A gentle discussion between a 'Passenger' and Software 'Project Manager' in a Train........
Vivek was not a happy man.. Even the plush comfort of the air-conditioned compartment of the Express train could not cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled for an air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the Admin person, it was the savings in time. As Project Manager, he had so many things to do!!
He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.
Passenger: Are you from the software industry sir? the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop. Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.
Passenger: You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir, Today everything is getting computerised
'Thanks,' smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look. He always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and built like a sportsman.He looked simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably looked like a railway sportsman making the most of his free travelling"
Passenger: You people always amaze me, the man continued, 'You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things around the world'
Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naiveness demanded reasoning not anger.
Vivek: 'It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it.'
For a moment, he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development Life cycle but restrained himself to a single statement. ’It is complex, very complex.'
Passenger: 'It has to be.... No wonder you people are so highly paid,' came the reply.
This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence crept into his so far affable, persuasive tone.
Vivek: 'Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in. Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office, does not mean our brows do not sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less taxing.'
He could see, he had the man where he wanted, and it was time to drive home the point.
Vivek: 'Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerised, book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerised centers accross the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time concurrently; data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?'
The man was awestruck; quite like a child at a planetarium. This was something big and beyond his imagination.
Passenger: 'You design and code such things?'
Vivek replied: 'I used to, and paused,' but now 'I'm the Project Manager.'
Passenger: 'Oh!' sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over,'so your life is easy now.'
This was like the last straw for Vivek. He retorted,
Vivek: 'Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I'm responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end, always changing his requirements, the user at the other, wanting something else, and your boss, always expecting you to have finished it yesterday'
Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realization said, was not merely the outburst of a wrong man, it was the truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth.
Vivek: 'My friend,' he concluded triumphantly, 'you don't know what it is to be in the Line of Fire'.
The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.
Passenger: 'I know Sir..... I know what it is to be in the Line of Fire......'
He was staring blankly, as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.
Passenger: 'There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. It was unknown where the next bullet was coming from and for whom. In the morning when we finally hoisted the tri-colour at the top only 4 of us were alive.'
Vivek: 'You are a...?'
Passenger: 'I'm Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a soft assignment. But, tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier?
On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he commanded... ....his own personal safety came last, always and every time.
' He was killed, as he shielded and brought that injured soldier into the bunker.. Every morning thereafter, as we stood guard, I could see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir....I know, what it is to be in the Line of Fire.'
Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of how to respond. Abruptly, he switched off the laptop.
It seemed insulting to even edit a Word document in the presence of a man for whom valour and duty was a daily part of life; valour and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes.
The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, and Sushant picked up his bags to alight.
Passenger: 'It was nice meeting you Sir.'
Vivek fumbled with the handshake and thought: "His hand climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the tri-colour". Suddenly, as if by impulse, he stood up at attention and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute....
It was the least he felt he could do for the country.
The incident he narrated during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life incident during the Kargil war. "Capt. Batra" sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the soldier he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and various other acts of bravery, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the nation's highest military award.
Moral: “Best lesson of life is listen to everyone and learn from everyone, because no body knows everything and everyone knows something. So, live humbly, there are great people around us, let us learn! Be polite… everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle in life!"
Vivek was not a happy man.. Even the plush comfort of the air-conditioned compartment of the Express train could not cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled for an air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the Admin person, it was the savings in time. As Project Manager, he had so many things to do!!
He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.
Passenger: Are you from the software industry sir? the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop. Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.
Passenger: You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir, Today everything is getting computerised
'Thanks,' smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look. He always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and built like a sportsman.He looked simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably looked like a railway sportsman making the most of his free travelling"
Passenger: You people always amaze me, the man continued, 'You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things around the world'
Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naiveness demanded reasoning not anger.
Vivek: 'It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it.'
For a moment, he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development Life cycle but restrained himself to a single statement. ’It is complex, very complex.'
Passenger: 'It has to be.... No wonder you people are so highly paid,' came the reply.
This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence crept into his so far affable, persuasive tone.
Vivek: 'Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in. Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office, does not mean our brows do not sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less taxing.'
He could see, he had the man where he wanted, and it was time to drive home the point.
Vivek: 'Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerised, book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerised centers accross the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time concurrently; data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?'
The man was awestruck; quite like a child at a planetarium. This was something big and beyond his imagination.
Passenger: 'You design and code such things?'
Vivek replied: 'I used to, and paused,' but now 'I'm the Project Manager.'
Passenger: 'Oh!' sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over,'so your life is easy now.'
This was like the last straw for Vivek. He retorted,
Vivek: 'Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I'm responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end, always changing his requirements, the user at the other, wanting something else, and your boss, always expecting you to have finished it yesterday'
Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realization said, was not merely the outburst of a wrong man, it was the truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth.
Vivek: 'My friend,' he concluded triumphantly, 'you don't know what it is to be in the Line of Fire'.
The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.
Passenger: 'I know Sir..... I know what it is to be in the Line of Fire......'
He was staring blankly, as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.
Passenger: 'There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. It was unknown where the next bullet was coming from and for whom. In the morning when we finally hoisted the tri-colour at the top only 4 of us were alive.'
Vivek: 'You are a...?'
Passenger: 'I'm Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a soft assignment. But, tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier?
On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he commanded... ....his own personal safety came last, always and every time.
' He was killed, as he shielded and brought that injured soldier into the bunker.. Every morning thereafter, as we stood guard, I could see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir....I know, what it is to be in the Line of Fire.'
Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of how to respond. Abruptly, he switched off the laptop.
It seemed insulting to even edit a Word document in the presence of a man for whom valour and duty was a daily part of life; valour and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes.
The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, and Sushant picked up his bags to alight.
Passenger: 'It was nice meeting you Sir.'
Vivek fumbled with the handshake and thought: "His hand climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the tri-colour". Suddenly, as if by impulse, he stood up at attention and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute....
It was the least he felt he could do for the country.
The incident he narrated during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life incident during the Kargil war. "Capt. Batra" sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the soldier he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and various other acts of bravery, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the nation's highest military award.
Moral: “Best lesson of life is listen to everyone and learn from everyone, because no body knows everything and everyone knows something. So, live humbly, there are great people around us, let us learn! Be polite… everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle in life!"
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