Cautionary warning: I have nothing against that country;
this is no racist post, not a post due to frustration that am not going there
for a on-site project.
This is unadulterated rant
Sitting in my cubicle (well technically speaking, this is
NOT a cubicle, ok. Lemme call it my workplace ) on yet another Monday morning
trying to muster up all the energy I can and a artificial smile plastered to my
face, I start settling down, combing my hair sitting exactly at my work
place(yes, am mannerless and lazy like that) I take my headphones and a new
Zandu balm dappa (yes, fruits of labor I get headache almost everyday and at
any random time of the day and almost every night I get to bed with one) ,
waving hi to few souls with whom I have acquainted myself and yes unusually
early to work today as my cab driver was on time and also there was less
traffic today , the major reason being this dusshera time and almost all
schools are done with their first term and vacation is on till coming Thursday
.
The exact point why this frustration started.
Hailing from southern part of India , from a tambrahm
household , went to a school which preached Hinduism meticulously … well blame
it on all of these … I was always told and always had holidays for Ayudha
Poojai (saraswathy poojai) and Vijayadasami . Saraswathy poojai a.k.a Ayudha
poojai is the day when you worship goddess Saraswathy (the lady is supposed to
give you good brains) and it is a boon in every students life because you don’t
have to touch your books that day!! Yes literally !! you keep your books and do
pooja, it is books for students same way for any profession. No one here down
south does any work that day, all shopkeepers clean and decorate their shops,
they pray for good business and dedicate this day entirely to Gods worship and
they start it afresh from the next day which is very auspicious to start any
new venture the day is called ‘VijayaDasami’ (Vijaya-Victory, dasami- 10th
day) The mythical reference being Lord Rama’s victory over the 10 headed asura
(bad guy) Raavan (no not Jr. AB) , it is also the last day of Navraathiri , the
dandiya takes place in the northern parts of India and down south it’s the last
day of Golu , this day is supposedly very auspicious to start anything new, you can witness tiny little ones being made
to write in rice for the first time, as
this day marks the beginning of their formal education, many schools have a
Vijayadasami admission .
Yes, these 2 days are of great regional importance … and not
just that, being it vacation time you get to meet your relatives and golu means
visiting houses , and even in the households where they do not have golu DO
celebrate Ayudha Poojai as it is very significant and auspicious …
For me till date ayudha poojai has been a day where dad used
to be home and lunch was a sumptuous affair and cousins galore at home. Entire
day goes in eating, chatting , laughing… yes, family bonding in simpler terms…
Hang on, the scene isn’t gonna be the same this year.
Yes , I have to work on both ayudha poojai and vijayadasami
this year. Most say 90% of the companies have a holiday atleast on Ayudha
poojai day…
But… but.. I have to work! Yes on both days.
And the reason? Very simple, mine is a Newyork based company and also I am a life science professional, so even a days off will mean a huge loss, for whom, no you should not ask that. Everything goes according to the American calendar, well, wait before
you bombard with questions like
-> So do you have holidays for thanksgiving, Halloween,
4th of July , a long Christmas vacation?
->Are you paid in American dollars?
Well, the answer for both is a big NO.
When it comes to restricting holidays, they start following
a new rule …
Yearly only 12 days of leave, and yes they include Saturdays
and yes they will NOT compensate Gandhi Jayanti or may day which fell on Sundays…
and granting holidays are the decision of the management which is made of
people who are LOYAL to the company (read bonded labors who are paid and
trained to do so)
Let us work for America...let the world be American... what
joy!
Already we have got used to McD’s , KFC and pizzas.
Darn the regional sentiments, darn the family bonding, darn
the break from work.
America is more important…
Hail amreeca
now don't come fighting with me telling that I should blame my management and NOT amreeca, am in no mood to argue, I have another rant to finish ... and I already had a bad monday...
Tata!
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