The Downsizing Drama

Agreed that companies can neither be empathetic or sympathetic towards their employees. But can't they at least try? Just laying off people one fine morning is almost like meeting with an accident. You leave your home in the morning happy, with a lot of dreams just to find out that the dreams are on the verge of being shattered.

A lot of people were laid off at my company, without warning. May be that's how it works. But why? I'm sure the management doesn't figure out overnight that the business or a process is not doing well. Isn't there a stage of gradual decline? Of course, there is. Then why do employees have to bear the brunt? Isn't it too easy to say that "they should have seen it coming"?

To add insult to injury, the severance pay is mostly a joke. What about their households, their dependents, and everything else that depends on their monthly income, the full income? And what if the job market is not so welcoming? What happens then?

Those of us who still have our jobs can only feel bad when the news about the layoff breaks. And pray that the human beings who are the decision makers of companies get closer to being human and learn a thing or two about humanity.

Dear Happiness, You Show Up in Silly Ways!

I went grocery shopping yesterday, and I came out of the mall happier than I was when I went in. You might think I'm crazy! Well, let me give it a better perspective. It was not the process that made me happy, but something happened that made me think how little things can add to our happiness quotient, with little to no effort whatsoever.

Let's go back a few years and forget grocery for some time. When I was in school, a PT period or a free period would make me happy. In college it was mostly lab and practicals; I hated theory classes. In work life, it's safe to say that good work and some free time in between jobs adds to the happiness that's otherwise dulled by the usual corporate politics, etc.

Now let's come back to the present. Bring the groceries back as well. What made me happy? After a long time, I finally found fresh, green and leafy spinach. Yeah, spinach, my favorite vegetable (oh, how I have a craving now)! But the keywords are fresh, green, and leafy. How often does that happen? I had grown tired of the wilted, dead leaves. Now you get it? So when I picked up a bunch, I smiled, and soon realized how crazy I would have looked standing in the middle of a mall smiling at spinach.

The spinach episode is just a little example of how the silliest of things in life make us happy. And how the definition of happiness changes as we grow older (read wiser). I used to get angry as a kid when mom would ask "what do I make for lunch tomorrow?" Now I totally empathize with her. I'm happy when I know what I can make the next day rather than being clueless and scratch my confused head standing in front of my open refrigerator. I'm happy when my rotis are perfectly round and turn out as phulkas rather than burnt maps of Sri Lanka or Australia, like they used to be. I'm happy with so many things that don't have anything to do with me.

Happiness has funny ways of showing up! Can you relate to this? Feel free to comment about the silly things that make you happy!