My two bits - Rage Against The Machine

Today the morning was part glorious, part muggy. The sky was a dull grey with the sun playing hide and seek between ominous clouds. Whenever the sun came out the morning lit up but for the remainder it stayed gloomy. A pretty apt reflection of this morning could be found in today's newspaper (I suspect this might be true of most days) - some doom, some gloom and a few bright spots. Like every grey cloud has a silver lining, every silver lining has a touch of grey (thanks J.Garcia).

We begin with the curious case of Irom Sharmila - the Iron Lady of Manipur. Her civil rights activism began in 2000 when she went on a hunger strike to protest against the massacre of ten civilians who were waiting at a bus stop, allegedly by the Army. Over the past fourteen years, she has continued fasting while authorities have arrested, released and rearrested her multiple times, the last incident just a few days ago. The hunger strike is a formidable weapon of civil disobedience used in the past by Mahatma Gandhi  to win our independence, and more recently (and less successfully) by Anna Hazare. It has been used as a mark of protest by almost all our current day politicians and even some film stars to protest against whatever is the bone of contention for the day. However, when Irom Sharmila goes on a hunger strike, it is branded as "attempted suicide" and she is promptly jailed and force fed through her nose. This has been going on for almost fourteen long years and it raises the question - where are all the bleeding heart liberals and custodians of the fourth estate when they are needed? Is Irom Sharmila not sexy enough to warrant coverage? Is her story not worth retelling? Is it because Manipur is tucked away in a corner of our collective conscience? Or is it just a simple case of apathy and is the media simply fatigued by a fourteen year old struggle? Do we care anymore? Here is something to try - ask three people whom you meet today if they have heard of Irom Sharmila (not to be confused with Iron Man, Sharmila Tagore or any other semantic variable).

In our neighbourhood, Pakistan continues its slow descent into anarchy, almost akin to passing through the circles in Dante's Inferno. The army continues to bully a democratically elected  government (that's a farce for another day) while soft hardliners like Imran Khan make threats they cannot carry out. His rhetoric carries pretty much the same message the Taliban gave out before they captured power in Afghanistan. We all remember how that turned out (certainly not so well for the Bamiyan Buddhas). Any attempt at resolving the Kashmir issue through a dialogue between our two nations is promptly scuttled by Pakistan's Army and the ISI, with (one suspects) some help from our side of the border as well.

Staying with international news, the ISIS continues to shock the world with its modern day barbarism, matched only by the sheer inanity of the Israel - Palestine conundrum. While the latter has no simple solution, the former's grand design to establish an Islamic Caliphate is a wonderful pipe dream (good crack methinks). Nothing captures the bizarre absurdity of the ISIS more than when a teacher blew himself up along with an entire class of students while demonstrating how to make a suicide vest! Good job - it worked!! The ISIS is now the new Enemy No.1, now that Al Qaeda is not the threat it once was, the world (read America) needs another target to keep its economy booming. War, after all, is great for business.

Coming back to domestic news, the recent pronouncements regarding bikinis in Goa by Ministers of the State are part tragic, part comic and almost entirely worthy of contempt. While Goa, along with the rest of the nation, grapples with far more serious issues, these Ministers are obsessed with bikinis on women who want to wear them of their own free will and accord. They have gone as far as recommending that certain beaches be designated as bikini zones and this attractive form of clothing be allowed only on those beaches. There is also a suggestion to charge an admission fee to access these bikini-friendly beaches. So many issues immediately spring to mind - impact on local tourism, impact on other beaches, local commerce and industry, civil liberties, freedom of choice and expression, objectification of women and most importantly - aesthetics. How many times have you visited a public beach or waterfall or lake or river and cringed as you watched middle-aged, pot-bellied Indian men strip down to their briefs and enjoy themselves without a care in the world as if they were standing in their own backyard? Apparently this is acceptable by our standards of Indian "sanskriti" but an attractive woman in a bikini is not!

Staying with the absurd, the new viral craze going around about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge also makes one pause and wonder. While the cause is genuine and definitely needs both public attention and charity, wouldn't it be easier to simply donate the money and use the water for more productive purposes like bathing? Simply pouring some ice and water over your head is not enough. How many of those who have braved the ice have actually donated money? But then that is not the point of the challenge. Only those who have declined the challenge are liable to donate $100 to the ALS charity? Really? Is that the best way to raise money for a worthy cause? Its obviously a good way to send out a message and watch it go viral. What about the charity? Are we missing the woods for the trees?

Finally to sports and cricket. The debate over WAGS being allowed to accompany the team to England could not have been more ridiculous. A similar debate occurred during the recently concluded FIFA World Cup and statistics show that teams which allowed WAGS to accompany their partners all performed better than teams that did not. Do our esteemed experts seriously believe that having wives and girlfriends around can be such a major distraction for our highly skilled and well-trained cricketers? Can a lack of form be attributed to having a partner around? Does anyone seriously believe that our cricketers have such low levels of concentration and self-restraint that their on-field performance gets impacted by their off-field activities? Even more absurd is the assertion by a former manager of the Indian cricket team that while it is alright for wives to accompany their partners, girlfriends should not be allowed. Seriously? Will we ever grow up?

That's it for now - my two bits for the day. I will continue to Rage Against The Machine. Thank you for staying with me so far and giving life to these mute words on a screen. Without you they would be lifeless. You, the reader, have given them life by simply reading them - so Thank You. Until next time.

Time for a reality check

And so the results are out. India has spoken and NaMo is in the PMO. While the results were unexpected in their sheer magnitude and significance, what is not surprising is the aftermath and fallout. In accepting responsibility for reducing the INC to its lowest tally in parliment, SoGa and RaGa both offered to resign. In a shocking surprise, the resignation was turned down by the party as they felt they would not be able to survive without the first family of Indian politics leading them. After presiding over the decline of the INC's political fortune and gradually eroding all its credibility with voters, the Gandhi's are still apparently indispensable, underlining the moral bankruptcy and sycophantic culture so deeply embedded in the INC. Their lack of vision and complete disconnect with the nation's sentiment was brutally highlighted during their brief televised statement on result day, with RaGa smiling like a complete dolt and SoGa displaying a distinct lack of grace in wishing the incoming government. She could not resist taking a parting potshot by saying that "I hope that the incoming government will not compromise with the interests of society". One really needs to question if that was the best time to be insinuating that the incoming government does not have society's best interest at heart. After all, the nation has delivered its verdict, how about respecting it for at least a day and accepting your reality gracefully? 

This lack of grace was unfortunately a theme subscribed to and displayed by several other parties and players. Laloo Yadav refused to congratulate NaMo. Sanjay Jha refused to accept that the INC had lost due to misgovernance and voter apathy, instead blaming their inability to communicate with voters on their achievements. Ajay Maken tried shifting the entire blame on Dentsu, the Japanese PR firm the INC had hired for a campaign costing Rs.600 crore. Kamal Nath and Praful Patel pinned the blame on Dr. Manmohan Singh, conveniently shifting the blame from the party to the government. AAP and ArKe went as far as to suggest they stood for elections not to win but to make their presence felt – this after promising to win and usher in a corruption-free India. The Left (or what is left of it) tried to raise the secular bogey yet again, warning the country of impending doom. When did respecting the wishes of a majority become communal while pandering to minorities become secular? This lack of grace, like a disease, was widespread and contagious.

After facing electoral reverses, ArKe has now expressed regret regarding their resignation from the Delhi Government. Instead of making up their minds on what they want to do, stating a clear policy and rejoining the political fray, they simply want to sit in dharna. In fairly simple terms, if you accuse someone of being one of the most corrupt politicians in the country, that person has the right to take you to court. This is the essence of our judicial system – innocent until proven guilty. When the court asks you to post a reasonable bail bond and you refuse, the court has no option but to place you in custody. Why should the law be different for anyone, especially for someone who prides himself on being a common man, the epitome of the aam aadmi? When will my liberal friends learn that only dharnas and protests will not achieve anything until they are backed up by concrete action and judicious governance?

Along with this disconnect from reality is pettiness and vindictiveness, as demonstrated in two instances – the furore around the PMO twitter handle and the issuance of a notice to the Adani Group. In the first instance, the outgoing government decided to retire the handle @PMOIndia, the account used by the office of the Prime Minister of India to communicate with followers on Twitter, a social media platform. The handle (account) was not of Manmohan Singh or UPA or Congress, it was of the PMO, an institution and not somebody’s personal property. As an electronic asset of an institution, logically it should remain with the institution, irrespective of who is occupying that institution. Unfortunately, in an act that can only be described as petty, the outgoing PMO decided to retire the handle and archive all communication. Naturally this attracted widespread condemnation (although not a squeak from our liberal and secular leaders), and Twitter was forced to act, archiving all previous communications and reserving the verified handle for new residents of the PMO. In another desperate act in its last dying breath, the UPA government slapped a Rs.5,500 crore notice on the Adani Group through the offices of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, barely hours before counting was due to begin. If this is not an act of petulant vindictiveness, then what is? Irrespective of the merits of the case, the sheer timing taints it beyond redemption and opens the door to tit-for-tat witch hunts.

Surprisingly, through all this furore, the only person who has demonstrated some semblance of statesmanship has been NaMo. Perceived as autocratic (even a despot by some), he has displayed rare graciousness, going as far as to acknowledge the good work done by previous governments and thank all those who have helped him reach where he is. His critics will ascribe this to grandstanding, a façade and a carefully cultivated public image, but at least he is trying. In the minds of many he will always remain guilty – the top man should be held accountable – but like it or not, he is the Prime Minister of India, holding the highest office in the country on the back of a massive electoral mandate, where for the first time in India’s history, a single party (apart from the Congress) has achieved a majority on its own. Inspite of the hyperbole, it is a historic mandate and we owe it to the people of India to give him a fair shot with an open mind. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani bahut jaldi ho jayega. Till then, can we display some grace and unite for a while?

WTF moments from Tamasha 2014

Elections to the 16th Lok Sabha are currently underway, and by all accounts seem to be the most bizarre, in-your-face, brazen, comical and unreal excercise in balloting our polity has ever witnessed with several WTF and LOL moments surfacing every day. Some of these moments have been genuinely cringe-worthy, some have angered us, some have brought a smile to our faces and some have simply led us to sigh in despair. While it is not possible to document each and every one of these gems from the past few weeks, I am going to attempt to list a few that have stayed with me.  In case you come across similar ones that fit the bill, dear reader, please add them to the comments section and I will update the list with appropriate credit (if and where it is due).

"Priyanka is like my daughter" - Narendra Modi, BJP

"I am Rajiv Gandhi's daughter" - Priyanka Vadra, INC

"I call her Buaji (paternal aunt)" - Akhilesh Yadav, CM of UP reffering to Mayawati, former CM of UP

"Tamil Nadu's lady is better than Gujarat's Modi" - J.Jayalalitha, CM of Tamil Nadu

"It is neither Modi nor the Lady but my Daddy" - M K Stalin, son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi

"A Muslim who does not vote for SP and talks against it is not a Muslim. His DNA test should be conducted. See whether he is from RSS" - Abu Azmi, Samajwadi Party

"Those who vote for Modi should jump in the sea" - Farooq Abdullah, National Conference

"Muslims are too secular. They should become communal" - Shazia Ilmi, AAP

"If India becomes a communal country, Kashmir will not remain its part" - Farooq Abdullah, National Conference

"He goes to Dalit's houses for honeymoon and picnic" - Baba Ramdev, spiritual leader and yoga guru on Rahul Gandhi

"BJP will not get majority....If this happens, I shall leave Karnataka and settle somewhere else" - H.D.Deve Gowda, JDS and former PM

"If it has become difficult for you to stay here...dont worry, I will extend all facilities in Gujrat for you" - Narendra Modi, BJP to Deve Gowda

"Ladke ladke hain, galati ho jaati hai (boys will be boys, mistakes happen)" - Mulayam Singh Yadav, former CM of UP reffering to rape cases

"Congress could consider extending support to the Third Front to form the Government" - Salman Khurshid, INC leader on 25 April, 2014

"Congress will not support Third Front" - Salman Khurshid, INC leader, three days later on 28 April, 2014

The circumference of a circle is 2 pi R. Ab ki baar Modi sarkar - Author Unknown

These are just a few samples. More updates coming soon. Add your own contributions as well in the comments section.

Of Enlightenment and Entitlement

India, with its rich history and cultural diversity is undoubtedly one of the great civilizations of the world. We have survived over 5000 years (if you believe in mythology) and should continue to thrive in the forseeable future, unless the world ends in a cataclysmic armageddon with fire and brimstone, as predicted by various faiths, beliefs and cultures. So we have endured and will continue to do so and call ourselves great and be proud of our heritage and traditions and (self) perceived greatness. This greatness, however, needs to be quantified. How great are we really? How do we measure this greatness?

The greatness of a nation may be measured through various parameters, but for the sake of today’s rant, I am going to look at some very basic qualities. To start with, let us look at a basic respect for your fellow human being, traffic and the rule of law. Last week I was at the airport to pick up someone. As I entered the complex, there were two lanes for vehicles entering the premises. One led to the car park where you could leave your vehicle and wait for your flight to arrive, and the other lane was for pick ups and drops – strictly no stopping and no waiting. Like a good boy, I parked my car in the parking lot and walked over to the arrival gate. There I saw many cars parked under “No Parking” boards, simply standing and waiting for whoever they had come to receive, to exit the arrival gate. Most of these cars were expensive models – BMW’s, Audi’s and Mercedes Benz’s. It’s not like the owners of these cars could not afford to pay for parking. It simply seemed to me a blatant disregard of the rules. Perhaps these people consider themselves above the law. Perhaps driving a fancy car gives these people a sense of entitlement. Perhaps they feel that any cop foolish enough to ask them to move deserves a bollocking – after all, don’t they know better? Don’t they know who I am? How dare they? So while I followed the rules and parked my car in the right place under the blazing sun and paid Rs. 130 for the privilege, the people disregarding the rules were able to park in the shade and avoid paying the parking fees completely.

This is not simply about parking at the airport, but an indicator of a far deeper malaise that ails our nation and our people. You can see it at any traffic signal in any Indian city. People cut lanes, cross the STOP line, enter the yellow box at the intersection and even jump the signal with an impunity so blatant, it has almost become the norm. Meanwhile, the poor sod who is following lane discipline invariably ends up being stuck at the traffic signal while other vehicles merrily zoom past. This only strengthens the belief that if you follow the rules you will not get ahead, and if you want to get ahead just disregard the rules. This is the perfect recipe for anarchy. You can see it everyday on the streets – intersections completely clogged and traffic  gridlocked  simply because vehicles have crossed the STOP line, entered the yellow box and are now impeding oncoming traffic. Road rage is on the rise. Vehicles cut across lanes, driving invariably at a tangent, never straight. Getting ahead is not enough, but getting ahead of the other guy is of paramount importance. After all, my need is greater than his – always. Finding a car without a dent or a scratch is next to impossible, simply because we want to squeeze through the tiniest of gaps, just to get two feet ahead of the other guy. Speeding and wrongful overtaking is yesterday’s news. Honking has become the latest epidemic. Sometimes it seems like the driver is honking to either kill boredom or just trying to keep beat with the latest bollywood chartbuster playing on the radio. And the less said about most call taxi operators, the better. Even women, generally considered safer drivers than men are no longer immune to this disease. In their fight for equal rights, women have lowered their driving skills to compete with men in terms of rashness and lack of basic driving etiquette.

This begs the question – why this blatant disregard for traffic rules? What do we hope to achieve by flaunting established norms for safety and discipline on our roads? It is this attitude that reflects our lack of respect for the rules that keep our society civilized and respect for our fellow human beings. As long as we continue to disrespect each other like this, can we ever hope of achieving greatness as a society and as a nation? Instead of living in the land of enlightenment, we seem to be living in the land of entitlement. Mera Bharat Mahaan…..kab banega?

Tamasha 2014

Welcome. Welcome. Come One, Come All. Aapka Swaagat Hai. Welcome to the largest exercise in democracy anywhere in the world. Welcome to India's General Elections to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha, where elected representatives of the people will rule and govern and decide our fates for the next five years. We promise you entertainment galore. This upcoming attraction has everything you can ask for. It has action, drama, romance, glamour and heaps of side-splitting comedy, all the necessary ingredients to make a sure shot masala potboiler super hit smash winner at the box office. Everyone get aboard the bandwagon, its going to be a thrilling ride, absolute edge of the seat excitement and surely not short of hyperbole.

The cast boasts of several familiar faces and characters. In the center we have the incumbent led by RaGa, the beacon of hope for youth and women empowerment. On the right, we have the challenger led by NaMo, the messiah of growth and development. On the left we have a fairly muddled mix of aspirants who come together every five years or so. And descending from the heavens, we have the freshly sprouted Mango People led by ArKe, a white knight tilting at the windmills of corruption.

RaGa was once considered the face of India's future. The brave young leader who would seize the moment, shake up the establishment, break hierarchies and usher in a new tomorrow. The tomorrow  that never came. Instead of a new dawn, he is still floundering in the twilight zone, unable to break away from the past, unable to disassociate himself from baggage accumulated over decades of nepotism and caught in a quagmire of ineptness, inefficiency and incompetence.

For all his bluster, NaMo is still unable to wash away the dark stains of his past. A clean chit from the Supreme Court and widespread endorsement from Industry have not yet managed to disperse the stormy cloud of 2002 that continues to shroud his aura in reddish black hues. Guilt by culpability through accountability (or lack of it) is a hard tag to shirk. Did he know? Did he order it? Did he stand by and do nothing? Did he try and stop it? The questions remain as NaMo begins to resemble Nero.

There is a running punchline in Indian Politics. It is called the 3rd front. This front rises every 5 years or so, and fades away just as suddenly. Its constituents come from all over the country, regional players with limited national presence, ready at the drop of a hat to break rank and support who ever wins at the center, in order to secure largesses for their own states and cabinet positions for their senior leaders. This 3rd front only achieves any sort of significance when the two major national parties are unable to achieve a majority on their own, opening the door to politics of adjustment and accommodation.

The latest entrant on this stage is the (self-proclaimed) only non-corrupt politician in the country, the leader of the mango people, the knight in white (with muffler), ArKe. His philosophy is simple - if you support me, you are clean, if you don't, you are corrupt. No grey area here. Its all very black and white. If you oppose me you are corrupt and that's all there is to say. Forget the misdeeds of my own people. Don't focus on my lack of experience or reluctance to govern. I alone can challenge the establishment and have it quaking from its very foundation. I echo what Dubya said - either you are with us or against us. My Guru has abandoned me (while himself sinking into irrelevance), but I still consider him my Guru, even if he does not want anything to do with me. After all, I am the last white knight of the realm, at least in my own head, and it is my duty to fight everyone else.

Now that we have met the major players, let us turn our attention to the landscape. Elections in India have been described as the single largest exercise in democracy anywhere in the world. The largest number of eligible voters. The largest number of polling booths. An exercise so large it has to be staggered over six weeks, from casting ballots to counting them and declaring a winner. The only parameter where we come in second is the official amount of money spent on these elections, where we are apparently behind the United States Presidential Elections. However, since this is a comparison of "official" figures, I have my doubts on their authenticity. It is more likely that if we were to consider the "unofficial" money or black money spent, we may come ahead in this category too, however unfortunate this may seem. We are the Champions my friend.

One of the outcomes of the RTI act and various PIL's filed by NGO's and other concerned organisations and citizens is that every candidate has to submit an affidavit along with his or her nomination papers when standing for elections. This affidavit should list all assets owned by the candidate and must be placed in the public domain for scrutiny. This has brought to light several interesting nuggets of knowledge. For instance, did you know that A.Raja (prime accused in the 2G scam) has assets worth a paltry 2 something crores? How shameful is that? In another case, the leader of India's oldest party and heir to wealth accumulated by 3 Prime Ministers over 60 years does not even own a car. How unbelievably heart-breaking is that. There are many more such cases worth a mention, but you get the general drift of absurdity that accompanies these declarations.

Some things will definitely happen over the course of these elections. The standard of political discourse, already at abysmal levels, will sink even further. Booth capturing and EVM tampering cases will happen as goondas wield their lathis with political and police protection guaranteed. Many voters will be turned away from the polling booth as their names will be missing from the voter list, inspite of having all relevant proofs like Voter ID, Aadhar card, ration card etc. Many dearly departed souls will have votes cast in their names even though they may be dead, since their names will still be on the voter list. Many voters will simply refuse to show up and cast their votes. Many will show up and discover their vote has already been cast. Some may choose the NOTA option (none of the above - a new option being introduced for the first time), and still find their least favourite candidate being elected. And at the end of this exercise, we will discover who the guardians of our nation for the next five years will be. Whether we like it or not.

A leading newspaper has dubbed these elections as the Dance of Democracy. I wonder which dance form are they refering to? It sometimes seems to me more of a farce than a dance, a Tamasha in its truest form, and rightly so. After all, Tamasha is a truly Indian art form, deeply rooted in our culture and ethos, passed down from generations, carrying with it the fragrance of our soil. The innate Indianess of Tamasha is something only an Indian can truly appreciate.

So while we sit back and enjoy the spectacle that is about to unfold, what can we do? The aim of this blog is not to discourage you, the reader, from being involved in this process, this dance. Rather than getting discouraged, we need to understand the relevance and importance of elections in a democracy. In spite of all the obstacles, potholes and barriers, it is still the one true inalienable right we, the citizens of this country enjoy (is it a constitutional right? don't know - need to check). In spite of all its problems, this country is ours and ours alone, and if we do not bring about a change, then who will? How long will we keep passing the buck and expecting the next generation to  set things right?

The time is ours, the time is now. Go and cast your vote. Play your part in the larger scheme of things. Encourage your friends and family to vote as well. Vote for who ever you feel is the best candidate in your area and for the nation. Vote any which way you wish. If you are not satisfied with any of the candidates, press the NOTA button, but make it a point to cast your ballot. Let the world see what happens when a nation of over a billion people rises. It's time to Dance.

My struggle for employment

You probably don't know me and have somehow reached this page because a friend sent you the link, or you queried something related and Google offered this page up to you as a possibility. Whatever be the reason you are here, the point is that you are here and I thank you for it.

As the title of this post suggests, this is a rant against my current situation - unemployed! After having worked in various industries, businesses, cities and countries for over 18 years, finding yourself unemployed can be a huge shock to the system and a major reality check/wake up call. Over the past few months I have been through the wringer. Having relocated back to India, leaving behind a successful career, I returned to the land of my birth filled with hope and confidence. After all, India is now seen as an emerging economic superpower, filled with potential opportunities for growth and empowerment. If the stock market is an indicator of economic well being, the outlook should have been positively rosy. As a hub for IT services, India was already the next big thing, with every major IT player setting up shop in the country and even attracting graduates from the west (read developed world), who could see the importance of having work experience in India as a major box checked in their resumes. If you can be a success in India, they said, you can succeed anywhere.

Kudos to the PR department of India Inc. for having done such an amazing job.

With eighteen years of work experience and a track record that speaks for itself, I was full of hope and determination as I set out on my job hunt. I revamped my CV, populated it with keywords associated with modern business practices, updated my skill set, reached out to head hunters, friends and colleagues, even sought professional help in streamlining my resume to satisfy the most stringent requirements. I signed up on popular job sites like naukri and monster, and sent out my resume everywhere.Then began the process of waiting. It takes time, they said, so I waited. And waited. And waited. And when I got tired of waiting I waited some more. The result? Not a single call-back, not a single response. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Error code 404.

This cannot be, I told myself. Perhaps I am doing something wrong. Maybe I need to do some more research on the companies I would like to work with, and study their hiring policies, so I can be better prepared when the call finally does come. 

Since my expertise lies in Business Development in the IT domain, I decided to target two of the world's most attractive companies to work for - Microsoft and Google. I went on to their websites, read through their stated hiring policies and came away hopeful once again. After all, their stated hiring policies are an applicants dream. I compared their hiring criteria against my resume. Experience - check. Passion - check. Diversity - check. Qualifications - check. Market knowledge - check. An article I came across on the Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au) carried an interview of the Senior VP of people operations in Google. The article was by Thomas L. Friedman (who knows a bit about modern business practices). In this interview the Google Senior VP stated that Google had determined that academic results weren't very important, while espousing various other criteria that were far more critical while appraising an applicant for a potential opening in Google. This is excellent, I thought to myself. At last someone who can appreciate my skills and expertise without reducing it to a bland GPA. Finally a company that tries to see beyond mere words on a CV. A company that actually wants to implement its vision and values in the real word, and not consign them to paper alone.

Hope, however fleeting is a beautiful thing. The harsh reality is that idealistic rhetoric as stated in any company website or by its senior management rarely percolates down to the level of actual HR and Recruitment divisions while implementing in the real world. I have come across job listings that suit me to the T - I know I have the specific experience required, can do the job as stated and be very successful at it, but sadly this view does not seem to be shared by the HR recruiter at the other end of my application. I can try and understand their position I suppose. Given the deluge of resumes they must be receiving for positions in their companies, they have the unenviable task of sifting through tons of CV's before shortlisting a few for the first round of interviews. Obviously they have to maintain strict parameters while doing this sifting, otherwise the sheer enormity of the task at hand may get quite overwhelming even for the best. Unfortunately this does not help me in landing a job. As long as HR departments, head hunters and recruiters are unable to see beyond mere words on a CV page, the challenge will remain, for me at least, to convince someone, anyone, that I have the required skills and experience to bring value to their company and perform beyond expectations. 

The struggle continues. I still send applications everyday. I still try and overcome the challenges someone in my boat faces everyday. I still hope that someone somewhere will recognise the latent potential that I possess (however pompous that may sound). Hope, however fleeting, is what the world survives on. So, I hope and strive and move forward. And Hope.

I am now working on a musical resume, involving a guitar, iambic pentameter and youtube. Not very sure on how I should dress for this though. Any suggestions?