However, recently when I used Swaroop’s Book price compare tool, I decided to buy a book from InfiBeam as the price was less than any other book shopping portal. The book was promised to be delivered in 5-7 business days, however, after 6 days of my order, I get the below e-mail from InfiBeam.

Due to an unusually high volume of orders we have run out off inventory for the following items. We have tried our best to source the inventory but are unable to do so at this time. Hence, we will not be able to fulfill the above items. The cost of these items including any promotions & gift certificates have been reverted to your account / bank account / credit card. Please allow 3-5 days for the refund to get processed from your banks end.

* Wellsprings: A Book of Spiritual Exercises

The book in question was published in 1986 and I don’t see any reason for “unusually high volume” for this book. And after 6 days of order, Infibeam realizes that the book is out of stock.

Recently, I was looking to order Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. Flipkart was accepting pre-orders for book, however, InfiBeam claimed to deliver book in 4-5 days ( The delivery time was different in three different place varying from 1-2 days to 4-5 days). Excitedly, I ordered book from InfiBeam, however, after 2 days I got a call from InfiBeam that because of some bug in their system the order was accepted and the book is not available. It cannot be delivered as it has not been released in India yet and would take another 15 days to deliver the book.

This was consecutive second disappointed experience from InfiBeam in two months.

After these two incidents, I’m sure that I’ll stick with Flipkart even if InfiBeam offers more discount on books.

Below are the links for his blog posts.

Overview
Part-1 The NSP Install
Part-2 Logical system and Virtual Machine
Part-3 License & Profiles
Part-4 Transport System
Part-5 HTTPS & Sapcrypto
Part-6 SPAM and Kernel Upgrade
Part-7 Upgrade to SP6

Give it a shot with these steps and all the best with your installation.

My short stint here has been a real pleasure. I’ve met some wonderful people and it’s a little unsettling to quit a company after joining in couple of months. In hindsight it’s not one of the best decisions I have made, however, I do hope that after couple of years, I would be able to connect the dots looking backwards.

I will be moving to Pune after living for more than 4 years in Mumbai and will be devoting time side-by-side to my entrepreneurial dreams as well. Let’s hope for the best.

It’s time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, babe grass is growing
It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going

Yes, although, I am working in IT but I’m not an engineer. I know engineer are different breed, they save world by coding and working in IT. But I’m not engineer. I’m a simple-plain just another computer graduate working in IT.

I know for a fact it’s not at all fashionable to be in IT industry without a B.E./B.Tech badge. People get surprised and sometimes shocked that a person like me is sitting among them who is not an engineer and he is as good, if not better, as them.

I was an average student during my schooling days. I did want to join engineering college like everyone else. I did not want to do it because of my interest in it but because every other person in my class was trying for it. however, I realized that it was something which was not meant for me. I just didn’t feel the need to get an engineering degree. I did not even appear for a single entrance test for engineering and ended up getting computer science graduate degree.

Is it really required to get an engineering degree to work in IT? I mean I have seen all sorts of engineer (chemical, mechanical and even civil engineers) working in different roles in IT. I really don’t understand what problem the mechanical/chemical engineer is solving by coding in Java/PHP or administering the Oracle database. Is this what he has got education for?

With all due respects to engineers, there are more than approximately 3500 engineering colleges (couldn’t find an official figure on AICTE website) and these days one can get admission easily in any Baankelaal Chavannichhap Engineering College, which might have setup of few acres in the far most outskirts of city with almost no infrastructure and most of the faculties comprising of old students. Need not to say, the quality of these engineers is not very reliable. In 2004, India produced more than 450,000 engineers out of which 31% were Computer engineers. But are these engineers employable? Answer is a clear no.

These engineers will have to go through a rigorous training of 2-3 months in the company and then only they will be somewhat productive after signing the service level agreement of 2 years, in most cases. And trust me on this, for these kind of thorough trainings you don’t have to be an engineer.

I’m not saying that guys with degrees like MCA are directly employable, however, they have better understanding of computers and their learning curve would be shorter as compare to a mechanical/chemical engineer.

So, It’s not the degree what matters. It’s the attitude, knowledge and skills that matter. No doubt that engineering degree would put you in job queue ahead of few not-so-cool computer graduate like me but it would definitely not give you that extra edge while working. You have to prove yourself.

P.S: This posts is not at all talking about engineers from IIT/NIT and such elite colleges, this post is about engineering colleges in every nuke and corner of every city.

I decided to buy a bike last year and after a lot of thinking I settled for Royal Enfield. The Bullet was first choice without a doubt but I wasn’t sure if I am the right person for it. I used to hate driving specially in Mumbai traffic and maneuvering that beast is not an easy task in Mumbai chaos. I got different opinion about Bullet like the amount your are paying to buy a bullet can be used as a down payment for a car, why do you need to buy a bike now, Bullet khareedna matlab haathi paalna hai and so on. Needless to say I did not pay attention to any of these unwanted suggestions.

Now, the next big task was to decide on the model. As I had not driven a Bullet; so, I was sure that I am not going for Standard model because it had gear shift on the right side. I wanted to go for Thunderbird Twin Spark but it does not have that thump sound, although, after going through quite a few forums I got to know that a retro silencer can give that thump. I almost zeroed in for a Machismo and that’s when Royal Enfield launched Bullet Classic models.

It was a historic launch in the sense that all models except for Thunderbird were being discontinued and going forward Royal Enfield is going to produce only UCE (Unit Construction Engine) and not CI (Cast Iron) engines. I could not make a difference in these two types of engines . I took a test ride of Royal Enfield Classic 350 and was pretty satisfied with the ride.

I booked my bike (Royal Enfield Classic 350) on 25th Nov, 2009 (just after 21 days of launch) by paying Rs. 10,000. The company owned Bandra showroom promised me the bike in 50-55 days as I booked a silver color bike and there was less demand for silver color. I made a mental note that I will get a delivery during Makar Sankranti. However, to my disappointment I received a call from store after a month that I will not get my bike before second week of February. I consoled myself by thinking that it would be a prefect gift for me on my birthday.

Till now, 111 days have passed (and also my Birthday, Holi and Gudi Padwa) and 3 more deadline extension have been informed so far. The next expected delivery week (yes, they talk in weeks) is third week of April. I have sent an email to Royal Enfield seeking explanation about the delay and have received a canned response that you will receive a bike on first-come-first-serve basis whenever it’s ready. I have made several calls to showroom about my bike and to empathize, they have offered me to return 90% of my booking amount and I can pay the complete amount at the time of delivery. They have also send me a Classic calendar featuring Milind Soman.

My excitement of owning a Royal Enfield is dying down, although, I still look every passing by Bullet with an astonishing feeling, the same way a kid looks up in the sky whenever he listens to sound of an aeroplane.  I am no more counting days to get my bike, however, what disappoints me the most is the manner in which the delivery date is being extended every two weeks. I am unable to comprehend how Eicher Motors is not able to produce these bikes when they have only three models in production now unlike in past when they had 4 models. The demand has increased understandably for Classic bikes but you are in business of producing bike and should have evaluated the spurt in demand.

I am still waiting for the day when I will get a call from Bandra Royal Enfield store that your bike is ready and you can take it home. So far this has been my Royal Enfield experience without even driving it.

I still love Royal Enfield, the bike but I hate Royal Enfield (Eicher Motors), the company.

Update-1 (April, 8th, 2010): After 134 days of booking, I have paid the complete amount for the bike. I have been told that bike would be available next week. Thanks to delay in production, I have to pay Rs. 2287 extra as there has been some hike in excise duty or something. Thank You Eicher Motors for making me pay extra for your fault.

Update-2 (April, 20th, 2010): After 146 days, the bike is delivered today. I don’t have words to explain the feeling of owning this beauty. The wait was all worth it

These four years have been truly enjoyable here and have made a lot of friends. While working here I got a chance to work in The Netherlands and thanks to Schengen visa I could visit few wonderful cities like Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Paris, Brussels, Interlaken and Luzern. I still cherish those memories of my stay in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Working with European colleagues was a completely different and enjoyable experience. I developed interest in cycling during this time ( had had a fall as well, with swollen eye ) and bought a cycle here in Mumbai too, although it’s not easy to cycle in Mumbai.

Now, I’m looking forward to join my new organization with new hopes and new set of expectations. I know it’s not easy to leave your comfort zone and adapt to new company’s work environment and culture but still I hope that transition would be smooth and I will provide value to my new employer.

I am sharing few points which I have learned in e-mail communication so far.

– Take your time to compose e-mail, don’t write in a hurry.
– Do a spell check.
– Know when to use ‘Reply-all’ and when absolutely not.
– Avoid using fancy fonts; stick with basic fonts like Arial/Calibri.
– If you are checking your emails after few days then first read all emails and then reply to the e-mail which requires a reply. Do not reply as you read because you might have receive further e-mail for the same communication or someone from the CC list might already have replied.
– Read and re-read before replying an e-mail. Have you answered all underlying questions/concerns raised by the sender?
– If an attachment is to be sent then compose your email after adding the attachment, followed by adding recipients.
– Do not forget the attachment (use attachment reminder script in Outlook or download this software) In Gmail, activate the attachment reminder.
– Do a spell check.
– Do not reply an email when you are angry. ( Instead do this: compose the email, save it but don’t send it. Read that email again after a while and chances are you will change the e-mail completely or do not send that at all .)
– Avoid using ‘but’, it’s somewhat negative, instead use ‘however’
– Do not use fancy signature with animated images, it distracts and annoys the reader. ( and won’t animate in Outlook 2007 )
– Turn the automatic spell check on.
– Be precise and to the point, help your e-mail recipient save time.
– Ask yourself a question, how much would it take for me to answer this email? less than 2 mins? Reply now.
– Do a spell check and grammar check.
– Do not use authoritative language in your e-mails even if you are writing to your subordinate. Nobody likes to receive orders. Would you like if you receive such an email? Re-read your email after composing and sense the tone of your e-mail?
– Don’t forget the out-of-office Auto reply when you are not reading your e-mails.
– Always mention the alternate person who should be contacted in your absence if there is any.
– ‘Please see the attachment’ is a better phrase then ‘Please finds the attachment’ (if your attachment is not a treasure? ).
– Do not forget/misspell recipients’ Name. It might turn him/her off.
– Avoid using CAPS and bold.
– Know when to use Hello/Hi/Dear.
– Received an email from an irated customer/client? Empathize him/her in your reply first and then explain your situation.
– If you are sending a screen-shot in e-mail then make sure you saved the image as JPG and not BMP in Paint. Sending a BMP image would unnecessarily make your e-mail heavy.
– Do not forward those useless e-mails for your pleasure, and block office bandwidth .
– Be a responsible e-mail forwarder, verify the authenticity of an e-mail forward before being a victim of these forwards.
– Have an e-mail signature which has all your required contact information.
– In personal e-mails, make an email signature which has links to your website, blog, social networking profile like Orkut/Twitter.
– Do a spell check.
– Read your email one last time before hitting the send button.

These are few points which I believe would help you in better email communication. What do you practice in your email communication? Do you have any tip? Please do share.

Be Googleable: As they say Google is God and if God doesn’t know you then you are in trouble . I will go to extent of saying that in today’s Internet age if you are not in Google search results you do not exist. If your prospect employer searches for you on Google what results appear for your name? Have you ever Googled your name? Go give it a shot and see what are the results for your name?

Get yourself a website: Start your own website. Write about your achievements, aspirations, knowledge and experiences. This will also help you your brand (read you) search engine friendly, you will be googleable. In today’s time it’s doesn’t cost a fortune to get a website. You can get a domain name in Rs. 400/- and hosting starts as low as Rs. 1000/-. To create a website you don’t need to know HTML, there are plenty of free website templates available with which you can create your own website and with CMS like WordPress, you can configure your dynamic website/blog in few clicks.

Bonus Tip: If you want your personalized website, you just need to buy yourself a domain and I can get your website hosted for nominal fee or free.

Get a personalized e-mail: After you have a personalized website then do get a personalized email. mail@yourname.com is far better than yourname_cool_1980@gmail.com. This e-mail address would be easy to remember for others and tells about your brand name. With help of Google apps, you can get as many as 50 e-mail address for your domain for free.

Be visible on forums: Participate in forums of your technology domain. Ask questions, seek advice and share knowledge with others. This would increase your visibility and adds credit to your expertise.

Be Social, join Social Networks: Join social networking sites like Facebook, twitter and most importantly Linkedin. These sites help you connect with like-minded people and expand your network. In terms of visibility, Orkut is not the right social networking site because Orkut profiles are not indexed in Google while Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin profiles do appear in Google results.

Expand your Linkedin Network: Join Linkedin if you haven’t already. You need to expand your network on Linkedin, add your peers, your ex-colleague, colleage’s colleague. Don’t just join Linkedin for the heck of it, be an active member on Linkedin. Give an identity to your profile, add your picture, your accomplishments, and your detailed profile, recommend persons in your network and ask for recommendations and participate in discussions on Linkedin.

E-mail Signature: Don’t waste the real estate of your e-mail signature. Add your Website URL, your Linked profile link in your e-mail signature.

These pointers are about building your online brand, however, apart from this you need to create your brand offline as well. For your offline brand identity, I can suggest that be nice to people, help others and communicate well.

These are the points which I think enhance your brand value. Do you have more suggestions? Please share it with me.

Here are the lyrics :

yaara… yaara.. o yaara
yeh kis pyaari hifaazat main ho befikri ki haalat hai
yaaroo…..
badi mazboot baahon main ho sooraj ki hararat hai
tumhare waaste toofan sah len, muskarao tum
jiyo har lamha tumko zindagi peene ki aadat hai

I don’t know if I would buy a policy from Bajaj Allianz after watching this ad, however, this song is going to be my mobile ring tone for sure .

Update: Because of several request of this mp3 download, I have uploaded the mp3 of this ad. To download please click here

Although, no job is perfect and grass always looks greener at the other side. We think that our jobs suck here and in other companies all is hunky dory. But still, considering all factors normal, when one should optimally switch a company.

I have observed two kind of persons ( yeh jo world hai na world isme 2 type ke log hote hain) the ones who think that working longer period of time would look good on their resume and shows the loyality for the company and others who don’t give a heck about it and keep hopping the jobs every other year and their salary package keeps getting fatter by every switch.

I am old fashioned and used to think that a person should work in a company for at least 2 years. After these 2 years if there are enough reasons like you feel stagnant then you should think about switching your job. However, I have recently observed that no period is optimal/ minimum to stay or switch. People leave companies in even 6 months of joining. However, I understand that no matter how hard you work you will not get a decent raise until you switch the company unless you have a very good luck but does that mean you should greed and strategically keep switching the job every other year?

At the end of it, it’s your call to stay in a job or to move on. However, I am still puzzled what’s the optimal time to switch the company considering all the factors stay normal? I remember, NIIT had this tag line in 90s, if you are not studying at NIIT, you are missing something. I think in today’s scenario there is no such thing like loyalty for company and this tag line can be used as: if you are not switching your job in every 1-2 year, you are missing something.

The following e-mail forward makes me think whether it is really a good plan to switch jobs every other year without giving much thought to career plan. (the origin of email not known).

Interesting…..Don’t miss last 2 Questions…
Some, rather most organizations reject his CV today because he has changed jobs frequently (10 in 14 years). My friend, the ‘job hopper’ (referred here as Mr. JH), does not mind it…. well he does not need to mind it at all. Having worked full-time with 10 employer companies in just 14 years gives Mr. JH the relaxing edge that most of the ‘company loyal’ employees are struggling for today. Today, Mr. JH too is laid off like some other 14-15 year experienced guys – the difference being the latter have just worked in 2-3 organizations in the same number of years. Here are the excerpts of an interview with Mr. JH:

Q: Why have you changed 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: To get financially sound and stable before getting laid off the second time.

Q: So you knew you would be laid off in the year 2009?
A: Well I was laid off first in the year 2002 due to the first global economic slowdown. I had not got a full-time job before January 2003 when the economy started looking up; so I had struggled for almost a year without job and with compromises.

Q: Which number of job was that?
A: That was my third job.

Q: So from Jan 2003 to Jan 2009, in 6 years, you have changed 8 jobs to make the count as 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: I had no other option. In my first 8 years of professional life, I had worked only for 2 organizations thinking that jobs are deserved after lot of hard work and one should stay with an employer company to justify the saying ‘employer loyalty’. But I was an idiot.

Q: Why do you say so?
A: My salary in the first 8 years went up only marginally. I could not save enough and also, I had thought that I had a ‘permanent’ job, so I need not worry about ‘what will I do if I lose my job’. I could never imagine losing a job because of economic slowdown and not because of my performance. That was January 2002.

Q: Can you brief on what happened between January 2003 and 2009.
A: Well, I had learnt my lessons of being ‘company loyal’ and not ‘money earning and saving loyal’. But then you can save enough only when you earn enough. So I shifted my loyalty towards money making and saving – I changed 8 jobs in 6 years assuring all my interviewers about my stability.

Q: So you lied to your interviewers; you had already planned to change the job for which you were being interviewed on a particular day?
A: Yes, you can change jobs only when the market is up and companies are hiring. You tell me – can I get a job now because of the slowdown? No. So one should change jobs for higher salaries only when the market is up because that is the only time when companies hire and can afford the expected salaries.

Q: What have you gained by doing such things?
A: That’s the question I was waiting for. In Jan 2003, I had a fixed salary (without variables) of say Rs. X p.a. In January 2009, my salary was 8X. So assuming my salary was Rs.3 lakh p.a. in Jan 2003, my last drawn salary in Jan 2009 was Rs.24 lakh p.a. (without variable). I never bothered about variable as I had no intention to stay for 1 year and go through the appraisal process to wait for the company to give me a hike.

Q: So you decided on your own hike?
A: Yes, in 2003, I could see the slowdown coming again in future like it had happened in 2001-02. Though I was not sure by when the next slowdown would come, I was pretty sure I wanted a ‘debt-free’ life before being laid off again. So I planned my hike targets on a yearly basis without waiting for the year to complete.

Q: So are you debt-free now?
A: Yes, I earned so much by virtue of job changes for money and spent so little that today I have a loan free 2 BR flat (1200 sq. feet) plus a loan free big car without bothering about any EMIs. I am laid off too but I do not complain at all. If I have laid off companies for money, it is OK if a company lays me off because of lack of money.

Q: Who is complaining?
A: All those guys who are not getting a job to pay their EMIs off are complaining. They had made fun of me saying I am a job hopper and do not have any company loyalty. Now I ask them what they gained by their company loyalty; they too are laid off like me and pass comments to me – why will you bother about us, you are already debt-free. They were still in the bracket of 12-14 lakh p.a. when they were laid off.

Q: What is your advice to professionals?
A: Like Narayan Murthy had said – love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you. In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company’s needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.
Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?
A: When a company does well, its CEO etc will address the entire company saying, ‘well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you.” But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO etc will say, “It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go.” So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss.