The opium of a job

Unemployment is not pleasant. It never was meant to be pleasant. These days more than the sheer loss of income for that period, what is stressful is that it actually translates to a period when a person has to think on his own all the time. When we are doing a job either for someone else or self-employed, we actually like to fall into a routine. Routine gives us comfort, to some extent the "daily routine" is like a mild dose of opium. It's predictable, it keeps us occupied, keeps us happy and numb. Our minds are conditioned to continue to do what it always does. Like a state of inertia. Same as a drug addiction. When unemployed, you are suddenly thrown into a sea of unfamiliar mental space. Well, at least for a short while, because after that you may perhaps even get used to unemployment and be extremely uncomfortable when you take up a job again. That explains why most people take a lay-off from their job so badly. They are totally distressed and unsettled. Very analogous to a opium addict suddenly cut off from his daily dose. The pain is less about the impending short term loss of income but more about the looming uncertainly and the necessity to kick start their brains again to wriggle out of this situation. People who have faced either forced or voluntary unemployment are better equipped in my opinion to think through problems and figure out ways. The mind hates to think, and that's what a job provides. Repeated steady tasks. Like the stuff they teach IT professionals in CMMi training: everything has to have a pre-defined way to do to take away all creative thinking and hence the fluctuations.
One other important thing that unemployment does is makes you focus on your priorities once more. There is a lot of things a person wishes he could do or stop doing. All those are dusted and brought out for evaluation. It's like a purgatory; washes everything off and forces you to start with a clean slate and with priorities properly rearranged. It's a double edged sword.
There are clear drawbacks but then there are some very subtle benefits as well if you are willing to use the opportunity.

the home circus

Many times at home these days I feel that Trupti and I are orchestrating a little circus. The day begins at 6:45 sharp with the wail of the girl "Thaki" or "Tanvi". Correction the day has already most probably begun at 3 am or 2 am or lets say the day is a continuous flowing stream with no start or end.

So basically the girl's is full of attitude. She smiles only when she wants to and rarely cries. Sometimes she is bored and sometimes she wants to not eat anything at all. And the boy "Bandya" or less popularly called as "Gautam" is the most gentle personality in the house at the moment with a winning smile. He's not like her. He always smiles and is willing to play. Their smiles are the only fuel keeping up going at the moment. There is a non stop cycle of feeding, cleaning, bathing, playing, crying, doctors, maids coming in and going out, parents coming and going and in the middle of all this the two of us trying to make some sense of our lives. We feel our life turned from a breezy evening jog to a formula 1 race overnight. The house is littered with hundreds of objects all over the place and we have long since stopped asking each other what each object is or what it is doing there. The local chemist and pediatrician know both kids by their first names since we are frequent fliers. Twins are God's way of reminding parents that life can kiss you on one cheek and slap you on the other at the same time.

2010 summary

1. The stork (Dr. Patankar and helpers), brought us a bunch of kids.
2. Office got real boring all year round.
3. Bored of air travel.
4. Football on Sundays was revived, thank God.
5. Finally quit Tieto
6. Life now revolves around B & T, their bottles, diapers and their smiles. They did good so far, no cry, sleep at night, pretty good for someone who is 5 month old.

आई आणि बाबांनी फार मदत केली मागचे दोन वर्ष.

Wikileaks: proves Americans are scared of their government

I used to think America is where there is a highest level of freedom of expression. Seems otherwise actually. After the wikileaks started showing a lot of govt official conversations, the US govt has threatened to "kill" Julian Assange. Nothing surprising there. But, companies like Amazon and Apple chickening out is more amazing. Looks like the citizens of America are indeed afraid of "big brother" :-)
Amazon: removed wikileaks from their servers after govt pressure
Apple: removed Wikileaks App from their store under similar fear I believe.
Sometime I think media in India is far more free from direct fear, they just go ahead and say what the hell they want to. Sometimes even condemning persons before an enquiry. Its called "trial by media" these days.

A new beginning again

After a break of 4 years, I have decided to make another new beginning in my professional career. This time I will work for a startup with a foot in the world of banks and their customers.
Its been a long and well thought of change this time. Not impulsive like I usually do. I have been trying to probe into what kind of person I am and what job would keep me excited. I don't have a very definitive answer but I am going to give this a positive shot.
Trupti has been very supportive and I have promised her more support with baby-sitting and allowing her to get a few hours more per day to do something else. On the whole, i feel a little relieved and pleasantly excited about whats coming up from Feb/March next year. I will miss the people in Tieto the most. The work was not exactly to my best liking although there was definitely plenty of travel and exposure to all kinds of business situations. too bad I am not such a good "manager" after all.
So with optimism in my heart I move forward.

Where have the crisp sunny days in Pune gone?

I have been observing that over the last few years the number of days that we have clouds or haze over Pune city has gone up significantly. I am nothing jumping into all those smog and pollution discussions, but it does seem that we weather has turned a lot more hazy and particle laden off late. Rarely these we get to see the dry sunny cloudless skies over Pune. Those days its typically burning if you stand under the sun but quite comfortable in shade since the humidity is low and the air as such is cool. I wake up these days more often to see some sort of clouds or haze in the morning.
Personally I am a man of the SUN. I prefer hot/dry/clear skies to murky and grey days.

Its time for new cribs for new members coming in on 1st Oct

I got wood yesterday for making 2 cribs. They should be ready before Oct 1 when the 3 members come  to the house from their grandmother's home.