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Questioning the Spirit of the Game??

“It is OK. No Team wants the opposition’s batsman to score over a century…” said a humble Sehwag. But, this is for sure, that he was too, feeling disappointed for missing the Century. All of you, who would have followed the last cricket match of India vs Sri Lanka, or the Hype following it, would orchestrate with me.

It was almost certain that India will win when Randiv came down to bowl the final over of the innings. Diligently supported by Dhoni, Sehwag was holding the ground firm, at 99. This is a figure of the Cricketing History which makes every batsman think. But Sehwag, as you all know, was keen to hit a boundary, despite of the fact that a win was certain.

The first ball from Randiv was missed by Sangakkara, one of the better wicket-keepers in the world. It was a straight forward delivery & any average WC will grab it with ease. Sanga might have missed it. It happens. This leveled the scores. Subsequent to the two deliveries, Viru hit a mighty six, raising his bat towards the sky. All of us at the room were jubilant, untill we realised that it was a no-ball and a six. According to the rules, no-ball’s run is counted first and those scored by bat, later. All of us took a deep sigh, similar to Viru. Disappointment prevailed….

Looking at the replays, and one of the longest foot-overs for any no-ball in my Life, I was not sure if that was a genuine delivery. It was only after yesterday’s News informed me that an Enquiry Commission has been set up to investigate the matter. There was also a piece of audio grab from the stump microphone. Reportedly, it was Sangakkara giving some instructions in the local language to Randiv.

Indians have always played the Fairer Game as compared to a couple of other Nations & so has Sri Lanka, till now. While the above controversy might prove wrong and Sri Lanka might get a clean chit, but it has surely brought the Spirit of the Game to a new low. This small incidence, has, in a way, Questioned the Spirit of the Game. Whatever may be the outcome of the post-match Enquiry, the-need-for-a-case has surely dampened Sri Lanka’s image as a Fair Cricketing Nation.

Viru, who shared the greater loss in this drama, was rightly awarded “Man of the Match”. On Tony Grieg’s question on missing the century, Viru said, “It doesn’t matter if it is a 99 or 100. What matters is, [the country’s] Win”. Hats Off Viru!!!

Freedom… Freedom to do the Right…in the Right Way…

So…we are again up to the Independence Day celebrations?? TV Channels about to showcase the Best National Movies, some new releases due this Friday, some kinda preparations at your company premises and many political to-be leaders in the process to once again realize the independence. Independence Day has always been one of the most important days in the Life of every Indian, or atleast it is said so. I have looked this day with a sense of amazement, upon its arrival & surprise, on its re-arrival. Have you noticed that 15th August comes, goes & comes like any election campaign, only difference been the frequency. Every time, we proclaim to be proud to complete one more Independent Year while knowing the fact that we could have used it in a better way. I am sure, every 15th August witnesses increased amount of prices, scams, conflicts, and if it is more unfortunate, Wars.

There has been a general sense of satisfaction in putting the blame on Politicians, Bureaucrats, the System & above all, the Government. We discuss it out at a Tea-break, Lunch or Dinner and get along to our regular schedule. Right from childhood, I have had a great sense of Respect for our Defence Personnel. While “Border” inspired me to become Major Kuldeep Singh, “Lakshya” has motivated to join the forces. The journey continued with “Sarfarosh” and “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” taking 1 year of my life in the preparations of UPSC. “Rang De Basanti” was about to make me a revolutionary when my Joining left Our Country with one less.

It was only after working for a year in the Private Sector that I realised “DeshSeva” in a different, but absolutely certain format. This was the same time when my Dad gifted the beautiful diary of successful Indian Entrepreneurs. Every page of the diary has been a kinda revelation. Starting from Ratan Tata, Narayanmurthy, Azim Premji, Dhirubhai Ambani, B.M. Munjal, Indra Nooyi, G.D. Birla, Subroto Roy, Sunil Mittal to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the list is endless. People like Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev & A R Rahman have brought Pride with their respective Talents. They were not Politicians, they were not Bureaucrats, and neither were they any kinda Revolutionaries. They were “just-the-common-people” before they became “not-so-common-people” by showcasing their talents not only nationally, but also globally.

Looking at these dignified personalities, we can surely say that they have worked really hard in their careers, and while making a more-than-decent living for themselves, they made a name for the Country, giving increased amount of satisfaction to each & every citizen of this great Nation. No doubt, some of them were gifted by Nature. But, they have put that gift to the proper use. Extending the idea to all of us, in a sense, everyone is working in one or the other way for our Country. For instance, take banks. If they stop working for one day, will the Country grow?? Take Manufacturing, won’t you require them to resume work as soon as possible. Take our all favorite, IT. If they don’t work for one day, you, my friends, the person sitting in that cubicle, staring at the monitor, reading this article, if you stop working, not only our Nation, many foreign countries will come to a standstill. All of you know very well that India is an outsourcing hub. It doesn’t matter what kind of work you perform. What matters, in today’s world, is the kind of approach you have while working. Restricting yourself to the company or project will surely take you away from the wider perspective.

It is not necessary, and also not possible for all of us to join the Defence services or become a Bureaucrat, for that matter. But, what is surely doable, and must be done, is keeping the Country’s Growth in your mind while you perform your so-called “Chota-Mota Kaam”. None of the above mentioned people were born famous. Every one of them was like you & me, somewhere, sometime, thinking of making it Big in his/her life. Destiny played its part, and they, theirs. In no way, can we say that they have done anything less for the country than our (Honest) People in the System.

Independence Day is here again, asking us, all of these questions. Friendship Day has just gone by and I witnessed my cellphone crying for more memory. It was the day I realised the number of friends I made in this short span of Life. But, my dear friends, Our Country, who is a lot more elder to me, is still yearning for true friends. This is the Day to fall in Love with our Motherland, once again. Let us make it feel like the true Sons & Daughters. Let us do, whatever we can, in whatever we do, for this Great Nation of ours. We are independent people. Let us use this Freedom to do the Right thing…in the Right Way…for Our Country.

 Jai Hind!!!

And…and I saw my Body Bleeding…

“That one…no no…that one…” He pointed towards me…
Khad…Khaddadad… the owner opened my house and pulled me out…as if I was the guilty…
I was shown to the Customer… He liked my fleshy body… I was thrown on the balance…
The pointer went to the limits of 2.5 kg. I suppose customer liked it. He must have started imagining my “Kaleji” on his plate.

Customer nodded. Owner picked me up and took me to the slaughter area. I didn’t even get the time to bid farewell (the final one :-() to my friends. Actually, you never get, in your Human Life too (I suppose).

After getting me into position for some time, he picked up his Grand Knife. I went through the memories of my childhood days, my first proposal, her agreement, our first child, those beautiful days in the Poultry Farm, those talks from our cages, the happiness when one of our friends was not liked by a customer and the grief of losing the other one, because the damn man liked it. Everything passed by in a Flash. I gave a last glimpse to my beloved friends and my all-time companion, my cage. I was lost in the thoughts when suddenly I felt that sudden jerk.

It was the first (and last) time in my Life when I saw my own back. But, I couldn’t notice it anymore. I was shivering with pain, pain of the highest degree. I had never experienced such a pain in my entire life. It was devastating. There was a lot of blood all over… I was sure this was going to be my last sight in this Life…I managed to give a look to the body which was once owned by me… And…and I saw my Body Bleeding…

Monday..Monday..Friday..Friday..

Experience is the best teacher; I read somewhere and obviously didn’t pay much attention ;-). There has been a vicious cycle of Weekdays and Weekends from past couple of months. It seemed to me that both the Weekdays and the Weekends are running out at the Fast-Track rate. You wake up on Monday keeping the hardly opening eye on next Friday. Friday comes, brings the joy, happiness and ever lasting peace (for the next two days :-)). There is a kinda non-religious, non-national festival which all of us share on every Friday. You can call it a truly human festival ;-). But, as we already admitted, it is a festival and every “Tyohaar” has an end. Every Sunday night brings the fear of going to office the very next morning. You, your desk, your PC, your extension and a brand new Monday. If Mondays could speak, it would have said “It’s not my problem if I come after Sunday”, but it does, and that’s our problem :-).
As always, someone coming from nowhere and meeting me somewhere will put an ignition into my already overactive mind to think about the other side of the coin (to which, obviously, I am least interested). A person selling our all favorite “Chana-Zor-Garam” is a rare sight in our area. Grabbing a 10 rupees packet from him appears to be my sole duty and ardent responsibility. Bound to my other duty, I started a conversation with him. The small talk with Jugnu happened to be one of the most revealing conversations of my lifetime. He told me that his monthly income is around 2500-3000, he walks around 12-14 kms daily and above all, (I think, this is the most revealing) he has not taken an off from past 7-8 months. The last off from his work was only due to the severe fever which stopped his movement altogether. Even if I assume that Jugnu was exaggerating the situation, this is a fact that we have several thousands of Daily Wage Earners in our country. Some roam around like Jugnu, some work for other owners, and some don’t know what work they would be doing the next morning. For all of these people, there are no Mondays, No Fridays……there are only Days, which probably provide them with an opportunity to earn the livelihood for them and their family. As a matter of fact, we are surrounded by these daily wage earners, the milkman, the hawker, the household help; the “kirana” shopkeepers, the “Chat-ka-Thela”… list is endless.
The IT revolution has revolutionalised our lives. It took the purchasing power of a normal Indian beyond the Clouds. We have earned in Dollars and spent in Rupees. (Atleast for the onsite people ;-)) We have never worked out of the AC offices from past couple of years. Some of my associates also claim that they feel very uncomfortable if AC is not working. There has been a gradual shift in the living standard of an average Indian. No doubt, there has been enormous amount of work and unending efforts of our countrymen in bringing the IT to everyone’s Job Inbox. IT and ITES have been the staple diet which our ever-growing Bull has fed on. It also brought a hitherto unknown culture of 5 days a week and changed the way we looked at our Calendars. Though, we work for 6 or sometimes even 7 days a week when the Project demands, but, again we get either the Comp-offs or extra incentives for the same. It’s a Win-Win game for some and “Oh-no-Not-Again” for the others. On one hand, we find several stories of people explaining about the (positive) change IT brought in their Life, and on the other hand, there are gloomy signals of an IT-ite getting caught up with several diseases. Pros n Cons, you know.
My perception about the industry has changed remarkably in the past couple of years, and I am sure, it will keep on changing. But, looking towards the more-hardworking lot of people (atleast on the physical side), it appears to me that I have been working in a pretty comfortable environment (atleast, I know [;-)], what to do next morning) and I am demanding for more pleasure, more comfort and more facilities. Looking it the other way round, I may be deserving (may be Destiny :-)) for all these luxuries, looking towards the grilling path I have come across to attain them. But still, the question arises, Should I be demanding for more, or whatever I am getting is appropriate and most important of all, Will that “MORE” be sufficient??

Joining – The Journey Continues….

[Please Note: Majority of the incidences in this article actually happened with Mr. Arun Khandelwal, one of my colleagues.]
[This article is a sequel to my previous piece: Placement or Joining: What matters the Most?? I recommend you read the first part so as to fully enjoy this piece]


26th Dec 2009, 2.45 pm

BPO jobs are rilli tough to accomplish… especially when you are addicted to sleeping…I was in the initial stages of my sleep when a call from an unknown no. entered the red zone…Normally, I keep my cell on silent…Oh, GoD…Who is it Now??...Smhow I managed to pik it up…Hel..l.lo…I garbled…Hello, Can I talk to Mr. Amey Mahant…came an awake voice…Ya, speaking…I responded…Amey, this is Kalpesh here and I am calling from ABC Infotech… [Those words entered with a bang into my ears…I don think so…I have ever left my bed in Mom’s one call…This is different man…It seems to be ABC Infotech…If I’m not dreaming… :-)] Yes sir…speaking…I sat down on my bed… Hi Amey, this call is with regard to your campus recruitment with ABC Infotech…We are planning to induct a new batch in a couple of days…Are you interested in Joining? ... I thought, He is jokin man…This is the moment about which I have been waiting for so long… and he is askin, I want to join or not… Of course, Sir… I will join… Ok, than I would request you to report on 28th Dec, 9 AM at Mumbai… What???... He must have mistaken man…I confirmed… He repeated… It was not 28th Jan man…it was 28th Dec… Is there any problem, Amey?... He asked… Yes sir… I am working here at a BPO firm and I need to inform them before leaving the organization…Can you give me a couple of days more… No, Amey…I am sorry… But, if you have to join…you need to report on 28th Dec itself… Let me tell you that the other trainees are reporting tomorrow… But, as I gave you the call today… So I am giving you one more day…Ok… What Ok sir…I said…It’s not possible… If this is the case, than I don’t think so that I would be able to join on 28th…I explained…Can u give me any other dates??... I can’t tell you right away… But, you can possibly get a joining date of March 2010…This month has a lot of bad memories… March 2009…this was written in the letter which I received in Dec 2008… I was in a fix…not able to make any decisions… I was almost bathing in my own Sweat… despite of the fan at its bloom… Can I call u in sometime…? I asked hesitantly…HR ppl are not those, whom we make, calls in & out… Hmmm…Okay…But inform me ASAP…bcoz if you refuse, I had to call other candidates…Sure, sir…I said… He disconnected the call… I was not in a position to do anything….Last 10 min. were simply unspeakable…. My hands were shaking…not able to figure out what to do… my fingers automatically called the Dad’s no….I don’t know how many more nos. I will dial…I don know what I will do… What I know is only this… In the next few minutes, I am going to take one of the most difficult and important decisions of my life….

26th Dec 2009, 3.35 PM

Tring…Tring…Tring…Tring…It happens always…When the call is important…Wait is even longer… Hello…Finally, he picked… Can I talk to Mr. Kalpesh…Speaking…Hello sir, this is Amey here…Yes Amey…tell me… Sir…I thought for a while… I would not be able to join on 28th…I am sorry…Can you please give me some other joining dates… Umm…As I told you earlier Amey…I would not be able to give you any other joining date right now…But possibly…March 2010…No…Please don’t say that man…I thought…[By the way, this decision was taken after hundreds of calls at thousands of locations and millions of suggestions ]…[The problem was leaving my current job required a lot of procedures… and obviously those procedures stopped you from leaving so easily….U come today…Disappear tomorrow…not possible…]…Ok sir, than I will wait for your next call….Ok, bye Amey….Bye Sir…Thank you…He disconnects…I didn’t know what, why and how I spoke for the last 3-4 mins…I put my cell on the bed…Might be a bath would help… As always, ur phone will always ring at its loudest… when you are in the weirdest position…Smhow managed to pik it up…Hey Amey…Did u get ur joining???... No man…it just passed thru…I said… Stop jokin man…I am not joining man… WHAT??...yelled my Trainer-cum-friend… Manish…who trained me for the process… was shocked by my reply… But, Why??...They are asking to join on 28th and that too in Mumbai…I can’t do it…You know our procedures man… Don’t worry about that man…there are some procedures which exist…but are never told about… Come to office ASAP…I will explain it their itself… I disconnected… Got ready with the ‘Rajdhani-speed’…Where’s my ID card, man…Why do they give those IDs man…Can’t we work out without it…Ohhk…there it is…Finally…..I am on my way to office…3 hours before my shift….


26th Dec 2009, 5.12 PM

[After rethinking on my decision…and knowing about the procedures from Manish…I made a call to Dad, Dada, Friends and GFs ;-)] Tring…Tring…Tring…Tring…As I told you, the wait is longer…Hello…Sir, this is Amey here…Yes Amey…He seemed to be in I-am-not-angry mood…I wanted to ask you something…Go ahead please… Can I join on 28th…? Sometimes, the questions are so demanding…even the seconds (or rather fractions of seconds :-))…feel like centuries…But, you told me, that you can’t join… Yes sir…But now I have changed my decision… Can I join on 28th sir? ...Ok…But I hope you would not change ur decision again…No sir… this is Final… I want to Join…Ok, then…. I vil send u the joining mail…U’ll get all the details in it….Thank you very much sir… I can’t explain how I felt at that time…. You are Welcome… [“Joining Today is Joining……Who knows Joining Tomorrow might be No Joining…….” Manish said it right…Thanks Manish…]

27th Dec 2009, 11 AM

I called up HR ppl at my BPO office and explained my situation… I contacted my TL… But, as we know… Neither joining nor leaving any company is Easy… there were some expected… and some unexpected issues creeping in… I was told to go from one building to another… traversing the complete campus around 2-3 times… Had to get in touch with those guys whom I never saw… I was required to provide an explanation… for leaving… bcoz it’s a shame on their part… that ppl are leaving…or atleast they show it… HR told me, I need to talk to Center Head… I thought… I was not a great employee… that they are sending me to meet to the Center Head… It’s a normal procedure…said the HR… Oh.. That’s what I too thought…I said to her… She laughed… But, I need to concentrate on my relieving letter… Finally met the Big man… convinced him… HR said I need to wait… After waiting for around 3 hours… she came up with my relieving letter… I rushed for the Stretch Cab… which was about to leave in next 15 min... Gave a last look to my office… old office… to be precise… got into the cab… probably for the last time… Cabs normally start on-time…Waiting for the security to blow the Whistle……

27th Dec 2009, 7.23 PM

It’s only when you leave a particular place…u feel…how much u loved that place…Bangalore is a beautiful place… I will miss this Climate man…Mumbai is very humid… but Mumbai is Home…I am not afraid of my Home [Source: The Terminal ;-)]…It is only Varun who will disturb you in these moments… Amey…Amey…Where are you man…What happnd Varun….Why ru shouting??... Every flight to Mumbai is full…No seats man…Now, it was the time to come out of the soothing-climate-thoughts… What??... I yelled… I have told Chirag to enquire about any other ways you can go to Mumbai… Varun explained… Why don’t you consult your Dad? Ya.. That was a rilli gr8 idea… I called Dad... Dad explained that if I can board the train form Bangalore to Hyderabad…. This will probably leave at 9.30 PM… than I can catch a morning flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai… We targeted that train… As always, Chirag’s call was on waiting… Yes man…Did u come to know any other route… I explained Dad’s proposal to him… Yes there are some flights tomorrow morning from Hyderabad to Mumbai… I will book one of them and call you…Chaos was predominant………Varun was busy looking for someone who can arrange last minute reservations for me in the train…Chirag was busy looking for Flights…Mom and Dad were searching for any more routes… n Prannoy…my bro…was busy telling ppl that I am finally joining L&T Infotech….

27th Dec 2009, 9.31 PM

Anyone who is reading this piece with concentration can guess what happened…. Ya, you are write…I missed my train…Normally…Our Indian trains consider poor ppl like me… But some Drivers are rilli cruel…very cruel…Now…. I was standing with printed air ticket in my hand… flight leaves at 10 in the morning… and I am standing on Bangalore station without any clue to reach Hyderabad… Buses are those means of transport…which always comes to rescue for prompt ppl like us… But it seems, today they also deny me the “Right to Join”… My active friends… are busy searching for Buses when I spot a local truck about to leave…I went ahead and asked him… It felt as if God appeared in the form of the Truck-Wale-Bhaiyya…I boarded the truck and was guided towards the Driver’s bed with Royal reception… Struggling with the old, sad and obviously poisonous old Hindi songs initially, I adjusted to the surroundings soon… Now the Bhaiyya was playing the Hindi songs which I proposed… He might be thinking…I look well educated… My choice would be better… After some time, He got fed up and started playing Kannada songs… and I preferred to sleep…or rather try to sleep…

28th Dec 2009, 8.45 AM

“Every Journey has an End”… my father always says… this too… ended… much to my disgust… as my father scolded a lot for missing the train in the night… The other half of the Mission was still to be accomplished… I boarded a local taxi…He told me initially…It will take around one hour from here… I proposed 200 Rs. Extra… He touched the Hyderabad airport at 9.30 AM… 15 min for Rs. 200… a good deal… I thought… I went rushing into the airport… However…I can only make somewhat faster… due to the luggage I was carrying… I can’t miss this one… I asked one of the airport attendants to help… Checked in at the fastest speed… Made sure that pilot knows I didn’t board yet… as if I am any VVIP… Finally Boarded the plane… 9.59 AM…
28th Dec 2009, 12.30 PM
ABC Infotech welcomes you….read the Board outside the Reception… I asked for Kalpesh sir… I was given a visitor pass and I entered the ABC Infotech Campus… Right foot first… as our elders say… When I reached the Multi Purpose Hall… there were already some ppl sitting there… Amey… this side please…One person called me…My name is Kalpesh Mathur… How did u recognize me???...I asked, astonished… I was only expecting you after 12 today… Kalpesh sir replied…. I took a seat on one of the round tables… there was a tag with my name there… Amey Mahant-SET… After completing the joining formalities… Kalpesh sir handed me the Appointment Letter and the Temporary Id Card… I gave a first read…it was written there… ABC Infotech…in the next line… Amey Mahant… in the next line… Software Engineer Trainee…and in the last line…
Date of Joining: 28th Dec, 2010….

[PS: Special Thanks to Arun, for sharing his experiences and becoming the motivator for this long-awaited article.]

Writing an Article....

Hi Guys……..It seems to me that it has been a millennia since I wrote anything…..So thought of writing something……Now…..there was no topic….as always ….So thought of writing an article….on….”Writing an Article”;-)……Seems a lil different idea….I know……But with ppl standing on ur Head to catch up the Cyber Café seat….Sidd calling on ur phone…some unknown language songs playing @ ur back (maybe, Telegu)…..its difficult to dig in a Paul Krugman-topic:-)……..

Writing an Article….according to me is firstly need/req/hobby/compulsion for some ppl…….Bt for the ppl like us…..Who have many imp tasks already @ their disposal ;-)…….it is rilli hard to take time out for writing an article……. It has always been my reason…..and I believe sm of my frnds also…..We write for ourselves…..U knw…ther’s where the problem starts……Bcoz….after writing, we distribute it on the network to read;-)……For some ppl who don’t read….they are either dragged to reading……or have to face the uphill task of reading 2 at a time…….as the second articles gets released bfor they read…..

Writing an Article has been one of the favorite past times for many ppl…….If ur doin smthin n suddenly u feel tht urn t doin nethin imp….Write an article man……..Why to waste time……My frnds were always surprised for the amount of facts and figures I included in my articles… But I know very well……they were cursing internally for taking them thru piles of data….as if they don read newpapers……Its better to read Hindu, Frontline, Economic Times and Business World together…..rather than going thru this piece…… But as I said……..u need to complete 1 task @ hand before ur made responsible to complete the two…….of the same kind……..

Writing an Article is also the usage of our Freedom of Expression……. Right provided to us by Our Constitution……I am afraid……that….all of us… who use it in plenty in our blogs….Would be able to use it with our Wife?? ;-)…….Bcoz Women power naturally goes above any Right…….Nari Shakti….you see…..Its better to use this Right as much as possible before getting slaughtered (Married;-))…..who knows……Which Article is Our Last……Bcoz…..after that……We will not write anything…..Instead the Living Reponsibility (Wife) will write……I know What you Wrote Last Summer?? ……....

Writing an Article has also been a good source to vent out all of the frustration, anger and Killing Hatred in ur life…….bcoz Whatever u write…….Ppl will read that….between Mon to Fri………[obviously, if they have access to blogs (not like us )]…… its only bcoz…..all the most imp things are always done in the office ………

Writing an Article is also doing nothing…….but simply putting all tht comes to ur mind at one Go (you see, Mind is so powerful)…..and giving it the form of an article…… Sometimes there are no issues…….no bomb blasts……no Political problems…….no recessions…….no World crises….no stories….and obviously……No Need…….But You simply wanna stay in Touch with your friends and ur Pen…….Hi Guys!!!!!!!