Software Woes

Recently read an article about the increasing trend of suicides and divorces in our Garden City, Bangalore.
The report mentions that of the 2,000 suicide cases reported in the city last year, 70 percent were by software professionals and call centre employees. And all of them were below 35 years of age. The counsellor who created the report says that "The unprecedented levels of opportunity and money have resulted in neglecting the importance of personal life,".

It also goes on to say that if the code-writers were not committing suicides, they were busy going through divorce proceedings. Sample this: In a single unit of 100 employees,nine divorce cases were filed over the last three months.

The councellor says that this trend is going to increase by 20% in the next future. And adds "Stress among the software professionals and its impact on their health and quality of life are a source of significant concern and need to be continually reviewed and addressed by all concerned".

Why do you think this is happenning ? Is it something that a software person should live with, because he is earning more, and leading a fast paced life ? Is it either you earn more and go through all these psychological trauma or live a docile life ?

Finally the counsellor says "Bangalore is a city where the speed of change is most rapid and the time has come to address these issues that are affecting individuals, families and communities of the city,". I think its upto the individual, he needs to find a way to bring balance in his life. For those things that are out of his/her control, he/she should seek help from his friends and family, which are in abundance in this part of the world.

Sev, Sev and more Sev

Be it Poha, Upma, Salads etc etc, Sev is used everywhere in Pune's eateries as a garnishing agent. Just like "Mr. Gus Portokalos" in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", who uses cleaning liquid for cleansing all sorts of stuff, Pune chefs use Sev in their food items. This phenomenon is not just restricted to Pune cooks, Kala Namak is one ingredient that the Northie cooks use quite liberally. Also aalu is another ingredient used during the making of any kind of sabzi, infact its very rare to see a unique sabzi. It has to be Aalu-Mattar, Aalu-Gobi, Aalu-paalak, etc etc. Enough of me cribbing about West and North Indian foods, there used to be a time when i would give a mouthful to my Mom, if she didnt use coconut shreds as a garnisher.

Truth

Recently spotted this caption on a women's T-Shirt "Women like Chocolate, Coffee and Men to be Rich !"

Question ?

Have you ever wondered why mostly foreigners are regularly feautured in Indian Ads/Indian websites ? If you go to a mall you will see mostly foreign models advertising the various products. And also if you visit any website of an Indian Company you will see a team of foreigners discussing about something. Won't it make more sense for an Indian customer to identify the product with Indian models in it ? Or is it the web designers don't get enough pictures of an Indian team ?

Wings of Fire

Finished reading this book by our President. Was quite taken by this particular para, what he says is so true to the Indian Psyche :-

"It has been my observation that most Indians suffer unnecessary misery all their lives because they do not know how to manage their emotions. They are paralysed by some sort of psychological inertia. Phrases like 'the next best alternative', 'the only feasible option or solution', and 'till things take a turn for the better' are commonplace in our business conversations. Why not write about the deep-rooted character traits which manifest themselves in such widespread, self-defeatist thought patterns and negative behaviour? "

He goes on to say "Let the latent fire in the heart of every Indian acquire wings, and the glory of this great country light up the sky".

Well, what are we waiting for ?

Conspiracies

Cricket Conspiracy

Did Australia reserve their best to the last - in order to attract the crowds - knowing fully well that one-sided games wont attract any crowds ?

Nuclear Conspiracy

Didnt Bush and Mush not know about the exploits of the great Khan, earlier enough? Why accouncing it now?

Osama Conspiracy

Is Bush going to let the world know that he has captured Osama, as his ratings are going down ?

More to come.

Technology going too far ?

An interesting article in cnn. I dont know how to comment on this - is it funny or ridiculous ? How far is technology getting into human lives ? Interesting points about some of the typical stuff that a technology person faces in his/her day to day lives :-

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail your mate who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends is that they do not have e-mail addresses

6. When you go home after a long day at work you still answer the phone in a business manner.

7. When you make phone calls from home, you accidentally dial "0" or "9" to get an outside line.

8. You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.

10. You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o'clock news.

11. Your boss doesn't ! have the ability to do your job.

12. Contractors out number permanent staff and are more likely to get long-service awards.

AND THE REAL CLINCHERS ARE .

13. You read this entire list, and kept nodding and smiling.

14. As you read this list, you think about forwarding it to your "friends".

15. You got this email from a friend that never talks to you anymore, except to send you jokes from the net.

16. You are too busy to notice there was no No. 9

17. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a No.9

18. AND NOW U R LAUGHING ON YOUR STUPIDNESS. ;-)

My Top 10 Chic Films

Ok here it goes, my favorite chic flicks, not in the order though.

1. Pretty Women
2. Addicted to Love
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. Sleepless in Seatle
5. Notting Hill
6. You got mail
7. What women want
8. French Kiss
9. Love Actually
10. Bridget Jones Diary

Kya Hua Hoga

On a warm summer evening with pleasant sea breaze flowing, three college friends ( 2 guys and a girl ) are lounging in a sea-side resort on the outskirts of Madras. Over a few cocktails and chilled beer they are reminescing about their college days, when their discussion turn towards one particular guy, their common friend, who got married recently. All the three people have three different opinion about the friends marriage and the turn of events that got him married with his sweetheart. And for the whole night they give their version of the things that might have happenned - since no one exactly knew what happenned.

This forms the crux of the short/long story that im planning to write or may be make it as a short/long movie.