Line of Fire....

Actual Line of Fire explained to IT Project Manager

A real story... A conversation between a passenger and Project Manager
in Shatabdi Train...........

Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man.. Even the plush comfort of the
air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi express could not cool his
frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled to air
travel.

It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the
administration person, it was the savings in time.
As PM, he had so many things to do!!

He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time
to some good use.

'Are you from the software industry sir,' the man beside him was staring
appreciatively at the laptop.

Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop
now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.

'You people have brought so much advancement to the country, Sir. Today
everything is getting computerized. '

'Thanks,' smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look. He always
found it difficult to resist appreciation.

The man was young and stockily built like a sportsman... .. He looked
simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a
small town boy in a prep school. He probably was a railway sportsman
making the most of his free traveling pass.

'You people always amaze me,' the man continued, 'You sit in an office
and write something on a computer and it does so many big things
outside.'

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naiveness demanded reasoning not anger.
'It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of
writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it.'
For a moment, he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development
Lifecycle but restrained himself to a single statement.

'It is complex, very complex.'

'It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid,' came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence
crept into his so far affable, persuasive tone. '

Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we
have to put in. Indians have such a narrow concept of hard work.
Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office, does not mean our
brows do not sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and
believe me
that is no less taxing.'

He could see, he had the man where he wanted, and it was time to drive
home the point.

'Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway
reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between
any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking
centers across the country.
Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time
concurrently; data integrity, locking, data security.
Do you understand the complexity in designing and coding such a system?'

The man was awestruck; quite like a child at a planetarium. This was
something big and beyond his imagination.

'You design and code such things.'

'I used to,' Vivek paused for effect, 'but now I am the Project
Manager.'

'Oh!' sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, 'so your life is
easy now.'

This was like the last straw for Vivek.
He retorted, 'Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the
ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is
the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I am responsible for it and
believe me, that is far more stressful.
My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality.

To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end,
always changing his requirements, the user at the other, wanting
something else, and your boss, always expecting you to have finished it
yesterday.'

Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with
self-realization.
What he had said, was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was
the truth. And one need not get angry while defending the truth.

'My friend,' he concluded triumphantly, 'you don't know what it is to be
in the Line of Fire'.

The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization.
When he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that
surprised Vivek.
'I know sir,..... I know what it is to be in the Line of Fire......'

He was staring blankly, as if no passenger, no train existed, just a
vast expanse of time.

'There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the
cover of the night.
The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next
bullet was going to come from and for whom.
In the morning when we finally hoisted the tri-colour at the top only 4
of us were alive.'

'You are a...?'

'I am Subedar Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in
Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a soft
assignment.
But, tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life
easier.

On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the
snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker.
It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety. But my captain
sahib refused me permission and went ahead himself.
He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to
put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety
and welfare of the men he commanded... ....his own personal safety came
last, always and every time.'

'He was killed as he shielded and brought that injured soldier into the
bunker.. Every morning thereafter, as we stood guard, I could see him
taking
all those bullets, which were actually meant for me .
I know sir....I know, what it is to be in the Line of Fire.'

Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of how to respond. Abruptly,
he switched off the laptop.

It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a Word document in the
presence of a man for whom valor and duty was a daily part of life;
valor and sense of
duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes.

The train slowed down as it pulled into the station, and Subedar
Sushant picked up his bags to alight.

'It was nice meeting you sir.' Vivek fumbled with the handshake.

This hand... had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted
the tri-colour. Suddenly, as if by impulse, he stood up at attention and
his
right hand went up in an impromptu salute....

It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS: The incident he narrated during the capture of Peak 4875 is a
true-life incident during the Kargil war. Capt. Batra sacrificed his
life while trying
to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight.
For this and various other acts of bravery, he was awarded the Param
Vir Chakra, the nation's highest military award.

Live Humbly, There Are Great People Around Us, Let Us Learn!

BE POLITE... EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING A HARD BATTLE !