I seem to be the only person slogging away these hols. Please note - I'm not complaining. I just find it amusing and ironic that I seem to be doing nothing during my internships when others are sweating it out, and working my ass off when others are cooling their heels. Tanmay reports that not even the Amarchand people (who went to Mumbai, Delhi, etc with knees shaking at the prospect of 16-hour work days) are working at their internships. I came to Infosys hoping for a 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday work period and a relatively chilled out atmosphere. Instead, I seem to be the one doing the 14-hours-a-day shift. Well, I do have the weekends off; so to that extent my pre-internship assessment was right. But, as I said earlier, I am not cribbing. I am welcoming the hard work. I have been resting on my butt for the best part of four years in law school, and it was high time I got serious about something. The work is not very intellectually demanding - just digging out loopholes in contracts, or bailing Infy out of a thorny litigation, or saving Infy a few bucks by drafting sue-proof policies, or anything to the effect of putting Infy on the right side of the Law. But it demands painstaking attention to detail. I guess that's what we lawyers are paid for - to cover our own tracks perfectly while sniffing out mistakes made by the 'other party'. If variety is the spice of life, then life at Infy legal is quite bland. Still, there's a new challenge every time I look at a new contract or code or policy.
An update (or correction) to my earlier post: I discovered over the past few days that zombies too have a life. Infoscions put in a lot of effort to convince me that they were zombies, but that effort seems to have waned now. The intra-company, inter-development centre cul-fest Dhun is round the corner, and I actually saw some hustle and bustle (away from the computer screens, that is), and surprise surprise - some active campaigning and slogan shouting by members of some DCs. "Expect the unexpected" said one banner. How apt!!! I honestly never expected the oft-caricatured nerdy techies to show so much energy away from their keyboards. Also a reply to "Someone" who posted a comment on my earlier post - techies are not slimy, cunning creatures because the only thing they interact with, namely a computer, is not worth the effort...
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Work hard, not hardly work
I seem to be the only person slogging away these hols. Please note - I'm not complaining. I just find it amusing and ironic that I seem to be doing nothing during my internships when others are sweating it out, and working my ass off when others are cooling their heels. Tanmay reports that not even the Amarchand people (who went to Mumbai, Delhi, etc with knees shaking at the prospect of 16-hour work days) are working at their internships. I came to Infosys hoping for a 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday work period and a relatively chilled out atmosphere. Instead, I seem to be the one doing the 14-hours-a-day shift. Well, I do have the weekends off; so to that extent my pre-internship assessment was right. But, as I said earlier, I am not cribbing. I am welcoming the hard work. I have been resting on my butt for the best part of four years in law school, and it was high time I got serious about something. The work is not very intellectually demanding - just digging out loopholes in contracts, or bailing Infy out of a thorny litigation, or saving Infy a few bucks by drafting sue-proof policies, or anything to the effect of putting Infy on the right side of the Law. But it demands painstaking attention to detail. I guess that's what we lawyers are paid for - to cover our own tracks perfectly while sniffing out mistakes made by the 'other party'. If variety is the spice of life, then life at Infy legal is quite bland. Still, there's a new challenge every time I look at a new contract or code or policy.
An update (or correction) to my earlier post: I discovered over the past few days that zombies too have a life. Infoscions put in a lot of effort to convince me that they were zombies, but that effort seems to have waned now. The intra-company, inter-development centre cul-fest Dhun is round the corner, and I actually saw some hustle and bustle (away from the computer screens, that is), and surprise surprise - some active campaigning and slogan shouting by members of some DCs. "Expect the unexpected" said one banner. How apt!!! I honestly never expected the oft-caricatured nerdy techies to show so much energy away from their keyboards. Also a reply to "Someone" who posted a comment on my earlier post - techies are not slimy, cunning creatures because the only thing they interact with, namely a computer, is not worth the effort...
An update (or correction) to my earlier post: I discovered over the past few days that zombies too have a life. Infoscions put in a lot of effort to convince me that they were zombies, but that effort seems to have waned now. The intra-company, inter-development centre cul-fest Dhun is round the corner, and I actually saw some hustle and bustle (away from the computer screens, that is), and surprise surprise - some active campaigning and slogan shouting by members of some DCs. "Expect the unexpected" said one banner. How apt!!! I honestly never expected the oft-caricatured nerdy techies to show so much energy away from their keyboards. Also a reply to "Someone" who posted a comment on my earlier post - techies are not slimy, cunning creatures because the only thing they interact with, namely a computer, is not worth the effort...
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Caffeine-aholic
I am becoming a caffeine-aholic, or whatever the word may be for a person addicted to coffee. I just discovered that Infosys has got coffee vending machines at 10 metre(or so) intervals which churn out thick, creamy, free coffee at the press of a button. Well, to be honest, the machines have always been there and I knew of their existence from day one, but I discovered where they keep the cups only yesterday.... End result: I love the stuff and can't stop drinking it...
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Infy City
Welcome to Zombie City...errr...Infosys City. The headquarters of India's fourth richest company. Where I'm exercising my legal brains for the whole of June.
Well, here I am, doing an internship, sitting at a desk, between assignments, wondering what to do... Why not write something on my much-neglected blog?
This place IS Zombie City. On the company buses, not a word is exchanged, no one even LOOKS at another person, everyone's busy staring at the back of the seat in front of them or listening to the radio (on their mobiles) and staring at the back of the seat in front of them... On campus, people walk around without uttering a word even though they may be walking in groups... At their desks, people stare at their computer screens and don't even say 'hello' to their cubicle-mates when they come in..... In their cabins, the directors and the vice-presidents stare into their computer screens and occasionally stretch their neck muscles to break the monotony.... Everyone seems to be too busy even to speak.....
Exceptions: 1. Lunch time - people speak to the person serving lunch so that he serves lunch, and occasionally with someone in order for them to move out of the way, and even more occasionally with someone from their department/cubicle to ask whether they turned their comps off before leaving the desk.... 2. Meetings - the vice-president or director has had enough with the computer screen, so he calls over some of his subordinates to 'discuss' matters, the latter reluctantly break off the magnetic bond between the computer screen and their eyes and enter the sanctum of the superior's office and prepare to get blasted, most probably for not staring at the computer screen long enough.... 3. Brainstorming - An ad hoc congregation of like-minded zombies to thrash out 'issues' for an hour to finally discover their like-mindedness....
Get the general idea?
It's quite a contrast with college, where everyone knows everyone else and people drop whatver they are doing to grab a juicy conversation and bitch about fellow college-mates.... As my boss said (!!!!) to me one day, "Welcome to the corporate world...."
Well, here I am, doing an internship, sitting at a desk, between assignments, wondering what to do... Why not write something on my much-neglected blog?
This place IS Zombie City. On the company buses, not a word is exchanged, no one even LOOKS at another person, everyone's busy staring at the back of the seat in front of them or listening to the radio (on their mobiles) and staring at the back of the seat in front of them... On campus, people walk around without uttering a word even though they may be walking in groups... At their desks, people stare at their computer screens and don't even say 'hello' to their cubicle-mates when they come in..... In their cabins, the directors and the vice-presidents stare into their computer screens and occasionally stretch their neck muscles to break the monotony.... Everyone seems to be too busy even to speak.....
Exceptions: 1. Lunch time - people speak to the person serving lunch so that he serves lunch, and occasionally with someone in order for them to move out of the way, and even more occasionally with someone from their department/cubicle to ask whether they turned their comps off before leaving the desk.... 2. Meetings - the vice-president or director has had enough with the computer screen, so he calls over some of his subordinates to 'discuss' matters, the latter reluctantly break off the magnetic bond between the computer screen and their eyes and enter the sanctum of the superior's office and prepare to get blasted, most probably for not staring at the computer screen long enough.... 3. Brainstorming - An ad hoc congregation of like-minded zombies to thrash out 'issues' for an hour to finally discover their like-mindedness....
Get the general idea?
It's quite a contrast with college, where everyone knows everyone else and people drop whatver they are doing to grab a juicy conversation and bitch about fellow college-mates.... As my boss said (!!!!) to me one day, "Welcome to the corporate world...."
Sunday, May 01, 2005
The Mav's back
I'm back... After a full 5 months of hibernation.
So what's happened all this while? Quite a lot, in fact.
1. The Indian cricket team seems to have returned to normal. Some evil spirit had got hold of them in 2004, when they rubbed shoulders on equal terms with the Aussies Down Under, defeated Pakistan in Pakistan and so on. Now all spirits have been exorcised and the good habit of losing matches has returned. Anyone noticed how the "feel good factor" seems to have disappeared along with the brief period under the sun for the Indian cricket team? On a more positive note, it is heartnening to hear that someone like Greg Chappel (who was somehow slimed out last time round) or Dav Whatmore is in the reckoning for the job of Coach. The team needs some motivational magic from someone, and who better than the two mentioned above!!
2. My grades have taken a nosedive. Has it got to do something with the fact that I have finished over 50 novels sitting in class for the last five months? Or with the fact that the longest time I have spent over a project over the last six months is six hours, over my tax-2 project, compared to an average of fifteen hours' (typing time alone) for my projects in the second year? Or with the fact that I have come to rely upon 'crash courses' delivered by well-prepared students on the morning of the exam in order to pass the course? Well, I guess it's a combination of all of these. I seem to have stretched the meaning of 'chillin out' too far.... It's time to pull up my socks...
3. Liverpool F.C. have surprised me to no small extent. As far as I know, they have surprised the only two die-hard Reds fans I know (Vish and Jags) too. I'm sure Rafa and Gerrard and Co. are also equally surprised. European glory days are here again... Ironically, they may not be around to defend the title next year (provided they win it this year, that is). As I write this, there's a tricky second leg of the Champ's League semis to play. It may be at Anfield, but Liv have no attack worth the name to push the Pensioners to the brink. Let us hope that the miracle continues....
Lots more to write, but everything seems to have slipped my mind now. Will update this site as soon as I remember.
So what's happened all this while? Quite a lot, in fact.
1. The Indian cricket team seems to have returned to normal. Some evil spirit had got hold of them in 2004, when they rubbed shoulders on equal terms with the Aussies Down Under, defeated Pakistan in Pakistan and so on. Now all spirits have been exorcised and the good habit of losing matches has returned. Anyone noticed how the "feel good factor" seems to have disappeared along with the brief period under the sun for the Indian cricket team? On a more positive note, it is heartnening to hear that someone like Greg Chappel (who was somehow slimed out last time round) or Dav Whatmore is in the reckoning for the job of Coach. The team needs some motivational magic from someone, and who better than the two mentioned above!!
2. My grades have taken a nosedive. Has it got to do something with the fact that I have finished over 50 novels sitting in class for the last five months? Or with the fact that the longest time I have spent over a project over the last six months is six hours, over my tax-2 project, compared to an average of fifteen hours' (typing time alone) for my projects in the second year? Or with the fact that I have come to rely upon 'crash courses' delivered by well-prepared students on the morning of the exam in order to pass the course? Well, I guess it's a combination of all of these. I seem to have stretched the meaning of 'chillin out' too far.... It's time to pull up my socks...
3. Liverpool F.C. have surprised me to no small extent. As far as I know, they have surprised the only two die-hard Reds fans I know (Vish and Jags) too. I'm sure Rafa and Gerrard and Co. are also equally surprised. European glory days are here again... Ironically, they may not be around to defend the title next year (provided they win it this year, that is). As I write this, there's a tricky second leg of the Champ's League semis to play. It may be at Anfield, but Liv have no attack worth the name to push the Pensioners to the brink. Let us hope that the miracle continues....
Lots more to write, but everything seems to have slipped my mind now. Will update this site as soon as I remember.
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