Life: As I have seen it!!!

"Life never gives you all that you want. But it will always give you everything that you need". I had come across this statement in one of the books I was going through back in my childhood days. Those days, I always used to wonder, whats the difference between a want and a need ? Slowly, I started growing. I had my own encounters with life. It has been a lot of learning all the way long. And the subtle and evident differences between want and need started bringing a more important meaning in life.

I recently was in Mumbai. One thing about Mumbai that has always impressed me, is its fast lifestyle. People dont even have time to breathe properly. And in that kind of a state, its really great for outsiders to go there in search of careers and settle down, adapting to the lifestyle. Frankly speaking, after seeing the day of a typical Mumbaiite, its difficult to even compare it with other metros I have seen. Whatever it is, I would like to share some of my observations here.

Just imagine the scenario. The scene is just outside the very busy Borivali station. Around evening time. The traffic on SV Road is simply horrendous. Too many vehicles, too narrow a road. And on that narrow road, petty shopkeepers and shoppers too!! Just imagine the case of a BEST bus driver on that road. Whole day, he will be very busy trying to find his way out of traffic as dense as this one at many places all over his allotted route. And just imagine the case where, some pedestrian makes a mistake, because of his hurry and comes under one of these buses. The people around will simply jump and literally kill the driver. They will never even bother to find out the fact. The poor thing, is simply dead. I simply pity these people. Just compare the his life with that of a taxi driver or an auto driver. Whenever some passenger is happy or satisfied, they end up giving something more to him that his normal fees. They have more friends in the society. But that's not the case with bus drivers. How many of us have ever tipped a bus driver?? Just give it a thought. Does he really deserve that treatment?? That's not the situation occurring in Mumbai alone. It happens all over India. This is just an example. People may argue saying the bus driver has a fixed pay whereas an auto or a cab driver doesn't and all such rubbish things. But the fact is end of the day he is a human. And in a very thankless profession. So its all the more evident that we respect each and every profession in life.

No profession is bad or deserves to be treated badly. Be it the scavenger or the rag picker. Be it the maid or the car driver. Be it the electrical lineman or the plumber. Be it the soldier who fights for us in the war or someone who internally protects our society. Be it the the person who digs graves for the dead or the mechanic at the nearby garage. It may be something strange for us. But for him, its a way to earn his living. Just imagine the situation when your newspaper doesn't come in time in the morning. Most of us cant even empty our stomach without reading the newspaper. Just imagine the case where the drainage is blocked, and the person is on strike!! Can you ever imagine going and cleaning it?? So the fact is simple. All the professions are equally important for society to live in harmony. Respect everybody. For whatever he is doing, he has some self respect. And he expects to be respected in the society.

How many of us have not come across small children begging near traffic signals or public signals?? How may of us have not seen children under 14 working in restaurants?? How may of us have not seen children under 14 working in restaurants?? I am sure everyone has. But how many of us have ever tried helping them?? We just shoo away such kids who are begging and just ridicule children who are more often than not, cleaners in restaurants. I have always tried to answer one question. Whats the mistake of these small kids?? Why are they deprived of their childhood happiness?? Would we not like to go back and live our childhood again?? Why don't we act when such a thing is happening around us?? Some of my friends say, I only ask questions!!! Have I ever looked for a solution?? Frankly, I have never really found an answer to it. According to my observations, the first and the foremost observation in such a problem is simple lack of awareness and nothing else. The people under consideration(rather their parents) simply go on producing kids, knowing nothing about how to handle them in future. They know nothing about contraception and all. Sadly, very few people in India have tried thinking about that. And the only solution to that is basic education to people. Though the Govt. is doing a fairly decent job by making primary education compulsory. But how may are really getting the benefit of it?? And mark my words, unless we educate people, the country is not going to develop.

All these developments, economic booms, technologies, comfort are all okay. But what is the point of having technology, which will not help the poor get two square meals a day?? Whats the point of having so much of economic growth, when most of the people do not have access to basic health care?? And in the end, when we are not able to do something good for them, that's when things start falling against us. That's when people start resorting to anti social activities. These people are easy targets of terrorists and militants. Many a times its very easy to emotionally control them. As a friend was telling me, the terrorists don't have to bother sending people to execute a ploy here. They only have to send the arms. Rest all is available internally.

Frankly speaking, all these economic growth and technologies have only increased the gap between the rich and the poor. All that I have seen these days is only the trailer. I believe that the real movie is yet to unfold. One of my friends was recently telling me, In life, in order to move ahead, you have to necessarily step up on someone, push down someone and move ahead. You have to be cruel. But then once you reach the top, and a comfortable position, you should not forget to help all those who you have stumbled along the way. Nice logic, I should say. Initially, I was just thinking, why life treats everyone like that?? My cousin always says "Nobody dies virgin. Life screws everyone". Why can't there be peace and harmony all along?? But as I have grown, I have found that life is beautiful too. But then, in order to realise that beauty you should have the beast. In order to value the good, there should be evil. Maybe that's one of the laws of life, which cant be questioned.

On the concluding note, I would like to quote what one of my professors had to suggest each one of us, on the occasion of our passing out from college. "You may become very successful businessmen or entrepreneurs or leaders one day. I am sure all of you will indeed. But all that is waste if you fail to create a balance between three things in life. First is the place/company/organisation you work for, second is the family/people in your life and finally the society that you live in. If you fail to do that, you can never become a successful human being!! In the end, you will be known for what you have done or tried to do for the society!!" That day, those words seemed a bit heavy. But now, almost two years later, the entire puzzle seems to be finding a meaning. Indeed life is beautiful. Its our duty to make it beautiful for the others too.

Cheers!!

What’s happening to our India??

Well another weekend gone, and it was not just another weekends. Infact, every other day now a day, has become special and famous in its own way. And 2008 has definitely been one of those years where most of the things are happening. Or at least it promises to be so. Be it Taare Zameen Par bringing tears into the eyes of LK Advani, or be it the great fire of Kolkata that made news. Be it the molestation cases that are only increasing exponentially as day’s progress, or be it the new “common man’s” car launched by the Tatas. Be it the way, the racism issue Down Under, or the way it has united people all over the world. Be it the way, politicians shooting letter to the Prime Minister demanding the esteemed Bharat Ratna award for people from their party or the way the Left front keeping away only from “State Awards” in order to enable one of its great leaders become eligible to win the coveted award. The events that have shot up in this year has only been nothing much than a joke.

Taare Zameen Par, I have heard has to be appreciated for the acting skills shown by the young kid Darsheel Safary. Not because we do not have great actors. It’s the maturity that has been shown by the kid and the way he has acted, doing justice to the character he was portraying. Not easy at an age, as young as him. How many of us even remember what we have done other than going to school, playing, fighting and what not!! So the main thing is that, he has done what has been expected out of him, very well. Convincing or winning over the hearts of the Indian public is not an easy thing. And I believe he has done it with a fair amount of justice.

Coming to the fire in Kolkata, all I can say is, when are we going to learn from our mistakes?? One saying goes, Fools learn from their own mistakes. Wise men learn from others’ mistakes. Now are we not even fools and worse than that?? Just think it over!!

One important thing that has always been in the news ever since the New Year is the word “molestation” and charges related to it. I think every day, there have been one or two incidences of molestation all over India reported in the TV or the newspapers. Now that brings an interesting question. Has the crime really increased or is it only the way we just look at it. It all started with the New Year party in Mumbai where two young girls were allegedly molested by a group of 16 youngsters. Then came the instance of a similar incident involving a tourist in Kerala. Then came Goa and what not. The recent one is involving a cosmetician in Mumbai, alleged of molestation by a journalist. And barely one day after that charge, has one of his own patients come out alleging the same thing happened to her 18 months back. Now what was she doing all these days is going to be the big question. Let’s not get too much into that. But the point I want to make here is simple. I frankly feel, nothing has increased too much over the last fortnight. It’s only the way it is being portrayed before the country that has changed. The number of perverts indulging in the crime is not going to skyrocket overnight. The media has a very big role to play here. And unfortunately, I feel it’s not doing justice to its powers. I would say, roughly the same number of crimes would have been happening over the last couple of years too. But where was the media then?? Now that the issue has come out, they are adding fuel to the fire by simply bringing more such stories everyday. Crime has been happening from time immemorial, but back then, media was busy with something else. Now they are only busy in finding spicy stories like that. And one or two news channels are very famous for that. They will always be on the lookout for such crimes to happen anywhere or waiting to splash dirt on the personal life of any famous personality.

At this moment, I have to ask one serious question to these people from the media. All these people were busy capturing the molestation incident in their cameras. Why couldn’t anyone have gone and helped the poor things?? Their ethics have to be seriously brought under the scanner. They only want to be the first to air it on TV and want to take credit for everything. This is not the only incident. Last month, when an adivasi woman was stripped and beaten in Assam by someone, the whole media was there, covering the entire episode, and not one of them even bothered to go ahead and save the woman of the embarrassment. The condition is same in the case of high profile murders and other crime activities also involving powerful people. Where is the whole ethics of the media gone??

Another take out from the molestation incident is that of the famous Shiv Sena rebel and MNS chief Raj Thackeray coming out in support of the 16 people involved and becoming their spokesperson!! And once issues as serious as these starts taking political colour, we have only one option left. Just don’t expect any justice or truth to come out of it. Why do these people always have to poke their nose into everything, is one question I have always searched an answer for and have failed to get any. That’s one reason I have always believed India will always be like this and can never really improve.

Much has been talked about the issues happening Down Under, and the Tata Nano. So I feel there is no much necessity of raking the issue again.

Now that brings us to another interesting event that has been unfolding over the days. It all started with the Honourable Leader of the Opposition writing to the Prime Minister demanding for Bharat Ratna to the former Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. It created a lot of ripples in the political waters. What was Advani’s real motive has not been understood. But things started happening so fast that the left proposed the name of Jyoti Basu on the second day and Mayawati wanted it to be given to Kanshi Ram on the third day. I won’t be surprised if tomorrow, someone demands the same Bharat Ratna to Laloo Prasad Yadav or Jayalalitha. That’s not all. Tomorrow, there will be justifications coming to the PM from all quarters asking for Bharat Ratna for every Tom, Dick and Harry. And the Govt. may have to set up a separate ministry for the same!! That’s the very reason I started wondering what’s happening to India. People starting to demand for the Bharat Ratna!!?? Is it so cheap?? And the biggest joke is the Left altering its rules so that it doesn’t come in the way of its veteran getting the highest civilian honour.

All these events question only one thing. Have ethics and morality become a thing of the past?? Is it not at all possible to show examples of these to our next generation?? See you all soon. Till then, keep thinking!!!

Future of the Two wheeler Industry in India

India has always been one of the biggest destinations of automobile majors throughout the world. Not without any reason. It has the second largest two wheeler market in the world, fourth largest commercial vehicle market in the world and the eleventh largest passenger car market in the world. So as it is, it’s a very big and a potential hub for a lot of market leaders elsewhere in the world to come and invest.

Auto Expo is here again. And the biggest attraction this time around is the Rs. 1 lakh people's car from the greatest car manufacturers in India, the Tatas. Ratan Tata, as promised, launched the car called "Nano" today on the inaugural day of the Auto Expo 2008 at New Delhi. With more than 35 new passenger car models expected to hit the Indian roads in the coming financial year, it’s going to be rather interesting to watch the scenarios unfold in the Indian Automobile market.

First and the foremost, the main important question that has always been raised is, how is going to affect the two wheeler industry? Well that’s a really interesting and a debatable point. I have always been very keen to see how it’s going to unfold itself. With the introduction of the low price car, many feel its going to affect the two wheeler market. I have more than a couple of reasons to strongly believe it will not.

One main reason why I believe it is not going to affect too much is because as quoted by Tata, Rs. 1 lakh is going to be the dealer price (not ex showroom price) for the car. So lot remains to be added to it. VAT, excise duty, dealer margin, etc added on will give the ex showroom price. And on that one has to add the cost of registration, life tax, etc. So I don’t expect it, to create a hole in the buyers pocket less than Rs 1.4 lakhs minimum. And that’s only about the basic model. As the luxury increases, the cost escalates accordingly. A normal Indian two wheeler comes around a price tag of around Rs.50000. So I don’t think many people will pay three times more and go for a car, just because it is cheap.

Secondly, the fuel economy provided by a car. At best 25kmpl. That’s nowhere compared to what a bike will give. There are motorcycles in today’s market in India, which give 75kmpl also. So running cost in case of the car, can simply be taken as three times of that of a two wheeler. And mind you, the Indian public is very very damn sensitive about the fuel economy his vehicle gives. I even remember one of my friends, arguing with me, about a premium segment bike, something which is designed for power, pickup and style. Fuel economy is never a criterion while designing such bikes. But then, that point always remains in one corner of a general Indian's mind.

Thirdly, giving a car for Rs. 1 Lakh raises a lot of questions about the reliability and quality of the product. Though the Tata's have been known for quality and reliability, much remains to be proved. They have claimed that it conforms to the highest levels of safety standards; the real test is when the car hits the roads. Any number on tests on the software, or any number of accelerated tests is not at all comparable to what actually happens in the field. So frankly speaking, that’s one more reason.

Fourthly, let’s be a bit practical. Considering the scenario of traffic and roads in India, and the rate at which infrastructure is growing in comparison with the market, any fool will prefer to travel in a two wheeler (for regular use, not for picnic or time pass or once in a while trips). For the simple reason that, with a two wheeler, sneaking anywhere is far easier than a four wheeler. And definitely faster too. And then comes the bigger problem of parking. Two wheelers can be parked anywhere on the road, but that’s not the case with a four wheeler. So, the whole point is unless there is some way where these two issues are addressed, I don’t think anything significant is going to happen.

People have always argued that, as the country becomes developed, the number of two wheelers in the country will reduce significantly, and the number of four wheeler users will increase drastically. I too used to believe it to some extent. I recently came back from Kuala Lampur. True to some extent, I hardly found a two wheeler on the road. Everybody literally had a four wheeler. But then, Malaysia is Malaysia and India can never become that. For the simple reason that India is a vast country, with a huge population. With people of different cultural backgrounds, it’s really going to be difficult to integrate people. And with the sense of discipline what I have seen among Indians, I don’t see it happening atleast for the next 50 years. All the technological advances and all have only increased the gap between the rich and the poor. The rich may be increasing in the cities. The standards of living may have improved. Everyone may be having a TV or a computer or whatever these days. But then there are a different set of people living in the villages, who still travel on bullock carts even though he knows how to ride a bullet, people who still use oxen to plough their fields even though they know there is something called a tractor which can do the same thing faster and more efficiently. So it’s only that there are still people who earn less. There still are people who don’t have basic healthcare within a 5 km radius of where they live. So it’s simply not easy to integrate India and make it developed. And the politics and politicians we are having will ensure that it will never happen.

The major reason for the slump in the two wheeler industry happens to be availability of finance, which itself adds to the fact that the people here are not all that rich to buy a bike on their own. And the interest rates are booming so high, and recovery also has become more and more stringent. So that’s one and probably the only reason for the small decline in the two wheeler industry. The point is, even if someone buys a car, he will definitely have a two wheeler with him. If at all anybody is going to be affected by the introduction of this new low cost car, I strongly feel its going to be the small car manufacturers like Maruti and Hyundai, rather than the Two wheeler Industry as a whole.

Indians : Easy targets everythime huh?? Part 2

Well this is in continuation of whatever I was writing yesterday. Who is the real victim of racism?? Its all out for people to see.



What the hell was Mark Benson doing when the great Steve Bucknor was standing at square leg?? Why the hell did Adam Gilchrist appeal against Rahul Dravid, when he clearly knew that the bat was nowhere in the way?? What the hell did Ricky Ponting mean, when he said the game was played in the right spirit by both the teams?? Is this what the spirit of cricket all about?? When Ponting says, that there was an agreement initially, before the series began, among the two captains, that they'll take the fielders' word, what the hell was he doing when the entire Indian team went up in unison against him once and then once more against Andrew Symonds?? When he expects people to take his word, he should act gentlemanly!! I agree 100% with Sunil Gavaskar on it. And now, the same Ponting comes out saying nobody can question his integrity!! What integrity??? Does he have anything that remains to be questioned??



World Champions??? Well, I dont consider them World Champions anymore!! Indians in this match have shown they can be beaten, and my gut feel says it will happen sooner or later!! And they are gonna be beaten miserably!! And one more point to be discussed here is that of the issue of racism again raked up by the Aussies. Now that they have anyway started it, lets discuss about it!! As I have said in my earlier post, no batsman will ever go and start a duel with someone on the field. And that too against a home team!! Highly improbable. So it seems that there is some conspiracy behind the whole issue. These Aussies have somehow felt that they too can be beaten. And there has been enough proof about that in this series so far. Frankly speaking, if we retrospect 3 months back, when the Aussies had come to India, it all started. From the Mumbai one dayer!! And then on they have always maintained that Come to Australia, we'll take care of you there attitude!! And now when they realised that Harbhajan is becoming increasingly difficult to handle, this new drama all along!! Frankly, I get a feeling they are using what is supposed to be used as a shield, as a weapon!! We all know how big a gentleman Andrew Symonds is. Very famous for drinking, losing control and doing things unimaginable. Lets not get too much into the details of it. The point is, if you are champions, behave like champions. This is just too ridiculous!!



Shivnaraine Chanderpaul rightly made a comment couple of months back. If only umpires do not rule all the 50-50 decisions and even few of the 40-60 decisions in favour of them, then most sides can beat Australia. How true!! Gavaskar has always maintained that. Umpiring decisions invariably tend to go in favour of champion teams and world class players!! So first these Australians have built an aura around them, of being World Champions. And now they are rejoicing on it!! And its a real unfortunate thing, that the best umpire of the era, cannot stand and officiate in test matches involving Australia!!


The greatest positive for India in this match, is that now they can firmly believe that they have it in them to beat the Aussies. The way Anil Kumble batted today was simply phenomenal. He has been a true fighter all through his life. And frankly speaking, he has never got whatever he has deserved. He has always given his best at whatever he has indulged in. And it has always shown!! Was really sad to see him watch helplessly from the non strikers end, three wickets and the match going out of their hands!!


Coming to the fag end, lots of questions remain unanswered!! What role technology has to play in the game?? Where is all the morality of the yesteryears gone?? In the 21st century, is racism really significant?? Atleast in sports.. As I was discussing with my friend this morning, we will rather remember cricket in line with Dickie Bird and David Shepherd rather than Steve Bucknor or Darell Hair(another joker who had accused of racism, remember??? ) or Mark Benson!!!

Indians : Easy targets everythime huh??

After a hard days's work, I reached home late last night and started surfing through the channels on TV. What surprised me most was only one thing in all the news channels. Harbhajan Singh being summoned by the match refree. Nothing else was clear at that point of time, but then I slowly began to think over it. This is not the first time, Indian cricketers are being made the scapegoats. We can show lots of instances where only Indians or to be more precise, cricketers from the sub continent have been made easy targets!! Not even great cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly or Rahul Dravid have been spared. How often do we see the same thing happening to players from other teams?? I dont remember any instance in the recent past.

What exactly happened yesterday, I do not know!! But then, anyone using common sense can think, Harbhajan , who was batting at that time, will not go and start any unwanted dispute. Hardly has that happened in the history of cricket. Perhaps Javed Miandad in 1992 was an exception!! But then, upsetting the opposition my indulging in mind games and all is wrong. Where have all the ethics of the Australians gone?? Why did not Andrew Symonds "walk" when he was caught behind?? Why hasn't Adam Gilchrist, the great proponent of "walking" commented anything on it?? But coming to the point, summoning only Harbhajan for a hearing doesnt make any sense to me. Taali ek haath se nahi bajti. And Australians have always been famous for provoking people. Agreed some people cant control their temper, but then where is the spirit of the game headed?? If you are real world champions, show it on the field in the right ways. Just by unsettling the opponents mentally, you are not gonna be considered world champions. That way, Steve Waugh was a gentleman. Gem of a person. Never did he involve in anything like this. Frankly speaking, I feel the Aussies simply want to deviate from the issue of poor umpiring and create a new mess out of this. I still today can't believe the third umpire committing a blunder like what we all saw!! Whats the whole point of a third umpire then??

And coming to the point of racism, well, all said and done, I dont have any hesitation to write that Andrew Symonds is simply making bad use of it. When he was abused in India, we have taken necessary action against it. When he was abused somewhere else, he was supported. But using the same racism card everyday, is not going to help him in the long run. Tomorrow, even saying hello to him, he may charge it as racism. Where has all the ethics of the game gone?? Where are all the spirits of the yester years gone?? Where are we all headed?? Whats wrong in playing a gentleman's game in a gentlemanly way?? And why only subcontinent's cricketers are the usual targets?? Who is the real target of rasicm???

Things to ponder over.....

Yet another incident of a schoolboy killing another screamed in the newspaper headlines as I was sipping hot coffee in this chilly winter morning!! Hardly a month ago, we had seen a similar incident happen in another part of the country. All these developments, bring us to certain things to be pondered over.



Lets spare a few minutes for it



Why dont the parents have even a little bit of common sense?? What makes them keep the arms in the reach of the children?? Don't they know their kids are not mature enough?? All these things happen in a hurry, or maybe its like a matter of pride to show off arms in the neighbourhood!! Both for parents and the children. What we fail to realise is that, the same thing will go on and become a bigger evil if not curbed today. I will blame only the parents to a major extent for such a thing to happen in the society today. Everything starts off as a status symbol. Parents need to correct their children when they do a mistake. But thats not the case too often. I still remember my school days, when a classmate of mine got supported by his parents no matter what he did!! Now thats where it all starts. If you don't correct him when he is a child, forget about him even listening to you once he grows up. And remember, the onus of making someone a responsible citizen lies majorly with the parents. After all we have to live in the society and the society has a set of rules which has to be followed!!



Another major thing that I would hold responsible for such things happening in the society is the movies of today. 9 out of 10 movies have no meaning whatsoever today!! And most of them, are responsible for creating a bad impression on the child's tender mind. When everybody watches the movie, the child also wants to. Logically, you cannot let the child alone. So as a result, he too ends up watching things which are not meant for someone of his age to be watched. Whatever he sees, hears, feels at such tender ages will remain in his mind for long years to come. Be it the ill effects of smoking or drinks or drugs or any anti social activity for that matter. Whatever rape and molestation cases we are hearing of late also can be attributed to the same. Monitoring a child's movements is very important, especially in his teenage, which can make or break his life. Having just come out of it, I have seen it happen with my friends also. Not to such an extent, but the damage done is done. You cant do anything to revoke it. Thats why, I now get a feeling that the Union Health minister is right when he says smoking and drinks should be banned on screen. Thats a really debatable point. Lets not get into it now.



But the message is clear. How do we attack it?? Where are we headed?? Any solutions in sight?? Please leave your comments

Transition

There is always a time in everybody's life where they have to take a decision and many a times we find it difficult to decide on which way to go!! This time usually starts when one comes out of high school. His immediate dilemma will be what next?? Generally those are the days when he is not so mature to take a decision. Many a times he will take the same decision what his friends will take. He will opt for science not because he likes it, but only because his friends are taking science. This tendency is observed more among girls (Atleast according to my observation. So please don't google out any expert research on that topic and post it here!!! :P) . Two years henceforth, after you finish your intermediate, the dilemma is bigger. And this is the time when more people come and influence your decision making. Many a times, we tend to listen to our parents or our well wishers and decide upon their suggestions blindly. At that age, certainly the maturity levels are better. Those are the two years, where one gets acclimatised to the college culture. Ragging (though very less), bunking of classes, the first crush, the so called studies, labs etc etc to top the list. These are just the trailers of things to come. Also most of the people start their hostel life from this juncture itself. Often it s observed that there are not many colleges offering quality intermediate education too. It may even be that the competition levels have so increased that, people have to move out of smaller towns and villages to bigger towns and cities only to make sure that they dont lose out to others only because they hail from a village background. After two years of intermediate, the time is to go for graduation.

When things come to professional colleges, very few have the quality that they generally boast of. So this compels one to stay away from home and study. Initially at times, he will feel homesick. Depending on his abilities to strike a cord with others, this time period varies from few weeks to few months also. The company you get when you are staying alone, away from the watchful eyes of parents, decides a lot of how your life will be moulded. This is generally the time, when a person can move in the right direction as well as in the wrong!! Equal probabilities for both. Generally, this is the time when people first smoke, or have their first tryst with drinks and depending on the company you get, it can even go upto the levels of drugs also. As some wise person has said, "The mind is like a chariot driven by a pack of horses. If all horses try galloping in different directions, there will be chaos all around. " So its all about controlling the mind. Anything is okay as long as it is under control.

Life during graduation is that time, when you cross your teenage. You generally tend to think that you have matured enough You lose interest in studies. You desperately want to finish your study and start working. Infact the percentage of people who go for higher education immediately after graduation is probably very less(Well this too is my observation. You can definitely google this out and tell me the right information!! :)) This urge generally comes out of the willingness to become independent. The mentality is generally that "Once I start earning, nobody can interfere with my life". But many a case, thats not all. You have lots of responsibilities at that juncture in life. Your dad or mom, may retire and you may have to take care of the education of your siblings. Your parents may have taken a loan to support your education and its your moral responsibility to clear it off. Some times you may lose your parent/s in that juncture that the entire responsibility of your family may come on your shoulders. Its these situations, when you start having a tryst with what is called outside world!!

Having taken the decision to go for working(as happens in most of the cases), then starts the real movie. Something for which the script nobody knows. And in India especially, you never know whats happening with you, unless and until it really happens to you. Once you start working, you have to be double careful. But being a professional, life teaches you a lot of things. Many a times, you may not agree with your colleagues or your boss or whoever. You may end up fighting big time with them at times. In college life, you had one simple solution. Just avoid the person you dont like. But here, its not all that simple. You have to live with them. Just a small misunderstanding on one issue, has to be forgotten when you start taking some other topic. There you may need exactly the same person's help with whom you have fought just a few minutes before!! So life teaches you that and it does so very beautifully. Only thing is you need to balance between your professional life, your personal life and your social life.. Any interferences of any sort in these will lead you into direct trouble.

One great difference between student life and professional life is the fact that, as a student, you can keep on avoiding things or postponing them. Which is not at all possible in professional life. If Nitin fails to do something today, or postpones something, the same Nitin has to get it done, with more headaches tomorrow!!

Another important thing about being a professional is the fact that you need to take the right decision at times. Your instincts are very very important. When it comes to giving ideas, everyone will give tens of them, but when it comes for an answer, everyone will smartly escape. I was just reading it somewhere. Once two colleagues were walking in a forest when suddenly they come across a hungry tiger. The tiger is ready to pounce on them when one of them starts wearing his Nike shoes. The other one asks him, whether he thinks he can beat the tigers' speed. Pat the first one replies:"I don't need to run faster than the tiger. I only need to run faster than you!" Welcome to professional life. Hard to digest, but thats the truth. End of the day, everyone will be bothered about saving their own ass. One good book that gives a decent way to understand the ground realities and to cope up with it is 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. He has captured and put the hard realities in a fairly decent manner. Maybe it should be taken as a reference by anyone who is just entering the corporate lifestyle!!