And The Rat Race Begins !

Hey! Have you read 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' by 'Robert Kiyosaki'. If not - do so...but if you already have... you should remember the situation when both the kids go to meet the Rich Dad who was then sitting in his cabin scolding and shouting at his employees and some other employees waiting to see him. So, the two little poor chap had to wait for him. He had gone there demanding for a raise and he believed that he has been exploited and bursts into tears. Rich dad finds it normal as he had joined the league of his other employees in less than a month. Unsatisfied, feeling exploited and asking for a raise.

The same thing went through my mind when I was about to receive my first salary. I was standing outside the cabin of our director and the owner of the institute. Along with me were other employees too, grunting and cursing and mocking at the management. It was though a memorable moment for me as I were to receive the 'first salary' of my life. Even I was made to wait a long(like that poor child) stating some engagements as excuse instead knowing that I shall wait what-so-ever. I felt then that I have to be at the other side of the court some years down the line(still waiting for that auspicious time to come).

O! GOOD! GREAT! ALMIGHTY! LORD HELP ME GET THERE!

If I go on to  implore the things at my end, I have a rich and a poor dad too. My uncle, the rich one hasn't had much of schooling and the standard up to which he has studied is not known to me even. Still he happens to be the most successful and admired one...rather my role model I would say. While the other one has all the degrees and certificates which aren't of any use now. I'd take the safest way though...the middle path, an equal balance of both the things. 

"An excerpt from Rich Dad Poor Dad"

(I love this book)

"Today, the most dangerous advice you can give a child is `Go to school, get good grades and look for a safe secure job,' " he likes to say. "That is old advice, and it's bad advice. If you could see what is happening in Asia, Europe, South America, you would be as concerned as I am."

 It's bad advice, he believes, "because if you want your child to have a financially secure future, they can't play by the old set of rules. It's just too risky."

I asked him what he meant by "old rules?" .

"People like me play by a different set of rules from what you play by," he said. "What happens when a corporation announces a downsizing?"

"People get laid off," I said. "Families are hurt. Unemployment goes up."

"Yes, but what happens to the company, in particular a public company on the stock exchange?"

"The price of the stock usually goes up when the downsizing is announced," I said. "The market likes it when a company reduces its labor costs, either through automation or just consolidating the labor force in general."

"That's right," he said. "And when stock prices go up, people like me, the shareholders, get richer. That is what I mean by a different set of rules. Employees lose; owners and investors win."

Robert was describing not only the difference between an employee and employer, but also the difference between controlling your own destiny and giving up that control to someone else.

This is  what exactly is happening in the contemporary scenario. The companies which are laying off the largest number of its employees are IT firms which have been always been into profits despite the recession quarter by quarter. They also have managed to bag a number of projects as well.