Oh Software Engineer, are you dissatisifed with your job?

The count of SEs getting frustrated with their jobs has been increasing considerably. I was one of those victims (not now). But I can see many s/w junkies who still carry the same feeling – even some of the blogs reflect the same.Someone feels that he should have become a great chef, but he was wasting his time here.Someone wants to go in a time machine to change the things.Someone wants to go to hills.What else?But why is this high rate of job dissatisfaction?

What are the possible reasons –

• Staying 100s and 1000s of miles away from family and friends (We build relationships with roomies and colleagues – but many of them can’t match up with school/college buddies and cousins).

• Working late nights (Midnight on average and 1-4AM occasionally)• Unconventional deadlines and work pressure.
• Need to work with people from different cultures and having different behavior, attitude and habits (Resulting in conflicts and misunderstandings).
• No physical activity.
• Being on bench or not doing any productive work (These people believe they have skills which are being under- /never utilized).
• No time for other special skills they possess (Someone likes cooking, someone likes writing poems and stories).

So, what do these people do, in general –
1. Crib, crib and crib – No result.
2. Then, some of them take the courage and determination to get out of the world – People stamp him a rebel.
3. Some try to take it for granted – They can never reach their goals and they can never enjoy what they do
4. Some try to seek solace in other alternatives – Blogging, photography, gossiping, chatting with friends (most of the times, these friends are their training batchmates with whom they spent their first 2 or 3 months of professional lives).

What did I do –
1. Cribbed for almost 1 year. I was ready to continue, but my friends were not ready to take any more.
2. Tried to impose a change by doing non-cooperation, revolutions, what else. I was calmed, promised many things, I went for the bait and the rest didn’t make any story.
3. Tried to take it for granted and live like hundreds of others – I have a 8-6 job, some thousands get credited into my account on every month, go and enjoy TV at room, weekend multiplex movies, occasional home trips, regular mobile and online chats. But I was not able to cope with this life for more than a month.
4. Then I started blogging – used it to the max extent to crib, vent my frustration, overcome my boredom and what else.But this had not taken me anywhere.

I realized that the problem was not with my work life, but with my attitude.

I changed my perspective of SE job.
1. Whenever I felt, I was slogging here on Friday night at 8PM, when there was a cricket match going on live which I was missing badly –
a. There were 3 kids cleaning the tables in the roadside hotel where I would get my dinner pack hurriedly at 10PM in the night to catch up the second innings.
b. There were these bus drivers who drove the whole night – almost 365 days a year – even on Dec 31st and the day before festivals – while I was hurrying to my native/place like Goa to enjoy the vacation and occasion.

2. Whenever I felt, I am not paid as much as I deserve – It took my father 30 years of banking life to get to a salary of 20K per month – which I reached in 1 year.

3. Whenever I felt, there was not satisfaction in my job and my skills were not or under utilized – I remember hundreds of Ranji cricketers who deserve a place in the national team, but were denied because of politics and biased selections.

Message in a Bottle!

This blog is not related to Alcoholism. This is related to Commodification of Water (About bottled water)

I have been thinking to write a blog on this topic, but found an article with above title in Saturday, March 24, 2007, THE HINDU, MetroPlus.

Some worth reading excerpts from this article:

• It is not about bottled water, it is about a mindset in people that you can actually buy water. There used to be a time wehen we used to fill water in bottles or cans while traveling on trains. Railway stations used to have water-refilling points. But today, you pick up a bottle and keep going.

• The biggest selling point of bottled water is claimed to be its purity, but the expose by the CSE put paid to that – “ A fear was put into people that water from the tap is unfit for consumption, but that again is for people who have taps.”

• The day might not be far when with your food bill at a restaurant you would get a bill for water (Most of us already do – preferring packaged/bottled water).

• Some Mr. Rozario points to a tradition in the country that person on his deathbed gets a last glass of water. He warns that in the future it might be necessary to keep Rs. 5 in the pocket ot pay for it.

• Bottled water is not extracted from somewhere. Local needs are being sacrificed by the extraction. Communities’ supplies are being affected.

• The new fad in bottled water is the variety, which is said to be oxygenated. The water is supposed to be “supercharged” with oxygen. It is claimed to have its won health benefits. Health professionals when contacted said it was a “myth in the lines of using iodized salt”.

You know, I think, I mean!

I think you know what I am going to tell. I mean, what I write here, you know, you already know it.

You know most of us has this habit of using one or more words/phrases repetitively, I mean sometimes frustrating the audience.

When I heard these kind of repetitive words, you know, from the people around, I thought these people are naive in their communication, I mean.
But you know, when I have started observing some good orators' and great leaders' speeches and interviews, as such, I am disappointed to find these words, you know:-( The list includes a CEO of an Indian software MNC, Chidambara, Rahul Dravid and ...

You should have understood by now, what I want to convey!

Some common words/phrases people (esp. statesman and managers) use frequently, almost in every sentence :
You know
I mean
I think
Aaaahhh
Ok?
As such
So

I sympathise with the poor souls listening to these kinds of great communicators.