The Dreams, The Goals and The ROADBLOCKS!

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photo The Dreams, The Goals and The ROADBLOCKS!

Dreams, Goals and RoadBlocks

From the time I saw this picture, I have been an absolute fan of the message it conveys in such a simplistic, yet effective manner. There are always a whole set of dreams, goals, and aspirations to reach out to and there are always the pitfalls, something to lure us and deviate us from what we want. The referred to as walls by Randy Pausch, or the same referred to as fear by Shiv Khera or in layman terms referred to as chickening out!

I believe it is always a choice to make between the things we want. It pulls me towards a famous quote “there is nothing called a free lunch”. Of course there isn’t and even if there is I am sure that it won’t be that tasty! It is the same way we used to quote

“Grass is always green on the other side and so is the electricity bill!”…

I am sure nothing comes without a price tag. The picture speaks so well and I feel there is so much to relate to. It reminds me of the time I was about to quit my job without much of an idea as to what to do but I was certain that it wasn’t something which I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

The first in line was the peers who made sure to tell very eloquently that it was the dumbest decision ever to quit a good company which offers a great job. Next in line were our friendly relatives who spared no words and seemed to somehow enjoy the advice saying that it was a mistake that I would regret for a long long time. And not to forget the pessimists who said,

“This is almost the time of recession and you will never get a job again, ever!”

If the monsters outside weren’t sufficient there were quite a few inside as well. The day I was about to leave, there was a little guilt within which said

“These are nice people, nice pay check, AC work environment, ……… but mostly the paycheck icon wink The Dreams, The Goals and The ROADBLOCKS! ”

After a while it was the fear which made sure it kicked in strong and made its prevalence prominent.

But I guess one strong conviction can take care of the many evils around. Of course I would be selfish if I don’t mention the real nice people around who stood as the supporting pillars for a decision. But one thing I did realize was that it was too early to say if something was right or wrong then and it is too early even now, all I know and all I need to know is that I am more on track with the dreams I started off with, it is a struggle, it is hard but again nothing ever was easy and if it were, it would have been the same cubicle and the same set of complaints to crib about. All I am trying to say is that there are always a huge set of roadblocks with what we want to do, the only thing that makes the difference is how badly we want to do it!

There always is a choice and there always is one decision maker and the rest are just the reasons!

Nitaqat, jobs and Saudi Arabia

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nitaqat Nitaqat, jobs and Saudi Arabia

Nitaqat, Saudi Arabia

It is an interesting move by the Saudi govt to bring in the Nitaqat law wherein 10% of the jobs would be reserved to the locals. The initiative to breed local employment comes with a balanced set of thoughts from Saudi’s end and a few fears at the Indian perspective.

Saudi’s view

  • Promotes local employment, helps local economy,
  • By numbers Saudi is the biggest employer of foreign nationals which says a lot about the system, the current move may help breed the local talent.

Concerns from the Indian perspective

  • A huge Indian population working in Saudi.
  • If the new law is implemented, some would lose their jobs and the ones who had changed the jobs without getting visas endorsed would be in a hard spot
  • If deportation is done, it would mean that the corresponding person would not be allowed entry into the middle eastern nations as well. It is precisely the reason why Kerala is requesting a diplomatic intervention seeking that it should be a another route to send back than deporting.

At one end, the globalization perspective works great, meaning that talent anywhere should get enough opportunities, at the other end every country has its own right to come up with initiatives to save its local economy and provide opportunities to people.

It would be interesting to see how things shape up and what the reservations would mean, if it goes on at the end of routine labour over specialized skills, the end goal would still be far from achieved.

Is there a cue that others should take from this perspective? Is the sons of soil concept vividly valid here? That would be an interesting call to take!