Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff:   

It's half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on...  
PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing...  
And who's at work? Most of them ??? Take a closer look...  

All or most specimens are ??  
Something male species of the human race....  

Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors...  

And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!  
Any guesses???  
Let's ask one of them...  
Here's what he says... 'What's there 2 do after going home...Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late...Importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!'  

This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.  

Bachelors 'Passing-Time' during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they've nothing else to do...  
Now what r the consequences...  

'Working' (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture.  

With bosses more than eager to provide support to those 'working' late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he's a hard worker.... goes home only to change..!!).  
They aren't helping things too...  

To hell with bosses who don't understand the difference between 'sitting' late and 'working' late!!!  

Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.  

So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family is... and  
That's when the problem starts... b'coz u start having commitments at home too.  

For your boss, the earlier 'hardworking' guy suddenly seems to become a 'early leaver' even if u leave an hour after regular time.... after doing the same amount of work.  

People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers...  

Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on time are labelled as 'not up to it'. All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on 'working' not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.  

So what's the moral of the story??    
* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!  
* Never put in extra time ' unless really needed '  
* Don't stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.  

There are hundred other things to do in the evening..  

Learn music....  

Learn a foreign language...  

Try a sport... TT, cricket..........  

Importantly,get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town...  

* And for heaven's sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.  

Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *'Life's calling, where are you??'*  

Please pass on this message to all those colleagues and please do it before leaving time, don't stay back till midnight to forward this!!!  

IT'S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.  

PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON'T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE !

It was a threatening week for Japanese. On wednesday, there was a minor quake from then on the people were so tensed following the warning of a major earth quake. It all happened when the quake bombarded the Northern Japan by 14:46 local time. The earth quake was measured at 8.9 on the richter scale. After shocks was around 20 in just two hours. Strongest being around 7.4 on the richter scale occured after half an hour after the main shake.

Shock epicenter was located about 130 km off the east coast of the island of Honshu, and the hypocentre was at a depth of about 10 km.

Sendai, North Tokyo was afraid to be the terribly hit place by the quake. Following the quake, Tsunami warning was issued. Alongwith this Hawaai,Australia,Phillipines,Indonesia were also issued Tsunami warning. In few hours the most devastating thing occured, a 13 foot Tsunami hit the northern coasts of Japan and it was learnt that the damage is quite huge in terms of people,money and infrastructure. The Onagawa nuclear power plant caught fire added salt to the injury.

The death toll and the number injured are yet to be made public. But the Government has issued concerns saying that the death toll would be quite huge. The waves destroyed the surface of a dozen houses. Also flooded the runways at the airport in Sendai. This is the worst earthquake for 20 years – said Reuters correspondent in Tokyo.

UN said that 30 international rescue teams indicated their willingness to share.Japan's PM Naoto Kan has requested people to stay calm and gain strength to fight this natural disaster.

Japan has asked for U.S. assistance in the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that swept the country.

People along the coasts of Hawaii and west coasts breathed out a sigh of relief as a Tsunami with a 500MPH threatening to strike with a wave as tall as 9 foot high, just soaked the beaches which caused little damage and a few traffic jams.

People from Southern India might very well know that deserving people of Tamilnadu are promised for 2 cents of land by the TN Government. In addition to this, Lots of land were converted into an SEZ in order to favor the Corporates and Big shots. Do you know the real impact of this??? Well, if you really couldn't figure out, let me tell you. This will result in reduction of the already scarce farm land. When there are only MNCs and apartments where do you get your food from? Do you think what the Government and the Corporates does is the right thing?

We all very well know that the farmers suicide are the biggest challenge which the Government faces to control it. But the above act of Government and the act of nature are the two major causes for this to happen. So if you want to stop this, avoid waiver of farm loans. Instead, increase the rate fixed to buy grains and rice from the farmers and give them enough freedom and infrastructure to make India a greener and resourceful nation.

How are we going to oppose it? What as a powerless citizens can we do? I am so much heart broken on seeing such an unfuturistic approach by the care takers of the people (i.e. the Government).

Recently I heard that, a farmers' association has called for a procession to oppose the Government's approach towards the agriculture and its future. So, I strongly wish that at one point of time, in the near future that the Government stops playing fool and kicks up some pace to improve agriculture and the status of farmers inorder to allow us to enjoy uninterrupted food supply for the future generations to come.

Are you ready for the debate? Okay, let me start with a basic and very familiar sight as an example. Imagine a young girl (no offence towards the gender) aged around 20 years offering prayers to God before taking her meal to thank HIM for giving her a meal for the day which many couldn’t even think of.

But have you ever thought what the real thing that she does is? Here is what I have analysed the real mindset behind her prayer - she Thank God for giving her a meal which in the first place is an act of selfishness. Point no.2 is that she forgets the people around her in the world who couldn’t afford even a half of what she has got. So at this juncture instead of praying for asking for one meal a day for the deserving she is contended with what she has got and prays for what she has already got. But the person who believes in self-belief will not waste his time praying rather he would think about his next step. You can ask me how? Let me explain, a person who proclaims self belief will always thinks positively as against the person who believes in prayer who thinks about the negative aspect and resorting to prayer to wish for a positive outcome and thereby losing one’s self confidence. You might ask me on what grounds that person having self-confidence will always think positive.

There is no such evidence with which I’m telling this but there is a small analysis which one needs to do, to accept what I have told earlier. What is that analysis? Here comes the analysis, a person who is having self-belief and doesn’t believe in prayer naturally doesn’t have an option to think nothing but the positive outcome. To be much simpler, such a person cannot afford to think negative because he couldn’t even pray to wish for a positive outcome as he doesn’t believe in prayer itself. So this leaves him with no choice but to think positive which results in a self confidence that leaves him with no fear.

This creeps up another question that how can I say a person with self-belief doesn’t have fear? He has no fear because when the outcome what he expects turns out to be negative he has no one to blame except himself. So he doesn’t have the luxury of blaming others and it’s very difficult to blame one’s own self. This makes him start thinking what made his efforts go in vain. He will come out with a better and stronger effort the next time and he will strive hard until he tastes the success and he will feel ownership for the success because it was all his effort which has got him the success.

But when it comes to a person who prays faces the heat on the first attempt, he will easily gets dejected and puts the blame on someone else. It might even be the same HIM to whom they prayed for their success.  So they keep wasting their time in blaming and criticizing their fate instead of thinking how to achieve their goal until they realize they have wasted so much of time by then it would be too late.

Okay I can sense the discontent on whatever I have given above as all these are my personal ideas. But I have attempted to make you understand what I’m up to with a few live but simple happenings around the world and most importantly around and within us.  To make my examples more categorical and simpler, I have bi-furcated the ideas into three parts: Silly example, Political and Life oriented.


SILLY EXAMPLE:

As a student everyone wanted (pray) to secure a first rank (assuming at least one-third of that lot put in the same effort to secure the first rank), but in reality the first rank is secured by only one and he climbs to the top of the ladder. What do you think the reason behind it? When you say everything is possible with the help of prayer why can’t that first rank holder be 'You" when you have put the same effort? So it all boils down to the effort which one puts. And interestingly that first rank holder might be a person who never prays at all!!!! So can I say it’s all because of efforts and not because of prayers? Think again Humans!!!

POLITICAL EXAMPLE:

Everyone around the world knows that the muslims are the most vigorous people who prays regularly. At the same time most of us know the situation that exists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  There was a bomb blast inside a mosque, the people killed were not the evils but the people who prayed and who were praying. Do you think those people who lost their lives were praying for their life to be ended – NEVER.

The politicians in the world are known for their corruptions and they are the people responsible for war, prise rise, farmer suicides, food crisis, homeless people and the list goes on. In spite of all these, the politicians still continue to lead a successful life. These politicians are successful even after people’s continuous prayers against them. The so called richest God in India is in a place called Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh. But the place is well known for lots and lots of farmer suicides as they were denied a single piece of bread a day. If a prayer can do miracles why this happens very close to one of the richest Gods in the world? Why surveillance cameras, reserve polices and securities with weapons guarding the temples and jewels? Can’t the savior of all save himself? Think again mates!!!!

LIFE ORIENTED EXAMPLE:

Everyone knows that person born on earth is supposed to die one day. Then why people go for continuous prayers to save the life of their dear ones? When such prayer is not fruitful why they don’t think about the reason behind their prayers yielding no result? So, when making you live or leaving you to die are not connected with prayers what is the use of praying? What is the use of looking for a doctor? It’s the effort of the doctor which saves the life of a person and not the prayer. This can be proved by saying without praying for a person if a person is treated by a doctor, the life of that person might be saved. But do you think the other way around is possible? Doesn’t it ring a bell inside your head?

I end my first ever blog and ideology with a famous dialogue from a famous regional movie – 'I never said God doesn’t exist, all I said was if HE exists it would have been nice.' ('Kadaval illai nu yaar sonnathu, irundha nalla irukkum.')


By Prabhu Govindarajan