Developers born brave!

Excellent image. With all due credits to the original source (unknown), I'm presenting an excellent picture below: (click on image below to view larger size of the image)

Switching jobs?

Mr. Gopalakrishnan succeeds Mr. Ratan Tata as Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd., the holding company for many of the Tata Bluechips - like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Voltas, etc. Possibly, he is the first non-Tata person to head the Tata Empire.
The below article, written by him, is really interesting!

The grass isn't always greener on the other side!!
Move from one job to another - but only for the right reasons.

It's yet another day at office. As I logged on to the marketing and advertising sites for the latest updates, as usual, I found the headlines dominated by "who's moving from one company to another after a short stint", and I wondered, "why are so many people leaving one job for another? Is it passe now to work with just one company for a sufficiently long period”?

Whenever I ask this question to people who leave a company, the answers I get are :
"Oh, I am getting a 200% hike in salary";
"Well, I am jumping three levels in my designation";
"Well, they are going to send me abroad in six months".

Then, I look around at all the people who are considered successful today and who have reached the top - be it a media agency, an advertising agency or a company. I find that most of these people are the ones who have stuck to the company, ground their heels and worked their way to the top.

And, as I look around for people who changed their jobs constantly, I find they have stagnated at some level, in obscurity! In this absolutely ruthless, dynamic and competitive environment, there are still no short cuts to success or to making money. The only thing that continues to pay, as earlier, is Loyalty and Hard work. Yes, it pays! Sometimes - immediately, sometimes - after a lot of time. But, it does pay.

Does this mean that one should stick to an organisation and wait for that golden moment? Of course not. After a long stint, there always comes a time for moving, in most organisations. But, it is important to move for the right reasons - rather than superficial ones, like money, designation or an overseas trip.

Remember, no company recruits for charity. More often than not, when you are offered an unseemly hike in salary or designation that is disproportionate to what that company offers its current employees, there is always unseen bait attached. The result? You will, in the long-term, have reached exactly the same levels or maybe lower levels, than what you would have in your current company.

A lot of people leave an organisation because they are "unhappy". What is this so-called-unhappiness? I have been working for donkey's years, and there has never been a day when I am not unhappy about something in my work - environment, boss, rude colleague, fussy clients, etc. Unhappiness in a workplace, to a large extent, is transient. If you look hard enough, there is always something to be unhappy about.

But, more importantly, do I come to work to be "happy" in the truest sense? If I think hard, the answer is "No". Happiness is something you find with family, friends, may be a close circle of colleagues who have become friends. What you come to work for is to earn, build a reputation, satisfy your ambitions, be appreciated for your work ethics, face challenges and get the job done. So, the next time you are tempted to move, ask yourself "why are you moving" and "what are you moving into”?

Some questions are:

• Am I ready and capable of handling the new responsibility? If yes, what could be the possible reasons my current company has not offered me the same responsibility

• Who are the people who currently handle this responsibility in the current and the new company? Am I as good as the best among them?

• As the new job offer has a different profile, why have I not given the current company the option to offer me this profile

• Why is the new company offering me the job? Do they want me for my skills, or is there an ulterior motive?
  

An honest answer to these will eventually decide where you go in your career - either to the top of the pile, in the long-term (at the cost of short-term blips), or to become another average employee who gets lost with time in the wilderness?


- By - Dr. Gopalkrishnan Chairman - TATA Sons.

Pirated VCDs and our support

I do not know about other cities in India, but in Bangalore, pirated VCD shops on the platforms are very common. You can easily spot pirated VCD sellers near restaurants, shopping malls and retail stores. The so called educated people throng around the pirated VCD sellers and 'directly support' this illegal activity. The police is least bothered about it for obvious reasons!.



This raises a few questions:
1) Why are even educated people support an illegal activity? Are we not gradually moving towards building an 'irresponsible' society? If this trend continues, then may be in future we will become so numb & dumb that we would openly support any popular illegal activity just like how we are supporting the pirated VCDs today?

2) Why is the police keeping quiet? How do we bell the cat?

3) Why is the media keeping quiet without exposing it? How can we take this to the media?

I would blame the consumers of pirated VCDs for flourishing this illegal business. Let us stop supporting pirated VCDs.

I always make it a point to spread awareness of these among my friends, colleagues and relatives & I'm happy to see some positive change in them!!.. Let each one of us spread this strong message to our friends and relatives and put an end to any form of illegal activity.

If every individual realises his/her social responsibility, I am sure we can put a full stop to ANY kind of illegal activity.

Jai Hind !

Science parks - Fostering inventions in India !!

India has had great minds such as S C Bose, Ramanujan, Sir.C.V.Raman, Homi Bhabha, Dr.Vikram Sarabhai, Dr.Abdul Kalam etc., whose contributions shaped the human kind in great ways.

A question that arises in my mind: For how long do we continue to bathe in past glory?
How do we continue the invention trend? To rephrase, what lacks with the current generation of India to make new inventions?

Perhaps, the seeds of innovative thinking have to be sown right from the school/college days!. Mere bookish knowledge may not help in bringing out innovation! Perhaps, students focus more on scoring marks rather than applying the learned concepts, in a creative manner?
If we create an environment such that every student (in school and higher education) can ‘study’ the concepts well and ‘apply’ the concepts in a creative manner, then we can expect more inventions and innovations from India.

An intellectual property is definitely a more valuable asset to a country, than any other tangible asset that you could think of. So, how to create this environment? Science Parks will help in creation of many new scientific inventions & innovations!

What do Science Parks have? A Science park is a collection of interactive play models which helps a student to realise how the scientific principles studied in their classroom can be practically a real life.

How does a Science Park help in fostering inventions & innovations?
Science parks help in understanding the scientific principles better. The student gets to know how to apply the concepts learned -- gets hands-on practical knowledge rather than mere bookish knowledge. Kindles Students’ minds in thinking creatively, thus fostering innovation!!

How to implement a Science Park?

There are many science park gadget manufacturing companies in India. Just search for them in Google and you can reach them to implement a Science park.

How can I contribute to this noble cause?
Talk to your school, where you studied, about Science parks. A good idea would be to suggest your school’s Rotaract / Interact Clubs to bring together all the schools in the same city to construct a good quality science park for the city. The school Alumni, various industries in the city and the local government could contribute to
this noble cause and the city would get a beautiful science park, which would enlighten thousands of young minds, who are the future of India!

Why should I contribute to this? What do I gain?

Hey, C'mon!.. If your forefathers had hesitated to plant saplings due to selfish reasons that they may not gain much out of those saplings during their life time, then you would not be enjoying the benefits of trees today!

Remember that all great things that you are reaping today, were sown by the 'socially responsible' great minds of the earlier generations. Also, what you sow today, shall be reaped by the next generation.

By taking a step in constructing science parks, you are helping in building a technically strong India. What we do today will definitely impact the future generations. So, let us take some steps in shaping up the future of India, in a positive way!

JAI HIND!