On Tuesday I got a call from a E&Y consultant who worked with me in this project to consider consulting for them as a freelancer.
Same day, a vice president of another e-Governance consultancy firm met me in person to request some time of me to firm up a proposal to setup a start-up eGov consultancy.
Earlier on Sunday, a friend called up to find out if I could provide some advice to their start-up (of IITians & IIMs).
Hmmm…
Downs? Still feeling lonely
In less than 6 months, I met ministers thrice, that too two different ministers. And all the times, I was the only non-IAS, non-govt person. I never even dreamt of this in my life.
The presentations went well. In fact the minister agreed to launch the project formally – most probably it will be launched in end of August by PM. Despite all the difficulties in the work, I consider this as my little service to the nation. No one can say, I didn’t do anything for the country right?
Today I was informed that LLP Project (that I’m managing for the ministry) is part of Prime Minister’s 100 day target. Can’t believe it.
There has not been update on this page for long. No, I didn’t drop dead (as proven by this entry!)
My days are pretty much occupied with issues in one the project that I’ve taken over now. The project is in such a bad shape that if it is not fixed soon enough my boss’ job (head of IS dept) may be under fire! Added to it, the PM of the project resigned quoting personal reasons and doesn’t care a dime to fix these issues. So it has come to me to clean-up. Extremely unpleasant situation and a tough situation to handle.
In order not to go insane, I keep writing few articles and then do some programming. I do some swimming as well. But not able to keep schedules as the wacky nature of the project throws of the schedules.
Other than that, hmmm… life is going on.
It is extremely hot in here. 39 degrees by 7 in the evening!
At office things are in bad shape. i need to fix them. It is 4.30 am and I am still working (I started yesterday at 8 a.m. – which means I am working non-stop for 20 hrs!).
Hopefully I’ll be able to provide the ‘comfort’ feeling to the customer.
As a result of this year’s appraisal, I’m promoted to the next level. While that is a good thing, I’m also loaded with work. It is keeping me on toes. Let me see how best I could achieve.
As of today, I am getting into ITES (IT Enabled services).
We (the firm) are into both IT delivery and also in BPO. We have developed a product internally that we hope will be a differentiator in brining in BPO business and also get us profit as well. I was associated with this product a year back, for stabilizing one of the application created on it.
Now I’ll be incharge of developing applications for client processes.
It is exciting and scaring at the same time. I hope I can learn and also make a difference. I hope to win.
I wished that the dawn of the year will bring a close to the series of unlucky events happening in my life. It looks like it was just a wish.
As you know, recently I took over a Peoplesoft Finance project within the department. This team consists of bunch of 2-3 years experienced candidates who have come to believe they have learnt everything under the sky! If it was true, it would’ve been lot more fun to work with them. How sad that it is an illusion. I tried my best to open their eyes to the reality of life. Being led by someone who is a long timer within the department and also a senior to me, bunch of the team members kept complaining to my boss about me. After the first time, I tried to maintain a sober and a compromising approach to the team. In fact I felt I was compromising too much; however last week this bunch of team members again complained to my boss. More than being pissed off, I got hurt – I tried my best to be best – I provided them with responsibilities; gave them opportunities for publishing articles in magazines; appreciated them within the team; gave them very high rating and still they didn’t make an effort to understand my point of view. So I offered to get out of the team. I could’ve easily stayed back and released them from the team; but doing so will impact the morale of the department.
It is not a pleasant feeling to be out like this. Yet, for the betterment of everyone I guess this is the best solution.
By the way, one of the tires got punctured today. It is not related to anything mentioned above. This is the first time it happens and I had to call up help to change tires.
All in all, it is learning
Do you remember the ‘Malpi’ trip that I made with my colleagues about a year ago? Well, it was time for another trip – though it was for just one day. Every quarter they organize a trip at office, but I have been successfully avoiding each one of them. But this time, I thought I will take it.
Though I had decided to take the trip, when I woke up on Saturday morning, I was in double mind. I was told that folks will come with partners; for some reason I wasn’t enthusiastic about that idea. And, as always, I was wondering if I will be able to manage a full day (it was from 8.30 a.m. to 9 p.m.) with the crowd. After about 20 min of thought, I decided to take a chance.
The day went well, in fact pretty well. I played volley ball (after 8th standard!) – in-fact, we won the game; then some football; then some swimming; few guys kept saying that I got good stamina!
But that is not the highlight of the day.
In the evening, after about 7, discothèque started. I did hesitate in the beginning, but later I joined the crowd. I danced so much that even after two days my thighs were paining. It was a very different experience.
I will try to post some photos soon.