Last time I was in Kochi, a friend took me on a drive through the Infopark. The whole place has changed so much over the years. Many businesses have sprang up along the Seaport Airport Road. The roads that were deserted a decade ago are congested now. My friend took a road eastwards from Muthoot Technopolis that took us right into the Infopark where Wipro and L&T are located. The drive was excellent except for a small patch where the construction was still going! The experience was out of the world. One has to drive through the greenery constituted to the densely grown coconut trees before hitting the Infopark. The palm leaves moving in the wind is a beautiful sight that relieves your heart of the aches. I wondered about the traffic during 6 pm while enjoying the greenery. If it is not bad yet, it will be so very soon.
After returning to Bengaluru, I shared the visit and the excitement with a colleague. But he was unimpressed; and rightfully so. Kerala is infamous for bandhs and harthals. As of today, there has been 25 harthals in Kerala this year. If you are person who likes to view the glass as half full, the number of bandhs and harthals in a month cannot surpass the number of days in that particular month. That is the sad state of affairs. In such a scenario, who wants to execute a project in Kerala? The entire delivery is at risk from the word go because harthals or bandhs come unannounced.
If everyone is worried about like my friend, how come Technopark and Infopark are sprouting in the state of Kerala? Why did TCS, Infosys and Wipro set up their offices in Kerala? How are they executing their projects? How do they operate without incurring loss?
Picture Courtesy: http://www.forum.kochinow.com
Actually Technpoark supposedly remains unaffected by these hartals and bandhs but I don't know about the percentage of employees who can't get to work because of lack of transportation. I'm not in a position to speak with authority but it is sure that these kind of nonsense will surely hurt us.
ReplyDeleteIt is an ideal industry for kerala dude. Dont you think that the story of daily accountability is highly overrated? You have a hartal today, you work from home.Next day, you report what you've done. Fortunately, the 'internets' doesn't take a break and neither does the other means of communication. All those hartals kind of make Kerala the Europe of India eh?;)
ReplyDeletei think the hartals and bandhs do not really deviate the diligent, its a boon only for people who want an excuse not to work. In today's corporate scenario of flexi timings and hours completed in a week, I think hartals have lost their power.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite interesting!!
ReplyDeleteWe have a 6-day week, unlike many IT companies in other cities enjoying a TGIF 5-day week. When there is a harthal, we are expected to come to work (risking our lives!) or compensate by working on a holiday. Now, does that make business sense!
ReplyDelete@ScorpioGenius - I'm wondering out loud. If Technopark is not affected by the bandh, then we should worry about doing business in Kerala. :)
ReplyDelete@Ranjit Thayyil - Now, you are pointing out an opportunity to make Kerala the coolest place to work. Work from home when there is harthal. It is a good idea. If you are into hiring, this could be a major mantra to get people onboard. Isn't this more of a wishlist? How are things happening at present?
@Sujata - You have a point in flexi timings and hours completed. Most of the IT personnels put in more than the normal hours. Even without harthals and bandhs, there are burnouts! The harthals and bandhs only add to the existing stress as the same people need to come and work on the weekends. In many cases, they are already at work during most weekends. :(
@Swatantra - Thank you.
@RGB - 6 day week! No comments. And to be frank, it might make a whole lot of sense to the business and nonsense to us. :)