Couple of years back I was flying from Frankfurt to India for my holiday. During the flight, I read an article in the Time of India. The summary of story as many of you may know in many variations, a BPO employee bought and presented a brand new car to her father on his birthday. The big deal is - that was her first year in the job. Even bigger deal in the story is, her father who worked all his life to bring up children could not effort a car even at retirement. Fantastic! That should make both father and child proud.
That was at the peak of Indian Economic boom. Stock market was taking bull ride - going from 8000 to 16000 in less than a year. Making money was never so easy. Everybody was singing praise about the future of India. Some people even went an announced that India is decoupled from rest of the world. Jobs were coming loads. The Engineering colleges are not able to generate the Tech coolies. All the hi-Tech Indian companies were lining in front of even a "3rd rate Engineering college" gates to "catch" the students we would come out with a degree a year later. Some one said - hell with these Engineering and Medicine (the so called elite jobs in India) - a B.Com with neutral accent can make a killing and earn in five figures and many more perks.
When I was discussing similar amazing stories with many in my extended family and friends, I soon realised on thing - the tone has gone beyond being proud to arrogance.
On one side, it is about ridiculing their elders whom these new economy kids have written off as incapable to dare, dream and do things as they are doing - earning fat cat salaries, spending for a inflated life style. [Of course all these youth never realised what it was in a socialist pre-1991 India -When the jobs were only in PSU or Government sector, no mobility and any thought of realising a dream going abroad was only for the brightest]
Other side, coming to a conclusion that all the jobs coming to India are due to their intelligence and capability. Well, that may be true some extent. It was a feeling that - jobs were sucked rather than pushed from West due to prevailing circumastances. But, it was not true that the people who were loosing their jobs in US were not capable or hard working. With wage inflation raising so much, many of these these new economy "kids" started hopping from one job to another - only to become too greedy. Salary was determined by market demand than individual worth. [Do you remember a story - that a Techie resigned for a job because he was not allowed to watch cricket score on internet!]
Today, it is time to reflect and see how much they understood their parents, who slogged all their lives to bring up couple of children and to give them a better life. How much they knew that their parents have sacrificed even simple luxuries - to save some money for their children education and future?
Today many are afraid about their future. None is sure about their job. They did not save for a rainy day. In simple word they are too leveraged. Is it that people who are loosing their jobs are not capable? It is their misfortune to be at a wrong place at a wrong time. This was what happened in West when loads of jobs arrived in India some years back.
But, this is a lesson to all - who never respected their elders and to all those who ridiculed others simply by saying that India is already on top. Remember - it falling from cliff, nearly a free fall. Just started! Infosys, Satyam, TCS or Jet airways or anyone cannot keep paying at 10-20% annual hike for ever.
World will never be same again even after these tough times go past us. Only thing is - it is an opportunity to learn couple of important things in life.
16th Oct 2008
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