35 lakhs CTC for a little workex!

My jaw dropped today.And in ample measure!

I had gone to attend one of my relatives' kid's first birthday.And the kid's dad is just a month younger than I am.He is working in a top-notch consulting firm in Bombay and we were catching up after nearly 4 years.It was a pleasure to chat up with him and his wife,and of course play the fool with their kiddo!

As conversation went along,the topic shifted to that of careers and career moves.My jaw dropped wide!This guy told me that one of his colleagues had quit recently to join a software company at the entry level at a CTC of 35 lakhs!A whopping 35 lakhs!That's the kind of money most government sector employees get when they retire after slogging for 35 years!And here is this chap,with close to 4 years work experience in the consulting world and hitting this jackpot at 35 lakhs p.a.That too, at the ENTRY level!

Damn!Why is the software world making life difficult for the rest of us.Its pretty ridiculous.These kinds of compensation structures make the entire concept of a career redundant.Employees in other industries will struggle to cope with the disparity in income levels.Cost of living will automatically go up, because the market will work on the assumption that there is demand,ability and willingness on the part of some sections of society, to pay premium prices for goods and services.But then again,my argument is,there are scores of people,the vast majority,who are not in that kind of an income bracket and will not be able to sustain this type of ridiculous inflation in the cost of living,for NO fault of theirs!Just why,pray why,is the software industry screwing up everybody's lives?After all migration from other industries into the software industry in roles of a domain specialist is not the ONLY alternative for people unable to cope with such crazy disparities!Hell,this guy didn't even have 5 full years of experience!

Gosh,I hope India does well,but what I hope even more is that India takes EVERYBODY along with it while doing well.I just hope the vast majority are not left behind!

Ganguly.....gangling Ganguly!

Well..well..well..!Yet another opinion on the on-going Ganguly drama.Its amazing how one game,one individual at the centre of the game can bring the entire nation to a standstill.Politicians,former cricketers,filmstars,opinion makers,journalists,and not to mention the teeming millions of cricket fans are on tenterhooks,as to what is going to be the fate of India's most successful captain ever.In my books,I guess,Ganguly is not just the most successful captain,but very close to being the greatest captain of India(my vote still goes to Kapil Dev on that!).

But I have to say that Ganguly changed India's outlook to modern cricket like nobody else did before him.His aggression,ability to manouvre the team in distant geographies,boldness to take on the cricketing powers of India head-on and showing statements of intent at every available opportunity created tremendous amount of thrill for many cricket lovers.I mean,Mohinder Amarnat earlier went to the extent of saying that the selectors are a bunch of jokers(how rightly so!).But Ganguly,took off his shirt in the Lords' pavilion and showed the world that he is here to win.More importantly,he LIKES to win and won't tolerate anyone coming in the way of that.

Its difficult for me to be dispassionate about Ganguly.Sourav won't be Sourav if not for his emotion.And that,more than anything else,has sent the adrenalin racing across the country.The cricketing powers are facing the wrath of the fans purely because,the former India captain gave all of us reason to be passionate about India.Yes,India and passion go back a long way,but on the cricket field,nobody epitomised it better than Ganguly.Hell,I get emotional on and off many times,but my pulse races when there is a game of cricket on featuring India.

I hope people learn some hard lessons from this entire fiasco.I have seen instances where corporate managers don't give promotions thanks to their individual idiosyncracies.Or for that matter,politicians and their famous 'promises',which never see the light of the day.But its purely inhuman to treat a man like Saurav Ganguly like this,because,he gave no quarter and asked for none.In the bargain,he provided all of us with tremendous entertainment and passion.

I wish the selectors were not so cold.If anything,they need to be thrown out like Ganguly ripped open his tshirt at Lords.Wonder if these 'bunch of jokers' will learn a lesson even then....!