Interview of a Frustrated Indian - part 1

26 nov 11 witnessed the 3 rd anniv of mumbai attacks. I posted a FB status of my frustration about the injustice meted out to the victims and their family members, etc... I thought, who's listening to me? There is so much frustration about many things around me and so I thought of an imaginary interview wherein a reporter interviews a frustrated indian... so, here it goes..



Reporter: Good evening. So, how are you?
Frustrated Indian: Ok. Nothing great about what is going in life or the world around me.

Reporter: Why would you say so?
Frustrated Indian: The other day I had been to Marine Drive in Mumbai and I just kept thinking the lives of the people who died or got injured in the 26/11 attacks. Can you even imagine how shocking it can be to be shot at while you are having a lavish lunch at the Taj or the Oberoi or how startling it is to be waiting for a train at CST station and being shot at even when there is not an iota of your fault? Some guy makes up his mind to kill tens or hundreds of people, shoots at people indiscriminately and doesn't have a fucking remorse for what he did was wrong! Leave the remorse part aside, I wonder why is he even alive! Since last 3 years he has been fed fucking biryani and been given extra protection! Why dammit why? It's not as if he has given us vital data to trace it back to the nation that we know is responsible. He simply keeps on changing his statements! Do you even know how painful it is to lose someone in such an attack!...


Reporter: You lost someone in such attacks?
Frustrated Indian: Not yet, but that day is not far when I might lose someone dear because of the apathy of the system. I and my friends travel in Mumbai locals. There is no guarantee that I or my friends will reach home; let alone reach home one-piece!...evry weekend when I meet my school friends at our regular meeting point, I heave a sigh of relief that we passed one more week not becoming a victim of any attack or unfortunate incident.


Reporter: But, why are you worrying about such IF incidents.
Frustrated Indian: Because every incident is an IF incident, until it happens. And when it happens, it doesn't discriminate on the basis of your religion, caste, money, etc.


Reporter : don't u think you are being too pessimistic?
Frustrated Indian: No. I am being a realistic. It's quite possible that some terrorist has entered the premises of this building where you are interviweing me. We are just chatting and suddenly a bomb might blow and end this interview right away. Do you think that the people who died in the recent Zaveri bazaar blasts had any idea that they would get killed while enjoying an omlette or a tea at a roadside stall!!!


Reporter: so what do u thnk is the solution ?
Frustrated Indian: First of all, torture kasab to the most extreme and make an example out him. Cut him into pieces and throw those pieces in a gutter. Do this on live television. Let any prospective terrorist See what he will have to face if he plans to hurt any indian. Do you think any bloody kasab can enter israel and attempt such an attack? If god gives me a chance to be reborn, I would like be born as an Israeli. At least I would know that my country will not tolerate any attack on my brethren! Seriously, Israeli military ghar pe jaake marenge saale terrorists ko! I so much wish we had that attitude in india. Bahut hua gandhigiri. Please. Its only when a family member of a person at a high level gets killed in such attack, will some action be taken. Just as an extreme example- if rahul gandhi would have been killed in 26/11, do you think the course of action against terrorism would have been the same? NO. We indians don't mind as long problems don't happen to us or our dear ones.

Secondly, increase the surveillance in every nook and corner in the city, suburbs. Have 24 hr cameras that will capture any untoward incidents; be it terrorist attacks, rapes, molestations, robbery,etc. For every such incidents there will be proof. Half of the times action cannot be taken because we are not able to explain the police about what,how,when the incident happened.

Thirdly, make the punishments for breaking any law extreme. In this country no one is afraid of law! We cross red lights at signal saying "pandu pakdega to de dunga rs.500. Kya karega wo aur". Are b€¥¤¥¥£d, make it an unbailable offense and see if us offender ki himmat hoti hai signal todneki". Or other example is of rapes or molestations. Bloody fuck why can't you give death penalties ?? How is a life time punishment going to compensate for that girl's dignity and her faith in any male around ? The worst example I can think of is of that nurse Aruna. Her molestor is free from jail. But Aruna is still in a bad state. Uski life to waste ho gayi naa?????

I think we better end the interview here only. I am not in a right state to think objectively. I am laden with emotions right now.


Reporter: any last words for readers?
Frustrated Indian: No. I don't have any explicit message for my brethren. This whole discussion should be enough the fire in them and do something for this country. Thank you for letting out my frustrations. Bye.

My 2nd book - LOSER!!!

Dear all,


My 2nd book - "Life Of a Software EngineeR" is going to be released in Jan 2012...!!! :)...


*About the book*: This book depicts the software world in a funny, sarcastic and witty way which will surely project the apparently real picture of the software world without actually hurting anyone's feelings. And there are N number of tips on how to fool your bosses, what to do in meetings and presentations, how to garner good ratings in appraisals, what to say and not to say on the last day of job, myths and truths of the software world, difference between an Onsite guy and an Offshore guy, etc.! This book is going to be like the Murphy's law for the IT world... :-)


*About the Publisher*: The book is going to be published by FingerPrint Press - an imprint of Prakash books, Delhi... They have been in the market since last 50 years and so have a very  good reach in the market.


*Website*: www.aboutloser.com


*Facebook page*: http://www.facebook.com/ABOUTLOSER


I would request you to go to and follow the above mentioned website and FB page!!!

thanks,

Dipen

First anniversary of my book “In Their Shoes…”

Dear all,

It gives me immense pleasure to say that my first book “In Their Shoes…” has completed one year in the bookdom! The last one year has made me feel many emotions such as anger and frustration, pride, happiness, sadness,etc. and I have learnt a lot in life. This blog is to share those thoughts. A business analyst that I am, I would like to categorise my thoughts as per the emotions….

Pride: Till date since 11^th april 2010, not even a single day has passed when I haven’t felt that I have done something in life that I would never have thought as a child. It gives me immense sense of pride when I say “yes, I am an author”. Please don’t misconstrue my statement as arrogance. I can’t tell you how proud I feel of myself when I imagine what pride would have gleamed on my dad’s face, were he alive! Today is one more day when I miss my dad because if he were alive he would have told all his friends and colleagues “did you read “In Their Shoes..” or not?... arey, go read it…my son has written it…”

Happiness: Happiness is related to pride and so the above sentences are also applicable to this point. A year or 2 back, I would have never thought that I would ever receive a letter from the governor of Maharashtra stating that he liked my book. Getting testimonials from Mickey Mehta (the fitness guru), CEO of Naukri.com, Dainik jagran, Navbharat times, Loksatta, Maharashtra Times, Amar Ujuala, Afternoon Despatch and Courier, etc. would be something that I would have never thought of! But, it was the Shoes that made it possible for me. Needless to say, that happiness that I feel everyday is because of Shoes!!!..

Anger and frustration: Promoting a book is as tough as promoting a film! It doesn’t matter how well you write unless you let the readers know that “boss, this is a good book. Read it!” Getting testimonials from the biggies was a very difficult task! I must have called the governor’s office some 30-40 times before I got that letter of appreciation. Sending my book to the top most newspapers was also very difficult. Its so damn difficult to reach the right person! I had tried to get a testimonial from one very famous politician from Mumbai. I must have called atleast and literally 25-30 times to his office! To no avail! Everytime I used to call his office, his assistant’s assistant used to say “call at 1.00…call after 4.00…call after 9.00…” I was so damn frustrated that I gave up! I said to myself that my book would be good even without his testimonial!...

All in all, last one year has taught me many things! I just hope that with the new publisher, I will see the kind of success that I feel my book deserve! Keeping fingers crossed!

Jan Gan Man Adhinanayak Jay hai….

 

This blog has been written to propagate a fantastic video made on The National Anthem of our country. It is the best video ever based on our anthem. It’s made by Mudra Communication. The theme of this video is that there is no language of patriotism. There were tears in my eyes when I watched this video. I must have watched it at least 20-30 times since yesterday. It has been beautifully shot and wonderfully executed. If you are a true Indian, then please do watch this video. In fact I strongly believe that this is the anthem that should be played in movie theaters.

 

Corruption…God save India!

God save this country, because none of the departments in this country seems to be free of corruption. IAS, IPS, IRS, politicians, government officers, everyone!!!!!!!!! I mean, what the fuck is going on? I sincerely feel that corruption has become so rampant and integral part of our lives that it’s almost impossible to root out corruption.

I feel that corruption exists because of our impatience. It starts at a very basic level. Suppose if a normal process takes 5 days to happen, we are so impatient that we want it to happen in 3 days. We are ready to pay (read bribe) extra rs.500 so that we don’t have to wait. Out of that Rs.500, Rs.200 goes to the top-most officer, Rs.100 to the one beneath him and so and so forth. You keep bribing Rs. 500 for a few years and then one fine day you are told “saab, mehengai badh gayi hai… petrol, kaandaa,etc ka rate double ho gaya hai..…abhi Rs.1000 lagenge.” You twitch your face and ponder for a few moments. You take out rs.1000 and then your work is done. The greed for money has now increased and now that corrupt officer knows that for that particular work, one is ready to pay rs.1000. So, subsequent ordinary people are asked to bribe Rs. 1000 for the same work that could have been done for rs.500! With time, that bribe keeps increasing and one fine day you realize that you are the one who spoiled the “kids”! But unfortunately there is no returning back to getting your work done for less than Rs.500. The point is that it is we – the ones who want to break the line – who are the reason for corruption. The one who is giving a bribe is more committing a bigger crime than the one who is taking the bribe. A few steps that might reduce corruption:

1) Plan your things properly: It is we who should be more organized so that we don’t have to be in a hurry to get our work done in less than the expected time. Let’s suppose you a kid aged 17 years and 11 months and you are a Car or bike freak. You know that you are going to get a driver’s license in a month’s time. Then for god sakes, start your driving license process a month prior to getting 18 and not JUST a week ago by paying extra (read bribe). Plan your things properly.

2) Don’t jump the queue: everyone who comes to a government office to get work done has the same amount of haste as you do. His work is as important to him as it is to you.

3) Value your money: As I have said earlier too, corruption starts at a very basic level and with a a very small amount. There are tens of departments that you will need to go to to have your work done. Even if you pay at least Rs.200 at every department, then you can safely assume that annually you would be shelling out Rs. 5000 in total. (of course, this is just an approximate). I am sure that you can think of better ways to spend that Rs. 5000.

4) Think about others too:  People who take bribes don’t have hearts. They don’t differentiate much between rich and poor. For example, if you want a telephone connection, chances are high that you won’t be spared because you are not rich. If some rich person has set a standard of bribing Rs.1000 for a connection in 10 days, be sure that you too would be expected to shell out the same amount. So, it’s all about the highest value set by someone for an illegal work to be done! Think about others too!

Needless to say, all above tips are applicable to me too!… Readers, do come up with simple and practical tips…

15 hours at Infosys Pune!

Just to give you a background of why I am talking about infosys pune – In the last month at Mphasis, I had 2 offers in hand – one from Infosys Pune and other from Citiustech Mumbai. Needless to say, the brand name of Infosys lured me to leave aside the more lucrative (in terms of salary in hand) at Citiustech. I had heard a lot about Infosys , the facilities, the swimming pool, badminton, TT, tennis,etc. at Infosys. So, I denied the  offer from Citiustech and went to Pune. I had to join Infosys on 13 december morning 9.00. So, I packed my bags and reached the Infy guest house on 12th december evening 5.30. Just as i reached Infy Pune’s guest house, i started feeling that i did something wrong. I had left my mom alone at home and would have to meet her only at weekends if i chose to stay at infy (the option of taking mom to pune wasn’t as feasible as it seems). Also, i missed Mumbai! kitna bhi traffic, pollution ,etc. ho, mumbai is mumbai! So, i called up the HR of Citiustech and informed her that i would join Citiustech from 15th dec and told the HR of infosys that i wouldnt join Infy the next day!…

The point of writing all this is that there is nothing wrong in changing your decision. I know that many would have thought ki “kya pagal hai ye, decision leneko hi nahi hua”. But, trust me, after this incidence, i dont feel even a bit of hesitance in saying that i did nothing wrong in changing my decision to come back to mumbai. Ultimately, what is important is that you should be happy with your decision. The outcome of a decision has to make you happy. There is no point in being the “one-decision-final-decision” kind of a person. The society looks down upon those who dont stick to their decisions. Circumstances change in no time and the decision that you had taken a day ago can go ‘wrong’. Don’t be shy from changing your decision. This applies to almost everything in life… be it marraige, job, etc. Now that i have taken the example of marriage -  the normal indian tradition is 1) meeting of parents 2) meeting of the boy and girl 3) engagement within no time and 4) marriage… Its very difficult to know a person in the time frame that a couple is allowed before engagement. So, even if either of the couple is hesitant to go ahead with the relationship, due to the societal norms they have to keep their decision intact. They then commit to get married and finally a day comes when the elastic of endurance snaps! and then you realise that you took ‘some’ wrong decision in life. but its too late then! The point here is that if you foresee a problem, then don’t think about what the world says, just go ahead and change your decision. I know that there would be millions who would say “aise to fir kabhi shaadi hi nahi hogi”. But, i feel that living  a life in a bad relationship is far worse than living it alone! Being a Sharhrukh khan fan, i am reminded of his words from the movie “kuch kuch hota hai” - “hum jeete hai ek baar..hum marte bhi hai ek baar… aur shaadi bhi ek hi baar karte hai…”. Atleast i am this kind of a person and that is why i say that if you feel you are stuck with the wrong person, then change the decision of spending your life with that person… you are not OBLIGATED to the society in any damn way! Make a decision that makes you happy!…