Lifeu Ishtene...

“My **** manager had assigned me hell lot of tasks dude”, grumbled my friend when he came home at 8p.m on a Friday. I am sure he is not the only grumbling friend I have; there are lots of others who mutter about their software jobs. I always wonder at the tendency of most of us to wrap their problems in one garb and name it “corporate life”. While relapsing on a chair in an air conditioned room watching you-tube videos (only when free :-P), we complain about our handsome-paying jobs.

In this article of mine, I would like to divert the readers’ attention towards other professions as well. Perhaps, it might make them realize that the grass is always greener on the other side of the hedge. We are so prejudiced towards the negativities of our jobs that, this strong feeling of dissatisfaction has turned us blind towards the real struggle of some non-corporate employees. The clamor for ‘job satisfaction’ has led us into believing that, whatever job we do in IT industry is worthless and this feeling of resentment often results in high attrition rate.

It is strange how every other job looks awesome than the one we are into. Being a software engineer, we might even take a liking towards the profession of an auto-rickshaw driver or a bus conductor. Some study engineering passionately and get into their dream jobs, stay happy for the rest of their lives and the rest pursue it for the prospects of a high paying job and sooner or later, they end up cursing their profession and start waiting for a dream job to strike them, as if it’s an epiphany.

Even though I am still a newbie software engineer, I have had the opportunity to understand the plight of people working only to fulfill their square meal and I couldn’t help but think about our lives where even slippers are branded. In spite of basking in all the glories and luxuries of our jobs, yet we crib about our lives. That life where shoes and burgers are just a click away.  In fact, I feel that all the comforts we need are easily accessible to us. But, I was compelled to contrast my life with that of Suresh, (Name changed) a ‘Lift operator’. For 12 straight hours, from 8p.m to 8a.m, he does nothing but wait for someone to press the button so that he can justify his presence. How can he make peace with that constant, agitating thought of “What am I doing here? No, I deserve to be in a better place. I can do better things than just pressing some buttons”. I couldn’t help myself from asking him about his duty. Pat came the reply- “Ella aa devara kaiyalli sir. Nam kaiyall enide?” (It’s all destiny sir, we are just his puppets). I stood speechless. That day, he taught me an invaluable lesson- “Be complacent with what you have and what you can achieve. Don’t put your weight behind dreams which are tantalizing.”

I felt, he deserves a much better salary than us for his patience and mental strength which we don’t have.

If you are in a quandary about your job satisfaction and have run out of options, I would suggest you to strike up a conversation with people like Suresh who can placate your agitated mind.

The sight of a busy Bangalore street is quite disturbing. Horns blaring, crowded streets and hawkers wading their way through. Amidst all this hoopla, Gopal, (Name changed) a BMTC bus driver skillfully prevents a minor collision and ultimately avoids a major traffic jam. It was quite an unusual sight in a BMTC bus that day- vacant seats! I took advantage of this situation to start a conversation with him. Unlike Suresh(Lift operator), Gopal vented his frustration on the higher authorities. He spends half a day away from his family, driving a packed bus on the streets of Bangalore with the constant thought of punctuality in his mind and yet, becomes another victim of harassment. 

There are still a lot people like Suresh and Gopal, whose miseries are totally unknown to us. We are actually a privileged lot. Think about this statement for a while. I hope, if not many, at least some of you can appreciate this fact. So, when you are sad with your life because of your job, stop being sad and think of those people who have experienced what we might never experience- “Poverty”.