ಚುಟುಕಗಳು

ನಿದ್ದೆ

ಮಧ್ಯಾಹ್ನದ ಕೆಲ ತಾಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ
ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ ಪೂಜೆಯ ಮರುಕ್ಷಣ
ಕಣ್ಣಿನ ರೆಪ್ಪೆಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ನುಸುಳಿ
ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಕದ್ದು ಬರುವುದೋ
ಈ ಕಳ್ಳ ನಿದ್ದೆ?!

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ಕೆಲಸ

ಈ ಕೆಲಸವೂ ಒಂದು ವಿಸ್ಮಯ
ಹೆಚ್ಚಾದಾಗ, ದೂರಿನ ಸುರಿಮಳೆ
ಇಲ್ಲವಾದರೆ ಬೇಸರದ ಛಾಯೇ
ಯಾವುದು ನಮಗೆ ಸೂಕ್ತ?
ನಿರಂತರವೀ ಅಸಮಂಜಸ!

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ವಿರಹ

ನಲ್ಲನೊಂದೆಡೆ
ನಲ್ಲೆಯೊಂದೆಡೆ
ಇಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೆ ಈ
ಚ್ಯಾಟು, ಈ-ಮೈಲು, ಮೊಬೈಲು
ಏನಾದೀತು ಇವರ ಪಾಡು?!

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ಆಂಗ್ಲದಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ ಟ್ರಾನ್ಸ್ಲಿಟರೇಷನ್ – ಇದು ಗೂಗಲ್-ನ ಮಾಯಾ ಲೋಕದಿಂದ ಹೊರಬಂದಿರುವ ಹೊಚ್ಚ ಹೊಸ ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತಿ.
ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ನನಗೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ವಿಷಯವೇನೆಂದರೆ, ಇದನ್ನು ತಯಾರಿಸುವಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ ಗೂಗಲ್-ನ ತಂಡದ ಒಬ್ಬ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ನನ್ನ ನೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಗೆಳತಿ – ಅನುಪಮಾ! 🙂

ಇದರೊಂದಿಗೆ, ನನ್ನ ಹೃತ್ಪೂರ್ವಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು ಅವಳಿಗೆ ಅರ್ಪಿತ.

ಈ ವಿಸ್ಮಯ ಏನೆಂದು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ನೀವು ಹೋಗಬೇಕಾಗಿರುವುದು ಇಲ್ಲಿ: http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic/Kannada

Change, oh change!!

When I got back to the Bangalore office from Singapore, I was greeted by scores of new faces wherever I went – in the corridors, at the cafeteria, the crowds going back home etc. That’s when I learnt that 450+ campus freshers had joined in July. Aah! No wonder! I thought…
And then, come October 15th, hundreds of new faces came streaming out of the 10 brand new big buses added to the cab service. What’s happening?? we wondered… it was the first day at work for another 590 freshers, we heard.

These days I hardly find a known face amongst the hundreds whom I encounter everyday at lunch. Inexplicably, this thought always saddens me… I am taken back in memory to my first year at work… when all of us worked out of only the Banashankari office. Cafeteria used to be a 150-200 seating capacity-hall in the ground floor of one of our first facilities there. We would go in a gang, meet up with other friends, colleagues, discuss odds and ends, gossip, complain about the food, rue about our workloads… and what not! Late evening teas would be accompanied by biscuits, savoured in the soothing company of a cool breeze at the small pool side, chit-chatting with cronies. Lunch and tea times were relaxing and a time to savour during the day’s routine, something that all of us eagerly looked forward to.

These days lunching has become a stressful exercise – one encounters lifts filled to the brim going upwards or downwards, and has to most often taken the stairs five stories up. Once u get to the cafe, it’s time for the “who-gets-hold-of-an-empty-table-first” contest. And this is when one carries one’s own lunch, my mercies are with those who brave the long queues and manage to sustain their hunger and appetite till they can actually get to the counter serving food! But the worst part surely is being lost and unrecognized in a huge mass of the unknown all around.

Add to that the rush that ensues in the evenings once it is time to go home. Yesterday I was dumb-struck to see a crowd at the exit, waiting to swipe out with their access cards, the staircases had people climbing down taking one step at a time! Phew! Is this the same place where I have worked the past four years? All this is so new and strange to me, I mused, not so happily, disliking change as much as everyone does.

I guess I shouldn’t be complaining – we’re still just a 5,500+ employees company… things fall into perspective when I imagine the plight of a similar employee in places like Infy/ Wipro/ TCS where the crowds are roughly around 5 to 10 times more.
My thoughts also sobered when I remembered my initial days at office – the time when I was fresh from college, naive and a little scared of stepping into the big-bad corporate world. Even today I am filled with a warm feeling when I remember how nice everyone was to us, the old-timers didn’t treat us like kids, they welcomed us into the folds of the company, made us feel at home, told us we were no different from them and an equally important part of the organization.

Now I know I have exchanged places, I am where my seniors stood and at my place are the scores of fachchas who have joined, their eyes all a-star with dreams and spirit as enlivened and enthusiastic as only the college crowds’ can be. But I find it’s not so easy, I feel I am losing out on exactly all that I loved so much about my workplace – the feeling of being a part of a mid-sized, closely knit company which in turn led to the strong close bond I shared with the people and the environment around me, I feel like all of us will soon be lost in this huge oceanic mass of numbers.
I know this growth is essential for the company to take rapid strides to combat the ever-increasing competition and stay ahead, it is very much a part and parcel of any company’s road to success and prosperity; but it is the transition that is arduous for people like me! 😦

Wins and losses – important or not??

Was having one of these discussions with a friend on the week’s episode of the music show – Star Voice of India. We have these talks on and off, about the different singers, their choice of songs, the rendition during the week’s episode, if the decision of having someone eliminated or return back to the competition is justified, so on and so forth.

I watch these shows – Indian Idol and VOI, only for the joy of listening to a handful of really good quality singers that it throws up amongst all the hungama and the drama that ensues for several weeks before a winner (who in effect is mostly the undeserving amongst the lot) is finally selected. It’s really sad actually – the way how almost always the best singer loses out in this crappy system of letting the audiences vote and choose the winner.

Right from when it began, with Indian Idol 1 – where Abhijeet Sawant walked away the winner over the much better singers Amit Sana and Rahul Vaidya to Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – where Debojeet won over Vineet and the latter versions of Indian Idol – 2 (Sandeep Acharya over Karunya) and 3 – (Prashanth over Amit Paul), I have noted this time and again, that the best singer never wins these shows. The trend hasn’t changed in VOI as well – the best singers Abhaas and Toshi were voted out and needed to be brought back via a wild-card entry round!

Somehow, call it the twist of fate, or whatever, the weakest link in the top ten walks on to reach the top, only on the basis of the votes that he garners. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if this person had never been selected by the judges into the top group, would a better singer have won then? Can the studio judges do something about this? But then, I guess, the difference in the quality of the singers really comes to the fore only during the final stages, when the selected ten are pitted against one another. May be, before this stage, the judges too are equally not clear on who is the best; they bring all their experience and knowledge into the act and choose what they feel is the crème-de-la-crème among all the participants.

The other alternative would be to not involve the audience/public in the selection and get the qualified studio judges to do it by themselves. This would atleast ensure that the regional and communal politics do not enter the picture and a singer is judged purely on his/ her singing merits. Agreed that there might be internal differences in opinion owing to their personal favourites, but I guess finally sense would prevail and the best would get selected.

But there is one strong and simple reason why this format wouldn’t work – the audiences wouldn’t be participating and all the moolah that the producers and the TV channels rake in – thanks to the lakhs of sms-es and phone calls pouring in, would disappear. Also the TRP ratings of the show might not be as high as it is with the previous format, which might cause the channel itself to reconsider its allocation of the prime slot to the show.

So, what can be the solution to this problem? Frankly, I don’t know; but it sure pains me when a undeserving candidate walks away with the accolades while a clearly better singer ranks second or even lower. But then again, there arises the question of what these winners actually gain/ achieve after winning the show – just one or two albums, a couple of stage shows in the different parts of the country, a couple of insignificant songs for the music director judges on the show, to their credit and then they disappear without a trace – take Abhijeet Sawant/ Sandeep/ Debojeet as examples.

So maybe it doesn’t really matter in the bigger scheme of things – and there’s an equally good chance that the good singers do actually get noticed by the judges/ the celebrities visiting the shows/ people concerned, who can do something for them and get their voices and talent to reach the wider audiences. After all, that is what these shows are meant to be – a platform for the talent from the various non-metro and small towns/ cities to be brought to the fore, for everyone to notice and appreciate.
Well, on that note, I guess one should just enjoy the shows while the good singing lasts and not worry too much on who wins/ loses!