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This seems to be my approach towards everything these days!!

I was thinking about dealing with an issue at work and I thought I would start a discussion with my manager and I realized I use the phrase a lot and also practice it! :) I guess there is no harm in a discussion.

Things are getting interesting by day, the market scenario, new business opportunities, reviving old businesses, meeting customers, taking on new responsibilities at my current job!

Dealing with incompetence

Am I demanding too much if I ask for a structured email report, for a day's work? I even laid out the structure, so it's almost just fill in the blanks. Apparently, I am!! What will it take to setup a competent team? People tell me it can't be done! I refuse to believe that. There definitely seem to be mistakes on my end, the way I handle it.

I am sad to admit, this is the scene in the few companies I have seen and heard of in India. I remember a friend trying to get her company website up and running, she contracted it out to a local company. They wouldn't deliver anything on time, actually not even a week after the committed deadline! When I asked her why she put up with it, she said everybody is like that. :(

When I was discussing this situation with another friend, he said "Why do you think there are a million one man shows in India?". If that is really the case, can't these *efficient* people join hands?

I am connecting the dots now. Banks, grocery stores and other places where demand is far more than supply the term customer-service has no meaning. They know that alienating one customer is much cheaper than providing that customer with some service. Even the people have accepted this as the standard now! If that wasn't the case, things wouldn't be like this.

The exciting market that is India

I am reading reports that the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is at 2005 levels and then I read this article on Times Of India that says car sales increased 21% in Feb '09, as compared to Feb '08. 21%!!! That is phenomenal! I did not bother to analyze where the money is coming from etc. but look at GM, Ford in the US. They are down, almost out. Car sales are at record lows in the US.

And then I look at the millions being spent on Airline MROs, greenfield airports coming up, Airtel getting a good chunk of it's revenue from rural India, I can't help but have a smile on my face and be proud! Look at these facts, 70% of the 1.1 billion Indians is part of rural India and only 9% of them own mobile phones AND their incomes are rising fast.

So the market is there, the volumes are there. Invest in improving rural India and make a buck in the process! Sounds like a dream to me!!

It is the politics that needs thorough cleansing, everything else is almost in place.

Where am I headed?

I guess many of us are plagued by this question in life. I keep trying to find an answer and it worries me because I don't have one.

There are different parts of life that need direction. The most important being a life partner, career in that order. I kept thinking for a while that sorting my career goals will take care of the rest but I am not sure anymore. The pain is still there, the lonely moments of longing for what is lost are still there. The mind knows its gone but the heart still wont listen.

I also realized sorting out career goals is non-trivial. In fact it increasingly seems like a mirage, like a moving destination. I am a control freak who needs lucid images, blurs make me uneasy. Now that I think about it, the reason I am uneasy is that I don't feel like I have begun the journey yet. My visit to India should help solve that problem. I am already feeling better. :)

Patience is a quality that might help in times of uncertainty. Sadly, I have none! I need to give the steps I am taking time to blossom.

I have clarity about somethings though. When all is said and done, I want to be measured by what I achieved. To be more specific, what I did to change the lives of people suffering from the lack of basic necessities today. Money, power, success is useless if I can't make a difference.

Fact buster 1

I initially titled the blog Fact Buster but changed it to Fact Buster 1 'cos I am sure I will bust more facts. :)

Fact: You learn more at a small company and have restricted options at a large company.

BUSTED!!!

I have been at HP for almost 7 months now and there have been no restrictions. In fact, I grown in many ways due to the options provided to me here. It's true that I learnt a bulk of my technical knowledge at NewTek and I made some great friends there. But HP gives me an opportunity to interact with so many more people. The number of professional organizations, the knowledge base, the sheer number of people!

When it comes to professional growth, it is limited to your manager and your drive. That's it. If one has both, then a big organization is a great place to grow.

How did I grow you ask? I am spending more time worrying about customers. I am spending time thinking about our marketing strategy. I am leading a team. I thought I was a born leader! :) But I must admit, leading a professional group is tough. At the core, I am still a software engineer and will continue to be for a bit. But it's probably only 60-70% of my job and I like that.

Abhee goes skiing!!

This trip to Tahoe has its roots in the last trip to Tahoe this past summer, when I decided I was going to come back and see the place covered in snow.

There were many firsts in this trip. First time skiing, first time snowmobiling and first time winning big in gambling! :) Oh yeah, $400 profit baby!!

Day 1:
Nikhil, Rakshit, Sri Ram and I took off later afternoon wednesday and had some anxious moments driving in the snow, but we had the snow chains installed in time. The place was just so white, so covered in snow. We checked in to our hotel, grabbed some dinner and were soon at the blackjack and let it ride tables. End of day 1, $80 loss.

Day 2:
A heavy snow storm limited our skiing options. But we decided to go for it, we didn't drive 230 miles to sit in the hotel. I was well prepared to battle the cold conditions, I was following the weather reports online which recommended 4 layers of clothing. Next, we rented all the snow gear. Boots, skis, poles, helmet, face mask... oh yeah, spared no expense! The boots were so f***ing heavy, they hurt. All set, we waited for the shuttle to take us to the base camp, the low level mountains. It took me about 30-40 mins just to get the skis on and make some progress, must have fallen 10 times in that period. We then took the tiny cable car to the top of the slope... by the time I got down, I fell at least 20 times. Believe it when people tell you, skiing is tough and take lessons!! And did I mention the boots hurt? Any time I would be going a little too fast for comfort, I would just jump and fall. And getting up was so tough! Luckily, it was snowing... so the fresh powder ensured that it didn't hurt much. Best time to go skiing is when it's snowing. By my third attempt, I only fell twice (proud of myself). We were ravenous by the time we got back to the hotel, we ransacked the buffet. The hotel had a jacuzzi and steam room... felt like heaven after our day! Later that night, we went gambling again. End of day 2, $100 loss.

Day 3:
I really wanted to go snowmobiling. Not just randomly in a closed circuit, but in the mountains. So the I coaxed the gang into coming along. We booked a tour in the mountains. I saw some of the most beautiful scenery ever. The snowmobiling itself was alright, couldn't go too fast because we were in a group. And it was so amazing around, it sucked that I had to concentrate on driving on the surroundings. But am glad I did. :) When we got back, we repeated the jacuzzi and steam room routine. Gambling time! This time, I covered my losses and ended in a modest $50 profit. I decided to call it quits, but my friends were still gambling. So I hit the Let it ride table with my $50. After a couple of rounds, lady luck smiled and I made $400 in one hand!! I cashed out immediately and walked away. Smart eh? :)

Day 4:
We drove back. I was glad to leave all the snow behind and see some different colors.

A great experience!

Financial mess

That we are in recession is common knowledge. Sub-prime mortgages, bailout plan are probably the most popular search strings online.

I read the draft proposal of the bailout plan on NY Times here. Of course, it has been signed into law now, but that proposal is good enough to get a feel for the plan. Basically, the govt. is going to buy most of the toxic mortgage-assets. I guess this means the banks will no longer be liable. This also means they are being let off the hook, right?

I keep reading headlines such as "AIG execs spent $440k at Spa resort after Bailout". Such headlines will continue for a while. But what bothers me is that, everybody wants to blame just the banks. Let us not forget, banks are in business to make money just like every other company. Agreed, they did cross certain ethical lines while lending. Why don't the presidential candidates or the press talk more about the millions of people who bought a house they couldn't afford to start with? Low interest rates is a great thing, but they were part of ARMs... by definition, adjustable!!

They must share the blame too. It's only fair, but no one wants to say much about this. So those responsible American tax payers who were smart with their money and bought a small house seeing through the ARMs are now paying for the irresponsible ones.

The end result: Since the govt. buys the bad mortgage assets, it can lower the interest rates and reduce the principal etc. and the people who bought a big house even though they couldn't afford it, will be fine.

The middle class screws middle class as opposed to the classic, rich screw the middle class.