Dew

For those of who you have known my posts, you would have noticed that I keep posting interviews with some people on and off. It just happens in my mind and the next thing I type off questions or if they are reachable, I walk over to talk to them. Today, when a friend of mine in office finished seven years, I asked if he can give me some answers to some really easy questions which can help the juniors get to where he is : Seven successful years of exemplary service with an organization. Here are my questions and his answers: Recall something from your first working day in this company other than the regular new induction formalities: From my 1st day here, as I got a tour of the building, I was excited to see how there was no hierarchy and even the founders had the same cubicle as mine. Say one of two traits of yourself that you think brought you where you are: From my initial work days, I remember how I was awed by people around me. It looked like I need to chall

There is a neat little school by the river; Where the palm trees keep swaying in summer; Where birds keep chirping the whole live long day.... That's how our School Song began. We used to sing this song every Monday morning. I wanted to meet some of my school teachers yesterday. Set out to the school that has contributed significantly to my overall development. There was a familiar wave of excitement that I have felt the last time I stepped inside the portals of the school. I felt at least ten years younger... Note the at least!!!! :) I don't know if a land surveyor or a supervisor would have looked around the place with such an interest... My eyes automatically scanned the school ground from one corner to another. My school has three grounds and while I was in school, it seemed very long stretch to cover and we used to feel very lazy to walk the entire stretch to attend classes. Yesterday, I had to roam the entire school stretch at least three times and I never felt the stretc

I was talking about Project Management to a senior friend of mine....He told me about the most striking analogy from a lecture that he once attended on Project Management. The lecture goes to say that the best example of Project Management is the Indian Wedding Muhurath . [ pronounced as 'Mo' as in 'Move'[Mu] , 'Who' as in 'Whose'[ Hu ] ' , 'Ru' as in 'Rumble'[Ra] , ' th ' as in 'thrive'[ th ]. I am sure you can 'google' the word, but to put it in simple words: Muhurath is the chosen moment when the bride and the groom get married. Different customs are followed to mark this celestial moment of matrimony. In traditional weddings, a number of elaborate rituals precede and succeed the ' Muhurath '. The bride's parents and the groom's parents agree to get the wedding done on a specific date and time. For the guy and the girl, this event means 'Engagement' where they get formally engaged to

The crux came the last: Do you have a perfect balance between work and home? In a perfect balance, your work does not disturb your home life and your home does not come in between your work life. Do you think his possible? Rajini says: It is not possible as most of the waking hours is spent in the office and definitely some of the thoughts are carried back home whether or not he wants it. But the best part is he makes it a point not to vent out at home, so it does not really disturb the tranquil in his home. I hoped that there was a friend he confided in. Everyone needs a vent out. Madhav says: Experience reminds that it has to be possible. Except when the situation is very bad.... He realizes that there is no point in carrying work tension home and home tension to work. He shares concerns and opinions with his folks at home and that seems to relieve him of his constant tension, but the temper related to office tension is always under control at home. He agrees that the phone calls and

Friends.... Everyone has a friend. Proverb says 'Every enemy has a friend'. What do these people feel about their friends.? Madhav has a lot of good friends at work. Considering that he spends most of his time at work, he is happy about the friends circle he has. He says he will miss them for sure, if he steps out of the company some day. Rajini says he had a very good circle of friends back in college. Ofcourse, his work place has earned him a good set of friends too. With less time to have fun and confide, he seems to miss them often these days. Over the years, he has lost touch with most of them. He plans to take steps to renew the friendship and get in touch with his circle of friends. He has signed up on Orkut.com, the latest friendzone. Your Goals : It was a little difficult for me to take it when Rajini said that he did not have any major goal. Now this is one answer, I cannot take from any youngster. Everyone has a goal, mostly hidden. Till it happens it stays as a drea

Patience: I have always admired Rajini's patience. It is said that programmers require patience. I asked if these Gurus also thought so. Rajini says that he tends to get angry and Madhav knows better.There have been times when anger has got the better of him, but since his principle of commitment comes in between often, he appears to be patient enough to handle it. Madhav says that every walk of life actually requires a certain amount of patience. At work, this is not a major requirement when things are organized. You may not have to get hyper about anything at all if work is process-oriented and if you have certain level of sincerity at work. He admits that there are times when things do not work out ( as it is in most situations, if Murphy's law chooses to trigger off ) and patience becomes a mandate. To Madhav, the problems with the parking facility and lift breakdowns and other such out-of-context problems cause as much, if not more tension, than the mails, calls, issues, m

The conversation was proceeding very cool. I had this clock ticking inside my head saying:"Deeps, you are taking a little too much of their time". Still, I just went on, after confirming if the Gurus were having something to attend to immediately. I am sure they would have had something to take care of immediately, but then the conversation went on . When asked about the time each of them spent for themselves each day, Madhav said "about three hours roughly". He was surprised when I said I had about an hour and a half only for myself, considering I was less busy than he was. Rajini said, he did not have much time for himself. He had about 10 minutes all by and for himself. He says he would improve on that when Madhav explained : It is important to take time for yourself, to do what you want to , the way you want to do it. Basically 'Live for yourself atleast once in a while' would be the principle for a healthy, happy life. Madhav spends time for himself alm

After the question on tagline, the conversation picked up quickly. I relied on my mental tape to record the conversation. I have stored the essence of the conversation and am trying to put forth what I heard as accurate as my tape has recorded. Since I am not sure of exactly recalling the entire 'One hour and twenty five minute conversation' word-to-word, I would prefer to write this post more in the prose form than an actual interview. I don't want to misquote. :) Over to the interview... Opinion on Failure: The question was pretty abstract to both of them. I reframed: If some one does not perform in the team, what will be your move? Madhav and Rajini share the same opinion on this: They talk to the team member first, find out the problem which stops him from doing the best, give suggestions to the team member, and ensure he is comfortable working on what he is assigned. If the team member still does not perform,he is given a chance to exhibit his skills in any other strea

The day seemed hectic at Madhav's paradise.Well, there was nothing unusual about it. With Rajini and Madhav frantically working on their computers, I almost decided that the interview I was hoping to have with them that day, was not happening. I did not even want to ask them. The least I could do for them was to just keep quiet which is very rare... If you know me , you would admit that. Well, my favorite and tested saying: 'Expect the Unexpected' proved true, for the umpteenth time, when Madhav actually asked me if I remember about the interview appointment that evening. Thrilled beyond limits, I readily re-slated schedules at my end and geared up for the interview. I had prepared the questions about a few months back with Rajini in mind, but then, thought it is okay to have answers heard out from both Madhav and Rajini on the same set of questions. There were just a few questions, as I had always seen them with their 'Busy' tag on their forehead. I firmly believe

All firsts have an importance. In those lines, this is my first interview for the book i dream of writing someday.......... I typed out around 35 questions and took it to this Miss.Busy friend of mine who had given me an appointment to talk to her on Work Place or Paradise. Now, for those of you who wonder why should i take appointments, u forget that i am starting out as a writer and would need people's attention completely when they talk to me. I dont want to land up at their desks at the wrong time. I better start out professionally where you talk for the appointed number of minutes to the appointed person at the appointed time. Lot of people think that i am being formal though. The questions are on the lines of work life and personal life of a person. She is a sincere, dutiful, responsible programmer of a team which is forever motivated by 'Work is Worship' proverb. A good morning wish cheers her up. She takes her mistakes seriously, is not a perfectionist,and has a mi