The Name Problem

I just got off from a call with Yatra.com. I had to call them just because I ran into some minor issues while doing it online.

Having a mallu (malayali) name is a nightmare sometimes. it took me full 10 minutes to make the customer service associate that my name is "Kannan Kartha"(K-a-n-n-a-n K-a-r-t-h-a). Now, I don't know if it has anything to do with my accent (though I think that I have done decent job of neutralizing my mallu accent) and by the time I completed spelling my name out, I was exhausted.

There are two issues with spelling out a name. First is that people just jump the gun thinking they can get spell it right when I know that they cannot. I remember an American addressing me as "Canon Karta" on email after we had a conversation over phone. This Yatra guy took down my name as "Kanan Kartka". Secondly, the use of "nn" and "th" is mostly there in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and not used to by people from other states especially from the north.

People find it hilarious how mallu names are derived, but believe me, any mallu can learn any language in the world. Be it tamil or mandarin.

As I continue to spell my name to each and every non-malayali I meet, I have also joined the group called "People Who Always Have To Spell Their Names For Other People" on Facebook. Check it out.

Story Of A Job Hopper

I received this one from one of my friends via email and I thought that this one will be a worthwhile post. (I don't know who the actual author is and this piece is not authored by me ...)

A tad long.. but too good.

"Some, rather most organizations reject his CV today because he has changed jobs frequently (10 in 14 years). My friend, the 'job hopper' (referred here as Mr. JH), does not mind it.... well he does not need to mind it at all. Having worked full-time with 10 employer companies in just 14 years gives Mr. JH the relaxing edge that most of the 'company loyal' employees are struggling for today. Today, Mr. JH too is laid off like some other 14-15 year experienced guys - the difference being the latter have just worked in 2-3 organizations in the same number of years. Here are the excerpts of an interview with Mr. JH:

Q: Why have you changed 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: To get financially sound and stable before getting laid off the second time.

Q: So you knew you would be laid off in the year 2009?
A: Well I was laid off first in the year 2002 due to the first global economic slowdown. I had not got a full-time job before January 2003 when the economy started looking up; so I had struggled for almost a year without job and with compromises.

Q: Which number of job was that?
A: That was my third job.

Q: So from Jan 2003 to Jan 2009, in 6 years, you have changed 8 jobs to make the count as 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: I had no other option. In my first 8 years of professional life, I had worked only for 2 organizations thinking that jobs are deserved after lot of hard work and one should stay with an employer company to justify the saying 'employer loyalty'. But I was an idiot.

Q: Why do you say so?
A: My salary in the first 8 years went up only marginally. I could not save enough and also, I had thought that I had a 'permanent' job, so I need not worry about 'what will I do if I lose my job'. I could never imagine losing a job because of economic slowdown and not because of my performance. That was January 2002.

Q: Can you brief on what happened between January 2003 and 2009.
A: Well, I had learnt my lessons of being 'company loyal' and not 'money earning and saving loyal'. But then you can save enough only when you earn enough. So I shifted my loyalty towards money making and saving - I changed 8 jobs in 6 years assuring all my interviewers about my stability.

Q: So you lied to your interviewers; you had already planned to change the job for which you were being interviewed on a particular day?
A: Yes, you can change jobs only when the market is up and companies are hiring. You tell me - can I get a job now because of the slowdown? No. So one should change jobs for higher salaries only when the market is up because that is the only time when companies hire and can afford the expected salaries.

Q: What have you gained by doing such things?
A: That's the question I was waiting for. In Jan 2003, I had a fixed salary (without variables) of say Rs. X p.a. In January 2009, my salary was 8X. So assuming my salary was Rs.3 lakh p.a. in Jan 2003, my last drawn salary in Jan 2009 was Rs.24 lakh p.a. (without variable). I never bothered about variable as I had no intention to stay for 1 year and go through the appraisal process to wait for the company to give me a hike.

Q: So you decided on your own hike?
A: Yes, in 2003, I could see the slowdown coming again in future like it had happened in 2001-02. Though I was not sure by when the next slowdown would come, I was pretty sure I wanted a 'debt-free' life before being laid off again. So I planned my hike targets on a yearly basis without waiting for the year to complete.

Q: So are you debt-free now?
A: Yes, I earned so much by virtue of job changes for money and spent so little that today I have a loan free 2 BR flat (1200 sq. feet) plus a loan free big car without bothering about any EMIs. I am laid off too but I do not complain at all. If I have laid off companies for money, it is OK if a company lays me off because of lack of money.

Q: Who is complaining?
A: All those guys who are not getting a job to pay their EMIs off are complaining. They had made fun of me saying I am a job hopper and do not have any company loyalty. Now I ask them what they gained by their company loyalty; they too are laid off like me and pass comments to me - why will you bother about us, you are already debt-free. They were still in the bracket of 12-14 lakh p.a. when they were laid off.

Q: What is your advice to professionals?
A: Like Narayan Murthy had said - love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you. In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company's needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.

Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?
A: When a company does well, its CEO etc will address the entire company saying, 'well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you." But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO etc will say, "It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go." So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss."

Solution For UnHappy Employees

Who says employers are not concerned about employees? They are definitely doing there best to bring smile on each employees face!

(via email from @rkartha)

No Vote, No Opinion?

I did not vote!

Not because my name was not in the voter's list nor is it because I did not get the voter's ID card or because I had any other work. I was just not motivated enough!

I did read/hear/encounter people say that it is "our fundamental duty" and "vote is my right!". I have no debate on that. But I also see statements that say - "No vote, No opinion" (Even Jeffrey Archer is saying that)

I have quick questions to those who say "No vote, no opinion":

### We as citizens are supposed to abide by the law set by the constitution. How many of us follow the rules? No bribing, following traffic laws, following rules while constructing a house, paying tax without showing fake bills, no piracy etc....

### If you are really craving for chicken biriyani for dinner, but what is available for you is only "Pani Puri" or "curd rice", would you be happy having what is available? Same is the case with the contestants for Lok Sabha or Assembly in most constituencies. Please note that I am not saying all constituencies have got this issue. The tendency is to vote for who is less worse. But that is what we have been doing all the while, isn't it? Adjust to the chaos and be proud of how this democracy runs inspite of having ineligible and incapable people part of the Government just because we voted for the lesser evil.

### Let's assume that I want ABC party to win because I like their policies and they did really well in the past. But in my constituency, I have this contestant Mr. XYZ who is totally incompetent from ABC party and has criminal record or may be Mr. XYZ is not known to anyone at all. Who will you vote for?

### You support a XYZ-ABC alliance because you think EFG alliance is not in nation's interest. With that in mind, you vote for a candidate from ABC party. After the voting process is over, ABC leaves the alliance and joins EFG because ABC just want to get into power and EFG is more likely to be in power. Have you been fooled or not? What "thing" that you attain as part of exercising the "fundamental right" would you use to fight this problem?

### My wife's name was not on the voter's list. Do we mean to say that she does not get to voice her opinion? Kamal Hassan could not vote because his name was missing from the voter's list. He should not have an opinion about the machinery? Close to 45% of citizens from Pune and Mumbai could not vote because their names were missing. Do they not get to express their opinion?

### Citizens of India who are working abroad have no right to voice their opinion?

Don't get me wrong. I am not against voting. I think mandating voting is a good idea. But there is a lot that we need to do:

- Advocates of voting should follow other fundamental duties as well before talking about voting. Same is true with the contestants

- Community service be mandated for any person contesting elections so that there is visibility on what these contestants have done before citizens vote

- Any contestant with criminal records needs to be cleared by SC to fight elections, else barred from contesting

- Post poll alliances should be banned (this includes any alliance discussions after the poll and before the results)

- Each candidate should declare what they have done for the constituency they are fighting from

I have my own opinions about the machinery and I understand that others have their own. I will express mine at will and I will have my ears for other's.

Whether you agree with my opinion or not is a different question altogether.

... and whether I will agree with your opinions is based on if you make sense or not!

Democracy has turned into being just "by the people". When do we get to a state when it is "of the people" and "for the people"?