Government jobs

‘Maami, today I got a good proposal for my daughter. The boy is from IIM Ahmadabad’

'Appadiya Gomti? That is very good. IIM boys are very difficult to find. Many of them ge married to someone from their own college . Good Good! How old is he? '

'He is 29 years old'

'Oh! that is perfect for Vaidehi. She is 26 na? What is he doing?'

'He works in America Maami, in New York, in some bank'

'Oh Gomati, did you check if it is Lee-man bank?'

‘I think so. You have heard of it Maami? It is good na?'

'Don't you read the papers? That bank has closed down?'

'Aiiyo ... I did not know this.'

'In our times, bank jobs were the most sought after. I remember my father would look out specifically for grooms for me working in banks. He would say that government bank jobs are the best. See how right he was. It is a different thing that I liked your maama who was working in Income tax.'

'What should I do now Maami?'

'Let us go talk to Malathi. You know Malathi na? She works as a consultant in wedding business. I know that she is going to the VISA-lakshi temple now with some clients. Lets walk there'

'Consultant in wedding business? Appadina? '

'Why don't you ask her? '

---

‘Malathi, you know Gomati right? She wanted to ask you some questions.’

‘Maami, of course I know Gomati. I met her and her daughter Vaidehi last month at the kutcheri.’

‘So Malathi, what do you do? What is this consultant business?’

'Gomati, I keep track of the latest developments in the groom and bride profiles through my sources. With that I know what is hot the marriage market, which are the most desired qualities, professions and so on. I basically do all the things to facilitate match-making'

'Appadiya..Malathi, Can you tell me more on how you do it?'

'See, I have this small team working for me. First and the most important is the Maami Network. Everyone trusts word of mouth and Maamis. So in all the social functions such as weddings, kutcheris, temple visiting I mix with people to learn more about prospective boys and girls. I keep myself updates about prospective boys and girls and what they are doing. The second round is my team who are all very good with computers and latest developments. They look at multiple sources online like Orkut, Facebook, LinkedIn and all matrimony websites'

'Sorry Malathi, I don't know much about computers. Can you tell me how this works?'

'See Gomati, the young ones today have a lot of their information online. Let us take LinkedIn website. I keep track of where the boy/girl is working and who his professional contacts are. And just in case we need to know verify the character of boy or girl, we know who to contact for professional stuff.’

'Oh this is like when my father used to ask for contacts in office and ask for verification.'

'Correct. Orkut is more public. Almost all boys/ girls are active on Orkut. There is something called testimonials where friends write about each other. We read that to get better understanding of the person. Then look at his group of friends and their profiles. Remember the adage - A lot can be told about a man by the company he keeps. This is the best way to know his peer group. Also the boy/girl is part of some 'groups' like Classical music or rock music or his school and college. With this we can find out which school and college he studied in and what his interests are. So we find out much more about the boy or girls interests'

'Wow Malathi. This is really useful information’

'Then there is Face book. It is more difficult to keep track on face book as there is a lot of privacy there. Among many things, we specifically keep track of status line messages. If you watch that over a period of time, you would know how the person is feeling, what are the activities he or she is involved in.'

'Malathi! you are super. Kalakittai. I need your help. I am looking for alliance for my daughter Vaidehi. In fact I got one alliance. The boy is working in some bank in New York. I think Lee-man'

'Gomati, Lee-man Bank in New York? That is not good. A lot of people have lost jobs or are in the process of losing jobs. We have seen increased activity on Orkut, facebook. Earlier these people did not access facebook or Orkut. Now they are very active on it. This only shows that they have more time on their hands and hence less work. On LinkedIn there profile shows the highest increase in change of status in the 'what are you interested In question'. Many have recently changed it and have added 'here for jobs'. And not just that. The boys in this profile are people who are sending out most number of requests for 'can we be friends? Its not that the women are not smart. They are rejecting most of these requests. In fact the reject rate in this group has gone up significantly off late. In Shaadi.com and matrimony websites, many proposals of such boys and girls have been rejected because of working in these banks – though other reasons have been given.’

'Malathi, this is so scary. What do I do now? '

'Tell me the boy's name?'

' Rohit Sundaram'

' Oh Rohit, is he from Madras university then IIM Ahmadabad working in New York. He has round face, slightly fair and is interested in photography.'

' Yes yes.. him only. Do you know him?'

'Well, kind of. Don't worry. He is a good boy and he is not in Lee-man but in Gold-man. And don't worry, Gold-man is now a government bank'.

' Oh.. That is good news. I always knew government bank jobs are the best.'

Sigh! Such is life!

At work, in business, we have this concept of benchmarking. Look at how other companies or businesses have done in similar situations. What has been the output and/or the challenges faced. And to benchmark, we look at other industries, geographies, competition and so on to get a good 'feel' and learn from their successes and failures.

However, when it comes to personal life, somehow I tend to forget this principle. That learning from other's experiences is not just an intelligent thing to do, but a wise thing as well.

'Learn from my experience ' -that has been the overall theme of what people have said. But then I believe (or so have believed - not anymore) that past is not an indication of the future and especially if it is not your own past.

'You have not experienced this, how will you ever understand, let alone talk to me sensibily about it? So, why should I listen to you on this? '

In Tamil there is a phrase - 'Vayasu kolaru' (perils of a particular age.. especially teenage and early adolescene ;)). Guess that fits in here. See, again I am trying to avoid owning up :(.

And today, I find myself in a spot. I find myself 'giving gyaan' to someone. And guess what I am telling that person - 'Even though I have not experienced exactly what you have been through, I can understand. '

And I get the same reply back - 'You have no idea what I have been through,so you cannot exactly understand.'

Sigh!Such is life - it does come around a full circle. Only that I had no idea tht it would be this early.