Home - Diaries - Indipepal

 I have been accessing the internet for the last 10 years now. I had been tracking every movement on the internet by major companies. Initially i got attracted my some part time money making sites, which i later found were mostly fake. I have actually worked for 1 year for a paid to click site and found that it was fake. I even tried fraud clicks to generate revenue through Google Adsense when i was 15 but of course i could n't beat the big G and got tracked.

My next phase started with internship at Onyomo.com. Onyomo is a local search engine covering some major Indian cities. This is where i understood the Web 2.0 arriving in India. I did some interesting work there and got to learn a lot.

I was looking for some freelancing work last year when i found a proposal from Adbhai.com. I applied for the assignment and got it. Since then i have been working with Adbhai on all kinds of things. We are a small team at Adbhai but are doing things even faster than some biggies out there. We outsource things we are not good at, it does cost us but then it makes us save a lot of time and release some serious features like our Orkut app.

The most serious searchers on classifieds sites in India generally come for real estate search. Used electronics, books etc. are not really something people often search for on internet. Here at Adbhai also we find a lot part time job postings and a look at it will tell you they are fake but then maybe that is how it will always work.

Things are changing fast on internet hope I don’t lose interest.

You must have heard of this popular quote. All human wisdom is summed up in two words. Wait and hope. Yes, patience, a hidden talent, which is tested in crisis situation and more the difficulties we face in life, the more our hidden talent is polished.

• Waiting for my turn to pay the fare at the parking lot. That's alrite. I should have started my day earlier to avoid the rush of the bikers.
• Waiting for the train to arrive, hopefully on time. The digital clocks now only help us to give us an exact idea as to how much they run late. That's alrite too because that's a part of taking that mode of  transport. 
• Waiting to cross the foot-over bridge to go the other end towards the exit point of the station. The brigde is too narrow and it can't handle the rush. Speed is 0.01 miles/hr while climbing the bridge. That's alrite.. i have a book with me to read. So time Flies..

Now all these scenes make our journey a little more exciting if adventerous is not the right word. One can pe patient enough to handle these daily Jhik Jhik and it doesn't really test your patience level. Not much.

Now comes a scene where there is so much to tell but all one can do is look at your computer and carry on with your work.

My office is late by  23 days to pay the salary of all the employees. Its a big banner office and the thought of being a part of this always excited me. But the motivation level isnt there much and there is a feeling of being used.

I don't do charity. Patience level is zero in this scenario and it is not allright and there is no alternate feeling to make yourself feel better.

Waiting , Waiting, Waitng. For the salary to be credited. The hidden talent,patience, has been polished and is now shiny. Can't Wait any longer. 

Such is post recession life.

The month of April, the first day considered as April fools day, started with an unexpected call. I said, “Hello”. A stubborn, hard, commanding voice on the other side of the phone said, “We went through your resume and we find it suitable for a new opening. Would you come down for an interview?” It had been a month that I had mailed my resume to them. Without hesitation I said, “That’s wonderful. What time?”

 Next day, a short man, little fat, in his thirties was going through my CV and my mind was running very fast trying to predict the questions that he would ask me. I was in the interview room.

 1- What is your experience?

2- Would you be able to travel so long?

3- Why do you want to join us?

4- What’s salary do you expect?

Most of the predictions for the questions were right except that the order was different. “Your salary won’t be as handsome as your face.” he said jokingly when I asked him about the package.

 Anyways, cut to scene on the floor. There was a lot of buzz and most of the employees were not on their seat. I could see them little worried, whispering in each other ears as if they broke a sad news to each other.

“I better finish my work on time and not divert my attention to something I don’t know” I said to myself. It was my first job and was passionately in the grove to do quality work without wasting anytime.

 Next day I met the senior employee who had interviewed me and selected me. "Sir, I believe you told me that the salary gets credit on the 1^st of every month. It’s the 12^th today and I haven’t received the numbers I worked for.”

 How dumb I was not to realize why the other employees look worried yesterday. The salary was not given. The headlines on all the mind of the employees read, “Oh God!! Recession.”

 Someone had e.m.i to clear. Someone had pending bills. Someone wanted to celebrate his birthday party by taking his family to an expensive hotel. Yes, the last someone was me.

 All these year, the first day of the month never had any relevance to me as I got what I wanted. I was never demanding to my father and was happy to ride a bicycle till the age of 18. After this incident, I really valued the importance of money when most of my plans which had been chalked, had to be erased from my mind with a painful duster because I didn’t get my salary.

 Everyday, waiting at the entrance of the parking lot to park my bike, at the railway ticket counter, the foot over bridge used to walk out of  the station, the line at the bus stop and in the canteen.

 Today, its 3 months working in the company and still waiting for my second salary.

 Such is life diaries.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a "parent-teachers" meeting at my son's dancing academy. As a proud father, I wanted to support a passionate teenager getting trained by an equally passionate and celebrity dance director from Bollywood. They invited us to a big auditorium and I took my seat. I felt the usual anticipation of hearing a bit about my son's progress, getting exposed to some of their initiatives and styles, and faintly expecting some entertainment from a performance of the senior students.

When the dance director appeared on stage, he announced that he wanted all the fathers to join him and entertain the audience with a dance performance! We were all taken aback. For some it was an embarrassment. Others felt shy. A scared few ran towards the exit, without much success. For many, it was the first time ever they were being invited on stage.

The director said with a smile, "If your children could, you better be good at it and I will help."

It seemed impossible then he counted one-two-three-four. Right leg is Jerry drag it right, and left leg is Tom and Tom follows Jerry. And then he taught us seven more steps using arms, shoulders, hips and head all the time on stage while the audience laughed to their hearts content.

The first step: Don't close your eyes or give excuses like recession and troubled times.

In 10 minutes, he had replaced the count with a popular Hindi song and bingo we performed. We, the people, fat, thin, stifled, ego-houses shed all our inhibitions and became dancers, amid huge applause from giggling spouses and children.

I draw a lot of learning from this experiment in leadership today. Especially in the most unexpected times, where everything is variable, shifting, unpredictable and perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime situation. Can our leaders dance? The answer is yes and this is the best time to learn.

It all starts with coming to the floor. For many of us who stopped or ran towards the exit door, we had no choice but to be on the floor at least for our children's sake.

How does this translate to business? Go to the front line, chuck your office, meet customers, and feel the heat and the pain and you will find a new rhythm in the Tom and Jerry style.

The first step: don't close your eyes or give excuses like recession and troubled times and don't be blissfully placid, hiding behind, "I don't know what I don't know."

The second step is to break all the rules. The game is different now. The context of the rules has changed and new rules have to be made. At the count of four we have to learn these new steps.

Most managers in corporations are "rulebooks" personified. The best way to encourage them is to be contrarian and rewrite the rules. A clear example of that is to disproportionately reward and recognize people who are exhibiting leadership, who are learning to navigate the ship for a better cruise. This is the time to make or learn new rules.

Lastly, managers have to become adventurous. The classical theory of aspiration and ambition is no longer relevant. The fundamental cerebral models of managers need to be shaken up. Calculated behaviour in known territories will not work. A new world order is emerging and there's no better time than now to hone new skills. A flat world, flat teams and flat egos will allow and enable managers to take those extra steps.

Call your people to the dance floor. Teach them what they haven't yet learned. You will be surprised to see what they can do. It's like dancing in the rain or when things aren't right. To add that zing! I wish we had many dance directors in corporations who could mentor managers to bring the rhythm back.

An expensive mobile phone lay on a steel sheet with its innards spread.  The technician poured over it, while a young apprentice watched in either rapt attention, or sheer boredom.  I leaned over to get a better look at the powered-up electronic entrails, fascinated at the tiny parts the guy was poking at.

 I jumped a bit when the store-owner barked crude Hindi at the boy, who promptly swiveled on his stool and disappeared behind a filthy-looking curtain.  Ambarish Bhaveshamjibhai Champak was the pan-chewing stereotype, his name typed in runny ink on a certificate issued by the Commercial Tax Office hanging next to his fat face.

 The apprentice was back at his attentive act after placing a glass of yellowish water on Shri ABC’s ancient counter.  Shortly, the oily bastard handed over my just-repaired mobile, and rudely thrust a paper with an exorbitant fee at me.  

 I was flicking through my wallet, when a raucous buzzing from the technician’s counter sent both the boys jerking back in alarm.  An incoming call had sent the phone’s loose vibrator jumping like crazy over the steel plate, and the repair guy looked sheepish.

 He picked up the violently errant electronic in his fingers, and held it up for all to see.  Predictably, he made a slow to and fro motion with the still buzzing vibrator that would’ve been understood the Universe over as meaning only one thing.

 Men will be men.  But I was flush with embarrassment as I hurriedly left the oppressive store closely hounded by the sounds of their lewd laughter.

 Now home, alone, stripping out of my sweat-sticky clothes, I realized that I’d been thinking of only one thing during the tedious walk back.  Even the strongest dams of repressed desire need but one trigger to create a flood.  And mine happened as I sat cross-legged on my bed, a meager meal in front of me, and the TV remote in my hand.  An eager advertisement in the middle of Grey’s Anatomy had just sent me spinning with unbridled lust.

 A little into the next hour, I lay awkwardly in bed and surveyed the chaos around me – shredded condom wrappers, a mauled tube of KY Jelly, the now lube-slick landline phone that came free with my broadband by my side, and the sheets in terrible disarray.

 I was perspiring, panting mildly, and I felt weird and stiff.  Barely able to move, I rolled over to reach for the landline again, grinning wickedly to myself.  Even as I dialed my own cell number, the TV blared out the advertisement - my trigger on rerun:

 “…delivery in 30 minutes, or free!  Dial-in for a slice of happiness.  Our Happiness Hotline number is…”

It was one of those nights when everyone seemed to be happy! The whole world was in a celebrative mood to bring in the New Year .Yet I was feeling lonely and heartbroken. The guy whom my parents tried hooking me with seemed no good ,the one on the matrimonial website had his own sob story... And the one who broke my heart miserably a few months ago refused to get off my mind.. 

Enough, I said! Dressed in my very best, I headed to my friends barbeque party! I knew I would hardly know anyone so I requested my best friend to accompany me. After several rounds of cajoling, he finally agreed. I was extremely elated without knowing what lay in store for me.

We reached there a few minutes before the New Year! A couple of drinks down, and exchanging cordial hellos with the others, we retired into the private space for some soulful talks. A little flirtatious. A little caring, a little formal, our conversations spanned various emotions. 

Dunno why, I felt an overwhelming urge to cuddle into his arms. Some friends pulled us for dance and we got involved back in the crowd. We enjoyed with each other as with the others and welcomed in the New Year partying and making merry. As the night grew deeper, the dance floor emptied, we decided to go and rest upstairs in the rooms.

Lying next to each other seemed no big deal otherwise, but today my emotions were weakening me. I was shivering and the AC was only worsening it. The moment I got up to switch off the AC, he pulled me closer into his arms. I found myself incapable to resist and an irresistible urge to hold him close swept me. We spent the hour cuddling and getting absorbed in each other’s warmth. At the dusk of the New Year, we kissed each other a beautiful year ahead!

Suddenly life seemed brighter! I don’t know why but I felt that my wounds had healed. The warmth had been capable of melting my heart that had closed itself to happiness. While coming back with him, the world around me seemed so beautiful and a message from the skies clearly reached my heart; there’s something better lying in store always!

I was no longer broken hearted.. What happened to our story? I leave it for the readers to guess!