Are you working with IBM?

Our company has issued us laptops of IBM brand, complete with the laptop bag which displays so proudly the IBM logo. Ideally I avoid carrying my laptop at most public places coz therez no fun carrying an additional weight around your shoulder and the thought of losing the laptop is always a bother. But at times I have to carry the additional weight with me coz of some unavoidable circumstances. It has happened with me about 4-5 times that people come up to me and ask me if I am working with IBM?It aint often I go out with my laptop, whenever I go I am always with someone so if somebody asks me if I am working with IBM they always do that when they catch me alone(maybe asking such a question in front of others is embarrassing). So considering this aspect 4-5 people asking me is quite a big %age.

I politely tell them “No,itz just the laptop from that brand” and that is end of discussion!
And yes I can see the respect in those people’s eyes before they ask me that question, and that respect evaporates as soon as I complete my sentence. (I wonder, what will they say if I just said , “yes I am working with IBM”??? )
Indian IT sector is in such a booming stage we always look up to these hi-fi companies ( I should use a more technical word for such companies. When will I start behaving as an engineer). When we speak of companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Oracle, SAP and IBM etc there is a sense of pride and awe associated with anything related to them. We(most non-techies) think of people associated with such companies as very intelligent, hardworking and various other similar traits. Are we right in this judgment? Sanju tells me that “Oracle is a jaali company” and itz been just few months since he joined there. Now he is aiming at the Googles and Microsofts. I have often heard people say Software companies squeeze every penny they invest in you with interest; Software companies make you work like slaves. Which brings me to the basic question that “is it right on our part to look up-to everything associated with these hi-fi companies in awe?”. The day I walked in One97 I was thoroughly impressed with the sight of several people working on the computer non-stop, their fingers continuously moving over the keyboards, many people on phone talking in a lingo which I just couldn’t understand, others just moving from one place to another. I was under awe of the company. Things have changed a lot now. I know my office well enough. Being there feels, just like home (no wonder I end up spending so much time there).
No matter where you are, after you know the inner realities of the place you were in awe of, you start aspiring for something even tougher, challenging.

Moral of the story-Don’t be surprised to find out that the guy who you thought was doing the best job in the world, is ready to exchange his job with yours.