dated 26th Oct 2005
After taking coffee at 3:00pm from Cyber Café today, I walked up to the East Building, to say Hi to a business client..actually 2 of them, Melissa and Laurie- both good friends of mine…located at E15K with beautiful cubicles by the window on the 15th floor…they were not at their desk and I was waiting for them, looking out of the window and pondering…Of late I’ve been thinking about priorities, future and life in general quite a bit…and exploring about what I really wanted in life…Just then another client Martha came by and told me that these ladies were at a meeting and casually started talking to me…She had a charming, pleasant personality and was brimming with confidence…soon after, she left for the day. Martha is working with the Life Products portfolio (which is our business group) - quite a successful and senior person at work, seemed to be in her late 30s…I glanced around her cubicle and this is what I saw- A nice smiling picture of her husband and herself, picture of her 3 little kids on her desktop, and lots of books on law and insurance. To me it seemed like she was a nice, contented woman- happily married with kids and a great family and a decent job! My other 2 clients are also married with 2 great kids each and are well settled religious people.
After I moved to my current project as a Business Analyst- I have started liking the work and the role…in fact after every 2 or 3 hour meeting at the East Building with the business folks, I usually feel good and think about the client roles…the work they did seemed to be interesting and suited personal life as well. NM seems to be a good place to work, if you feel a particular role suits you, you can express desire to work on that role and continue on that role- giving sufficient time for family. Most of the men and women I work with on I.S and Business side are likewise…they are mostly happy, contented people who love their families and are religious- but may not be the richest of people. For them it is Family, God and Country in order and then career. May not be the Tier 1 list of successful people- but this is so different from the Indian work culture. Somehow sometimes there is too much pressure, too much of drive and tension, but at the same time good money- and that’s inevitable, coz we are in a situation where we need to excel in everything- there is peer pressure!! And sometimes this pressure swallows one so much that we tend to forget certain basic principles and values in life- sometimes I feel most of us are greedy, selfish, jealous and unhappy- bcoz of this pressing need to excel, need to grow!!! This Indian corporate culture is not at all bad- it has promoted growth and success and that is why the organization and people are growing. But it fails to excite me- neither onsite nor offshore- both the work and corporate culture. Am I not adaptable to such roles- is this corporate culture not my cup of tea?? The job is very stable, very safe, very prestigious…but leaves me confused on my priorities in life. I really love the insurance and finance part of the work I do. Would I love a job on the business side at a company in a small place- and meet the purpose of giving sufficient time to building a good family and having a great personal life?? What is life without time to love kids, go to church and love my religion??? Not sure how feasible it is- and if I’d be content in a job like that, living in a place like that, and working in a company like that!! I rest my case to my source of eternal strength- Almighty, and continue to ponder.
Not very sure this makes sense and what I think is correct. But probably serves as a check point for my goals and priorities in life- whether what I am doing now will lead me to where I want to be based on my wishes in the big picture of life and the happiness quotient. I read the 2 paragraphs again- but do not concur with all the points and thoughts! A rather strange state of ambivalence to be in….is this what they call the crisis of the mid 20s????
After taking coffee at 3:00pm from Cyber Café today, I walked up to the East Building, to say Hi to a business client..actually 2 of them, Melissa and Laurie- both good friends of mine…located at E15K with beautiful cubicles by the window on the 15th floor…they were not at their desk and I was waiting for them, looking out of the window and pondering…Of late I’ve been thinking about priorities, future and life in general quite a bit…and exploring about what I really wanted in life…Just then another client Martha came by and told me that these ladies were at a meeting and casually started talking to me…She had a charming, pleasant personality and was brimming with confidence…soon after, she left for the day. Martha is working with the Life Products portfolio (which is our business group) - quite a successful and senior person at work, seemed to be in her late 30s…I glanced around her cubicle and this is what I saw- A nice smiling picture of her husband and herself, picture of her 3 little kids on her desktop, and lots of books on law and insurance. To me it seemed like she was a nice, contented woman- happily married with kids and a great family and a decent job! My other 2 clients are also married with 2 great kids each and are well settled religious people.
After I moved to my current project as a Business Analyst- I have started liking the work and the role…in fact after every 2 or 3 hour meeting at the East Building with the business folks, I usually feel good and think about the client roles…the work they did seemed to be interesting and suited personal life as well. NM seems to be a good place to work, if you feel a particular role suits you, you can express desire to work on that role and continue on that role- giving sufficient time for family. Most of the men and women I work with on I.S and Business side are likewise…they are mostly happy, contented people who love their families and are religious- but may not be the richest of people. For them it is Family, God and Country in order and then career. May not be the Tier 1 list of successful people- but this is so different from the Indian work culture. Somehow sometimes there is too much pressure, too much of drive and tension, but at the same time good money- and that’s inevitable, coz we are in a situation where we need to excel in everything- there is peer pressure!! And sometimes this pressure swallows one so much that we tend to forget certain basic principles and values in life- sometimes I feel most of us are greedy, selfish, jealous and unhappy- bcoz of this pressing need to excel, need to grow!!! This Indian corporate culture is not at all bad- it has promoted growth and success and that is why the organization and people are growing. But it fails to excite me- neither onsite nor offshore- both the work and corporate culture. Am I not adaptable to such roles- is this corporate culture not my cup of tea?? The job is very stable, very safe, very prestigious…but leaves me confused on my priorities in life. I really love the insurance and finance part of the work I do. Would I love a job on the business side at a company in a small place- and meet the purpose of giving sufficient time to building a good family and having a great personal life?? What is life without time to love kids, go to church and love my religion??? Not sure how feasible it is- and if I’d be content in a job like that, living in a place like that, and working in a company like that!! I rest my case to my source of eternal strength- Almighty, and continue to ponder.
Not very sure this makes sense and what I think is correct. But probably serves as a check point for my goals and priorities in life- whether what I am doing now will lead me to where I want to be based on my wishes in the big picture of life and the happiness quotient. I read the 2 paragraphs again- but do not concur with all the points and thoughts! A rather strange state of ambivalence to be in….is this what they call the crisis of the mid 20s????
No comments:
Post a Comment