tester ...that too the technology was miles away from what he was trained for. I mean I understand that in IT one never does anything they are trained for. But this was absolutely hilarious (when it should have been sad). What’s more.... he was asked to appear for 3 different interviews while on bench...and for all the 3 he was rejected because they said they needed people with experience.
Well hello!! Has the HR management gone nuts or something? Why do they send freshers for interviews where experienced guys are needed? Also how the hell do u think that guy is going to get experience unless you give some damn work. After staying like this for months and doing odd jobs here and there... when he gets some opportunity to do something he has already lost track of what his actual expertise was and has to waste more time training again. Now if this is not unfair, what is?
What I think...
Its not like I expect the company to give everyone good project experience, its not possible with so many people passing out as engineers every year (its also fascinating to know that students study civil, mechanical, electronics and other stuff like that for years, even considering the time between the years of engineering when one dropped the exams, but want to join the IT crowd). What I expect is that the company should make arrangements such that the knowledge gained during trainings must be kept alive and fresh in the minds of freshers.
But just like its not Sunday everyday you cannot expect the company to give you what you prefer everyday.
Although there are some ideas that have helped keep my knowledge fresh in my mind. I surfed the net for already written codes and studied them. This helped me to know more and also keep my stuff updated. Helping your fellow juniors in college also plays a major part in attaining a level of expertise for yourself and also the students get to know how things are in professional world. While
waiting for your time you can also go on to learn things that you won’t be doing actually but will help you in the future. These may be things like studying how company procedures work or how policies affect the organization. Now the last part may sound silly now but in the near future if you have a chance of getting promoted then you will definitely be luckier than others if you are well versed with the organizational know-how.
Afterword?
Just having written a piece after so long is a testament that how busy I was during training and how much free time I have now (by the way I am on bench while on a project! Go ponder). Just trying to give you an insight which might help in preparing yourself when you are ready to crossover from college student to a professional student. This I say to stress another point ... that you have to keep learning to survive in the so-called 'fast' lane of IT. Although life comes to standstill once get in the lane.
But hey, that’s just little old me, I am sure you'd do better.
So join me for the 'on bench' experience. Campus interviews next Sunday?!
No matter how hard you try to settle down it doesn’t matter.
Whether you are 15 or 50.
Even then you cannot tell one day from another.
Being in an IT industry I work every day on diff problems.
But at the end of the day it’s still the same day as yesterday.
I am still down in the evening as usual.... more due to fatigue than work load.
The Inside Story
After having a hands on experience in here I ask myself ‘why? why the hell did I want to b an IT professional?
And which idiot says that IT is booming and that lots of jobs are available.
Even after being thru 3 months of training, I am not doing what I am trained to do. Rather I am doing something that did not require me to do a diploma and engineering in comp science.And then again my fellow batch mates have no work.
And this is not the story of my company. It’s everywhere. IT firms are recruiting people like never before.I mean in Pune one of the top IT company conducts campus interviews every Sunday.What’s amazing is that this particular company has highest bench count from what I have heard.... and I mean people actually sit around doing nothing for months and in some cases years. For those who are not so enlightened this particular situation is referred to as being 'on bench'.
Let me elaborate. Picture this. You have studied everything. You have appeared for all the tests. You have passed. The management has your scorecard. They know your skill set. They know you are available for allocation. They know you raring to go. What they don’t know is where to put you. Maybe they don’t have a place to settle you or just because the idiots that they are. So u just sit around all day wandering the campus or the few work areas where access is not restricted. You surf the net all day and your inbox never has unread mails. This means being 'on bench'. Putting it more professionally...it means that you are resource of your company which can be used whenever needed and which won’t probably be needed so soon.
Reality against Dreams
Then again people say that if u are good enough then you are sure to go places. What I am asking is 'how can every one b that good?' and if they cant b that good does it mean they are to b screwed for the rest of their sorry lives? Sounds unfair to me. If u ask why unfair let me tell you why. One of my friends had just completed training for a particular stream. But he was asked to work on a project as a tester ...that too the technology was miles away from what he was trained for. I mean I understand that in IT one never does anything they are trained for. But this was absolutely hilarious (when it should have been sad). What’s more.... he was asked to appear for 3 different interviews while on bench...and for all the 3 he was rejected because they said they needed people with experience.
Well hello!! Has the HR management gone nuts or something? Why do they send freshers for interviews where experienced guys are needed? Also how the hell do u think that guy is going to get experience unless you give some damn work. After staying like this for months and doing odd jobs here and there... when he gets some opportunity to do something he has already lost track of what his actual expertise was and has to waste more time training again. Now if this is not unfair, what is?
What I think...
Its not like I expect the company to give everyone good project experience, its not possible with so many people passing out as engineers every year (its also fascinating to know that students study civil, mechanical, electronics and other stuff like that for years, even considering the time between the years of engineering when one dropped the exams, but want to join the IT crowd). What I expect is that the company should make arrangements such that the knowledge gained during trainings must be kept alive and fresh in the minds of freshers.
But just like its not Sunday everyday you cannot expect the company to give you what you prefer everyday.
Although there are some ideas that have helped keep my knowledge fresh in my mind. I surfed the net for already written codes and studied them. This helped me to know more and also keep my stuff updated. Helping your fellow juniors in college also plays a major part in attaining a level of expertise for yourself and also the students get to know how things are in professional world. While
waiting for your time you can also go on to learn things that you won’t be doing actually but will help you in the future. These may be things like studying how company procedures work or how policies affect the organization. Now the last part may sound silly now but in the near future if you have a chance of getting promoted then you will definitely be luckier than others if you are well versed with the organizational know-how.
Afterword?
Just having written a piece after so long is a testament that how busy I was during training and how much free time I have now (by the way I am on bench while on a project! Go ponder). Just trying to give you an insight which might help in preparing yourself when you are ready to crossover from college student to a professional student. This I say to stress another point ... that you have to keep learning to survive in the so-called 'fast' lane of IT. Although life comes to standstill once get in the lane.
But hey, that’s just little old me, I am sure you'd do better.
So join me for the 'on bench' experience. Campus interviews next Sunday?!
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