Techies at cross roads (corporate curry)

It started as a dream, a seed that I wanted to grow as a tree in its full bloom. Like all science stream students of today, I to wanted to be an Engineer. Money, fame, and peer pressure ultimately brought me to Bangalore, after finishing my Engineering.

After much heartbreak, Interviews and sun burns, I finally got a Job. I became a part of the corporate culture. I started to feast on the corporate curry. But, it did not take me long to know that this corporate curry served to us is not that tasty after all. I came to know – It’s a Jungle out there.

Humans cease to be humans in corporates. They are just work vending machines. You put in the monthly salary in their account and expect them to work like slaves for you. The company itself is nothing more then a big shark – always hunting, looking out for smaller companies, devouring it and filling its stomach and the company owner’s bank vault.

It did not take me long to know the meaning of “every man on his own”. With the company seeing us as people who directly impact their profit margin, and devising innovative ways and means to cut short the expenses – we need to be careful. A classic example of corporate politics can be known from the following true story.

Once upon a time, there was an Engineer named “Mr. me”. Mr. me worked for a company X, there were two competitors of company X. They were Y and Z. Mr. Me being a loyal employee of X worked day and night for X. He forgot his personal life, and worked full throttle to see to it that his compony X performs better then Y and Z. One fine day, it so happened that company X and Y decided to tie up with each other and defeat the third company Z. Z being faced by a stronger opponent “x and Y combined” bowed out of the fight and lost the race. Mr. Me was of course Jubilant that his beloved company has emerged victorious and has forged a strong alliance with Y. X and Y being strong allays, decided to share the market amongst them and not to interfere with each other’s business. With only two players in the market, to save their “Trade secrets” they decide that a person working in one company cannot come into the other company. With competition becoming lesser and lesser, both the companies decided that it’s high time to remove some employees from the company. The reasoning was simple – They simply cost too much. Our hero Mr. me was summoned to the cabin of his boss, and a pink letter was given to him, with a cute message that the company was thankful for all the work he has done. It wished him all the very best for his future endeavors, and that his services were no longer required. Mr. Me’s life was shattered; he did not know what to do. He went to the doors of the company that till yesterday he was working against – company Y. They too did not want his services.

This is a sort of story that’s very common in today’s corporate world, where the newest mantra of companies is “monopoly”. And the buzz word in office is “survival of the fittest”. And in order to be fit you need to keep running. Running to the extent that someday when you happen to sit alone, you tend to wonder – Why am I running so much? As someone very rightly said, “the problem with Rat race is, even if you win the race, you are still a Rat”.

Today when I sit and see what all I have gained and what all I have lost, reality hits me very hard. I left my family, my close circle of friends, my home and almost everything that made me the person that I am today. And in return of all this, what is it that I get? A life full of stress, fear of loosing my job, friends who themselves are paranoid and lost. Definitely this is not what I wanted when I dreamed of tasting the corporate curry.

On a positive note, I started as a kid with a dream, corporate made me a man with a mission. I met different people both good and bad. I looked into the Eyes of a new developing India. I met people with dreams in their eyes and courage in their hearts. I am still seeing the seed growing into a plant. I am also confident that one day this plant will become a tree in its full blossom.