300% employee turnover, blued out but published

and just like that, i am on my fourth maid in as many months. while the first lasted 3 months, the last two were 4 days and 6 days each. while i layed the first one off, the last two fell to attrition. while the first one was underperforming (in hindsight) the last two were successful equals (also in hindsight). and now, number four has a chance to exceed expectations.

enough intel speak?! i would think so :)

susheela comes from coorg. if i saw her walking down the road, i wouldnt classify her as a maid. she is quiet, reserved and capable. thus far. lest i be proven wong, let's just say i havent much to say eitherways. but i am feeling the lack of privacy big time with all the churn. i just wish one [maid] would settle down and disappear into the routine of a day.

and then to top it all BSOD happened. dead, completely, not a peep from the darn laptop. as if someone knew i craved for the welcome change of dealing with the very capable dell support (note the dripping sarcasm, please), i spent a full three days with them. Rs.10000 later all i had was a brand new hard drive that actually costs half that. for all dell support says is: you can download the drivers from the web. (haan, how do i connect if i dont have a network driver?!). ma'am you must be having another computer, no? what am i -- a factory? oh sorry ma'am. but we cannot send software -- it is company policy. those last two words are the usual cop out everywhere in the world when someone somewhere cannot help you, sorry. and so i raved and ranted at unprepared and unempowered minions until one relented and burned a "drives and utilities" CD for me on her own time and sent it across. finally, i was able to have something more than just a dumb terminal in front of me.

lesson learned: carry all your software from OS to the smallest measly .exe or driver with you. for if your system goes kaput, no one will oblige with gates' damn stuff unless they owe you previously big time -- or by a quirk of fate, are related to you (thanks vinay).

and all this mental trauma has nothing to do with the serious withdrawal symptoms i felt being away from the net. i would read this and read that (all very fine) -- but each time i felt like checking something more -- a phone number -- a reference -- and mentally reached for my computer, my hands knew better. darn. ok, make a note to look it up later. so much so, that i even rely on the net for my dictionary. the isolation was unbearable. what a commentary on lifestyle, uh? well i dont make any apologies. so i am an information junkie.

speaking of information, my first article after 1995 appeared at:
http://indiatogether.org/2005/sep/gov-bangalore.htm

all i can say is, it is exhilarating to be doing what you like. again.

just an aside

at the risk of sounding horribly nri-snooty, i must say i had my first taste of amazing efficiency in india.

what where when why how?

the kingfisher airlines and INDIAN RAILWAYS (!) websites
booking tickets online
this afternoon
for our diwali vacation
absolutely smooth, intuitive UI and, guess what, the railways delivers paper tickets home the next day!

not even expedia or unameit can match that. so, in all the inefficiency (one has to experience it to believe it) around us, these two websites are brilliant rays of hope.

hey vijay mallya... how about book-a-plumber.co.in?

By the khlongs (canals) in Bangkok

Sunday morning life along the khlongs in Bangkok. From the top:
A series of chortens outside one of many wats on the banks of these khlongs.
Men with guitars were everywhere. like here, outside his house or at street corners or in bazaars. These people love music.
This Thai Muslim woman surprised me on several levels. Firstly, you dont see that many in Bangkok. Thailand has a very high percentage of Buddhists, with the Muslims concentrated in the deep south near the Malaysian border. Secondly, she was in a white burkha. Thirdly, the number of wind chimes on her all white porch spoke of someone who loves harmony and cleanliness. Notice the spotless white clothes hanging to dry.
A fisherman collecting his nets on a Sunday. All kinds of things were wading, swimming and floating around in this water. An ecosystem unto itself :)

By the river in Bangkok

Night sets on the river where a large barge is towed by a small boat. The Chao Phraya river is an arterial transport way in Bangkok, used by locals from monks (top) to military men. We used it as well and enjoyed jumping on and off at piers at will. Costs between 10 and 30 baht to travel anywhere upto Nonthaburi.

patterns they are a'changing

The night sets softly
With the hush of falling leaves,
Casting shivering shadows
On the houses through the trees,
And the light from a street lamp
Paints a pattern on my wall,
Like the pieces of a puzzle
Or a child's uneven scrawl.

Up a narrow flight of stairs
In a narrow little room,
As I lie upon my bed
In the early evening gloom.
Impaled on my wall
My eyes can dimly see
The pattern of my life
And the puzzle that is me.

From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death,
There are patterns I must follow
Just as I must breathe each breath.
Like a rat in a maze
The path before me lies,
And the pattern never alters
Until the rat dies.

or makes up its mind. and this rat just made up her mind to change the patterns.

a gray cube with a laptop for just about anywhere with a laptop. a piece of silicon for seasons in the sun. IMBOs and ARs for first drafts and deadlines. managers for editors. green-backed monthly paychecks for nothing. no, wait. for bylines.

and it feels darn good. there is a goal and a raison d'être. finally.