Sound of Calm

In water pool – wide and blue
I let my self go afloat
Lying on the surface – all let loose
Gazing up  – Like abandoned boat

With water swinging by my back
And bubbly waves singing up there
I feel a warmth of stream that flows
And lub-dub of my heartbeat clear

My ears rest under the surface blue
Eyes open under the cloudy sky
I feel my breath and blood all through
And soul going up – up one note high 

The pristine pool that holds me high
Whispers by my soul so blue
‘Stop running hopping wide around
The gift of calm ‘s inside of You’

Murphy's Law in Recruitment Drives

I am an IT professional with a handful of experience now on appearing in interviews.  I reside in the city popularly nick named as ‘the IT hub of India’. But one cannot be sure here that he or she would be selected even after a hunky-dory performance in interview. Not because of one’s flop show, but quite often because of a sloppy recruitment process and management.

Not only I, but few others of my acquaintances too have had this irksome experience of being a part of some sagging recruitment drive. I once had a telephonic round of interview scheduled at 10 am on a weekday. I had taken permission of the project manager of my erstwhile organization to come late to office that day, obviously not to attend the interview but for an ‘urgent personal work’. I at my residence was ready and set for the call. The interviewer was punctual enough to ring me up at dot ten. The interview went well. It was one of my dream companies to work with. The interviewer’s response by the end was quite positive. But a protocol is, they do not declare then, if the candidate has been selected or rejected.  So I was not apprised of my result at that time. I waited till the weekend. The very next Monday I received a mail from the recruitment team, ‘since you did not attend the scheduled interview, it has been marked as null and void. Please re-schedule your appointment’.

This was one example. Another not so happening event happened when I was called for a face to face interview in another company. As was expected, I along with a bunch of other candidates for different skill sets had reached the venue on time, i.e. 9 am. The interview didn’t start even till lunch time. We were patiently waiting for it to begin at the least, forget about the wait for our individual turns. On inquiring, one of the volunteers said the interview panel has not yet arrived.

 As if this was not enough to outrage our restless souls, another one fibbed, the panel is interviewing another set of candidates. We were wondering if they were interviewing some ghostly null set, as we - the union of candidates that was sitting together - were the only ones in the entire set. In a while another volunteer reported - panel has left for lunch, we could break too, for next half an hour.

Clutching our emotions together, we left for lunch and came back in another half an hour. We were told to further wait for few more minutes. And the interview finally began. I was eagerly and later lethargically waiting for the call. It was only 5 pm when I realized there is something wrong. I should have been called by then. My bad for a late response. On inquiring I found they had somehow misplaced my resume, which I had submitted in the morning. The candidates were being called in the order they had submitted their resume. But my call never came. They apologized, but my peeved mind was in no mood to entertain any further nuisance. By the time they managed my entry to the interview hall, it was the time for the panel to call for the day. I was genteelly requested to leave and was apologized for the discomfort.

These are couple of the most common problems faced now and then, during recruitment drives. And unfortunately these incidents keep repeating and go unnoticed. Not sure where the lag is, but the needy and unfortunate candidates are at times punished in disguise due to sagging recruitment management process.

Not to forget, there definitely are the lucky chaps who do not get to suffer so much on these events and do crack the interviews without any hassle, just by dint of their talent and proper delivery. But as the Murphy’s law goes - Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

This is quite apprehensive that the recruitment drive cannot be made completely lucid. But a little more clarity and docility in these processes need to be heeded better by the recruitment teams of most of the renowned organizations. For such pesky and troublesome incidents prove to be bane for the few talented but unfortunate lots.

Cheers to the Mothers !!

The 2 month old baby –  that was shielded by his mother who jumped off 5^th floor upon the outbreak of that super earthquake in Nepal – would have hardly realized the gravity of this matter.

A journalist was trying to interview that mother in grief. She had to get one of her legs amputated as it was severely damaged and had wounds that were fatal. Though she could not be interviewed, the journalist later described about her –  she used to live in a tall building. When the sudden quake struck, she saw her apartment swinging like a pendulum, and she was inside it. It took her few seconds to realize that it was an earthquake – a major one. She hurried to her baby sleeping in the cradle. Took him and ran towards the balcony to jump off, without ado. She knew she had no time to take the stairs, five floors down.

She tightly hugged her baby and jumped off, leaving the consequences in the hands of God. To a great surprise, she was still alive down there, with a crushed leg and broken back. But to a greater surprise, the baby was fine with a minor bruise – such was the shield of her arms.

This is the mother-child bond, stronger than the strongest of bonds. Just like that innocent infant, many of us ignore the fact that our mothers have borne innumerable pains just to see us smile. The purity of a mother’s love is undefined.

Thanks to the God for creating mothers, and to the USA – for bringing up the idea of mother’s day celebration. I wish a very happy mother’s day to all the mothers. Let’s celebrate it in our own best ways, whether or not our mothers are there with us! A mere convey of love and respect through words or through some other creative gesture may mean a lot to them! Let us not miss to make them feel special, on this special day!