Y2K

In our lives Y2K would rank as the most widespread, tense, intriguing countdowns. Computers had become such an integral part of lives from 1980s – 2000. With the switch over from 99 to 00 and the turmoil that it was expected  to cause, gripped for many years till the turn of the millennium. The task was simple - to reset- recode all systems which were using a dd-mm-yy  to move to  dd-mm-yyyy, so that from 99 it does not move to 00 but to 2000. The number of companies offering Y2K services, the number of people who got jobs / took to learning computers was phenomenal. It is believed the world spent some US$ 300 – 500 billion to manage Y2K change. In many ways, I believe this was a big boost in setting up the IT advantage for India. Body shopping was possibly at its peak then, with the dot com bubble fuelling it. The next such challenge will come when 9999 moves to 10,000 some 8 millennium from now…

Y2K what a start!!!

The Millenium year certainly saw a lot of other events right from New Year eve. Looking back, Putin took over Russia from Yeltsin and continues to date. India exchanged terrorists for release of hijacked passengers, something that continues to haunt us till date. Nostradamus predictions (still unsure if it applies to 2000 or 3000) did not come true as there was no apocalypse.

Digital assistants...

recognize?

The year ushered in hope in larger scale. It was no longer the turn of a century but a millennium. Dotcom euphoria was its peak. Nasdaq had moved from 2200 in 1999 to 5000 in 2000 a movement of 2800 in 18 months – after this it moved to 5100 in 2015. That gives a sense of the euphoria. Harry Potter came alive to kindle imagination. Nokia 3210 & 3310 were the largest selling phone in the world (together 250 million pieces)- it was not a smart phone and probably the largest model of phone ever sold. iPod was in the making but a lot of gadgets were on the way out! Walkman, Discman, Handycam were lifeline of home media and entertainment. At office the digital diary was following the pagers into obsolescence and the Palm PDA was the digital assistant. 

Work life was exciting. 120 days of international travel in and out of India was

International meet @ Lanka

hectic. Serious attempts at large acquisitions gave a clear sense of how not to day dream and like they say ‘it’s not over till you sign on the dotted line’ or ‘nothing is complete till the paperwork is done’.  Developing an international business unit in an Indian firm where India had little to offer and International rejected what India had to offer was a unique experience. It was that David vs Goliath experience at home and abroad. Anything new needed by global units was far from India’s priority – how can the tail wag the dog?... was a ubiquitous question.  If anything came out of the mayhem with young minds imagining a global brand/ company, the international markets would immediately swat it off saying it reeks of India and is not international. But the number of markets me and my team started travelling to was phenomenal and what a learning it was. Going out just enhances perspectives, opens up the mind and almost always enriches the person.

Litlle Krishnas with Thatha

@ Penang 

The year 2000 was special as we took our first International holiday, thanks to Kartik who won tickets for two couples from flying returns and we flew to Singapore- Malaysia. Just the four of us Kartik-Ramya –Vidya –Me. The kids who were toddlers, were care of grand parents who were most happy to baby sit and pamper them. It was tough leaving them back, the only holiday we did without kids, but was overall great fun. From Penang to Genting to Singapore and Sentosa it was a rocking holiday. I can’t say that about most cities but Singapore is a new city every time you go there in 4-5 years. Fortunately my sister Sandhya was in Singapore. Not only were we glad to visit her, the stay – home food –and guide to Singapore was a blessing. International travel was costly – not affordable with monthly salaries of 30K (gross) and the costs similar to what it is now in dollar terms.

@ Sentosa with babu & Abhi

where r u?

Y2K (Year 2000) was a great milestone to cross for all not just because of the Y2K problem, which turned out to be a whimper, but because it opened up the flood gates to a 1000 years of whole new possibilities…the biggest I reckon is communication – 2 million subscribers of any mobile service  in 2000 to a billion in 2012 in India alone... what an explosion…