Living Dangerously

Let me clear the air right away – the title has nothing to do with my state of living. I am doing fine.

When I grew up in Chennai, I used to hear the Tamil phrase “Nithya Gandam Poorna Ayusu” quite often. When you ask elders how are they doing, this might be most of the ailing people’s response. It has many different interpretations but mostly used to mean “Everyday there is a peril/danger to life, but still living for full lifetime”. Some say “gandam” here is not a peril/danger but a plant “kandankathiri” which taken everyday will improve health.

Another similar phrase that I used to come across often while watching cricket is “living dangerously”. When a batsman is not at his best, he plays some shots that potentially will get him out on normal circumstances but due to other people’s mistakes, like dropping a catch or poor throw etc, he survives repeatedly. The commentators used to remark that the batsman is living dangerously.

Looking at the current situation in the Information Technology sector, I guess every person working in IT is living dangerously. The top tier tech companies already laid off tens of thousands of people last year while still being profitable. When you think it’s all over and cannot get any worse, round 2 of the layoffs started, impacting another tens of thousands of people. I don’t want to dwell into whether this is right or wrong. You know the answer. But, I can’t help but realize that for tech workers it is “nithya gandam poorna ayusu” at least until the market gets better.

On a side note, there used to be feature in Facebook when I used to have an account long back – I’m Safe. If there is a any natural calamity or unnatural incident happening in a place you live, you can simply tell your loved ones that you are safe by clicking the ‘I’m Safe’ button. Looking at the current market condition, this feature is a must for LinkedIn.