Friday, May 28, 2010

Those days and those nights

I am happy that my last post evoked mixed response (and some emotions) from either side of the roles in which my friends work in their respective jobs today. I was also reminiscing my initial days in the industry, the associated struggle and slogging overtime. Oh! how very 'a dedicated resource' I used to be.

I also remember this ghazal by JS and CS. I used to hum this ghazal during my walk from Janpath to South Avennue, 11'o clock at night, to catch Bus Nos, 620, 604 or 680 to Moti Bagh or Sect-8 R K Puram. That ticket cost me Rs. 2/= instead of Rs. 5/= if I took the bus from Janpath!




Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Superman of a software project

This post is dedicated to the supposed "Superman" of a software project. In any software project, you will find one or two blokes who have this habit of taking on the responsibility of the entire project on their heads, even when there is no need for such drastic actions.

Over the years I have analysed some traits of these "Supermen":

1. The basic habit of "I'll do all" comes from the fact that they wish to become the "hero" of the project.

2. In their hearts they are so insecure about their position in the project/organisation, that they start to involve themselves in all unnecessary tasks, be it trivial or complex.

3. These guys are naturally poor at time management. You will find them slogging till late hours just to prove to management that they are the most "hard working" blokes around. (And also "secure" their insecurity mentioned in point no. 2 above).

4. Naturally, their output in terms of quality is pathetic, since only a "real Superman" can work 10-11 hours a day and produce a decent quality.

5. At the end of the year (more precisely after the appraisal cycle), they will always complain to the management that they were not rated appropriately.

Well I understood long ago, that in this trade, you need to work smart and not slog. And also the fact that pick up only that much work that is possible for one to do within a decent time with a decent quality in it.

God bless the "Supermen"!!!!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Panchatantra - Doordarshan

Felt so nostalgic today, after listening to the title track of Panchatantra. This serial used to be aired on Doordarshan when I used to be a kid.

Those were the initial days, and this title song struck me even then. Though I could not recall the entire track I distinctively remembered the "Ye pachatantra hai..." and the "kudrat ke jaadu hai isme". Jagjit's unique style of rendering caught me quite young, though the actual "bug" bit me during my typhoid recovery days listening to one of his most masterly works, "Sajda".

Here's the lyrics of the track in Devanagari:

यह पंचतंत्र है (२)
जीवन कि हर उलझन को सुलझाए,
बंजर धरती तोड़ के ज्ञान उगाए।
यह पंचतंत्र है ()

कुदरत के जादू हैं इसमें,
धरती कि खुशबू है इसमें, -- (२)
यह भटके रही को राह पे लाए,
यह पंचतंत्र है (३)

तुम आओ तो सही...

This blog of mine, would be saying to me the same thing... एक वादा करो अब हमसे ना बिछड़ोगे कभी, नाज़ हम सारे उठा लेंगे, तुम आओ तो सही। An...