Road to insanity-Part 1

In the grand old days of the great epics youths (mostly princes) were sent out into the jungle to fend for themselves. It would prove to be a test of their character wherein they were supposed to live off their mettle away from human contact and if they managed to come back, it would speak volumes about their survival capabilities. When they came back, they would have garnered respect and in quite a few cases if the youths were adventurous enough, they would also have bagged a sizeable amount of moolaah and maybe even a princess in their kitty. Those not macho enough to go the princess distance would have one waiting back home. Well, that was how it was back then.
And let me tell you that even with all this bullshit going on about India losing touch with its heritage, there’s this group of software professionals who are still dutifully trying to keep this ritual alive in true Indian style-only now they call it an onsite gig. In fact the practice has blossomed up to such an extent that there are even institutions that one can tag up with to embark on this quest of theirs. The problem however arises when the “institution” you get stuck with gives you a raw deal and sends you off to a place that even today could most readily qualify as a “jungle”. So you end up living your life on berries all right but get none of the moolaah or the princess.
On another note, I had heard that the army makes a man out of you, teaches you stuff that you wouldn’t normally dream of learning, gets you in shape. I say the software industry has done exactly that for me. I mean I can iron clothes and boil eggs and make omelets now like I was the king of laundry and ironing and cooking (I hadn’t dreamt of doing any of those). I have gotten into perfect shape (let me clarify here that round is a perfect shape in my dictionary). I have learnt to go on for days without engaging in small talk with a soul. I take particular pride in this since I like to think of me as a top secret covert op man who speaks only when he has to. Seriously, the only discussions I have had over the past months that crossed the two second barrier were the ones I had at work or over the phone. I have a feeling that very soon I will start saying over and out on the phone too. The army teaches you to think clearly. The software industry has taught me to think clearly too. I clearly think that in a few more days I will clearly go completely insane. The army teaches you that what you get paid from your country is not important but what counts is the service that you render. The software industry has taught me that what I get from my company is not important but it’s the amount of work that I put in that counts. Here too one should notice the unmistakable influence of the Bhagvad Geeta (you know, coming back to how software professionals strictly adhere to the Indian Culture)…the doctrine that teaches you to do your duty without any expectations as to the outcome.
I guess the army also teaches you that when you start getting light headed you should try and get some sleep. I think I’m going to take that advice now, stop blabbering and get back to you guys later. For those still wondering what this was all about…I’ve been in St. Louis, USA for the last two months and these are just ramblings of a mind that is now even more unsound than it was.