Day 59 : Work Life Balance

For past few days I've been having my morning tea at office with some newer colleagues of mine. People who have joined the company recently. Senior folks who've had a lot experience in bunch of other establishments and somehow now find themselves in the next cubicle with a secret stash of Game of Thrones mugs and posters in one of his desk drawers. 

I like mingling at work, that's one of the good things about me, I am sort of proud of the fact that I know most of the people in my floor by name and shoulder fists. And they have same of me. So undoubtedly I talk to all the new folks, find something we have in common so that when we happen to stand close at the Men's there are no awkward silences while we both try our best to look straight at the wall in front of us.

Today while having tea and breakfast with these folks, a topic that started with getting smart about financial investment went on into past girlfriends in college, to wave boarding, and finally to work-life balance in all of their previous companies. I agree those are quite a lot of tangents in a 30 minute conversation. Well you are bound to have a lot of those when you are in conversation with me.

Anyways, apparently this has been a major deciding factor for all of these folks while switching companies. They all have had at least own rotten experience in their life where they've had to spend more time in office than at home, something they all despised, and having going almost broke paying medical bills for stress and exhaustion related ailments. Most of these men are at least a decade older than me. So most of their part of the conversation involves them lecturing sage words of wisdom about work in IT life. I really don't mind any of it, honestly. I actually do enjoy listening to stories of other people. It makes people very personal and relatable. I like that.

There was one person who used to work in a Dot Com start up back in the 2000's when it was in its last throes of glory. Back when a sites' success was not based on the shock value or media buys. Not every website had to sell-out to be a success. He seemed to be passionate about it, a lot more than he is about his work now. Well he has been into this for over 15 years; I guess the heat wears off in time. He likens his time at the startup to the time in every relationship when the romance has just started and you've just begun shacking it up. You are discovering new things about each others. Each part is a mystery, and you enjoy solving the mysteries. Both about her and about you. But soon the pace tires you out. You are beat and breathless. The passion weans out. And you begin to think to cut loose before things get a lot worse for you. You quit/breakup.

There was another person who used to work in a hardcore tech environment. His company used to develop software for various industries to manage their invoice and inventory system. All very complex and technical. Highly crucial and high profile stuff. Very stressful, a lot of money was on the line to afford to goof things up. He worked there for 5 years. Had to be hospitalized twice, destroyed his relationship with a long time girlfriend and now has nothing but a car a lifelong heart disease to show for it. The sad part was that he never realized things were that bad when he was there. There was no epiphany, or a moment of clarity where he came to realize how this one job was dragging his life into the gutter and he quit. The fact was that he was laid off during the recession. He gave up all the good parts for this company and it gave him up for a newer and a much younger prey. I think he hated that part the most.

There was another guy who used to work in the IT department of a banking firm. He seemed to have a much more relaxed work life. A bit too relaxed as matter of fact. He worked there for eight years. He was in his twenties when he joined right out of college, smart and energetic. Also very young. So he obviously enjoyed all the free time. He used to leave work soon while all of his buddies were still toiling away at their desks. He had a lot of time for himself. And he spent most of it high on booze and "playing the field" (I know. That's exactly what he said!). He spent all of his 20's like that. Got married when he was 31, arranged by his parents. Now has a kid. Has a job that doesn't really pay as much as what his experience and role might usually get him. All because he spent a little too much time goofing around while his mates were able to work long and learn more, what he learned in his previous company is now obsolete. Now he says he is too old learn new stuff. And he has a family to support now, he cannot risk with a lower paying job and start from the ground level again. He has to take what he gets.

Yes. That was my early morning breakfast conversation. Delightful isn't it.

Today, I need to find a lesser depressing crowd to hang out with for lunch at least.

Day 43 : The Biryani Party

I love chicken. Serve it to me fried, roasted, stripped, minced, baked, spiced, in gravy, in rice, in/on bread, in any way. And you will be my friend for life.

Today was a biryani party at work. Which really comes down a dozen guys joining a few tables together and gorging down as much rice and chicken that would feed a family in Africa for a week. Yes, we of IT be loco.

I am not actually writing this to describe what actually biryani is or give review of the restaurant that prepared it or tell you about the talk around the table today. This is actually a different sort of post.

During feasting down a bird, have you ever had your mind wander off to think about the life (that was) of the animal you are eating?

That really sounded insane, but I didn't know how else to construct that sentence.

During in the aforementioned party I was lavishly helping myself to generous servings of biryani rice and deliciously cooked chicken and sour salad, all of it washed down with cool cola. Sometime into it, while I was eating this especially sumptuous chicken leg, this voice comes up out of nowhere inside of my head and says, "This chicken tastes pompous."

Umm, what? Chicken are not supposed to taste pompous, is it? I mean, pompous is definitely a human trait as good as any. When did poultry presume to hold such an emotion? But seeing all that food in front of me, I just put a pin on that thought and  continued with my experiment on how much a human stomach can be filled without bursting open.

Now an couple of hours later, after five kilo of biryani and at least an equal number of chickens consumed between all of us. Here I am in my break and that queer thought comes to mind again. What if the chicken and the fishes and the lambs were to actually have a side narration going on while we are all consuming their body parts? ‘Suppose then our lives would be like them TV shows and teen movies; that have this side commentary going on and at the end of each episode they spurt out some big finale thoughts on everything that had happened in that session. Like in Scrubs, or Desperate Housewives. What, there was a time when I actually thought Eva Longoria was hot.

Also, I had this other friend when I was in Chennai; a life-long veggie. Each time we were having anything that used to have limbs before coming to our plates, she would soon leave our company and move on to sit with somebody else. Her complain was whenever she used to see us eating that stuff she'd visualize of all of that we were eating as actual parts of a living chicken. Well, I confess not a pleasant use of one's imagination. I should've just asked her to think of something/someone. Why not perhaps Eva Longoria?

Anyways. I guess it is just the meat-eaters guilt talking. Or just the big fat satisfied stomach juices playing tricks with my mind.

Apart from all that.

Today does seem like a odd but beautiful day.

Day 38 : Life In A Cubicle

Okay, I've opened my word processor now and thinking of what to write about. After all it’s been two days that I've posted something here, and that by definition violates the reason this space was made for.

So, let's see. The past two days have been pretty hectic. I mean more hectic than usual, obviously. Been working long hours in office, which isn't anything new, but for past two days actually experienced the workload. Damn, couldn’t have left my workstation for more than five minutes at a stretch.

The truth is, yes the burden of it all is overwhelming, still I am sort of actually enjoying the experience.

Whenever some colleague starts complaining how bad the situtation is, I sort of rewind to the time when I was a kid and heard the elders complain about how busy or tired they felt. Back then, being the little cauldrons of energy that we were, we never understood what they were crying over.

We always pictured our folks sitting at a desk punching numbers, shuffling papers and yelling to each other over telephones. At least that's what all the TV shows showed office life to be like. And we used to think we go to school, do all the study and activity there, come home, play sports with other kids in the block, fight with a few, and come home, do homework, eat vegetables and go to sleep only to wake up again the next day to repeat the same cycle all over again. What the heck were these grownups complaining about?

Now I sort of do realize how exhausting spending a better part of one's day in a cubicle can be. I mean what most of us do in a regular day's work still is just sitting on our butts all day and pushing keys on a keyboard. Most of us never even break a sweat in all the time that we are inside our air-conditioned cubicle. But at the end of the day, we feel just as drained as a coal miner coming home after a 12 hour shift.

I for one, abnormally, am actually enjoying it nonetheless.

Every new day there is something new to learn. Every new day something new has gone wrong. Every new day we fix it and bring order to chaos. (Some of these so-called calamities, are blown so out of proportion!)

Yes since I spend the majority of my day in office, my actual life is in limbo. But then that is not like a permanent thing ,right. I can always go back to being the animal that I was in college. Right?

I suppose that is just novelty/naivety talking. I am still only over a couple of years into this lifestyle so maybe the monotony of it all has not kicked in yet. Maybe it will all go scary for me too somewhere down the line. And it would be too late to salvage anything of our personal lives then. Hunh.

I hope I still have a few more good years in store for me. I really am enjoying myself right now.

(Minus the long hours)

Today, I hope to God I go home early.

Day 15 : War of the Words

I've been watching old episodes of Scrubs of late. It's really funny, in a lame dorky sort of way. But I like it.

And the JD inner-monologue thing is totally relatable. I think we all do that. Maybe it is just me; I hope that did make it seem like me saying I hear voices inside my head. I do not. Most of the time.

Anyhow. I sometimes have this inner monologue with myself, most of these happen when I am especially pissed off at somebody or did some extremely embarrassing. I play it around inside my head, cursing myself over it, or thinking up of smart things I could've said to bring in a strong comeback line.

Alas, always after the moment has been passed. Funny, how none of these wit and spunk actually was around when I was in between the argument itself. So many wars would've been tilted to your truly's favor.

We all seem so smart and intelligent inside our heads, with all of our personality and charm at its best. I wonder if it gets lost in its way from our brain to our mouth. I think there must to be some sort of directions/sign-posts all along the way, which out our wit just conveniently ignores and we end up paying the price by embarrassing ourselves.

I remember at least half a dozen incidents since my wee-lad age where I stood there stumped and looking like a buffoon. Only a couple of minutes after the moment had passed finally figuring out the one-liner that would have been the perfect come back.

Well today was one of those days when I actually did that. Even the liners that I cooked up inside my head after the squabble did not come close to the scar that my original one hit home with my opponent. And yes, no matter what you may think of it, I am proud of that. This sort of success doesn't come daily to Mr. Nice Guy.

Today, was fun.

Day 12 : Workaholic

I am not sure if you, who are reading this, are already in my daily good-morning mailer list or not. If you are you might've already seen the above picture in my today's mail, and if not I'd really like it if you’d send me you personal id so that I can add you to my list! :)

Anyhoo. The reason that this picture got to be here is that A: I was feeling too lazy today to think up something interesting to write about; B: Damn, this one does feel so true!

Every person I see these days, no matter what sort of job they are doing are workaholics or are slowly and surely on their path to become one. Everyone is in a hurry be the big dog of the park that we all are too invested in our professional lives than the life that we have outside of it.

Our personal life takes a drastic hit. I mean just look at it. The image does say 8 hours. But I don't remember the last day I've comfortably worked just that much hours. I don't think many people in Indian IT market have. There's is always more work to be completed and not enough work hours in the day to do them. So we take the work home, with friends, with family and everywhere else that we are supposed to be with anything but timelines and deliverables running through your head!

And all for what? For some promotions to a position in which you will have more responsibilities to shoulder and longer hours to put in. The work is not going to get any lesser, and you're not going to get any younger. Sure you will work your butt off each day, put in all of your skills and brains into what you are doing. And why shouldn't you. Most people like to be good at what they are doing. But the things that you are going to able to do now, when you are twenty-something, will not be available for you when you are a thirty-something with that couple of promotions under your belt and a family of yourself to feed.

What you can do now. You can only do now.

Today, I would like to do at least one of them.