Transition Blues #5: Random Observations

Some of these are random, but interesting observations. May be America has made me notice things that I took for granted before.

1. There is a lot of inefficiency, everywhere. I see 5-8 people seating around chatting, the moment I land in Mumbai Airport. On the other hand, private corporations want efficiency, so they will just not have employees, but keep the customers waiting. The longer lines, everwhere,
including lunch halls is common.

Another observation is that in my compay there are 3-4 distinct lunch halls. There is no work-flow, time & motion study. People use same route to go in to Wash Basin, exact same route to come out. The result is longer lines to wash hands after a spicy, aromatic Indian food. Nobody has thought that one should have entrance and exit separate.

2. Obsession with Security. The current security level in my company is weird. You can not get work done. I am not only unable to access the net sites needed for my work, but simple Yahoo mail, google email can not be accessed. I understand, many indian working kids abuse the office computers, but having senior management not being able to copy using USB drive is unaccetable.

3. Bus Routes. I have been using Bus. The company expects that most of the people will come to office at 9.00 and get out at 6.15. I am not sure, how a dual-shore company, where working in us timezones is expected, I am not sure how can one expect leads, manager not on call.

4. Fruits - I grew with notion that one gets Apples only when you are sick. Now I found lot of fruits, everywhere, seasonal and non-seasonal. The road-side sellers as well as big markets in focused areas. Also, like indigeneous ideas, the roadside shops sell assorted fruits (A banana, an apple, a Chicku). It was impressive to see the easy and cheap access of fruits to everybody.

5. Laptop Supermarkets - I went to 2 Laptop Supermarkets - a good, posh, upscale markets, where knowledgeable sales people (Kids!) were selling 8-10 brands of laptops to parents, college going kids and business people alike. The markets are focused, much bigger than the ones I have seen (Fry's Electronics Laptop section, Best Buy), one market is as big as a regular best buy shop. It was pleasant surprise.

6. Airconditioned Bus - There is Mercedes Benz School, it has a Airconditioned bus for all kids to reach to school. This was even unheard of in US. But I guess, money can buy you any privileges in India.

One common theme though, there is hope everywhere, every place, I have yet to meet somebody who is complaining. People may be lazy, not working, but they are not hopeless, scared but very optimistic.