Pretty Intresting and funny.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-776884,curpg-1.cms
NEW DELHI: Project manager Steve Gordon headed an enterprise solutions team in Minnesota. During his 5-year-stint at the firm, he had been exposed to a lot of India, thanks to the proliferation of the H1-B visa holders in the IT industry .
A big influx of Indian techies had taken place over the past few years and going by the present state of things, the fanatical Democrat knew that the trend would continue. Reasonably so, as the world’s largest democracy was currently on a roll and with the leaps made by the Asian giant in IT, there seemed to be no stopping for it.
Gordon, however, was more concerned about other things. Being an observant boss with an eye for detail, the 40-year-old MIT grad had lately felt discordant vibes among his cosmopolitan project team. Trying to keep a tab on employee behaviour proved to be a helluva task as it all seemed perfect on the surface.
However, the image of superficial perfection got a rude jolt after he overheard a conversation between his team associates Ryan Coleman and Joshua Paul. Enraptured by the opening lines, Gordon, decided to clue himself in to the remaining threads of the conversation.
Ryan : I tell you Josh, that Zankar (Shankar) fella is really funny, man! As if nerdy looks weren’t enough, that bloke also talks a convoluted language. And every time he opens his mouth, I feel like asking him to lay off.
Josh : You bet man! I can’t figure out how these guys are landing up by the dozen out here. Gawd! And Gordon is impressed by their efficiency and keeps on pointing it out to David, Michael, you and me as we are the only Americans in the team. I think one of these days I am going to point it out to him that the Indian techies do suffer from recurrent near-sightedness.
Ryan : Absolutely. Frankly speaking, I myself am yet to chance upon a single Indian Techie who actually has a longer-term ambition that he wants to fulfill. They all seem so caught up in wanting to add Java/ASP/C# skillset to their resume and do not wanna do much with their professional life.
Josh : Boy! And then they have this self-righteous air about them that is supposed to justify all behaviour. Methinks it’s largely got to do with the colonial hangover that the Brits forgot to take to along with them to the land of Big Ben. Don’t you think such behaviour is largely due to the ‘White Man’s Burden’ syndrome?
Ryan : Ya! Like Zankar, most of them have this ‘wanna-be-like us’ attitude and they will not leave any stones unturned. In their quest for perfection and to blend in into the society, they also slip on a fake accent when conversing with any American? Have you noticed the way Mohun breaks into a drawl when he talks to Nicole or Gordon? I feel like telling him to just cut the nonsense and get on with life, man!
Josh : And another thing that puts me off is the way the Indian gang goes on and on about the dough they are making from their project here. For chrissake, how on earth can you possibly keep talking about money and its various aspects like how much money each gets to make. Mohun, Shankar and Preeti ( she is quite HOT, I must say!) keep comparing their earnings with the blokes at San Jose.
Ryan : Preeti is hot alright, but I hate it when she is comparing her fiancé Maneesh’s earnings with that of Shankar’s. I am sure they must be dying to know how much Gordon must be taking home to his beautiful Greek wife! Sometimes they get a little too inquisitive for comfort.
Josh : And the way they are all agog about their debut US visit, the H1-B visa saga that finally rests with the much-touted green card, which most see as their passport to a better life. After a conversation over beer with Raghu (he’s completely confused and doesn’t know whether to retain his Indian identity or adopt the Yank way), I figured that a majority of them yearn to be staffed on a project with a sizeable onsite component as this will ensure a B1 visa (the business visa) and a short stint in the US. Then comes the L1 visa, followed by the H1-B saga and finally salvation with the elusive green card.
Ryan : True. Most of them do not wanna go back home, and I am amazed at the way they keep taking their folks for granted, expecting them to be there for them always, without even realizing that their own contribution is zilch. They claim to be all for family unlike us, but actually care so little for family.
Josh : And their clannish habits suck, man! How can you possibly wanna bond with only Indians over the weekend? My sister Rachael had a bad time when she was seeing Vivek, an Indian programmer in her office. Every weekend he would drag her to the Indian rendezvous, where everyone insisted on speaking in Hindi, much to Rachel’s discomfiture. Nobody showed any sensitivity to the fact that she did not understand a word of what was being said. Finally fed up, she had the good sense to call it off.
Ryan : Oh boy! But, have you noticed Raghu’s dazzling gold belt buckles? Its gory, to say the least! Guess we should pool in money to gift him a leather belt at his farewell. And sporty shoes with formal trousers is the ultimate in fashion statement. Versace himself would do a bouncer if he saw those bright red ties with orange and beige shirts! And you can’t miss the mobile phone pouches on the trouser waistbands, in sync with Clint Eastwood style. Funny polyphonic ringtones assigned to mobile phones is supposed to be their way of being cool, if you can excuse the high pitch.
Josh : I am on the verge of hitting the roof when I see Mohun sitting pretty on the office phone, having a gala time as he makes personal calls to his friends here. Have you noticed that the Indian bunch is always inevitably late for all group and project meetings and some even forget to switch off their intrusive mobile-phones.
Ryan : The other day I saw Preeti lose her cool with Zankar and Vishal as they kept cracking some lewd double-meaning jokes at her. I am shocked to know if their idea of fun revolves round forwarding semi nude pornographic stuff to female colleagues. It all seems so juvenile.
Josh : They do need to get a life man. And techies should stop acting so stuck-up and moralistic about everything, including sex. Guess they could do with a bit of loosening up their stuffy collars and stop spending 16 hours a day for a month at a stretch to deliver the project. There’s something called assertiveness, boss!
Ryan : And the crazy fixation for project-status is ridiculous. Your life won’t change if you are on a high-end project with a Fortune-500 firm. Somebody should tell them this.
Somebody had an enormous task on his shoulders while the next review meeting came up. And being the project leader, the entire onus lay on Gordon. Mopping his sweaty brow, Gordon thought of ways to bridge the differences and building greater interpersonal communication between his ethnic workforce.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-776884,curpg-1.cms
. Believe me those are few and veryyyy far between.