Today is my Birthday!

July 4th - I am 33 today. Typically, I do not write anything at all about myself on this blog, but today I am making an exception to that rule.

My birthdays mean nothing much to me. But, my husband makes it special and I like that. My parents are very happy, and I am happy for them. I understand now what it means to have a child and to know that your child has completed yet another year on earth. My kids wish me and have no clue what it actually means, but I love that! So, at the end of it, the day would have meant absolutely nothing without these people in my life! I love 'em and I thank God for having them in my life!

Some random 10 things about myself, and in no particular order:

1. I love the movies! They have defined a lot of things for me. I 'get' some of life's important lessons from the movies. Yes, there is the Gita, but give me the movies anyday! I must add that I cannot watch any and every movie. I am extremely choosy, but when I like a movie, I appreciate it whole-heartedly. I love some of the artsy/indie type, and of course I like an out and out romance or comedy movie. As long as they have a message, they have an audience in me. Some of the movies that I have truly enjoyed are listed in my profile, and of course the list doesn't cover 'em all.
2. I totally believe in love, marriage, togetherness, romance, growing old together, going all out to follow your heart, and all that jazz. People who know me will vouch for how much this is all true for me. That said, it does not mean that I am not pragmatic; in fact far from it! Go figure. :)
3. For a long while now, I have enjoyed the passing years. The teens and early twenties were turbulent! I have enjoyed the late 20s and the early 30s much more. The maturity and the feeling of contentment have been the big pluses.
   
4. I love taking pictures. Dorothea Lange once said "The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." That is so true. If you look at things through the imaginative lens of the camera, everything will look beautiful. Of late, I have begun playing around with a Canon DSLR. Don't know how far that will go, but I am enjoying it right now.
   
5. I did my B. Arch in college. I chose Archi after my 12th for a variety of reasons; one of them being the creativity and the other being the ability to practice it independently and at a pace that I wanted to. I enjoyed the design aspect of it immensely as a student, but by the end of the 5 years, I kind of figured I had lost interest in the field. Sad! I did practice it for about 2 years, and I am glad I gave it up when I did. I then went off to the US and after doing computer courses, chose to work in the IT industry as a writer.
   
6. I love writing. I have enjoyed it all along, but now I know it; thanks to this blog!
7. I love colors! I appreciate all shades that are in nature. I have always wondered how the blind perceive color!
   
8. As for my future plans, I have a couple of ideas, and will slowly start working towards those. And as and when the kids are in school full-time, I will have something going on in parallel.
   
9. Selfishness, insensitivity, and apathy are a put off. I am a tad too sensitive about the world around me and can't digest injustice, oppression, harassment, and the rest of it. Sometimes, I avoid news if I have to. Most of the times, I wonder what I will tell my children in the years ahead?!
10. I am thankful for being a woman. I could have neither experienced pregnancy nor become a mom without being a woman! And I am thankful for both of those, especially because I started appreciating life only after becoming a mom!
    

When I started with this post, I had no clue that this was what I was going to write! But, I did. And you are welcome to ask me questions. :)

R2I - Work life, a sneak peek!

Please Note

1. The following points cannot be generalized; they are just based on my discussions with my husband + a few interactions with some of his friends who have also R2Ied.
   
2. All of them work for American tech companies in Bangalore. So, most of the points mentioned here only cover such a typical set-up.

Age: One of the aspects that stands out is the average age of the employees - much younger when compared to the average in a typical US office. Hard to say if this is good or bad, but certainly different! The slightly experienced (3-5 years) software professionals are still aiming for opportunities abroad. In an MNC, it is quite common to find the bulk of the middle management to be an R2I crowd, i.e. a crowd that has spent a significant portion of its work life outside of India.

Work Hours: The good thing is that there are really no "working hours". Most of the employees typically start coming in at around 10.00 AM and end up staying late, whether it is required or not. However, based on what I hear, sticking to your preferred work hours is doable if you are disciplined.
In general, if you are particular about spending quality time with your family, you can communicate with your team about your preferred timings, so that they can plan for meetings etc during the hours that work for you. Typically, it is up to you to convey that you will not be able to attend meetings or discussions that are outside of your preferred work hours.
Sticking to your time is more doable if you are an independent contributor than a manager working in tandem with a team. The good thing is a lot more companies are opening up to the value of individual contributors.
Late night or early morning conference calls that you can attend to from home are a given; a majority of the work at middle-senior level will almost always involve working very closely with partners, colleagues, or clients in other countries.

Commute: On commute, less said the better! You have the choice of living close to your work place, which will work well. And if you cannot do that, you can choose to commute during off-peak hours - before 8.00 AM or after 10.30 AM and before 5.00 PM or after 9.30 PM. My husband leaves home at around 7.30 AM and starts from work at around 5.00 PM and it seems to definitely be working for him, since we cannot live close to his work for other reasons.

Work Culture: Apparently, things are more "casual" at work in general than in the US. People seem to chat and “hang out" more than in a typical office in the US, where people are a lot more focused. This may be relaxing or distracting, whichever way you choose to look at it.
For people who have not worked in India before: Typically people do not address their seniors as ‘Sir / Madam’ in this industry.
In general, there seems to be an eagerness to want the title of a 'manager'. It looks to predominantly be a cultural issue; it is kind of considered that you have “arrived” if you are a manager and have people reporting to you. However, this is slowly changing - where some of them seem to be opting for the role of individual contributors and are also more comfortable with the responsibilities that come with it.
And if there's a cricket match going on (especially an interesting one), things are a lot more flexible. You know how it is with cricket!!

Travel - Overseas/India: Travel of some sort is always a given. And if you are back with work experience from abroad, you are very likely going to be traveling overseas to meet your teams, clients almost on a regular basis. This cannot be avoided too much, and is part of the deal!

Interiors & Facilities: On the whole, very nice office spaces and interiors. In most of the offices, the cubicles are designed to seat 2, 3, or 4 people. Some companies do provide individual cubicles, however these are few and far between. Many companies provide gyms, pool tables, ping-pong tables, carrom boards, fooz ball tables, etc.

Cafeteria: There is good food for lunch in the cafeteria. Usually, you get really good Indian food. Some offices apparently have 3 different counters - one for North Indian, one for South Indian and the another serving "diet" food! (My husband wishes that they serve desi Chinese at his place of work! I am quite sure there are companies where they do this too.) In certain campuses that house multiple companies, there are food courts where different cuisines are served. In general the peak lunch hour is between 1.00 and 2.00 PM.

Please add your own experiences/thoughts in the comments section.

Going forth, I will be writing about work opportunities for R2Iers and also taking a general look at the market salaries for the returning Indians. Watch the R2Blore space!