Cleaning Up...

After a considerably long period of time, my house is being painted. It all started with the door. One of our front doors (we have two! :-P) has been a dead state for some time now. Finally, after a seamlessly endless debate and my threat to try my strength on it, forced my father to hire some carpenters and make a new door.
The new one was made. But now the front doors looked a world apart. So we painted the other door as well. Now both the doors stick out and became quite an eyesore to a not so gracefully aged painted walls. Thats *not* pretty much the backstory on the decision.
Earlier also we had been discussing the painting thing and my parents sort of decided to do the painting when I get married. After seeing me ROTFL upon hearing this and my constant sneer and contempt when potential ladies are thrown in our conversation, must have made them decide the painting has to be done now. So yours truly is quite relieved to say the least. No one will blame him for not allowing his parents to paint the house! :-P
Now, the decision is welcome. But, I didn't quite realise what is in store for me. Cleaning up my room! :-O My 8 years of fiefdom has transformed this room into a zoo to say the least. To clean this I will have to call Mr.Hercules himself. I can ofcourse sit pretty doing nothing, but my prized possessions are under threat. Lots and lots of books, scraps of important paper like my identity cards in the various fests I have been in, CDs, DVDs and ofcourse some "very objectionable material" that I have seem to lost in this mess!
As usual I have not started the work and my mother is closing in every hour! She is finishing up room by room and by daybreak tomorrow all that will be left will be mine! Need to get my lazy ass up and box everything up!
Ciao!

Kerala is bad for your career?

Happened to read Silverine's post regarding the placement time in Kerala and about a relative being to unhappy that her daughter was placed only at a company in Technopark.
I was appalled after reading the comments predicting doomsday for those staying in Kerala. Granted there are not many companies as we can see in Bangalore or Hyderabad or Chennai, but it is totally unreasonable to say that there is no hope for the Kerala IT sector.
I work in a software product company in Technopark and I see a lot of things happening. To equate the political system with the IT sector in Kerala is total rubbish. The government can and should do a lot of things, but in spite of the minimal support the fact is that we are developing.
En route to office, travelling through the bypass, I see the sprawling lands taken up for the new Infosys campus. There are rumors of some dispute regarding the land allocation, but it will be coming up in the near future. There is a small bit of land taken up for the campus of a company called IVL and construction is going on for the same. The land acquired and being leveled for the expansion of Technopark.
As I enter the campus, I can see the construction for the new campus for IBS. The sign that points to the sprawling Thejaswini, the biggest building in the Technopark, getting ready to take in around 5000 professionals (I may be wrong on the number!).
I come to the office, hear about the new project that our company may get. A pretty big one and something the software service heavyweights cannot even dream of getting. Reading about the way we kicked the butt of industry heavyweights from abroad by securing some great deals.
Chatting with the fellow comrades. Bitching about our company and the pay. Listening to the rumors, interlaced with some truths regarding the deals others have landed. Going to the balcony for a cup of coffee around 11. I can see the 10 storeys of the new complex by Leela.
Traveling further from Kazhakootam. I can see the lands that will in due course of time, become the Technocity. Not much by the standards of the metros. But, its the small rivulets that builds a mighty river.
All these are happening in front of my eyes. I did not even mention the smart city. How many IT jobs can we see here? Atleast some 20-25K, probably much more. How many people indirectly benefiting? I cannot give an estimate on that.
Still...people say Kerala sucks!
About the frequent hartals and bandhs. IT sector is not affected and we work on those days too. Not very comfortable, still adjustustable.
The excuse they have given for such rash comments is that the government is doing nothing to stop the fever that has gone on to epidemic levels. So, is everything fine and dandy with the common people in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh? From what I gather, our people in Kerala live a better life. Government can act as a catalyst to the development. Even without it, development will take place, albeit at a slower pace.
There is a mass exodus of freshers to the various software service companies. For what? Majority of them are on benches enjoying the free pay package forsome time. Then they start working and at the end of one year they realise they haven't gone much further in terms of their skill. I for one would like to get paid for the work that I do and adequately so. I am not saying its entirely different in Kerala. But the fact is people leave the better jobs in Kerala based companies to go and sit in benches making new 7 wonders with pen and paper.
At the start of ones career I believe one has to find the best opportunity to do the best work. You are enthusiastic, does not have many distractions of a family life and can gain a lot of experience.
I chose a different career path from almost all my friends. In spite of being a decent coder I chose to become a technical writer. I have never regretted the decision to do so and have never regretted about the company I chose to work for. There are some issues, but all of that have been my own doing (for those of who know me personally). I can safely say that I have gained much better experience and has had better exposure than most of my peers. That has been through a company working at Trivandrum. Enough blah blah about me.
What the IT sector in Kerala lacks is the presence of global superstars. We don't have a Dell or HP or Oracle here. But we do have good companies with the prospects of many more coming in the near future.
At least the serene atmosphere of Technopark with a clean atmosphere is a pretty big reason to be happy working here. Seeing a mongoose run fearlessly through the bushes. Watching the mynas peck away. Hearing the sweet songs of the birds whose names yours truly is ignorant of. All these ease ones mind after a stressful period of work. Getting a really good and clean meal for as low 12 rupees. How many big metros can boast that?
As I said earlier, its not right to predict doom for the Kerala IT sector. Because the truth is otherwise.