Code Monkey..!

Code Monkey get up get coffee
Code Monkey go to job
Code Monkey have boring meeting
With boring manager Rob
Rob say Code Monkey very dilligent
But his output stink
His code not ‘functional’ or ‘elegant’
What do Code Monkey think?
Code Monkey think maybe manager want to write god damned login page himself
Code Monkey not say it out loud
Code Monkey not crazy, just proud

Code Monkey like Fritos
Code Monkey like Tab and Mountain Dew
Code Monkey very simple man
With big warm fuzzy secret heart:
Code Monkey like you

Code Monkey hang around at front desk
Tell you sweater look nice
Code Monkey offer buy you soda
Bring you cup, bring you ice
You say no thank you for the soda cause
Soda make you fat
Anyway you busy with the telephone
No time for chat
Code Monkey have long walk back to cubicle he sit down pretend to work
Code Monkey not thinking so straight
Code Monkey not feeling so great

Code Monkey like Fritos
Code Monkey like Tab and Mountain Dew
Code Monkey very simple man
With big warm fuzzy secret heart:
Code Monkey like you
Code Monkey like you a lot

Code Monkey have every reason
To get out this place
Code Monkey just keep on working
See your soft pretty face
Much rather wake up, eat a coffee cake
Take bath, take nap
This job fulfilling in creative way
Such a load of crap
Code Monkey think someday he have everything even pretty girl like you
Code Monkey just waiting for now
Code Monkey say someday, somehow

Code Monkey like Fritos
Code Monkey like Tab and Mountain Dew
Code Monkey very simple man
With big warm fuzzy secret heart:
Code Monkey like you

Well, this is a song by Jonathan Coulton. This was the first to come to my mind when a friend of mine pointed out about the useless existence of a software professional in Bangalore. He raved about other cities, other professions and regurgitated facts, which could only make me believe that we have a doomed existence with exactly nothing to look forward to.

~Get up-Work-Lunch-Work-Work-Dinner-Sleep~

This actually becomes the way of life for most of us. I could not argue with my friend, with the kind of numbers he had on his side. I was forced to think about the hordes of people drifting aimlessly through their life satisfied with their comfy IT job. I felt sad. I felt scared. Some of us have even made peace, with a job they really don't want to do. All this, because without a cushy job, a handsome six-seven figure salary, there is actually no future. I can now probably understand what job-security is all about, and why it was accorded so much importance in my conversations with my Dad.

With 4 years of engineering behind me, I expected life to hold better in store for me. I guess I can't come to terms with the run of the mill stuff that becomes a part of your life. But I believe that the final call on the matter still lies with you. If you can dare to take a stab at the way things work, if you actually want to make a difference. Then there are no chinks in your amour. But then again, it takes more than writing a stinky post from the chair in your cubicle, staring at your computer screen. :)

All around me I can see people getting comfortable with the jobs. When you look at the ATM Slip, with your first salary in the bank. It’s a rush. I guess people really have to experience that. I will not do justice to the emotion(s). The lure of so much money in your A/c after a nearly-always-cash-stricken existence in college is just too strong. The planned CAT/GRE/GMATS... all fade into the background [at this point, I will like to apologize to people, who don't fall under this category]. They are replaced by Take-homes/Appraisals/Blah-Blah.... This change is so subtle that it almost catches you by surprise. Near about almost. It is like 'engineered' precision.

I am surprised that people don't see it coming. I could not. I want to trade my current way of life with my college/school existence. But I don't. And it’s not easy. Actually breaking out of this mould, which just reminds me of a vivid description of quicksand in a marshland, given by my friend, is a whole lot harder than it seems.

Where is the time to enjoy all the small simple things that you used to? To kick back with a book? To party everyday..? It all seems such a distant past.

I guess today I feel like I have just evolved to being a Code Monkey... Sigh!!