I want to become one of them

I wrote this piece for my U21 admission few years ago. Read on.. This is right from my heart.

"I want to become one of them". This one sentence has triggered lots of positive changes in me. I have kept repeating this to myself innumerous times and I have no intentions to stop it.

I grew up in a small town where the dream of every student at that time was to become a doctor. But I chose a different path to pursue science and ultimately landed in computer science. Globalization and infamous Year 2000 bug presented me the opportunity to work overseas .This introduced me the whole concept of global organizations for the first time.

On returning, I joined one of India’s top IT Company, Wipro. Over the years, I have worked with or watched many leaders of different background and nationality both from Wipro and its client companies. They are all both inspirational and admirable. I watched them in awe all the time and it did not take long time before I realized that deep inside I wanted to become one of them.
On a parallel track, India’s recent growth story has brought many entrepreneurs and business leaders to the limelight. I don’t miss any of their interviews and their columns in magazines. Their wisdom and clarity of thinking amaze me every time. Every time after reading or listening to their experience, immediately I will tell myself ‘I want to become one of them’.

I have grown in Wipro from a developer to a project manager and I have realized that my growth is only limited to my capabilities. My professional success in my field is through my formal technical education (Master of Computer applications). I have involved in quite a few crucial IT projects and contributed significantly to their success either as an individual contributor or a project lead. I got some very positive feedbacks for those also learnt some important lessons along the way.

In my nine years of IT industry experience, I learnt the importance of constant learning because it is the nature of our industry. I believe that my eagerness to learn and willingness to go extra mile will help me to reach my very important goal of expanding my capabilities and skills which will result in a positive impact in my life.

But When I look at my superiors I can see that the parameters for their success are very different from mine. It occurs me that if I want to reach to their level or go beyond, then I should prepare myself very differently.

A business degree from a reputed school is definitely a major step in the right direction .It is one of my long term goals to achieve my dream of pursuing the management career in an international setting. I have also set a short term goal to find a mentor within my organization. With my current position, I will continue to gain the important international exposure which is also very rewarding experience.
One of my inspirations said once,’ never miss a chance to learn’. In this case, I think I am following his words.

The Thing about complaining

“ Your problem is…. you expect everyone around you to think like you. Obviously they have opinions different from yours. It makes you upset and you start complaining about them”

– These were the judicious words of my wife few weeks ago. I was about to retaliate with my side of the story but instead kept mum like all peace loving husbands in this world do. You can’t risk your dinner, can you?:-)

I should have seen this long time coming. After all, it is she who had to put up with my constant complaining all these years. But I got tell you, It was one of those light bulb moments(as you see in cartoons, a sign of enlightenment). I knew for sure, it just touched a weakest, rusty part of my belief system .

My quest for answers began then onwards. After couple of days, I tumbled on a blog and the following was shining like a brightest star.

“We give so much energy and value to our expectations that we rarely let them go without a fight. And yet when we do, there's such a lightness of being and ease that we wonder how we ever managed to carry that burden around with us for so long.

In a way our list of expectations is an agenda that we impose upon the world and it acts as a filter for our attention. We see things not as they really are, but as either good, bad or indifferent, judged in relation to what we want.. and our attention goes to whatever we've deemed significant. It's this filtering process that allows us to create personal meaning, from a world that on the face of it seems random and meaningless. But because this filtered vision is the only way we now know of looking at life, we assume that what we are looking at is reality. ”
You can read the article here

There you go… Blink!!!!(Another bulb).I felt that haziness in mind had cleared just a bit but still I required some more evidence to really convince myself..

But would you believe this…, Today I got an email (from one of my positive quotes subscriptions ) which exactly said what I should do..

“My days of whining and complaining about others have come to an end. Nothing is easier than fault finding. All it will do is discolor my personality so that none will want to associate with me. That was my old life. No more.
- Og Mandino"

Hmm, I am not so perfect as Mr (or Ms) Og and I don’t expect to stop complaining straight away as it seems so innate but atleast I know now my cure. I will attempt to change.. That is all I can promise.. This IS one hell of a decision !!! Phew!!!

Then it occurred to me, Isn’t it the same as ‘ The universe conspires to teach you something’ theory or as one wise man put it( I forgot his name) ‘ Teacher will appear when the student ready!’?

In any case, I know what should be done!! That is the end of the story. But, Will I accomplish ??? that is a different issue altogether…perseverance…law of diminishing intent ….etc...etc…

Hey pals! moral of the story here is ‘ listen to your wife!’. I know... Believe me , I know , that is too much to pay for the so called “personal improvement”.

But , like they say , Choice is yours! ….

Photo credit

Subprime crisis - I finally understood!!!

Lot of things have been said about sub prime crisis, Decoupling and the all new ‘Recoupling’ of economies. Those who know me , sure will endorse my inability to understand these complex issues :-)

Recently, I set out to understand what these ‘global noises’ are all about. I found some interesting stuff with out substance and some serious reports only a finance professor can understand. When I was about to give up, I tumbled on a You tube video which really entertained and educated me.

If you are serious about Subprime crisis , this will cure your curiosity!!

Enjoy and don’t thank me … Thank Long Johns …