My Birthday Gift

Among the list of hobbies people usually pursue, reading Books is a very common one. Those people who have an inclination towards this are considered as real scholars, at least by me. Because two things I’m scared of the most, one is Book and the other one is its reader.

I can not understand from where those people acquire the patience for that. It takes a lot of self-persuasion and thousands of divided attention to finish a page for me. Just imagine about me reading a book. I have never completed any journey through a short-story from the beginning to the end. People even finish a book in a day, that too a non-fiction. Really, they must have a rare talent.

But yes, I love books for one occasion. Those help me in sending me to a slumber, even when I don’t feel like that. Let me tell you one incident in my life:

While I was in college, a girl joined in our college as a fresher. I discovered that she was spending most of her free time in the library. That means both of us were diametrically opposite in that habit. But I liked that girl. So only to impress her, I started visiting library regularly. Anyway at last I managed to befriend her.

Once I invited her for dinner on my Birthday. She gave her consent and kept her words also. She handed me a birthday present, beautifully wrapped and written on it a beautiful quotation, only can be written scholars in my definition.

But I had more interest in the gift inside, than any quotation. I had to control my urge to open the pack till she went to her place. After I saw her off, I reached for the packet and carefully opened the wrap to see the surprise inside waiting for me.

It was “Midnight’s Children” – the famous Booker awarded book by Salman Rushdie. Have you ever seen that Book? It is like a never-going-to-end kind of book, at least for me. Now just imagine my situation…..

Sedentary Livewires ...

Sitting in Resource Pool (in common parlance of IT company employees - "Bench") is a totally different experience than working in a Project. Here you will find all sorts of people; by that I mean both in terms of Technology and mentality. Rather I'll say it is a perfect place
for any psychologist to experiment his theories.

This is because those people are relesed from some projects due to either completion or postponement of projects. Sometimes they might be the victims of company's cost-cutting measures especially at this juncture of global economic recession.

If you happen to enter in the room where they have been forced to sit (because there you will find no AC facility, but only machines in the dilapidated state), you can feel a deja vu of visiting a mental asylum. A bunch of well-trained but helpless Professionals doing stupid things and thereby self-insulting their talent.

You will find some of them busy in going through e-books of their technology, some in orkutting, some in chatting and spreading the rumours they have just heard, and some in doing what they are best at - sleeping.

By throwing a simple glance on them(no need of careful observation of their behaviour even) it won't take much strain on mind to judge the time dimension of their coming into the Resource Pool. If you find a person in a very gloomy mood but having an alert ear for any kind of gossip related to either HR or Firing or requirement in any project, then get sure that he is released very recently. If a person is either sleeping in peace as if away from all the worries or browsing net and hunting for some coooool stuffs, then he/she is an old monkey in the business.

And all others are in between these two groups.

So enjoy your experiment on these gunea pigs....