King of pop

I was in office today when I heard the news that Michael Jackson is no more.  Whatever be his ills, his misdemeanors, no one can deny that he was the king of pop.  I remember getting initiated into English music as a young boy through bands like ABBA, Boney M and of course MJ. Can remember the countless times I heard Thriller and Bad.

 Yes, into the nineties he got caught up in many scandals, was described as a weirdo for his peculiar lifestyle and habits and eventually faced bankruptcy.  But one felt sad today when the TV news channels played MJ’s 80s hits over and over again.

 Hopefully history will treat him kindly and he will be remembered more for his performances than for his infamous actions in life. One thing is certain - by dying (relatively) young, Jackson will remain an enigma in the years to come…..

Now and then

'Now and then' is the title of a catchy UB40 song. 

'Now' in this post refers to 2009 while 'Then' can refer to any year in the late nineties. Let us compare the situation of an IT professional 'Now' and 'Then'    

Scene: Graduation day 

Then: I have applied for and got easily through 3 different companies who visited the campus. Which one should I pick? Which one offers the best perks (salaries are broadly in the same band)? 

Now: My seniors who appeared for campus placements and got one job each are yet to join. Their joining dates have already been put forward 4 times in the past year. This year no one has come to the campus yet (software companies that is). 

Scene: Joining date  

Then: Hope the training is as good as they claim. I am a bit put off because during the training period, we have to travel to a location outside the city. If I get a good offer towards the end of the training period, I will quit. I hear that company 'x' needs developers trained in technology 'y'. Wonder if the training in technology 'y' is good enough for me to jump jobs at the end of the training period. 

Now: I am very lucky to be joining today after a year of sitting at home. I wonder when my classmates will get the joining date communication. Any technology / domain will do as long as I am paid at the end of the month. 

Scene: End of a project 

Then: I have put in 6 long months on this maintenance project. Now I am going to demand for an onsite assignment.  I hear that it is cold and windy in Chicago around this time of the year. I will demand a posting in Florida in project 'y'.  My friend Vasu is already there. Should be a blast ! 

Now: Oh my God! I am released from the project. I hope I get allocated to a project  any project will do as long as I am billable and will be eligible for my variable pay. Last year they increased this component from 10% to 40%. 

Scene: Pay review 

Then: What is this? Only a 25% hike. If I float my resume today, I will get at least 10 offers before the week is out. I will get at least a 40-50% hike. Why bother discussing with my boss? I have already given 18 months to this organisation and is this what I get? 

Now: Good that they have reduced only one component of the pay. Three chaps in my account got the pink slip and they were in the high performance category last year.           

Scene: End of the year

 Then: I have saved 7500 dollars in the past year. That 6 month project in Florida was indeed good. This year I should try for longer onsite project and insist on H1 visa. I can easily get another job and ditch my company once I am in the US. L1 visa will not do. I think I will settle down in the US. The future is good….. 

Now: Why did I choose to specialise in computers? I should have opted for some other field instead. What made me apply for an H1 and decide to stay in the US? 

Wonder if there is any age limit for the bank's probationary officer's test......

Nadal slips on clay

Over the weekend, a little known Robin Soderling knocked Rafael Nadal out of the French Open. 

Just before the start of the French Open, would you have believed that Nadal's invincible streak at Roland Garos would end this year? And that too in the first week itself ? 

If you thought that this made things easy for Federer, think again. He made a tough comeback on Monday after being 2 sets down and nearly a break down. 

Sports is a great leveler. Just over a year back Federer was seen as being invincible (on all surfaces except clay) - now the same things were being said about Nadal. While it was good to see a great rivalry at  the top, men's tennis was becoming boring. Young blood (like Monfils) should stir up the pot.

Fall of the behemoth

I remember that when I was a kid and getting interested in the world around, the largest company in the world was General Motors (GM).

I was enthralled to read news stories about GM back then. It was one of the iconic companies in the world.             

It's hold on the market was so huge that in spite of losing market share in the past decade, it remained the largest automaker in the world until 2008 when finally Toyota dethroned the king.             

During the past couple of days GM has been in the news a lot. They have filed for bankruptcy on June 1st. And the plan is for it to be reborn as a smaller, 'less debt-burdened' company in a couple of months time. The sad part is that they have plans to sell off their prestigious Hummer, Saab and Saturn brands. These prestigious brands have been loss making for quite sometime and this seems to be the only way out to survive.             

Chrysler has already shown the way and now GM has followed suit.

Industry watchers are betting on the third of the 'big' three - Ford to follow the same route.             

GM's fall has been termed by experts as the 'biggest failure of an industrial company' in US history.             

Atlas shrugged.

I told you so !!

It's always nice when you are proved right on a prediction.          

In my last blog I had predicted that if Tharoor wins and if the Congress forms  government, chances were that he would get external affairs. Well, that is exactly what has happened.             

What has however caught everyone by surprise was the margin of victory of Tharoor in Trivandrum and the number of seats won by the UPA.             

The markets reacted sharply and this news has helped move the sensex which seemed to be sleeping around the 11K mark to 14K. The past week has seen it steady at the 14K levels.

Tharoor as a cabinet minister ?

The elections in Trivandrum are done and dusted and the fate of the candidates sealed in the ballot boxes that will be opened only after a month. 

Even after the elections, there is a lot of buzz about Tharoor. Last week some one in my office stated that if Tharoor wins and if the Congress forms a Govt, he will surely be made a minister in the cabinet. The inference being made was that it would be great for the development of Trivandrum and Kerala.

Problem is - with his background in international diplomacy chances are that he will be given a berth in the External affairs ministry. What we need are ministries like surface transport or industry. Look at what T R Baalu did for the Tamil Nadu roads.

Anyway the musings of my colleague were full of 'IFs' - if Tharoor wins and if the Congress forms the Govt at the centre.  We will know the fate of the candidates in one month's time.

Change

The first thing that hit me when I came back to settle down in TVM a few years back was the change to the ‘city’. The TVM I grew up in was a large village with one important ‘high street’. If you wanted to purchase anything, the shop to go to had to be on either end of M G Road – either in Palayam or more likely near the Chala end. The main places to go to relax were near LMS (Museum, Kanakakonnu). Trips to ‘far away’ Shankumukham, Kovalam etc. by bus were rarer.

 The biggest change I noticed now was the change to the Plamood – Kesavadasapuram stretch. Today you can get everything from a needle to a car from the shops that dot this stretch.

 Though we get our provisions from the locality we live in, we still miss going to some of the old landmarks – these shops are still there but I wonder whether they are thriving. Some memories from my adolescence –

 

-         Good Morning store at Palayam – this shop probably marked the start of the ‘city centre’!

-         We always used to buy coffee from Shankers at Pulimood – there was a friendly salesman with a quick wit and sharp tongue!

-         School books and stationery religiously purchased at the beginning of the school year from Academic Book House (Pulimoodu)

-         Plastic items from Ibrahims in Chalai. The smells and sounds of Chala had a fun element then. When I ‘revisited’ the place in the 21^st century, the stench was unbearable!

 Question about the last point – has Chala changed or have I? With time and progress is it just the city that has changed or have I also changed? I agree that the physical aspect of the city has changed (development of the Pattom stretch as a case in point) but in the case of Chala – the change is really in me!

 Incidentally Shankumukam seems to have got nearer (just a short drive away)!

 After ranting on about nothing in particular above, I want to end with a nostalgic fun memory – the fondest food memories of TVM are the times my father took the family out for dosas at ‘Dasarataram’ near the Secretariat. If I am correct this small restaurant was renamed as ‘Shree Ram Sweet Shop’ and now it does not exist. There is some other shop in it’s place.

 Probably it is just a case of ‘those were the days’ but the memories of those ‘paper roasts’ and ‘rocket dosas’ are that they were the best I have ever tasted!