Tied with an employment bond

Most of my friends who are working and planning to quit will know that resigning from a job is much more difficult than even finding one. At least you have nothing on stake and nothing to lose in the latter, i.e. when you are finding a job.

Most companies these days get you to sign a employment bond at the time of joining. Some also do it at a later stage. The employees have no resort than to sign on the dotted line. The bond wordings can differ, but in all cases they will act as obstacles to free mobility in jobs. Some of the typical clauses in a common employment bond are:

Renewed interest in job

coming out of an interview with not so flying colours, you may suddenly develop a renewed interest in your job. may be because you suddenly realise the truth behind that old adage – a bird in hand is better than two in the bush.

seems i am passing through a similar phase. after my interview with accenture and genpact, i have suddenly started feeling that my job is still better.

genpact dealt with instructional design and e-learning that i was always against doing. only that they were offering me a supervisory post and into editing that i agreed. and in accenture, it was business writing, another hated style of writing. creative writing is my forte and it is creative writing that i seek opportunities in.

My blog, my baby

this blog is like a kid to me. just as one would love to watch his/her small kid grow up, so do i love to watch the growth of my blog.

born one night in september, this blog has completed three months now. and this blog is very much like a friend to me since i am able to confide many things to it that i wouldn’t have to a real life friend.

it’s fantastic to see the increased traffic each day when i login to the administrator section on my blog. also once in a blue moon, some good samaritan likes the content here and puts a comment. one mr. ravi found my job issues matching his. it was impressing. i sent him a mail and we interacted with each other.

Delhi’s Killer Buses

My post on Express India Blogs:

The killer blueline bus issue is once again fuelled with the death of a CISF personnel after he came under a blue line bus. An issue that was about to be packed off to give way to more fresh news items is once again open to controversy. One of the blueline buses hit a CISF man on way to office. According to reports, this is the 71st murder carried out by the private buses being run on the roads of Delhi. In the extremely hot days of July, 2007, the Blue Line bus operators were an equally hot issue.

Claim me technorati

just wanting to add my blog to technorati for some increased traffic. but dont know where this is going. with no clear instruction, i dont know how to proceed with claiming of the blog and what will it lead to.

anyways one of the instruction was that technorati would be looking for some new content. and so i am doing here the smallest post on this blog.

In search of greener pastures

sometimes i behave too childishly (some people will quip to say that most of the times i behave as one). just as a child gets excited at the merest prospect of a good life, so do i.

i got this call from accenture and genpact. had to appear for an interview there on a sunday. my eyes glowed with dreams of working in a new company, that too with a chic crowd of a BPO. i had forever wanted to work in one and now was the opportunity.

on friday, the interview plans were suddenly preponed. the consultant called that genpact people were holding interviews on saturday instead of sunday. i wasnt ready for last minute changes. had already taken a leave on friday, and one more leave would surely fire my boss. thankfully he wasnt in india, so i safely decided to take the chance.

hopped for gurgaon early in the morning on saturday. was expecting a tedious journey. but as is luck – the expected seldom happens – i got a direct bus to connaught place from where i got another direct bus to dhaula kuan and then to gurgaon.

i reached genpact an hour earlier. to my surprise they had an extensive security machinery installed at the entry gates. fortunately i had my pan card or else i would have kept waiting at the gates.

once inside, i found there were many who had come over for interviews. didnt know there were so many content writers in competition. subsequently discovered that interviews were being conducted for several processes.

vinay too had come over for the graphic designer’s post. wanted to avoid him at first; later went over to him and had some bantering. also scolded him for not coming to rahul’s marriage.

soon co-ordinators came over to take us to classified testing areas. while we were handed papers and pencils, vinay and his tribe was handed the computers.

the test had some 45 questions. the questions were okay – neither too tough nor too easy. my forte was the essay that was at the end. the topic i chose was one with which i could have related to best – commuting to gurgaon.

there was a particular set of questions that was particularly incomprehensible to me. the instruction was “using the diagram below, identify the product”. immediately following were four abstract sentences. immediately after were more lines and i didn’t know what has to be done with these least related things and how on the earth can i find a product out of these.

talking to the co-ordinator once didnt help. the second time, she directed me to the actual instruction. this was “spot the errors in the following article”. god this was so easy. and all the time i was trying to make some idea out of all these.

one good change was that i was the last one to give my papers. i checked the paper thoroughly this time (i remember how exam co-ordinators used to shout at us to check for last minute mistakes and we seldom followed). may be because i have grown a little more responsible.

didnt feel the test satisfactory. there were four of us. the coordinator said she would call us in some 20 minutes after she is done with the checking. in the meantime i called in swati from accenture to schedule the interview for the same. didnt tell her i was here for another interview. she agreed.

having finished with the coffee at the cafetaria, i joined the other three for some talks. talked well about my job and the company; in fact one of the girls said it might be really good to work with my company. he who experiences knows well, i thought. they too were from biggies like yatra.com and cybermedia.

little did i know that the aged lady who was the exam coordinator would be taking the tech interviews. mine was the last. time was ticking and i feared if i would be on time for the interview at accenture. she was really sweet and we discussed many things. i talked about shakespeare and as if in disbelief she asked me to name the plays that i had studied. she caught me however on quotes from the plays. now who tells her that we didnt have to learn the quotes by heart. she in turn quoted that very popular one “if music be the food of love …”. i faked being impressed.

the tech interview over, i was headed for the HR interview. here was this guy who seemed very young, in fact also seemed someone known. but he had sharp, probing eyes. we were particularly stuck on the shifts. genpact has very odd timings, the oddest starting at 3.30 in the morning and ending at 12.30. the other started at 12.30 in the noon and ended at 8.30 in the night. the last shift was from 8.30 in the night to 3.30 in the morning. all of them so absurd. he knew by my looks that i wasn’t very comfortable to the shifts, although i showed that i was willing. why such odd shifts for content developers who have to do no interaction with clients from afar?

also there were salary issues. i overheard him saying that i am demanding more. okays he came out and worded that usual recruiter’s dialogue “we will inform you later”.

it was already 2.15 and i had to rush. didn’t know if swati had booked the slot for 2 o’clock. instantly took a rickshaw, after much haggling with the rickshaw-wallah. reached accenture at around 2.30. wasn’t as big as genpact. also didn’t want to take up a pure writing job. but as there was nothing good to do, i thought lets take a chance.

once inside accenture premises, i saw there were several people sitting in the reception area for the interviews. i took my seat at the corner with this huge LCD TV installed on the wall just overhead me. my head was aching like anything. the tiger woods ad repeatedly showing on the TV further worsened the headache. may be because of the day long fasting. i only had an apple for breakfast. immediately rushed for the cafetaria where i had two glasses of water and a cup of coffee. the headache seemed a little better now.

met here a girl from wipro infotech. coming for interviews can be beneficial since you get to meet people from several companies. she said she had been waiting for some fifteen minutes. she had just been five months in her last organisation and felt the interviewer will surely ask her why she is job searching so early. i asked her to be confident and as she has already come, just give the interview confidently.

she was called immediately thereafter. when she returned with a gloomy face, i thought she was coming to pack her bags. instead, she had to wait for the written test. just then a guy came out frustrated as to why he has been kept waiting for so long. he was somehow pacified.

some very pretty girls had come – some were employees, others were here for interviews. a girl, who had come over from accenture bangalore, looked really pretty in the long gown and a body clinging top.

i had this HR interview with another sweet HR. she asked me if i was ready to do business writing. still as i wanted to sit for the written tests, i showed my willingness. in reality, i hate business writing. also knew i wouldn’t be able to do business writing. still don’t know what was stopping me from leaving accenture.

this guy who was entrusted the task of reading out candidates fate announced that i am to sit down for the tests, which would span some 2 hours. god it was already 5 and in another two hours it would be 7. how come will i get a bus back home. okz let’s take a chance.

the written tests included a memo that was to be edited and a memo that was to be written out using a few slides with figures. the second part appeared perplexing, but once i got down to writing the same, it didnt appear as difficult.

i completed the tests in an hour. i was now anxious to leave. but as i had waited for so long, why not wait for some more time. in some time the same guy came to announce that i come with him to a room to fill out the forms. this was an extensive form requiring me to talk about marks percentage from tenth and twelth that i little remember.

was in the middle of completing the form when a stern looking HR called me to follow her. she seemed quite tired- dont know with my resume or by the large number of interviews that she might have to take that day.

she didn’t seem impressed. and then my confidence slowly started giving away.  and then the usual recruiter’s dialogue was blurted out.

knew it was time to come out of accenture as well.

it was 10 in the night when i came back home. was feeling very hungry. grabbed three rotis and subji left over from the lunch. brother tried to console me that there would be many good opportunities to come. i said there was no need for the counselling since i wasnt feeling bad. by sunday i had forgotten everything. in the evening we partied. joined from today with the hope of reviving my boring job, but with me blogging instead shows that my job is not going to revive so early.

Global warming is just round the corner

With a bucket full of clothes to clean and no water in the tap, I start pondering about times when there will actually be no water on the earth. As newspapers make it a point to include one such item about global warming every other day, concerns about a forever water shortage are only heightened.

However, as I shuffle through the morning newspaper, there isn’t any attribution of this ceased water supply to global warming; instead it is the high levels of ammonia in water, upto 4 ppm, that has led to the closure of Wazirabad and Chandrawal water projects in Delhi.

Although, for a layman, tantalised with the lethal effects of global warming, the high levels of ammonia in water too may be one of the effects – of global warming; who knows, until proved otherwise by scientists.

Scientists too are unambiguous about the causes and effects of this phenomenon. Looks like countries, corporates and people in a capacity to influence are influencing scientists’ corroboration according to their degree of comfortability.

Now who is to be believed? Who isn’t to be believed?

My take is that global warming has already set in. Last summer was a way too hot and prolonged as well. Last year, winter descended very late. Monsoons were delayed. It rained heavily at a time when it was least expected. And this year winter has come way too early. Isn’t that one of the many symptoms of global warming – erratic seasons.

Not long ago, during the good old days, seasons used to be so well differentiated. Summers were on time. So were winters. There was a day or two of raining, which embarked the arrival of a new season.

So now that the word is out, shan’t we start preparing for the times when there will actually be no water. May be scientists then will invent ways of living with minimal water- like there will be special clothes that will not require cleaning; small blue tablets will suffice your thirst each day; tissues will find more use than in the loos; temple priests will not require you to bathe before entering the temple; plants will be hybridised to do away with the need for watering; cars will be dry-cleaned just as clothes, and water will be valued as much as gold. People would have special lockers in banks for storing their prized catch of water. Water riots will increase. People would seldom come out of their home to avoid dehydration in open sun.

Looks like times are really tough ahead. Who knows if the scientists then are able to find such solutions? Or that we are actually able to get accustomed to the new ways.

Instead of preparing for a bad future, can’t we do something in the present that stops the bad future from emerging. Precaution is always better than cure. Is it so hard to stop the wastage of water? Now that there is no water in the taps, I complete all the chores in less than two buckets of water (because I have to draw those two buckets from a handpump few blocks away). Why not the same care when the taps are running?

Also we seldom practise care for our rivers that we otherwise consider sacred.Would one have done the same to the water that they use for drinking or bathing? Isn’t that double standards that we are resorting to. If this continues, and people (that includes me and you) don’t take it as a personal issue to keep the water around them clean, and not waste the water resources available to them, there soon will be no water available on the earth.

Harishchandragadh – a memorable trekking experience

Harishchandragadh is not a place that you can forget easily. It continues to haunt your memories just as I am as much thrilled in writing about it even two years after the trip.

Harishchandragadh is located more or less equidistance from Mumbai, Pune and Ahmednagar, three important cities in Maharashtra. It is an old fort, of which only a temple exists to recount its glorious past. Situated on the foothills of the sahyadri range of mountains, the people of these cities find it a good way to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Still because of the tough terrain, it has continued to maintain its rustic charm. It is untouched from the materialistic influences, and that adds to its beauty. Unfortunately we weren’t able to shoot any pictures of this grand place. However, i found the pictures by Mr. Amit Kulkarni really good. Have a look at these.

Our plan to Harishchandragadh was made in haste. Saurabh, the inventor of the idea, told that a whole group of friends was planning to go. But finally I learnt that there were just Saurabh, Neeraj (his roommate whom I didn’t even know well then) and me. But I knew I couldn’t back off the idea now; Saurabh wouldn’t let me. So we packed a few necessaries and started for Harishchandragadh.

It was again Saurabh’s idea to start late at night so that we will have the whole day to enjoy. Believe me I was anticipating something like a horror film sequence to happen. Never been out at this time of the night.

Thankfully nothing of such a kind happened. We boarded a Maharashtra State Bus at 1.30 in the night. It was all dark outside except for the bus depots that we passed. I knew nothing but that we were moving. The other two were as unaware of it as they soon passed off into deep slumber. I kept awake, wide awake since I cannot sleep in a moving bus. I kept looking out in the dark to ascertain whether we were in the plains or were heading for the hills. I didn’t know when my eyes too closed, although I can bet it was just for some half hour.

It was around four when the conductor jostled Saurabh from his deep slumber. He exclaimed that Harishchandragadh has come. He had been bribed with cigarettes to do this small favour. Oh finally, I thought. I tried to see out from the window for any hint of what Harishchandragadh actually is. Nothing was visible except for the vast expanses. Not a light was visible. Where has the bus dropped us at this time of the night? It wasn’t night actually, but daylight was still too far. Was it a forest that we have been dropped into? My body shuddered with the thought of wild animals. No, I don’t want to be killed so early. The vast expanse gave hints of mountain close by. There also was a faint gurgling sound of water that came from nearby.

But none of us was actually ready to go examine the place. All were afraid to venture out in the dark. This from people like Saurabh and Neeraj who proclaim them as big time goons. So we decided to wait until twilight.

And then at around 4.30 in the morning, as the first rays of light dawned the earth, we saw the most beautiful scene of our lives. Behind a large mountain block, the sky turned into deep orange. The sun slowly came out of its confines and enlightened the entire sky.

Things finally became clearer with daylight. There were mountains all over. And there was a small river with a stone bridge built over it. Harishchandragadh was still out of sight. Moreover, there was still no sight of people whom we can ask for way. We even doubted if any civilization did exist at this place.

After getting fresh (that was little problem with water available in sufficient) we decided to move. The journey through the bridge seemed endless. Finally a small hut was visible. It all looked like in movies. Large mountains, a smoothly flowing river, small hut. The owner here made money by offering snacks to tourists who came here. It was here that we learnt that Harishchandragadh is a hot spot among Mumbaiites and Puneites. Having a full breakfast of pohe we got up for our journey.

We were joined by another group of marathi boys. Soon we learnt that this group plans to trek easy. We decided to part ways so that we can reach the place early and return by the evening.

Returning by evening was not possible however. We had expected that crossing this one or two hills, we would reach the spot. But we were wrong. There were several small and big hills to cross. And I cursed the time when I had agreed to come to the place. It would be easy for the pros amongst us. But for me, a first time trekker, this was a real tough adventure.

The first hill was smaller but steeper. And then there was the most dangerous one. I can still feel goose pimples thinking of it. The hill had no vegetation. It is easier to trek through a mountain with vegetation than with none. If you are losing balance, you can catch hold of some tree branches. But none here. At one point, there was just as much place to keep a foot. And don’t dare to see down. The deep gullies down may freeze you with fear. When you are in the Western Ghats you can view many such gullies.

Finally we crossed. And this was the last hurdle. We made it fast. And Neeraj gets the entire credit for it. He wouldn’t allow you to rest. Sit down for more than a minute and instantly came his comment- keep moving or your legs will get jammed. He was right, but our legs were denying to move even now.

We reached Harishchandragadh at around 2.30 in the noon. The trek took us around 3 hours. Harishchandragadh was no fort, at least not now. All that remains of the fort is this temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is built in black stone and has beautiful carvings on its walls and pillars. We prostrated before the lord from outside the temple (we hadn’t taken bath yet).

We decided to stay for the night. People there told us that picnickers stay here and enjoy campfires in the night. Teams from several reputable companies had come. Besides, we had still not sight seen the place.

Water tasted sweet here. The ground water was sweet, but it was chilling as well. Too cold for us to take bath. We didn’t even dare to go down in a water tank (kund) downstairs, which had a HUGE Shivalinga (around half the size of a regular room). It was said of this kund that if a person goes around this shivalinga in the cold water, all his wishes get fulfilled. We missed the opportunity or may be we willingly missed the opportunity.

But we didn’t stay here for long. Saurabh was restless to visit the other sights closeby. Harishchandragadh is located at the foothills of the second largest peak of Maharashtra, i.e. Taramati. Saurabh came to know that people go up to Taramati and from there they can see sunset on Kokangarha. So I was herded for the next trek.

Thankfully, Taramati was an easy ascent. There were enough trees to balance you. At the exact top however I did lose balance on a few stones, not well founded. Neeraj gave me his hand. Neeraj hardly looked tired. Saurabh, who like to appear undaunted, wouldn’t show his fear either. But I was all tired and wasn’t able to move an inch now. Reaching the top surely gives you a feeling of satisfaction, of elation at having conquered the second largest peak in Maharashtra. The mountains nearby looked timid from the top. At noon, it was really very hot there. We decided to rest for a while on the yellowish grass at the small natural platform at the peak of Taramati.

But rest was not for long. We had to visit the sunset point and Saurabh wouldn’t rest until he reached there. To make things worse, we lost our way here. One wrong turn and we were lost, seemed like in a jungle. With creepers all around, you could hardly walk. Finally it struck our mind to go up on a tree to check what was ahead. Saurabh soon got up a tree and claimed that either there was way ahead or it was a deep gully. We decided to move ahead and check for ourselves. Fortunately it was a way; not to Kokangarha however, but back to Harishchandragadh. It was getting dark so we decided to postpone the sunset plan.

By the time we got down, it was already dark. The priest of the temple suggested that we order food to a women who lives nearby. Seemed she was the only family living there and made a good money by feeding people like us. It was getting chilled here, even though we were on the peak of summer. She provided us with a carpet and a blanket. We were to sleep in caves; these caves may have been used by priests during the ancient times as abode. It was built by cutting into the large blocks of the Taramati. And we were not alone here. People here were having a good time with campfires. After having a sumptuous lunch of thick chapattis laced with pure butter, curd, and potato curry, I was really feeling sleepy. Rarely had I walked as much in my life. And I slept like I had never before, though I remember fighting for my share of the small blanket at night.

The next day we were ready to make our journey back. So much did I wish that I stayed here for long. But I also dreaded the tedious journey up and down the hills. Wish some helicopter took me straight from this place. But wishes are seldom fulfilled. I couldn’t have stayed there for long since my classes were to start the next day. And I had to follow the same route. However this time it appeared less daunty, may be because of the experience I had gained of trekking.