They say 80% of professionals repatriated quit their job ! learnt it somewhere during my decade old career in Human Resources. And they say that repatriation should be given the same importance as overseas deputation. Well ! I dont know if anyone is listening. It happened to me ,as I came back from the United States and quit from the "Global" MNC I was working with. But it was more for satiating my need to do business on my own, so be it ! my justification for not falling in the 80% , but hell , at the end of the day everyone of the 80% has a theory on why they quit.
Now I go through the "In Between" phase. In between a Corporate World and an entrepreneurial world....a world where you have hundred different processes to do a simple task, and another hundred different processes which are not written anywhere to make what ever simple thing you do to be politically correct ; and my world where you have hundred different things to do and no processes to tell you how to do it.
There is no room for political correctness, nor any "Non Conformance Reports" if you forgot to mention the designation of the internal assessor in Form 1-Z of the last form in the process assets library.
A between phase, where on one world you work for a performance appraisal and hope for that distinct pay rise.....and to find out that, that distinctness is not all that distinct; and the other world where the performance appraisals from the market can be as harsh as putting you out on the streets.
Loving every moment of leaving my plush office, and the leather couches and the expense accounts. My (wise) friend once told me that the difference between a Business Development guy and a criminal is that the criminal has to pay for his own drink ! Well, now my drink bill definitely goes up. The one thing I miss of my corporate life are the golf games on weekdays. It always used to give me a kick of the classes I used to bunk when I was a school boy in Ooty.
While I go through these distinct feelings, I also experience the distinctness of living and working in India vis a vis the US of A.
The difference of having the social support system here in India versus the obvious absence of it in the US. The difference of finding "Culture Nests" in the US of A (where birds of the same feather try to flock together only to figure out in a while that there are more crow eggs in these cuckoo nests)
The apathy you find here in India on sticking to deadlines, and to honor one's word on delivery schedules. The apathy in making even a well scheduled appointment in time. Where time has its own connotation, and words related to time form their own meanings.......where meetings are got so easily and the meeting conversations forgotten even before the coffee cup is taken away !
Lots of it, so that even now after running two months late on schedule I dont have a clear word on when my new facility is going to be up and running !
But there is a heart in everything that is being done here, the Indian Style of doing things do resonate with me. And I am sure, in my search of making the best of me with a blend of India and the West I would keenly take in the Indian style of doing things (not sure on the timeliness part though, I would like to keep that western)
So in between, my experiences and my waiting , and my life in the chasm of the two cultures.....many a time I try and bring about a truce.....may not be one which resonates with me (like saying "No problem" to a person who comes in one hour late for an appointment) , and here I am at it again.....waiting to strike another truce with what life has to offer in the chasm I am experiencing, in between the 'worlds' and the 'professions'.
About Me
- Mohan Kannan
- Loved to write...still love to write...keeping passions alive makes one younger.
5 comments:
I like the Indian style of doing things part.
I also think that we will need to do Indian by possibly absorbing the best practices from other successful cultures...be it corporate or social.
I agree. I see a lot of foreigners in India who come in and learn so much about our culture. They try and imbibe a lot of it. We are rightfully very proud of our rich heritage and so should it be, but there is nothing wrong in being a sponge to absorb the good things we see in other cultures.....corporate or social. The culture of tomorrow is going to be a mosaic of different worlds, and we need to train ourselves and the next generation to take in the best and leave out the unwanted.......you dont have to be in LA to be a junky ........nor do you have to be brought up in a joint family system to learn "Good Family Values".At the end of the day, its what we see and perceive, and what we make of it.
Mohan that was a good read. Can relate to what you are trying to say.
There are somethings that cannot be changed overnight.I guess the way out is to figure out how u can manipulate it to your advantage.
Every entrepreneur in India or I might say in the world would have gone through these blues. Some bite success and others don’t. But when you become successful and then look back all these may sound like good jokes. When I check the Forbes “who’s who list” I never waste time on reading about inherited billionaires-it doesn’t give any kick, rather read only about wealth creators started with nothing but only had an idea, passion and commitment. Secondly a business venture has a great social significance – where you may be touching the lives of so many -rather than a corporate job(what ever you say ultimately you don’t engage yourself in such capacity in a Job!!) – So let your blues go and focus on your goals
Thanks "let's talk"....just entering the phase of taking the system to my advantage !!
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