मेरे अपने

आज आसमान मुझे देख रहा है, 

सितारें कुछ ज्यादा चमक रहे हैं, 

मेरे अपने जो उनमें बसे  हैं!

शायद वहां रहकर खुश है!

पीछे रहना बड़ा मुशिकल काम है!
रोना चाहकर भी हसना पड़ता है,
सिर्फ यादोंमें जीना पड़ता है,
मेरे अपने जो मुझे देख रहे हैं!

आप वहां खुश रहें यही मनोकामना है
हमें देखते रहे यही आशा है
हमें छोड़कर जाना शायद होना ही था
लेकिन आप हमें अधूरा छोड़कर चले गए! 

Lunch time

A recent visit to a Customer located in an IT park made my day! The office buildings, their landscaping and the overall aura of “world class” set up was nothing less than impressive,  but it’s a part of another story! What left a mark on my mind for a very long time was the ‘lunch time’! We went to a local road side restaurant that served Biryani! The food was delicious, but again, that’s another story!

My Uncle and I had to wait for 30 odd minutes to get a shared table! While waiting I couldn’t help but notice the group of people waiting as well as the lucky ones who got the tables. It was a crowded and a chirpy place with an equal number of men and women! In my almost 12 years of working life, this was the only first hand experience where I saw men and women in equal numbers.

On our way back, without even knowing it, we started discussing this observation as if it was a scheduled agenda! Looks like my uncle and I have a strong a telepathy! His working life of over 30 years had the same experience. He added that in the field of Banking and the likes, you do see women more but they are just at clerical levels. All the top designations are headed by men!

In our society, a lot is said about women empowerment, but very little is done. I feel that IT sector has played an instrumental role for this empowerment. IT sector is probably the only sector where men and women get equal number of jobs opportunities, salaries and designations. It is the only sector which does not claim that "it's a Man's job or just a Woman's job!" It is a place where there is equality in every sense of the term!

- Hinjawadi, Pune to Nashik (February 2018)