An ode to my trusted cellphone !!

I've easily gotten bored by the many tech-gadgets that I have bought over time, but if there is one that stuck with me for about 3 years and makes me swear by it, it is my trusted cellphone. For laughs, you won't believe me ... it's so inseparable that I once slid under my shower oblivious of still wielding it. Made by none other than the tech-numero uno with many firsts-to-market to it's credit, Sony, the phone boasted when it penetrated the market, of some of the best and comprehensive features compacted into a single hand-held gadget which is now made common-place by the technology followers.

For example, it came with a crisp 2.0 Meg camera, a 2.0 Gig extended memory facility in which I could save our full-length church sermons, the best sound quality and headphones, a camera flash that doubles as a handy torch during suburban Chennai's blackouts, an FM radio that helps stay tuned with the Indo-Pak cricket "war", a feature for quick recording of meeting calls for later replay, an enviable teleconferencing facility, a GPRS feature and so on. In summary, it was the one gadget that clarified Thomas Friedman's definition of "digital convergence" to me, that is now all set to rule the world.

Given that I find it so handy and am used to it's elaborate features, it is growingly difficult to wean it from me. For now, I well understand why oldies of yesteryears swore by the Bajajs, Ambis, Batas and IOBs and made it their world and would still like to. But, even as you finish your read here and have by now concluded that I'm nuts, allow me to demystify my trusted aide to you. He is .. the "Sony 750i". I'll love you mate...until death do us part.

Elephants cannot dance !! - A hypothesis proven to be true once too often.

The elephant, my metaphor for a large Corporation, is probably one of the most insipid creatures that ever existed. Working in a large foreign Corporation is a constant learning experience, but, I have grown to dislike them for a few reasons.

Firstly, with sheer size come limitations in manouvrability, accessibility and flexibility that cripples speed and accuracy of decision making. Secondly, a profession with such, is akin to investing in a mutual fund than in a raw equity...which means, there is no doubt reduced risk exposure or improved job security while the trade-off is diminished returns or a state of flux in career growth prospects. Thirdly, a labyrinth of "hallowed" work standards, common processes and business models create rigidity and interlocks in the system thereby inducing resistance to change. Further, throw in those differences in culture, language, geography etc. commonly seen in wide-reaching corporations which is the breeding ground for confusion ... and by now you better be giving your employer a closer look, else you are just about setting your career up for slow and steady atrophy.

Therefore, to me, size does not matter, but speed and being savvy does.

When your profession check-mates you !!

It is just astounding to think about what life centered around a well profiled profession could yield in return. Well, these were their unsolicited bonus or bumper issues to me .. things that I did'nt ask for but came by as freebies. It made me gracefully heavier by a few kgs, rewarded me with those "beautiful" semi-rings beneath my eyes, added mental stress which replaced my dream jaunts to heaven with the occasional nightmares, dislodged my eating habits beyond restoration etc. ... and it was at a point when it began encroaching into my private spiritual priorities that I had a rude awakening ... speaking to myself inwardly, I said ... aha !! this needs to be dealt with.

Then I switched on my Dad's words of counsel in my mind and decided to give it serious consideration. So, on Tuesday this week an elliptical cross-trainer became mine own, swore to my dear eyes to provide them exposure more to books than to my pc notebook and began stocking my fridge with nutritious food to straighten-up my diet. Well, I would like to think that this is just part of a mid-life course correction.

Now, working on sustaining the correction is the real key and could be fodder for possibly a new blogpost sometime later.