A HERO WE DID NOT DESERVE

I was casually skimming through the newspaper today morning, when I came across an opinion piece. It was a eulogy dedicated to Satyendra Dubey, a project director of the NHAI who was murdered this day ten years ago, for trying to put an end to the corruption that was going on in the shadow of the GQ project. I had no idea who this guy was. Not surprising, as I had never followed the news very keenly until recent times. Even so, I was mildly aware of the day to day happenings, but this name didn't even ring a bell. I was not even remotely aware of the existence of a Satyendra Dubey. A little digging led me to this Satyendra Dubey's Story.

It felt so strange to read something that happened such a long time ago. As I read I felt a strange mix of emotions. I knew how this story was going to end. 

At first I felt angry at him for being so careless with his life. I wished I could go back and reason with him –convince him that it wasn't worth it -that we were beyond saving.I wish I could tell him that his death would change nothing.

I felt sorry for the parents who had to lose their son to an unjust, cruel world, just because he refused to turn his back on his rigid moral values. Their loss was real and no amount of ‘justice’ can fill the void that was left in their lives.Nothing make the sorrow easier.

I felt guilty to realize how incredibly short term our memories are. In the days immediately following such an incident we would raise a hue and cry, have shouting contests on TV ,even marches and protests –but this passes and this becomes another fleeting moment in time- a moment quickly wiped away from memory-and nobody remembers Satyendra Dubey anymore.

I want to leave this here. This is a beautiful, beautiful piece that came in the Indian Express a few days after Satyendra Dubey’s untimely demise. Unfortunately I was able to read this only today. http://www.indianexpress.com/storyOld.php?storyId=36601

This is dedicated to all the martyrs.Here's to all the Satyendra Dubeys, the Shanmughan Manjunaths, the Narendra Kumars. A salute to all the unsung heroes of India!!

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK!!

I work in a typical IT company in Trivandrum. Agreed, my job is not the best, but at the same time it isn't the worst, either. While it does not offer much in terms of creative satisfaction, it sure beats the hell out of unemployment. The pay isn't too shabby - neither too much nor too little- but just enough to make you complain for a few minutes, every time it gets credited.

What I do, doesn't require too much intellectual application but it is exciting nonetheless. It’s all about clicking a few buttons, tapping a few keys and noting down observations in a spread sheet. But trust me it is not as easy as it sounds. From time to time they threaten to replace us with a group of well-trained monkeys but I don’t expect to see that any time soon.

Now, most of our clients are from a different part of the world, so you have re-arranged your life according to their time zone. A little bit of an inconvenience in the beginning, but you get used to it quickly. What we do is, we work from 9 in the morning to 7 in the evening. And then we sit around till its morning in America or UAE. Once our clients wake up, have their breakfast and pack their kids off to school, they come online and we get right down to business. Once we have given them all the updates, they propose a whole list of changes .We listen to their ludicrous requests all night. Some of the requests are genuinely funny and there are few things in this world that can put a smile on your face at 2 am in the morning.

I have to admit, the jet lag that follows the late night client-calls, takes some getting used to, but the whole experience is very character building. The company really encourages us to reach out to the customers. They feel that this will help to reinforce the foundations upon which our business is built. Matt and Tammy are practically family now. We refer to each other by first name .I know where they live. I know where they buy groceries. Their kids even call me uncle. For all you know we could be living in the same apartment.

Some people find the this environment little overpowering at first but the charm  of making software for rich Americans is very hard to resist and eventually they all succumb to it. Time really flies when you are having fun and sometimes days go by without you noticing. In fact work is so exciting we don’t leave until we get kicked out by security. There is this one guy who actually divorced his wife and gave his kids up for adoption, so that he could spend all his time at the office.

Our CEO is a solemn little man who,  I’m pretty sure is something of a celebrity in the US. He looks like a gentleman,  always dressed in a blazer- even when he is at the beach. Maybe, it is something important people do. Anyway,he always tells us how much the clients appreciate our grunt work and how important we are to the company and this drives us to work even harder.

Our contribution to the American healthcare industry is by no means small. I think of all the lives we have touched through our work, and I get goosebumps. My chest puffs a little and my face swells with pride.I feel like I'm doing my bit to save humanity and that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.Here lies my true calling and I think I'm going to do this till the day I die.:) .....