12/29/2004
I was quite suprised at the turn of events in chennai last weekend.I would have loved being there to see such a phenomemen of seeing the sea waves coming upto 10 metres.I was initially shocked receiving the news from one of sikkimese friends here at Infy on sunday that Chennai received a jolt at 8.9 on the richter scale.......but later after browsing the web..I found out that the epicentre was not in chennai.
But the sad point still remains that so many people passed away in this tragic incident.It pains to see one of the natural attractions of Chennai being submerged in water and ravaged by the killer tsunami.
I am planning to stay back till the 3rd of january ...as I am still to collect my release letter and the fact that Infy has its corporate awards function here in the amphitheatre in the bangalore campus and it's something I wouldnt want to miss,especially when NRN is talking .
12/26/2004
LIFE IN THE STONE AGE ..........
I am learning what life is at infy.......bangalore initially was great fun ......keeping in view MG Road and brigade road.........and the weather........but nothing comes close to chennai .....I am just waiting to get back home.........as I dont have a house to live in here....just keeping my luggage in my friends, 10th century single room lodging , near office close by at electronics city.I had to shift from my previous place at BTM layout as the previous house i was staying was too expensive and was only for a period of 2 months from oct 22.....and life here at Infy is extending a little bit into 2005 ...so I am sleeping and having bath in office .
the place where i have kept my baggage reminds me of avadi where my college was and some classmates stayed there........with ditches running over and small houses networking into much smaller ones....having a near fuse tubelight...just having enough light to inspire maniratnam to start a movie . the houses here seem to have cleaned and swept ages back...and the bathrooms and toilets are having cobwebs .......and yuck...........cant talk further...and shops ...the ever ubiquitous tea shop or "potti" kadai...that is on the route from my friend's place to infy.....Inside these houses 6-7 people stay ,with clothes and unwashed socks strewn about the place lending a dirty smell where puking would be an understatement. Some guys in the adjacent room make their room with a heavenly touch as their room is filled in cigarette smoke as they unmindfully keep playing cards
..oh......I really miss the comfort of home ...all i have to talk to are the matrix like cobol screen which hardly seems to reply back to me as it cant understand my language and keeps saying "mac cc error " .......I am fed up and ...........slowly am gathering the pieces to make life better once again ..........
But life is slowly looking up with some great company at nights and wee hours ........all studying for the exam on 30th ....
I am learning what life is at infy.......bangalore initially was great fun ......keeping in view MG Road and brigade road.........and the weather........but nothing comes close to chennai .....I am just waiting to get back home.........as I dont have a house to live in here....just keeping my luggage in my friends, 10th century single room lodging , near office close by at electronics city.I had to shift from my previous place at BTM layout as the previous house i was staying was too expensive and was only for a period of 2 months from oct 22.....and life here at Infy is extending a little bit into 2005 ...so I am sleeping and having bath in office .
the place where i have kept my baggage reminds me of avadi where my college was and some classmates stayed there........with ditches running over and small houses networking into much smaller ones....having a near fuse tubelight...just having enough light to inspire maniratnam to start a movie . the houses here seem to have cleaned and swept ages back...and the bathrooms and toilets are having cobwebs .......and yuck...........cant talk further...and shops ...the ever ubiquitous tea shop or "potti" kadai...that is on the route from my friend's place to infy.....Inside these houses 6-7 people stay ,with clothes and unwashed socks strewn about the place lending a dirty smell where puking would be an understatement. Some guys in the adjacent room make their room with a heavenly touch as their room is filled in cigarette smoke as they unmindfully keep playing cards
..oh......I really miss the comfort of home ...all i have to talk to are the matrix like cobol screen which hardly seems to reply back to me as it cant understand my language and keeps saying "mac cc error " .......I am fed up and ...........slowly am gathering the pieces to make life better once again ..........
But life is slowly looking up with some great company at nights and wee hours ........all studying for the exam on 30th ....
12/21/2004
S W A D E S ' E D
I am presently listening to the soundtrack of swades again and again as I am totally bowled over by the movie as well as the music ....and if time permits I might go for a night show of swades(re-run) in bangalore's posh PVR cinemas with my friends.We hardly have any work in office as all of us are keenly waiting for our compre results....as only if we clear the compre test, will we be posted to our respective IBU's(Internal Business Units). My friends here are busy watching movies from 9 am till 6 pm.
I preferred to go around the campus and enjoy the lush greenery of the campus ..as tommorow will hopefully be my last day in the Infy campus at Bangalore ,unless i happen to flunk in the compre ,as we are to proceed to our respective DC's tommorow afternoon.The results are expected at 9 in the morning.......so tommorow is D day .........in a way .
And the biggest scoop ....I have some how coaxed my HR here to give me a posting to Chennai...and guess what she has accepted it .so I should be reaching Chennai on the 23rd afternoon and joining office on the 24th in the retail department of Infosys ,Chennai(if all goes well in my compre results !!!!!) ,but there lies a catch ...I am on transfer to chennai only for 3 months after which i have to return back to the western coast of mangalore.
till then its the " T I M E 2 D I S C O "
I am presently listening to the soundtrack of swades again and again as I am totally bowled over by the movie as well as the music ....and if time permits I might go for a night show of swades(re-run) in bangalore's posh PVR cinemas with my friends.We hardly have any work in office as all of us are keenly waiting for our compre results....as only if we clear the compre test, will we be posted to our respective IBU's(Internal Business Units). My friends here are busy watching movies from 9 am till 6 pm.
I preferred to go around the campus and enjoy the lush greenery of the campus ..as tommorow will hopefully be my last day in the Infy campus at Bangalore ,unless i happen to flunk in the compre ,as we are to proceed to our respective DC's tommorow afternoon.The results are expected at 9 in the morning.......so tommorow is D day .........in a way .
And the biggest scoop ....I have some how coaxed my HR here to give me a posting to Chennai...and guess what she has accepted it .so I should be reaching Chennai on the 23rd afternoon and joining office on the 24th in the retail department of Infosys ,Chennai(if all goes well in my compre results !!!!!) ,but there lies a catch ...I am on transfer to chennai only for 3 months after which i have to return back to the western coast of mangalore.
till then its the " T I M E 2 D I S C O "
12/19/2004
COMPRE OVER...........
My final exams at INFY are over...but the results are yet to be out.They probably will be out latest by tuesday morning... so waiting with unabated breath to hear that I have passed the test.
As of now I am to report to the Mangalore office on thursday morning.but lets see what is in store as I still fancy myself getting a chennai posting in case the HR decides to agree to my request for a transfer to chennai on medical grounds.
So its been a good weekend so far...on friday evening I happened to watch "SWADES" ..first day release in a theatre called swagat in jaya nagar.It very closely resembles those horrible moss balls ,theatre of Avadi...and the theatres one would find in suburbs...Anyway I enjoyed the movie ...and if it were'nt enough yesterday i decided to splurge in a shopping mall called forum,where I went to the LANDMARK book store..purchased books and music for about 700 rs and decided to go for a night show in the highly luxurious and opulent PVr cinemas ,where the ticket price was 150 rs..More so like our STUDIO-5 theatre in satyam complex....(chennai).
The movie i went for was VEER ZAARA ..and it was another captivating movie....with some good compositions from A.R.Rehman.
More updates later...as I am just basking out here................wow ..life was never so cool.
My final exams at INFY are over...but the results are yet to be out.They probably will be out latest by tuesday morning... so waiting with unabated breath to hear that I have passed the test.
As of now I am to report to the Mangalore office on thursday morning.but lets see what is in store as I still fancy myself getting a chennai posting in case the HR decides to agree to my request for a transfer to chennai on medical grounds.
So its been a good weekend so far...on friday evening I happened to watch "SWADES" ..first day release in a theatre called swagat in jaya nagar.It very closely resembles those horrible moss balls ,theatre of Avadi...and the theatres one would find in suburbs...Anyway I enjoyed the movie ...and if it were'nt enough yesterday i decided to splurge in a shopping mall called forum,where I went to the LANDMARK book store..purchased books and music for about 700 rs and decided to go for a night show in the highly luxurious and opulent PVr cinemas ,where the ticket price was 150 rs..More so like our STUDIO-5 theatre in satyam complex....(chennai).
The movie i went for was VEER ZAARA ..and it was another captivating movie....with some good compositions from A.R.Rehman.
More updates later...as I am just basking out here................wow ..life was never so cool.
12/14/2004
N O E D I T I O N O F A B L O G P O S T W I L L B E T H E R E F O R T H E
N E X T C O U P L E O F D AY S ......................
i am busy preparing for my compre test.........
GOD SAVE ME ..........I am decoding hieroglyphic script........
I am framed .............
Yes this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
How terrible! For no fault of mine, I was dumped into this, I was framed. It still is a mystery. My involvement in the case was made up and I, a lay no man with no locus standi in the whole issue was pulled into it and framed. The pity is that even the Court is in a mood to accept it!
How terrible! When I wanted to be Open and frank about the system, they tell you that they allow all whistleblowers to be open and free, but I was targeted and Framed. But why me of all the greats? Why Me?
How Terrible! Now that I am framed I need to console myself, maybe try negotiating a settlement with ‘em. While they out-right reject any kind of such – un-professional – behaviour, I will still try my luck. My comrade in this nasty operation is a guy who was to be framed, but got it right, and was let open into the system, for free…..as kalyan puts it
CLIMAX REVEALED:
If you are still not familiar with the event, I was put into Mainframes for training. That’s two months of coding in COBOL and its like *#&@%&(#^*. L and i have my exams in 30 hours
N E X T C O U P L E O F D AY S ......................
i am busy preparing for my compre test.........
GOD SAVE ME ..........I am decoding hieroglyphic script........
I am framed .............
Yes this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
How terrible! For no fault of mine, I was dumped into this, I was framed. It still is a mystery. My involvement in the case was made up and I, a lay no man with no locus standi in the whole issue was pulled into it and framed. The pity is that even the Court is in a mood to accept it!
How terrible! When I wanted to be Open and frank about the system, they tell you that they allow all whistleblowers to be open and free, but I was targeted and Framed. But why me of all the greats? Why Me?
How Terrible! Now that I am framed I need to console myself, maybe try negotiating a settlement with ‘em. While they out-right reject any kind of such – un-professional – behaviour, I will still try my luck. My comrade in this nasty operation is a guy who was to be framed, but got it right, and was let open into the system, for free…..as kalyan puts it
CLIMAX REVEALED:
If you are still not familiar with the event, I was put into Mainframes for training. That’s two months of coding in COBOL and its like *#&@%&(#^*. L and i have my exams in 30 hours
12/11/2004
SWAMI AND FIENDS
It pains to see the kanchi seer , being subjected to all this torture in jail,even though his conviction is yet to be proved and the courts seemingly not being able to arrive at a decision are adjourning and postponing his hearing.Apparently the police are not able to gather real evidence againts him,so they try to keep some commoner surfacing and saying that the "swamigal" had an illicit relationship and had behaved in a manner unbecoming of him...as is the case with the latest "monica lewinsky' ke" like usha. This case will finally end with sri jayendra saraswathi swamigal being exonerated of all charges and aqquited from the vellore prison(the latest shankara math).
It really is comical to see people like jayalalitha and karunanidhi talking ill about the respected pontiff....when they themselves are struggling to keep afloat in the sea of cases filed against them.they may have been acquitted in some cases,but thats only because they are politicians and can manipulate the judiciary as it were a magic wand.The Tamil nadu goverments insistence that jayendra saraswathi swamigal or a man in the street -all are equal before the law,does not seem to include the well-cushioned-political class...who are basking in the air conditioned corridor of their offices......losing count of the crime's they have commited.
It further pains to notice that some people here at work seem to refer to the pontiff as "avana jayendhran thaane" ,when he is such a revered personality...but more than blaming them ,when the media ...(Sun news or SUN tv ...whichever it was ) openly said that "jayendran" was caught...will the same sun tv.......say the same about karunanidhi .....like "karunanidhi matti kondran" ..no it would'nt , it would refer to him as "kalaignar karunanidhi ".it is that extra ounce of prefixing that respectful tag that is in question...and some people who without thinking a minute on what they are speaking "jayendran , athukku enna achu, antha case ". I guess people reading this blog can very well understand what I trying to say...as there is a line between making people understand my post by merely saying things in vernacular.
Magazines ...try and sensationalize this issue by trying to go overboard by revealing only one side of the picture and trying and speaking to irrelevant people and finding newer witnesses...rather than speak to people of the mutt or related persons
Jayalalitha sure knows how to call the shots and command attention.the pontiff's political connections have proved to be a like rubber soles on a granite surface,where he made a few post poll utterances about jayalalitha and Also entered into active politics with respect to the babri masjid-ram janma bhoomi case.The anti-conversion laws that the pontiff advocated,seemed to draw an empty vote bank for jaya in the recent elections and the politicain that jaya was...made the pontiff for violating the "law of the political jungle"-IF YOU ARE GOING TO NURSE A SERPENT IN YOUR BOSOM,DONT PISS IT OFF.
what happens of we people who are in tamilnadu.....governed by people who are more bothered to avenge their share of political problems against each poiltician...when each person comes to power he/she makes sure that the oppssing ruler gets embroiled in all kinds of police cases ,wealth cases....u name it...and amongst all this it is we people who are affected as we have to chose between the devil and the deep sea ,when it comes to voting.For the past 15 years and the years to come .......I dont see this DMK vs ADMK political battle for power ending....this seems to have more fireworks and intenseness than a India Pak encounter. Worse ...is to come is evident when u have people like rajnikant who is expecting to contest to become a chief minister.He keeps denying the claims......but produces movies which hail him as "thaliavar" , "leader of masses" as his recent few movies having political undertones suggest .Some of his movies like BABA....PADAYAPPA are sure giving his indications of entering to the gallery of political lions . I think a few more movies ...too had some poltical dialogues linked with it...but am not able to remember the names of those movies as I am not a very avid watcher of his movies(never did conform to my taste).
coming back to the original point it remains to be seen what happen's in the pontiff's case...at best what can happen is rajnikant can star in a movie as the pontiff and the climax can feature rajnikant becoming the chief minister getting support from the president of mars and venus and bush coming and shouting "enga sanga thalaivar rajni thaan....." ................... whatever ------- RK Narayan's classic "SWAMI AND FRIENDS" be rechristened in this kali yuga as "SWAMI AND FIENDS "
It pains to see the kanchi seer , being subjected to all this torture in jail,even though his conviction is yet to be proved and the courts seemingly not being able to arrive at a decision are adjourning and postponing his hearing.Apparently the police are not able to gather real evidence againts him,so they try to keep some commoner surfacing and saying that the "swamigal" had an illicit relationship and had behaved in a manner unbecoming of him...as is the case with the latest "monica lewinsky' ke" like usha. This case will finally end with sri jayendra saraswathi swamigal being exonerated of all charges and aqquited from the vellore prison(the latest shankara math).
It really is comical to see people like jayalalitha and karunanidhi talking ill about the respected pontiff....when they themselves are struggling to keep afloat in the sea of cases filed against them.they may have been acquitted in some cases,but thats only because they are politicians and can manipulate the judiciary as it were a magic wand.The Tamil nadu goverments insistence that jayendra saraswathi swamigal or a man in the street -all are equal before the law,does not seem to include the well-cushioned-political class...who are basking in the air conditioned corridor of their offices......losing count of the crime's they have commited.
It further pains to notice that some people here at work seem to refer to the pontiff as "avana jayendhran thaane" ,when he is such a revered personality...but more than blaming them ,when the media ...(Sun news or SUN tv ...whichever it was ) openly said that "jayendran" was caught...will the same sun tv.......say the same about karunanidhi .....like "karunanidhi matti kondran" ..no it would'nt , it would refer to him as "kalaignar karunanidhi ".it is that extra ounce of prefixing that respectful tag that is in question...and some people who without thinking a minute on what they are speaking "jayendran , athukku enna achu, antha case ". I guess people reading this blog can very well understand what I trying to say...as there is a line between making people understand my post by merely saying things in vernacular.
Magazines ...try and sensationalize this issue by trying to go overboard by revealing only one side of the picture and trying and speaking to irrelevant people and finding newer witnesses...rather than speak to people of the mutt or related persons
Jayalalitha sure knows how to call the shots and command attention.the pontiff's political connections have proved to be a like rubber soles on a granite surface,where he made a few post poll utterances about jayalalitha and Also entered into active politics with respect to the babri masjid-ram janma bhoomi case.The anti-conversion laws that the pontiff advocated,seemed to draw an empty vote bank for jaya in the recent elections and the politicain that jaya was...made the pontiff for violating the "law of the political jungle"-IF YOU ARE GOING TO NURSE A SERPENT IN YOUR BOSOM,DONT PISS IT OFF.
what happens of we people who are in tamilnadu.....governed by people who are more bothered to avenge their share of political problems against each poiltician...when each person comes to power he/she makes sure that the oppssing ruler gets embroiled in all kinds of police cases ,wealth cases....u name it...and amongst all this it is we people who are affected as we have to chose between the devil and the deep sea ,when it comes to voting.For the past 15 years and the years to come .......I dont see this DMK vs ADMK political battle for power ending....this seems to have more fireworks and intenseness than a India Pak encounter. Worse ...is to come is evident when u have people like rajnikant who is expecting to contest to become a chief minister.He keeps denying the claims......but produces movies which hail him as "thaliavar" , "leader of masses" as his recent few movies having political undertones suggest .Some of his movies like BABA....PADAYAPPA are sure giving his indications of entering to the gallery of political lions . I think a few more movies ...too had some poltical dialogues linked with it...but am not able to remember the names of those movies as I am not a very avid watcher of his movies(never did conform to my taste).
coming back to the original point it remains to be seen what happen's in the pontiff's case...at best what can happen is rajnikant can star in a movie as the pontiff and the climax can feature rajnikant becoming the chief minister getting support from the president of mars and venus and bush coming and shouting "enga sanga thalaivar rajni thaan....." ................... whatever ------- RK Narayan's classic "SWAMI AND FRIENDS" be rechristened in this kali yuga as "SWAMI AND FIENDS "
12/09/2004
"ANGALORE" SYNDROME
yesterday morning when I came and sat at my cubicle,I was browsing through some material for our project , with the m,usic in my headphones on.All of a sudden shrieks were heard all around....some frantically happy and some with a frown on their face..I happened to turn around..and see my friend madhu who glanced from her cubicle with a frown on her face and I heard her saying that she had a got a posting to "angalore" and so had I . I thought it must be Bangalore.........and was a little sad ...but nevertherless happy that I didnt get PUNE or some other far off place.But my so-called -little happiness was shortlived as I discovered that it wasn't B"angalore" but M"angalore" . I am now posted in the retail division and I guess I have to soon acclamtise soon to being a Mangalalorean.......who has extensive knowledge in mainframes.
I report there on the 23rd of this month and have no active swaps as such......... tell me which sane trainee would want to swap mangalore with chennai/hyderabad/pune/bangalore ?
Anyways I was initially a little sad, as still some visits to the doc are pending in chennai with regard to my stomach operation that was performed in may.I have spoken to my HR regarding this matter and she said she would look into this matter,and gave me the info that Chennai DC has no space right now...and it would be a little tough for me to get chennai.....I guess I gotta take life just as it comes...
I have a week to go before my comprehensive test......and I am in the process of preparing for it...meanwhile I have to subject a small project in mainframes.....which is also going on parallely.
so life's just chugging on.......on a shatabdi like Infy express.....
yesterday morning when I came and sat at my cubicle,I was browsing through some material for our project , with the m,usic in my headphones on.All of a sudden shrieks were heard all around....some frantically happy and some with a frown on their face..I happened to turn around..and see my friend madhu who glanced from her cubicle with a frown on her face and I heard her saying that she had a got a posting to "angalore" and so had I . I thought it must be Bangalore.........and was a little sad ...but nevertherless happy that I didnt get PUNE or some other far off place.But my so-called -little happiness was shortlived as I discovered that it wasn't B"angalore" but M"angalore" . I am now posted in the retail division and I guess I have to soon acclamtise soon to being a Mangalalorean.......who has extensive knowledge in mainframes.
I report there on the 23rd of this month and have no active swaps as such......... tell me which sane trainee would want to swap mangalore with chennai/hyderabad/pune/bangalore ?
Anyways I was initially a little sad, as still some visits to the doc are pending in chennai with regard to my stomach operation that was performed in may.I have spoken to my HR regarding this matter and she said she would look into this matter,and gave me the info that Chennai DC has no space right now...and it would be a little tough for me to get chennai.....I guess I gotta take life just as it comes...
I have a week to go before my comprehensive test......and I am in the process of preparing for it...meanwhile I have to subject a small project in mainframes.....which is also going on parallely.
so life's just chugging on.......on a shatabdi like Infy express.....
12/08/2004
12/06/2004
I am presently listening to the instrumental soundtrack of KAL HO NA HO ,which seems so soothing and calming to my ear,as I have just written my test for DB2....and i desparately need an A grade in it...to compensate my C in cobol...or an A in CICS ,the results of which havent been published yet. Its damn unnerving waiting 4 the results as If i dont have an A my CGPA out of 5 WILL GO DOWN MARGINALLY FROM 4 TO 3.93...which means I have to attend a round of VIVA VOCE after the compre test,which I heard is just done to screw people as it is a very tough round....and failing which I am put on the long cycle.I just dont want that happening....Life is suddenly so tough as i know the agony of a 79 and the ecstasy of a 80 in the results of the two tests awaited.
My brain is just not functioning......and to add to the misery was the rumour that our postings would be announced today.even that hasnt come......the last time I remember I was on such a brink of dissapointment was in my 7th semester......where we had an interdepartmental quiz...in which I had performed badly and for the first time I faced an elimination in the prelims as far as college quizzes were concerned(I had won every single quiz till then......) and the 6th sem results were to be announced that day......and I had my doubts regarding a subject where I performed badly......so would it be elimination + arrear that day? :-( changed to :-) in a few seconds ....when some of my friends who had seen both the results told me that I had been succesful that day.....and at that moment my joy knew no bounds....it was as if the the seeds of doubt that had been planted in my mind were uprooted instantly..........and had got what I wanted........
But will history repeat ? only time will tell.........pray 4 me.......ppl
My brain is just not functioning......and to add to the misery was the rumour that our postings would be announced today.even that hasnt come......the last time I remember I was on such a brink of dissapointment was in my 7th semester......where we had an interdepartmental quiz...in which I had performed badly and for the first time I faced an elimination in the prelims as far as college quizzes were concerned(I had won every single quiz till then......) and the 6th sem results were to be announced that day......and I had my doubts regarding a subject where I performed badly......so would it be elimination + arrear that day? :-( changed to :-) in a few seconds ....when some of my friends who had seen both the results told me that I had been succesful that day.....and at that moment my joy knew no bounds....it was as if the the seeds of doubt that had been planted in my mind were uprooted instantly..........and had got what I wanted........
But will history repeat ? only time will tell.........pray 4 me.......ppl
12/03/2004
COBOL NIGHTMARES
I just gave my cobol retest today and the paper was much tougher than the main test....and so the pressure is increasing for me to get an A grade in the 1 remaining test , that's DB2.....failing which I would be put into the 4 and half months long cycle....
the funda at infy is as follows
:6 individual subject tests: at least B grade and if a C is obtained then it can be compensated by an A in one of the subjects.
1 comprehensive test in which atleast a B (65 and greater ) is required.
I have now got a C in cobol and desperately require an A in the next test on monday to avoid "follow on " . complicating matters further is my visit to chennai this weekend.On the other hand I desperately need a respite from this programming world........(whether i code or not )
Last night I stayed back at the campus as i just didn't feel like going back home.I wasnt coding........just as I was browsing through the servers on the bangalore network , one good soul had put' 7 g RAINBOW COLONY", a new tamil flick on the hard disc.....and I didnt miss an oppurtunity to see the film.I saw it all alone on my PC ......as the sound isnt very loud on the speakers here,so had to insert my earphones.
I have been given a huge manual for which I have to learn code at home to start our 2nd post project on monday.Next week would be the last week I would be in bangalore,burning the midnight oil over pieces of code,as I by 21st december I hope to have my return ticket to chennai,which I hope they will post me.Bangalore is a lovely place ,but staying alone is really boring..for a "anything -but-organized" guy like me . Hey but home is equally boring...but atleast I dont spend 66.67 % of my salary on eating and rent.But I've heard from my friend who works at the Chennai Infy DC, that life is all about minding ur own business , unlike Bangalore DC where there is so much of "entertainment" at the work place..
just as the proverb goes , neccesity is the mother of all inventions....I am learning.....CODING IS THE MOTHER OF ALL TROUBLES...........
I just gave my cobol retest today and the paper was much tougher than the main test....and so the pressure is increasing for me to get an A grade in the 1 remaining test , that's DB2.....failing which I would be put into the 4 and half months long cycle....
the funda at infy is as follows
:6 individual subject tests: at least B grade and if a C is obtained then it can be compensated by an A in one of the subjects.
1 comprehensive test in which atleast a B (65 and greater ) is required.
I have now got a C in cobol and desperately require an A in the next test on monday to avoid "follow on " . complicating matters further is my visit to chennai this weekend.On the other hand I desperately need a respite from this programming world........(whether i code or not )
Last night I stayed back at the campus as i just didn't feel like going back home.I wasnt coding........just as I was browsing through the servers on the bangalore network , one good soul had put' 7 g RAINBOW COLONY", a new tamil flick on the hard disc.....and I didnt miss an oppurtunity to see the film.I saw it all alone on my PC ......as the sound isnt very loud on the speakers here,so had to insert my earphones.
I have been given a huge manual for which I have to learn code at home to start our 2nd post project on monday.Next week would be the last week I would be in bangalore,burning the midnight oil over pieces of code,as I by 21st december I hope to have my return ticket to chennai,which I hope they will post me.Bangalore is a lovely place ,but staying alone is really boring..for a "anything -but-organized" guy like me . Hey but home is equally boring...but atleast I dont spend 66.67 % of my salary on eating and rent.But I've heard from my friend who works at the Chennai Infy DC, that life is all about minding ur own business , unlike Bangalore DC where there is so much of "entertainment" at the work place..
just as the proverb goes , neccesity is the mother of all inventions....I am learning.....CODING IS THE MOTHER OF ALL TROUBLES...........
12/02/2004
So training classes at Infy finally ends.from tommorow we have a post project blah..... blah..... uptil 12th of december .......and we have our final comprehensive test on 16th and 17th december.Last night as i was travelling through jayanagar.....the chill winds of bangalore(18 degree) reminded of the lovely time I spent here in this garden city.Well actually I haven't ventured much into bangalore,but the city's lovely settings have really bowled me over,but nothing quite like chennai.I just happened to stumble upons krib's post on a "trisha video" which he saw....and that for sure would hae set the cash registers in burma bazaar running.
I would to know my posting in chennai by the 6-7th of this month.I am planning to come 2 chennai this weekend to meet family, as I hear that my dad is posted to good-ol delhi .......so its more of a reunion......and the fact that I have to sign my bond letter at infy.My first salary has been credited and I am slightly over the moon, just thinking of plans to blow it up.........
hmm...lotsa things are in the pipeline.......but somehow I am also a little cautious...as I dont want my money go down the drain....so rightly to put it in shah rukh khan's words it's seriously "THE TIME TO DISCO " .I plan to buy something tommorow evening ...after office before I board the bus to chennai.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO MAMMA MIA by ABBA .........in office .
I would to know my posting in chennai by the 6-7th of this month.I am planning to come 2 chennai this weekend to meet family, as I hear that my dad is posted to good-ol delhi .......so its more of a reunion......and the fact that I have to sign my bond letter at infy.My first salary has been credited and I am slightly over the moon, just thinking of plans to blow it up.........
hmm...lotsa things are in the pipeline.......but somehow I am also a little cautious...as I dont want my money go down the drain....so rightly to put it in shah rukh khan's words it's seriously "THE TIME TO DISCO " .I plan to buy something tommorow evening ...after office before I board the bus to chennai.
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO MAMMA MIA by ABBA .........in office .
11/30/2004
AGONY RELOADED
I attended my first quiz prelims in a long time.....at Infy and I was agonizingly close
to qualifying in the quiz here.the top 3 teams made it to the corporate quiz out of
around 15 teams.The team that squeezed through third had 10 and we managed 9 ,
after managing to miss out on sitters.we managed a few good ones........but...my
bad luck in quizzing continues. I remember way back in college when for the first
2 years ,due to lack of good partners, I always came close to qualifying or close
to winning and I had to return home dejected and empty handed ,but once i made
it thru the finals,after which the 3rd and 4th years reaped some money.....in the
inter college symposiums....through quizzing,adzaps,paper presentations.....
towards the end of the day , we were sending messages from my computer to
the groups here, but it turned out out that these messages were received by
the entire 13000 workforce and not just our classroom of 90 odd people.... and
so my group instructor sent us a mail requesting 3 people who used the computers
to own up as to who sent the mail......I honestly confessed and never knew that
it was relayed to the entire group,even though my message was harmless .I just
happened to post that there was a quiz on at the auditirium at 5 15....and it was
my bad luck that just when the no of messages were getting high.......my msg
popped up its ugly headed and my computer number got noted. They may be
some action.....and I am checking my office mail every now and then...........
..just to see whether I've got any mail from my superior.....
well the other bad news was of course sunday's fiasco............which till date
haunts me. nothing about the company ....though It was just that my college
friends who were to bangalore organized a get -to -gether which though was
held............but after terrible confusion caused by lack of cellphones by a couple
of people,lack of charge in my mobile,lack of talk time in my friends and lack of
any form of contact with one guy.........so finally after an amazing round of
confusion and money spent on travelling we finally met up at lalbagh gardens....
Well the only silver lining in the cloudline was the fact that I GOT MY FIRST
FULL MONTH SALARY CREDITED IN MY ACCOUNT............some reason to celebrate...eh...the damn tests and assignments are getting on my nerve......and certain other personal things which are going awry..... is making me one worried person.........
I guess it's time I stopped washing my dirty linen on the web.........and go attend
to my herculean project which needs to be submitted by tommorow morning....
and with the damn maingframes not working ,my face is in a real sulken state .
:-(
I attended my first quiz prelims in a long time.....at Infy and I was agonizingly close
to qualifying in the quiz here.the top 3 teams made it to the corporate quiz out of
around 15 teams.The team that squeezed through third had 10 and we managed 9 ,
after managing to miss out on sitters.we managed a few good ones........but...my
bad luck in quizzing continues. I remember way back in college when for the first
2 years ,due to lack of good partners, I always came close to qualifying or close
to winning and I had to return home dejected and empty handed ,but once i made
it thru the finals,after which the 3rd and 4th years reaped some money.....in the
inter college symposiums....through quizzing,adzaps,paper presentations.....
towards the end of the day , we were sending messages from my computer to
the groups here, but it turned out out that these messages were received by
the entire 13000 workforce and not just our classroom of 90 odd people.... and
so my group instructor sent us a mail requesting 3 people who used the computers
to own up as to who sent the mail......I honestly confessed and never knew that
it was relayed to the entire group,even though my message was harmless .I just
happened to post that there was a quiz on at the auditirium at 5 15....and it was
my bad luck that just when the no of messages were getting high.......my msg
popped up its ugly headed and my computer number got noted. They may be
some action.....and I am checking my office mail every now and then...........
..just to see whether I've got any mail from my superior.....
well the other bad news was of course sunday's fiasco............which till date
haunts me. nothing about the company ....though It was just that my college
friends who were to bangalore organized a get -to -gether which though was
held............but after terrible confusion caused by lack of cellphones by a couple
of people,lack of charge in my mobile,lack of talk time in my friends and lack of
any form of contact with one guy.........so finally after an amazing round of
confusion and money spent on travelling we finally met up at lalbagh gardens....
Well the only silver lining in the cloudline was the fact that I GOT MY FIRST
FULL MONTH SALARY CREDITED IN MY ACCOUNT............some reason to celebrate...eh...the damn tests and assignments are getting on my nerve......and certain other personal things which are going awry..... is making me one worried person.........
I guess it's time I stopped washing my dirty linen on the web.........and go attend
to my herculean project which needs to be submitted by tommorow morning....
and with the damn maingframes not working ,my face is in a real sulken state .
:-(
11/29/2004
We have the 2 huge mock project's (am i being mocked by mainframes...? ) coming up and a cobol,db 2 test this week .I suddenly feel that I am getting more responsible towards life.Learnt a lot of new things yesterday from a couple of my friends........and that sure did make me have a peek at my attitude towards life ...and just do a CTRL-ALT-DEL .....and refocus my energies on my mainframes as I was just feeling jaded......after so many tests and assignments.I started off by cleaning the mess in my room and responsibly washing my clothes..........
so thats about life ..........
I met 5 classmates yesterday and that has made me releived to an extent of boredo,
so thats about life ..........
I met 5 classmates yesterday and that has made me releived to an extent of boredo,
11/25/2004
the DA phenomenen
I tend to notice that every famous singer or music director is from west bengal......like pancham da,kishore da and of course mithun da.......They do seem to have loads of talent contributing ro the Indian music industry.The talent pool of the indian singing industry seems to be coming from the eastern belt of UP...meandering its way into westbengal.I just happened to notice it when i happened to listen RADIOCITY 91 FM here , on my way to work.
The weather seems to be great in bangalore,well its been like that for so many years now,but every day seems to be a new and exciting day in the offing when the lush green grass of Infy and the chill n pleasant winds along with the heady combination of the beautiful infy girls ...tends to greet one in the morning.
I have to scoot of now , as its time(CLASS BEGINBS AT 9 AM ) for a morning session of training in mainframes...I am presently with CICS ...a topic in mainframes.I am over with MVS,JCL and COBOL.still have DB2 to go after which ,we have to submit a mock project in mainframes,for which supposedly I am the group leader amongst my team mates. I was told by a friend of mine that the GL's role would be limited to ensure others complete their modules on time and I make the final presentation....as long as it has lesser technical content .....I am game for it.... and just motivating the team members ........comes naturally to me
..."MAIN HOON NAA" :-)
I tend to notice that every famous singer or music director is from west bengal......like pancham da,kishore da and of course mithun da.......They do seem to have loads of talent contributing ro the Indian music industry.The talent pool of the indian singing industry seems to be coming from the eastern belt of UP...meandering its way into westbengal.I just happened to notice it when i happened to listen RADIOCITY 91 FM here , on my way to work.
The weather seems to be great in bangalore,well its been like that for so many years now,but every day seems to be a new and exciting day in the offing when the lush green grass of Infy and the chill n pleasant winds along with the heady combination of the beautiful infy girls ...tends to greet one in the morning.
I have to scoot of now , as its time(CLASS BEGINBS AT 9 AM ) for a morning session of training in mainframes...I am presently with CICS ...a topic in mainframes.I am over with MVS,JCL and COBOL.still have DB2 to go after which ,we have to submit a mock project in mainframes,for which supposedly I am the group leader amongst my team mates. I was told by a friend of mine that the GL's role would be limited to ensure others complete their modules on time and I make the final presentation....as long as it has lesser technical content .....I am game for it.... and just motivating the team members ........comes naturally to me
..."MAIN HOON NAA" :-)
11/21/2004
LAUTA DO MUJHE BEETEY HUEY DIN
I somehow I feel that I was a given an option of going back in time...I would just like to feel what it was to live 50 years back.I can imagine how R.K.Narayan would have felt it while writing his literary works.I long for those days when life was simple and not so complex and mundane as today.I feel have forgotten the simple pleasures of life like taking a walk,going to the beach or a park,feeling that warmth of the sunrise a.People these days find comfort in their homes learning a thing or too on how to combat their "saas-bahu /mamiyaar mattuponnu" matches.People share their joys and sorrows with the "glycerine " filled so called serials which depict a woman as if she was the eopitome of all sorrow ,hardwork and problems....and we people sit down trying to identify some part of our lives with it .....engrossed in the serial,which ultimately goes on to become a mega serial (eg: KSBKBT,KGGK on Star,chitti on sun tv......u name it u have it ).
The evenings are spent at those heavily lighted branded shopping malls ....as we flash the credit card as if it's a genie that gives us that magic wands that buys things. I somehow feel bored by the way life is going in this generation.I dont blame any body,but its just that I am feeling sick of everything that I have seen in life .Every day seems to be a "Been there done that" kind of a attitude. Suprisingly after being in bangalore for a month, I have not ventured out anywhere except going to majestic for catching thebtrain back home and once to island grounds to watch a music program.
Even though bangalore has a lovely climate,there aren't as many hangouts as in Chennai as say the Marina beach,Eliots beach ........ Somehow My idea of a hangout where one can meet friends without having to fork out heavy money , is a little different.I love the Avadi railway station for the calmness of the night and memories of the 4 year college life and of course our very own BG trains that runs from tambaram to park ,central to avadi n beyond,the british council library.. and so many.............that i cant just name.
All that youths say in bangalore as a weekend activity is "come to MG road and Brigade road to see the girls on display in the shopping malls" to which my retort was "Come to INFY , it's better ...the show runs 5 times a week,10 times more quantity and quality...
than compared to the 2 day show at Mg road." :-)
I am waiting to get back to chennai to enjoy life as simple as it was ..even if it means munching groundnuts on a scorching afternoon amidst the huge wave of crowds at ranganathan street....or clutching for that inchspace on the local trains....or biking on s- shaped roadsnear my home. Its a little lonely here as the work load is slowly getting heavier and boring too.Coding was never my interest....but what to do.....that's the only vocation I can end up with 4 having comitted the crime of doing my majors in computer science engineering.I hate going back to my room in bangalore as loads of unwashed clothes stare at me and so does the unorganized heap of things in my suitcase.
My friends here are hardcore coders who simply love coding as it comes naturally to them,and I have no one of my mentality...so its just me and my PC who keep talking.I have loads of MP3 to provide me company and of course the excellent canteens here.This is where i miss my college friends as we were on group in class who knew how to have fun with "madras university"..but fun ........relatively at Infy is different,as one feels happy and elated to have completed assignments.I was enjoying all this calling it privately "scaling new peaks" but every day being a new day and more and more assignments,quizzes and tests coming up one after another I feel like being woven into a knowledge trap where unfortunately there is no spiderman to help me get out of this cluttered mess. By the time one completes classes on Mainframes , the RDBMs tests start and so does some new assignment in some other new subject.So its a three dimensional trap that I am in ........ I am approaching it seriously as the only way out of this technical labyrinth is to follow the crowd and make sure one comes unscathed(having no arrears , I mean in the assesments ) and get a posting to GOOD OLD CHENNAI.
I somehow I feel that I was a given an option of going back in time...I would just like to feel what it was to live 50 years back.I can imagine how R.K.Narayan would have felt it while writing his literary works.I long for those days when life was simple and not so complex and mundane as today.I feel have forgotten the simple pleasures of life like taking a walk,going to the beach or a park,feeling that warmth of the sunrise a.People these days find comfort in their homes learning a thing or too on how to combat their "saas-bahu /mamiyaar mattuponnu" matches.People share their joys and sorrows with the "glycerine " filled so called serials which depict a woman as if she was the eopitome of all sorrow ,hardwork and problems....and we people sit down trying to identify some part of our lives with it .....engrossed in the serial,which ultimately goes on to become a mega serial (eg: KSBKBT,KGGK on Star,chitti on sun tv......u name it u have it ).
The evenings are spent at those heavily lighted branded shopping malls ....as we flash the credit card as if it's a genie that gives us that magic wands that buys things. I somehow feel bored by the way life is going in this generation.I dont blame any body,but its just that I am feeling sick of everything that I have seen in life .Every day seems to be a "Been there done that" kind of a attitude. Suprisingly after being in bangalore for a month, I have not ventured out anywhere except going to majestic for catching thebtrain back home and once to island grounds to watch a music program.
Even though bangalore has a lovely climate,there aren't as many hangouts as in Chennai as say the Marina beach,Eliots beach ........ Somehow My idea of a hangout where one can meet friends without having to fork out heavy money , is a little different.I love the Avadi railway station for the calmness of the night and memories of the 4 year college life and of course our very own BG trains that runs from tambaram to park ,central to avadi n beyond,the british council library.. and so many.............that i cant just name.
All that youths say in bangalore as a weekend activity is "come to MG road and Brigade road to see the girls on display in the shopping malls" to which my retort was "Come to INFY , it's better ...the show runs 5 times a week,10 times more quantity and quality...
than compared to the 2 day show at Mg road." :-)
I am waiting to get back to chennai to enjoy life as simple as it was ..even if it means munching groundnuts on a scorching afternoon amidst the huge wave of crowds at ranganathan street....or clutching for that inchspace on the local trains....or biking on s- shaped roadsnear my home. Its a little lonely here as the work load is slowly getting heavier and boring too.Coding was never my interest....but what to do.....that's the only vocation I can end up with 4 having comitted the crime of doing my majors in computer science engineering.I hate going back to my room in bangalore as loads of unwashed clothes stare at me and so does the unorganized heap of things in my suitcase.
My friends here are hardcore coders who simply love coding as it comes naturally to them,and I have no one of my mentality...so its just me and my PC who keep talking.I have loads of MP3 to provide me company and of course the excellent canteens here.This is where i miss my college friends as we were on group in class who knew how to have fun with "madras university"..but fun ........relatively at Infy is different,as one feels happy and elated to have completed assignments.I was enjoying all this calling it privately "scaling new peaks" but every day being a new day and more and more assignments,quizzes and tests coming up one after another I feel like being woven into a knowledge trap where unfortunately there is no spiderman to help me get out of this cluttered mess. By the time one completes classes on Mainframes , the RDBMs tests start and so does some new assignment in some other new subject.So its a three dimensional trap that I am in ........ I am approaching it seriously as the only way out of this technical labyrinth is to follow the crowd and make sure one comes unscathed(having no arrears , I mean in the assesments ) and get a posting to GOOD OLD CHENNAI.
11/20/2004
E N J O Y I N G Life
I have a great room mate , called sheshadri..who can be described in in one single word as assertive.I had totally forgotten about the advance that Ihad given to my house owner ,a Punjabi sikh.Thanks to seshu , he convincingly made the owner to agree after an hour's talk on when we would get back the advance.Generally these house owners promise to give u the money ,just before the day one leaves....and sometimes may refuse to give the money in time..as my friend staying below my room mate found much to his dislike. I noticed that one has to be really carefull regarding money matters especially in these PG accomadations in bangalore,or else u could be taken for a ride.Even though it remains to be seenwhether Mr Singh our owner gives us the money by december 14th, Iam sure seshu and I have atleast made it clear that we would want our advance back latest by 14th as We have our final exam on the 16th and we should get to know our respective postings by that time.
I have just been given my BOND ...or in other words my employee agreement letter which I have to sign before a notary...after which I have to send it by a courier to my dad at cochin to get his signature (surety ).....and then submit to the HRD ......thats some painful work that needs some careful attention.
Last evening I had been to the health club here at Infy bangalore and had used the swimming and jacuzzi facilities(jacuzzi is a small hot water pool facility to warm up after a chill session with the main swimming pool).Today I plan to use the Sauna facility also to have asteam bath as soon as I finish swimming. Its time I went and hogged something .....as my stoamch feels damn empty...
Bnagalore is slowly getting chill and the weather here at night is great ...so much a releif to the warm climate of chennai,but somehow I long to get back to chennai...because a settled life there is much better than living like a vagabond here(even though I have an accomadation here).
I have a great room mate , called sheshadri..who can be described in in one single word as assertive.I had totally forgotten about the advance that Ihad given to my house owner ,a Punjabi sikh.Thanks to seshu , he convincingly made the owner to agree after an hour's talk on when we would get back the advance.Generally these house owners promise to give u the money ,just before the day one leaves....and sometimes may refuse to give the money in time..as my friend staying below my room mate found much to his dislike. I noticed that one has to be really carefull regarding money matters especially in these PG accomadations in bangalore,or else u could be taken for a ride.Even though it remains to be seenwhether Mr Singh our owner gives us the money by december 14th, Iam sure seshu and I have atleast made it clear that we would want our advance back latest by 14th as We have our final exam on the 16th and we should get to know our respective postings by that time.
I have just been given my BOND ...or in other words my employee agreement letter which I have to sign before a notary...after which I have to send it by a courier to my dad at cochin to get his signature (surety ).....and then submit to the HRD ......thats some painful work that needs some careful attention.
Last evening I had been to the health club here at Infy bangalore and had used the swimming and jacuzzi facilities(jacuzzi is a small hot water pool facility to warm up after a chill session with the main swimming pool).Today I plan to use the Sauna facility also to have asteam bath as soon as I finish swimming. Its time I went and hogged something .....as my stoamch feels damn empty...
Bnagalore is slowly getting chill and the weather here at night is great ...so much a releif to the warm climate of chennai,but somehow I long to get back to chennai...because a settled life there is much better than living like a vagabond here(even though I have an accomadation here).
11/19/2004
ABSOLUTE MADNESS
Yesterday at work I got a mail from one of my friends working at HCL technologies about the marriage of the so called tamil film actordhanush and aishwarya(who happens to be rajnikanths daughter).It seems the marriage took place yesterday and the photos were instantly passed on the web. A couple of girls sitting ner my cubicle went hysteric on seeing the marriage photos ..one saying "wow","yay" as if they had just been engaged to the most handsome dude on earth. :-(
I got special attention ,simply because the mail containing that marriage picture had come to me...so people pleaded me to send them the photos by mail....and I was just dumbstruck as to why people were so mad of seeing a moron getting a married. One of my friends...had rightly sent the subject of the mail as "KORANGU KAYILLAE POO MALAE"(which translates to "a lovely flower garland in the hands of a monkey ) ...
Well I never knew dhanush had such fan following and this news would create so many ripples.all i can say is that there are far more important things in the world than such a silly piece of news gathering attention.
PS:Micheal jackson BEWARE there are more hysterical females here rooting for dhanush than for u ........GOD SAVE THEM
Yesterday at work I got a mail from one of my friends working at HCL technologies about the marriage of the so called tamil film actordhanush and aishwarya(who happens to be rajnikanths daughter).It seems the marriage took place yesterday and the photos were instantly passed on the web. A couple of girls sitting ner my cubicle went hysteric on seeing the marriage photos ..one saying "wow","yay" as if they had just been engaged to the most handsome dude on earth. :-(
I got special attention ,simply because the mail containing that marriage picture had come to me...so people pleaded me to send them the photos by mail....and I was just dumbstruck as to why people were so mad of seeing a moron getting a married. One of my friends...had rightly sent the subject of the mail as "KORANGU KAYILLAE POO MALAE"(which translates to "a lovely flower garland in the hands of a monkey ) ...
Well I never knew dhanush had such fan following and this news would create so many ripples.all i can say is that there are far more important things in the world than such a silly piece of news gathering attention.
PS:Micheal jackson BEWARE there are more hysterical females here rooting for dhanush than for u ........GOD SAVE THEM
11/17/2004
From the Frying Pan into the Fire
I was so relieved that I was done with a test today,but what the heck I have one tommorow...and a huge bunch of assignments to submit.At this rate when will i go back home?
I stayed back last night here to prepare for the test as the materials are on the system,but this has just gone a little far.Tonight I may be here till 9 after which I have to take the last bus from campus to reach home.
I am feeling so sick these days,especially after coming to chennai last week.The bad health has spilled over to bangalore and I am just managing to hold myself.I am not coming to chennai this week to write CAT this sunday,due to my ill health.......and as if to complement this move my instructor has given us quite a HUGE workload to be completed by monday next..........
I was so relieved that I was done with a test today,but what the heck I have one tommorow...and a huge bunch of assignments to submit.At this rate when will i go back home?
I stayed back last night here to prepare for the test as the materials are on the system,but this has just gone a little far.Tonight I may be here till 9 after which I have to take the last bus from campus to reach home.
I am feeling so sick these days,especially after coming to chennai last week.The bad health has spilled over to bangalore and I am just managing to hold myself.I am not coming to chennai this week to write CAT this sunday,due to my ill health.......and as if to complement this move my instructor has given us quite a HUGE workload to be completed by monday next..........
11/14/2004
CHENNAI BLOGGERS MEET @ BESANT NAGAR BEACH
It was great fun at the beach,but quite sad that the turn out was only 11,but if it were to be a larger gathering I guess it would have been slightly tough for every one to interact.This was the 6th official blogger meet that was happenning in chennai,the first one dated way back to june 29 ,2002 when we had a small group of 5 techies and a wannabe techie (thats me ). It in a way was a big respite from being couch potatoing at home....could get to meet a lot of like minded bloggers .There were 3 new additions this time, and as far as the old gang was concerned lazy geek, kribs ,nirenjan,dinesh and a guy called chandrachoodan came .WE had great fun giving intro's and of course eating mollaga bajjee at the beach and discussing various topics under the sun (and the moon as it was 7 30 when we wounded up ).
It was sad that my friend kishore couldnt make it,but it happens that one is busy...and I was all the more dissapointed that the people from THE HINDU didnt turn up,as I thought my URL and my photo would be splashed in the next day's paper's and would have more hits to my site.
It was good to hear from dinesh that he succeeded in mission 17 30,a "game "which i followed like he did ,most of my final year in college but didnt quite end up with same success rate as he did.Well what was the game ?? I guess all the people who came to the blogger meet would definetely knowwhat I meant......but its something that I would'nt like to put up in my blog...
so ...alls well that ends well......I am already straing to feel drowsy.....so it's time I hit the sack.
It was great fun at the beach,but quite sad that the turn out was only 11,but if it were to be a larger gathering I guess it would have been slightly tough for every one to interact.This was the 6th official blogger meet that was happenning in chennai,the first one dated way back to june 29 ,2002 when we had a small group of 5 techies and a wannabe techie (thats me ). It in a way was a big respite from being couch potatoing at home....could get to meet a lot of like minded bloggers .There were 3 new additions this time, and as far as the old gang was concerned lazy geek, kribs ,nirenjan,dinesh and a guy called chandrachoodan came .WE had great fun giving intro's and of course eating mollaga bajjee at the beach and discussing various topics under the sun (and the moon as it was 7 30 when we wounded up ).
It was sad that my friend kishore couldnt make it,but it happens that one is busy...and I was all the more dissapointed that the people from THE HINDU didnt turn up,as I thought my URL and my photo would be splashed in the next day's paper's and would have more hits to my site.
It was good to hear from dinesh that he succeeded in mission 17 30,a "game "which i followed like he did ,most of my final year in college but didnt quite end up with same success rate as he did.Well what was the game ?? I guess all the people who came to the blogger meet would definetely knowwhat I meant......but its something that I would'nt like to put up in my blog...
so ...alls well that ends well......I am already straing to feel drowsy.....so it's time I hit the sack.
11/13/2004
FRUSTRATED
I am finally back in Chennai for diwali,but never did burst any crackers as I was down with fever and some body complications.....I am leaving most probably by the monday lalbagh train to bangalore.I am feelimg bored as my computer at home is dead as the hard disc crashed and i am planning a complete format......to see whether any trace of life exists in my hard disc which all of a sudden says "no OS detected" .Its a pain when my friends system detects my hard-disc , but when my comp dosen't detect mine. so thats some frustration till i get my system up and running.
I am finally back in Chennai for diwali,but never did burst any crackers as I was down with fever and some body complications.....I am leaving most probably by the monday lalbagh train to bangalore.I am feelimg bored as my computer at home is dead as the hard disc crashed and i am planning a complete format......to see whether any trace of life exists in my hard disc which all of a sudden says "no OS detected" .Its a pain when my friends system detects my hard-disc , but when my comp dosen't detect mine. so thats some frustration till i get my system up and running.
11/08/2004
B A N G A L O R E D
I am staring at this dumb monitor for the past few hours with the music in the background (mp3 via the system headphonbes). Its simply because we have a test on RDBMS on wednesday and I have to study and a host of other activities to do ,so kind a lost in sleep .............
1 eat
2 complete the camera roll (18 more pics to go )
3 redo the assignments before the tests,
4 read the trainee material ...
5 cancel my chennai train/bus tickets...depending on my waitlist status
6 give a bag of my friend to her ,for which neither she finds the time to collect it,nor do i find time to give it.
7 keep track of my medicenes,that I am supposed to eat.
8 wash the damn clothes
9 pack my bag to chennai
10 clean the room out of the mess it finds itself in.
11 gotta write the mock tests and practice atleast basic quants for CAT.
12 stop falling asleep every now and then........
with so much to do in 48 hours , life is sudddenly staring at me......."what the heck are u doing "
I am staring at this dumb monitor for the past few hours with the music in the background (mp3 via the system headphonbes). Its simply because we have a test on RDBMS on wednesday and I have to study and a host of other activities to do ,so kind a lost in sleep .............
1 eat
2 complete the camera roll (18 more pics to go )
3 redo the assignments before the tests,
4 read the trainee material ...
5 cancel my chennai train/bus tickets...depending on my waitlist status
6 give a bag of my friend to her ,for which neither she finds the time to collect it,nor do i find time to give it.
7 keep track of my medicenes,that I am supposed to eat.
8 wash the damn clothes
9 pack my bag to chennai
10 clean the room out of the mess it finds itself in.
11 gotta write the mock tests and practice atleast basic quants for CAT.
12 stop falling asleep every now and then........
with so much to do in 48 hours , life is sudddenly staring at me......."what the heck are u doing "
11/06/2004
nemma uru benguuluru
That seems to be the popular phrase here on radio city 91 FM here in Bangalore.I have no choice but to adopt this tagline till the 15th of december ,supposedly when my training gets over here.I have been put on to the MAINFRAMES stream as my specific stream,which would start on november 16th, soon after the diwali holidays. Our generic course training is nearing an end on wenesday the 10th with the mega credit test of RDBMS which i believe is slightly tough.
This morning I had been to a coroprate quiz called equinox which had a series of quizzes ...the music quiz,geography quiz,sports quiz,general quiz,IT quiz....etc.. Seeing the poster at my canteen in infy i thought this was going to be a really good quiz with all kinds of lighting and sounds as is every quiz in chennai (namely oddyssey quiz,landmark ,ET and so on ), but this turned out to be a case of sour grapes as the no of teams that turned up were very less and each team had to fork out 1000 bucks to particpate in the team. I had no idea How Infy selects the candidates for these quizzes as the company pays the money generally,but they happened to pay teh money for 2 teams who had been selected from a prelims that had been held in our auditorium just a few days back,which I obviously missed :-(
I somehow found that the quiz totally lacked enthu as there was no music to suggest that something was going on in the auditorium. there were 8 and 9 teams respectively for the music and geography quiz ,but the sports and general quizzes had a little more ,close to around 15 teams out of which 6 make it to the finals.
If one happens to be a seasoned quizzer then its really a means of some easy money as the quizzes arent that mentally draining like the open quizzes in chennai,which attract quite a crowd.
Any way a bigger quizzing treat is on the cards tommorow with the biz quiz at IIM B with dear old DEREK O BRIEN donning the quizmaster's robes.
The weather seems really great at bangalore,but one irritating fact is that the damn clothes dont dry earlier than three days..........so much in contrast to my singara chennai,I'm fully with the maxim "THE GRASS ON THE OTHER SIDE SEEMS GREENER" with respect to the the fact that I miss chennai when i am in bangalore and i feel bangalore would be so much better whn the scorching chennai sun burns me.
other than that ,life's still chugging on......on a so called weekends wchich i prefer spending in my INFY campus rather than being at my accomadation.I 've got bored of going out shoppping,so haven't really had that interest to explore the city. I some how find it suprising that quite a lot of people are present in the labs today , because we have our big comprehensive test coming up on wednesday and i am looking forward to it and the journey back to chennai that evening (on the 10th) .
That seems to be the popular phrase here on radio city 91 FM here in Bangalore.I have no choice but to adopt this tagline till the 15th of december ,supposedly when my training gets over here.I have been put on to the MAINFRAMES stream as my specific stream,which would start on november 16th, soon after the diwali holidays. Our generic course training is nearing an end on wenesday the 10th with the mega credit test of RDBMS which i believe is slightly tough.
This morning I had been to a coroprate quiz called equinox which had a series of quizzes ...the music quiz,geography quiz,sports quiz,general quiz,IT quiz....etc.. Seeing the poster at my canteen in infy i thought this was going to be a really good quiz with all kinds of lighting and sounds as is every quiz in chennai (namely oddyssey quiz,landmark ,ET and so on ), but this turned out to be a case of sour grapes as the no of teams that turned up were very less and each team had to fork out 1000 bucks to particpate in the team. I had no idea How Infy selects the candidates for these quizzes as the company pays the money generally,but they happened to pay teh money for 2 teams who had been selected from a prelims that had been held in our auditorium just a few days back,which I obviously missed :-(
I somehow found that the quiz totally lacked enthu as there was no music to suggest that something was going on in the auditorium. there were 8 and 9 teams respectively for the music and geography quiz ,but the sports and general quizzes had a little more ,close to around 15 teams out of which 6 make it to the finals.
If one happens to be a seasoned quizzer then its really a means of some easy money as the quizzes arent that mentally draining like the open quizzes in chennai,which attract quite a crowd.
Any way a bigger quizzing treat is on the cards tommorow with the biz quiz at IIM B with dear old DEREK O BRIEN donning the quizmaster's robes.
The weather seems really great at bangalore,but one irritating fact is that the damn clothes dont dry earlier than three days..........so much in contrast to my singara chennai,I'm fully with the maxim "THE GRASS ON THE OTHER SIDE SEEMS GREENER" with respect to the the fact that I miss chennai when i am in bangalore and i feel bangalore would be so much better whn the scorching chennai sun burns me.
other than that ,life's still chugging on......on a so called weekends wchich i prefer spending in my INFY campus rather than being at my accomadation.I 've got bored of going out shoppping,so haven't really had that interest to explore the city. I some how find it suprising that quite a lot of people are present in the labs today , because we have our big comprehensive test coming up on wednesday and i am looking forward to it and the journey back to chennai that evening (on the 10th) .
11/01/2004
SOLD A DUMMY
There was this offer at infy that if one bought 2 tickets of value rs 200 for the SONU NIGAM show last evenng at bangaore's palace grounds, that one would be getting a free T shirt from cafe coffee day.I payed 400 rs and got the T shirt and the 2 tickets,thinking I can always persuade some one to tag along with me and recover 200 bucks on the sale of the ticket. Suprisingly none of my friends in bangalore wanted to go for the show as they were
1 lazy
2 not interested
3 scratching their heads........
I went alone and had the other ticket lying waste.To my suprise the show went on till 1 am in the wee hours of today morning.But i decided to move out at 11 pm itself to catch the last bus home, and instead of driving a profit ........i was submerged in a huge loss
200 * 2 = 400 rs (show was OK )
70 rs for auto from show place to majestic at 11 pm(@ double rate)
100 rs for sleeping in a yatri nivas bed , as no bus services past 11 at bangalore.
50 rs calling friends and asking them whether they were interested in coming
hmmm....................
There was this offer at infy that if one bought 2 tickets of value rs 200 for the SONU NIGAM show last evenng at bangaore's palace grounds, that one would be getting a free T shirt from cafe coffee day.I payed 400 rs and got the T shirt and the 2 tickets,thinking I can always persuade some one to tag along with me and recover 200 bucks on the sale of the ticket. Suprisingly none of my friends in bangalore wanted to go for the show as they were
1 lazy
2 not interested
3 scratching their heads........
I went alone and had the other ticket lying waste.To my suprise the show went on till 1 am in the wee hours of today morning.But i decided to move out at 11 pm itself to catch the last bus home, and instead of driving a profit ........i was submerged in a huge loss
200 * 2 = 400 rs (show was OK )
70 rs for auto from show place to majestic at 11 pm(@ double rate)
100 rs for sleeping in a yatri nivas bed , as no bus services past 11 at bangalore.
50 rs calling friends and asking them whether they were interested in coming
hmmm....................
10/29/2004
MARRIAGES
Last night at my room in BTM we had a 30 year old guy(unmarried,who stays with us in our PG accomadation) giving us a lecture on the ill effects of marriages which had a lot of humorous underones to it.He was of the opinion that guys must marry by 29 or 30 which would be "ideal" for guys,which was seconded by couple of 26 year old workaholic infoscions. they said that marriage was more of a societal compulsion and a torture that one had to neccesarily undergo ,where the excitement would be only for the first 2 years at the max. These guys ,suprisngly prefer the "bachelor"status than ending up being married.
I agree that one has to first settle down in life ,before which he marries.., but I definetely reject their theory of marriages being a pain.The age hardly matters.As long as the couple have the emotional and physical maturity to deal life and feel the need for each other , even 22 or 23 would be fine ........Infact I know a friend of mine, who is just waiting to settle down ,as he is in his post grads now........and wouldnbe raring to go 4 a job ,as that would mean financial independence...and that would ultimately make him ready for marriage with his girlfriend.He definetely is foccussed towards career ,but at the same time, he hasnt lost that interest towards life,wife etc....... that is how one section of the moder era is .
I just dont understand the system of arranged marriages where one guy marries for the sake of marrying and gives specifications of how his wife should look.One of my cousins ,who is 28 now,is a doctor by proffession(damn brilliant guy ) and is a sanskrit scholar.....who said that he wants a wife who understands sankskrit poems and literature....and is a a doctor too.My question is ,why dont people search for their partner themselves rather than relying on the matrimonial column and other third party info....from "andha theru mami or pakkathu veetu pati " .These days guys and girls find partners at 21,22...and I am honestly suprised my cousin hasnt found one by 28.on similar lines of his requirements.......if a software engineer were to choose a wife by giving conditions,it would be something like "wanted a girl who is a tester ,and has worked in java script,querying in oracle and has hacked into networks". Nothing against my cousin, but other general folk and the software engineers seem to have forgotten the very essence of a wife........and are pathetically guided by "the screwing" mentality.
CONCLUSION: hm..........its not that I am very much interested in a girl right now, but its to bring out the various ways of thinking of men.....about marriage.I wish I could add more , but as of now have to rush back to my lab to learn some SQL coding.......as i have a friend waiting 4 me.
anybody wishing to contribute more on this topic could leave a comment on my comment box or shoutbox below or can drop in a mail at kartik dot kannan [at] gmail dot coom
Last night at my room in BTM we had a 30 year old guy(unmarried,who stays with us in our PG accomadation) giving us a lecture on the ill effects of marriages which had a lot of humorous underones to it.He was of the opinion that guys must marry by 29 or 30 which would be "ideal" for guys,which was seconded by couple of 26 year old workaholic infoscions. they said that marriage was more of a societal compulsion and a torture that one had to neccesarily undergo ,where the excitement would be only for the first 2 years at the max. These guys ,suprisngly prefer the "bachelor"status than ending up being married.
I agree that one has to first settle down in life ,before which he marries.., but I definetely reject their theory of marriages being a pain.The age hardly matters.As long as the couple have the emotional and physical maturity to deal life and feel the need for each other , even 22 or 23 would be fine ........Infact I know a friend of mine, who is just waiting to settle down ,as he is in his post grads now........and wouldnbe raring to go 4 a job ,as that would mean financial independence...and that would ultimately make him ready for marriage with his girlfriend.He definetely is foccussed towards career ,but at the same time, he hasnt lost that interest towards life,wife etc....... that is how one section of the moder era is .
I just dont understand the system of arranged marriages where one guy marries for the sake of marrying and gives specifications of how his wife should look.One of my cousins ,who is 28 now,is a doctor by proffession(damn brilliant guy ) and is a sanskrit scholar.....who said that he wants a wife who understands sankskrit poems and literature....and is a a doctor too.My question is ,why dont people search for their partner themselves rather than relying on the matrimonial column and other third party info....from "andha theru mami or pakkathu veetu pati " .These days guys and girls find partners at 21,22...and I am honestly suprised my cousin hasnt found one by 28.on similar lines of his requirements.......if a software engineer were to choose a wife by giving conditions,it would be something like "wanted a girl who is a tester ,and has worked in java script,querying in oracle and has hacked into networks". Nothing against my cousin, but other general folk and the software engineers seem to have forgotten the very essence of a wife........and are pathetically guided by "the screwing" mentality.
CONCLUSION: hm..........its not that I am very much interested in a girl right now, but its to bring out the various ways of thinking of men.....about marriage.I wish I could add more , but as of now have to rush back to my lab to learn some SQL coding.......as i have a friend waiting 4 me.
anybody wishing to contribute more on this topic could leave a comment on my comment box or shoutbox below or can drop in a mail at kartik dot kannan [at] gmail dot coom
10/28/2004
living alone is fun..........no more do i have ghosts of loneliness cribbing me .....the feeling is slowly sinking that i belong to infy.........as it seems more like a classroom here. tommorow we have one more training session on interpersonal effectiveness and thats the end of enjoyment as of now....after that its back to technical stuff...........
this is my schedule daily
5 30 :GET UP
5 45 : a so called hot-water bath.
6 15 getting ready........
6 30 still getting ready........
6 45 : go downstairs for breakfast.
7 10 :leave my home.......wait at the nus stand:
7 20-7 25: bus comes.......and i switch on radio city........
7 45 am :In infy.....have to swipe my card IN
8 00 am: finish eating a light breakfast and a milkshake
8 30 am: after some roaminga round and gossip , march back to class.....
8 45 am, sign the attendance register and go out........with friends
9 00 am .........still going around the campus on a bycycle.......or chatting with friends/in the library
10 45 : goto the food court at kamat and have sandwiches
11 15 be in time for the session at the auditorium (a.k.a classroom 1 )
12 45pm: head 4 lunch...........and have a milkshake after lunch or head to cafe cofee day/dominos
1 30 pm :back in class refreshed ,class begins.......may sleep sometimes.........but am slowly gaining control over myself.........
4 30 session ends.......i head off to my friend joshy's cabin at block 34, get 2 check my mails.
6 30 : arratai session ends.........bycycle around the campus and swipe out
8 00 :leave campus by 2nd last bus...........
8 25 pm reach my place BTM layout..........
or
8 pm:still with joshy , wud b having dinner at casapicola.......the chinese restaurant
9 pm........wud head for the boys dorm to book a bed and wud sleep off........
1 am :would wake up to study.........with a nice bath in the restroom.......
5 am close my book and get backto bed.
6 30 get up and again have bath.
7 00 am get back to lab and change my clothes there.........
this is my schedule daily
5 30 :GET UP
5 45 : a so called hot-water bath.
6 15 getting ready........
6 30 still getting ready........
6 45 : go downstairs for breakfast.
7 10 :leave my home.......wait at the nus stand:
7 20-7 25: bus comes.......and i switch on radio city........
7 45 am :In infy.....have to swipe my card IN
8 00 am: finish eating a light breakfast and a milkshake
8 30 am: after some roaminga round and gossip , march back to class.....
8 45 am, sign the attendance register and go out........with friends
9 00 am .........still going around the campus on a bycycle.......or chatting with friends/in the library
10 45 : goto the food court at kamat and have sandwiches
11 15 be in time for the session at the auditorium (a.k.a classroom 1 )
12 45pm: head 4 lunch...........and have a milkshake after lunch or head to cafe cofee day/dominos
1 30 pm :back in class refreshed ,class begins.......may sleep sometimes.........but am slowly gaining control over myself.........
4 30 session ends.......i head off to my friend joshy's cabin at block 34, get 2 check my mails.
6 30 : arratai session ends.........bycycle around the campus and swipe out
8 00 :leave campus by 2nd last bus...........
8 25 pm reach my place BTM layout..........
or
8 pm:still with joshy , wud b having dinner at casapicola.......the chinese restaurant
9 pm........wud head for the boys dorm to book a bed and wud sleep off........
1 am :would wake up to study.........with a nice bath in the restroom.......
5 am close my book and get backto bed.
6 30 get up and again have bath.
7 00 am get back to lab and change my clothes there.........
10/26/2004
TANHA DIL PART 2
These days I have a strange feeling that runs down my veins……..the very fact that I am a software engineer….and the other fact that I am into a dog-eat-dog world and am not going to be protected anymore by college. I realize I have to work quite hard to achieve success in my field simply because coding and programming isnt’ exactly my cup of tea,but I have no choice…
Currently Life is going on……..at infy…….without any major hitches ,but I have get used to the pace of life here.I haven’t found any like minded friend here,every one seems to be a coding expert here,except ur’s truly :-(
Last night I spent it at the infy dormitory as there was no current in my room at BTM.i must say the dorm was pretty decent with hot water coming 24 hrs . I had my bath twice , one at 2 am and once at 7 am …..between which I had to study RDBMS as we had our first quiz….(more of a test…….which I didn’t fare that well ) .
All of a sudden being at a new place with new people is sure a little difficult 2 adjust ,but being homesick is a lot better than being sick at home :- ) .
I plan to stay in bangalore this weekend,even though it’s a 3 day weekend with Monday off .I plan to come to Chennai for diwali…..on the 11th morning (subject to tickets being confirmed).
These days I have a strange feeling that runs down my veins……..the very fact that I am a software engineer….and the other fact that I am into a dog-eat-dog world and am not going to be protected anymore by college. I realize I have to work quite hard to achieve success in my field simply because coding and programming isnt’ exactly my cup of tea,but I have no choice…
Currently Life is going on……..at infy…….without any major hitches ,but I have get used to the pace of life here.I haven’t found any like minded friend here,every one seems to be a coding expert here,except ur’s truly :-(
Last night I spent it at the infy dormitory as there was no current in my room at BTM.i must say the dorm was pretty decent with hot water coming 24 hrs . I had my bath twice , one at 2 am and once at 7 am …..between which I had to study RDBMS as we had our first quiz….(more of a test…….which I didn’t fare that well ) .
All of a sudden being at a new place with new people is sure a little difficult 2 adjust ,but being homesick is a lot better than being sick at home :- ) .
I plan to stay in bangalore this weekend,even though it’s a 3 day weekend with Monday off .I plan to come to Chennai for diwali…..on the 11th morning (subject to tickets being confirmed).
10/25/2004
life is really cool at Infy. joshy and i are just back from a round of boating at the infy pond here. I have my first test tommorow in rdbms........i plan to do a complete night study to answer the test well tommorow.Joshy had given me a few indicators regarding how the test would be ....he's asked me to go through the manual that infy gave me completely ....Thats a huge book to cover , but life's just started .......so I am pretty positive I'l clear the test.
Tommorow Infy has a general quiz , so I am looking 4 a partner to start my quizzing life ...at infy.
Tommorow Infy has a general quiz , so I am looking 4 a partner to start my quizzing life ...at infy.
10/23/2004
Day 0 :SUNDAY 17th October 2004
I check into my hotel room and find that the room mate that I have been allocated is a hardcore tamil fan ,the one who jumps at the sight of “thalaivar vijaykant” and dhanush.
.This guy is out of the room for quite some time …within which I watch the weekend edition of F.R.I.E.N.D.S ,which I haven’t viewed for quite some time in Chennai due to C.A.S and of course the Chennai test match.
The evening is spent picking my mother from my cousin’s place and dropping her back at the station ,after which I get drenched in the sudden downpour.I reach my hotel late at 11 and settle down with a hot water bath and finally sleep at 1 am .
Day 1 :MONDAY 18TH October 2004
D-day ……..I get up at 4 50 am inspired by the very thought that in am entering into the hallowed portals of INFOSYS and get ready by 6 00 am ,fully attired in my formals.The Bus comes half an hour late that morning and I am caught in the great traffic jam that takes place every day on hosur road.I reach Infy at 9 am ,am astounded by the sheer aura of the campus. But since the bus was late,I have no time to eat my break fast and I have to rush to the classroom,where a video session with Narayana murthy and Nandan nilekani is just over.The class room is very good ,more so resembling a mini auditorium.
The first day we are given sessions on the corporate culture by the higher level management and fire safety drills between which the people from ICICI come and get our details and we are allotted a card each. The lunch that I had was very heavy and tasty.I opted for north Indian thali meals instead of the traditional south Indian samabar ,rasam just for a change. Day one was all about gazing at the campus with awe……and getting ready mentally to belive that I am an Infoscian ….and not any more a Veltechian…
I don’t catch the evening bus,I meet my college benchmate Joshy who takes me to the canteen that is adjacent to the volleyball and basket ball court……more so closer to the amphitheatre an introduces me to his batch mates.We have a nice time discussing our college life,comparing the past and present…….and wow it has been one heck of a roller coaster ride.
I board the 7 15 pm bus to reach the hotel and discover that my other batchmates who had taken the 6 pm bus had rached the hotel only 5 minutes earlier at 8 30 pm ,since they were held up in the traffic jam at hosur road. I get to the hotel and thank god ,that I have been given such an excellent atmosphere to work in and of course,the even more raunchier fact of working at “Bangalore” for the next 2 months .
Day 2 :Tuesday oct 19
The day begins with some lovely music on radio city 91 fm , which is so much better than the machan-machi of radio mirchi—except the fact that I still do miss suchitra ramadaorai’s voice. This time the bus reached at 7 30 in the morning…..giving me ample time to eat my break fast and also making a few local calls.One thing to note is the fact that Infy has phone booths all around the campus ……..for ppl to communicate to Bangalore based numbers .
The not-so-desirable thing is the reccurence of sleeping in the classrooms.Whenever I sleep I tend to sway to and fro and the push back chairs and the AC in the room ,dosen’t seem helping matters at all.I embarrass myself sitting in the first row,after which I retreat to the last few tiers to avoid being caught napping.This slumber of mine stems from the fact that I sleep late at night after doing some roaming around.
That evening I go out with my friend pervez to BTM layout in serch of a PG accomadation,but we are very disappointed with the quality of rooms on display and the people surrounding them . We get drenched in the rain and some how manage to catch a bus to corporation circle……where we are supposed to get down,but since It’s been heavy roaming around in the evening ……I feel extremely tired and doze off in the bus and just miss to get down at my stop ….bcoz the Bangalore bus doors close automatically after a predefined time and I am left alone as my friend pervez manages to get down just in time.I basically had a problem after being woken by pervez to first realize where I am ,and then wading through the crowd ,before which the bus took off.
I get down at the next stop ,about 1.5 kms from the corporation circle and begin a lonely walk ..at around 11 pm back to my hotel and …..as soon as I reach the place….I take a shower at get to bed at around 1 am.
Day 3 oct 20 Wednesday
Listening to radio city on my walkman is so much a pleasure with the day beginning with “oh hum dum suniyo re ……(the hindi version of endendrum punnagai-alaipayuthe) .It’s a new habit these days of swiping in a card for attendance.I chose to explore the campus with cycles that are provided at every nodal point. There are 6 canteens specializing in different cuisines having Indian,Chinese..etc etc. There is so much of greenery around at Infosys ,that one wonders is this a software organization or a place competing with the botanical gardens. We had certificate verification …a GD round and a HR test and so literally the whole day was free ….and I had enough time to roam around. I tried my best at getting accomadation adjacent to Infy,but since the company of persons weren’t that good I had to reject staying at ELECTRONICS CITY, the area around Infy campus,seconded by the fact that I couldn’t get homes easily there without a brokers help and my friend joshy returning home to Chennai , didn’t help making things easy as , if he were there he would have definitely helped me finding an accomadation at electronics city. staying at Elec city would mean getting a lot to save on rent and transport……vut one would have to stay in a pure “pattikadu “ environment as not many shops are there on the outskirts here.
I finally managed to get a accommodation at a place called BTM layout ,where my place is a small portion of a room ,enough to accomadate 3 beds and a couple of study tables…but as of now it’s only 1 person with whom I share the room. I pay a hefty 4k as the rent which included the food in the morning and night. But I am glad that I have a decent room,a big bathroom ,very much unlike the PG’s that are offered generally.
Day 4 ,oct 21 , Thursday.
I still find it hard for the feeling to sink in that I am “working” now and have to fend for myself …and last nights experience of searching an accomadation was sure a new experience. But no complaints …..I have to move on…..the only thing that depresses me is that we have to sign a 2.5 lac bond for a year,so this year’s CAT is only a formality.
We have our training sessions started and the biggest surprise is that I am made group leader………the girls in my group of 8 …..have great fun waking me up With a yell “GOOD MORNING” as soon as a session gets over , as I was sleeping …swaying to an fro……I must admit it was quite embarrassing .The later part of the day was spent checking emails in my lab,with the help of a senior who logged in with his email id.I cant get to use internet on my own until I have an email id @infosys. Its been a great week ,and I am all set to become a software engineer ……..I am leaving tomorrow to Bangalore by car ,to move into my new accomadation and show around the infy campus to my father.
I check into my hotel room and find that the room mate that I have been allocated is a hardcore tamil fan ,the one who jumps at the sight of “thalaivar vijaykant” and dhanush.
.This guy is out of the room for quite some time …within which I watch the weekend edition of F.R.I.E.N.D.S ,which I haven’t viewed for quite some time in Chennai due to C.A.S and of course the Chennai test match.
The evening is spent picking my mother from my cousin’s place and dropping her back at the station ,after which I get drenched in the sudden downpour.I reach my hotel late at 11 and settle down with a hot water bath and finally sleep at 1 am .
Day 1 :MONDAY 18TH October 2004
D-day ……..I get up at 4 50 am inspired by the very thought that in am entering into the hallowed portals of INFOSYS and get ready by 6 00 am ,fully attired in my formals.The Bus comes half an hour late that morning and I am caught in the great traffic jam that takes place every day on hosur road.I reach Infy at 9 am ,am astounded by the sheer aura of the campus. But since the bus was late,I have no time to eat my break fast and I have to rush to the classroom,where a video session with Narayana murthy and Nandan nilekani is just over.The class room is very good ,more so resembling a mini auditorium.
The first day we are given sessions on the corporate culture by the higher level management and fire safety drills between which the people from ICICI come and get our details and we are allotted a card each. The lunch that I had was very heavy and tasty.I opted for north Indian thali meals instead of the traditional south Indian samabar ,rasam just for a change. Day one was all about gazing at the campus with awe……and getting ready mentally to belive that I am an Infoscian ….and not any more a Veltechian…
I don’t catch the evening bus,I meet my college benchmate Joshy who takes me to the canteen that is adjacent to the volleyball and basket ball court……more so closer to the amphitheatre an introduces me to his batch mates.We have a nice time discussing our college life,comparing the past and present…….and wow it has been one heck of a roller coaster ride.
I board the 7 15 pm bus to reach the hotel and discover that my other batchmates who had taken the 6 pm bus had rached the hotel only 5 minutes earlier at 8 30 pm ,since they were held up in the traffic jam at hosur road. I get to the hotel and thank god ,that I have been given such an excellent atmosphere to work in and of course,the even more raunchier fact of working at “Bangalore” for the next 2 months .
Day 2 :Tuesday oct 19
The day begins with some lovely music on radio city 91 fm , which is so much better than the machan-machi of radio mirchi—except the fact that I still do miss suchitra ramadaorai’s voice. This time the bus reached at 7 30 in the morning…..giving me ample time to eat my break fast and also making a few local calls.One thing to note is the fact that Infy has phone booths all around the campus ……..for ppl to communicate to Bangalore based numbers .
The not-so-desirable thing is the reccurence of sleeping in the classrooms.Whenever I sleep I tend to sway to and fro and the push back chairs and the AC in the room ,dosen’t seem helping matters at all.I embarrass myself sitting in the first row,after which I retreat to the last few tiers to avoid being caught napping.This slumber of mine stems from the fact that I sleep late at night after doing some roaming around.
That evening I go out with my friend pervez to BTM layout in serch of a PG accomadation,but we are very disappointed with the quality of rooms on display and the people surrounding them . We get drenched in the rain and some how manage to catch a bus to corporation circle……where we are supposed to get down,but since It’s been heavy roaming around in the evening ……I feel extremely tired and doze off in the bus and just miss to get down at my stop ….bcoz the Bangalore bus doors close automatically after a predefined time and I am left alone as my friend pervez manages to get down just in time.I basically had a problem after being woken by pervez to first realize where I am ,and then wading through the crowd ,before which the bus took off.
I get down at the next stop ,about 1.5 kms from the corporation circle and begin a lonely walk ..at around 11 pm back to my hotel and …..as soon as I reach the place….I take a shower at get to bed at around 1 am.
Day 3 oct 20 Wednesday
Listening to radio city on my walkman is so much a pleasure with the day beginning with “oh hum dum suniyo re ……(the hindi version of endendrum punnagai-alaipayuthe) .It’s a new habit these days of swiping in a card for attendance.I chose to explore the campus with cycles that are provided at every nodal point. There are 6 canteens specializing in different cuisines having Indian,Chinese..etc etc. There is so much of greenery around at Infosys ,that one wonders is this a software organization or a place competing with the botanical gardens. We had certificate verification …a GD round and a HR test and so literally the whole day was free ….and I had enough time to roam around. I tried my best at getting accomadation adjacent to Infy,but since the company of persons weren’t that good I had to reject staying at ELECTRONICS CITY, the area around Infy campus,seconded by the fact that I couldn’t get homes easily there without a brokers help and my friend joshy returning home to Chennai , didn’t help making things easy as , if he were there he would have definitely helped me finding an accomadation at electronics city. staying at Elec city would mean getting a lot to save on rent and transport……vut one would have to stay in a pure “pattikadu “ environment as not many shops are there on the outskirts here.
I finally managed to get a accommodation at a place called BTM layout ,where my place is a small portion of a room ,enough to accomadate 3 beds and a couple of study tables…but as of now it’s only 1 person with whom I share the room. I pay a hefty 4k as the rent which included the food in the morning and night. But I am glad that I have a decent room,a big bathroom ,very much unlike the PG’s that are offered generally.
Day 4 ,oct 21 , Thursday.
I still find it hard for the feeling to sink in that I am “working” now and have to fend for myself …and last nights experience of searching an accomadation was sure a new experience. But no complaints …..I have to move on…..the only thing that depresses me is that we have to sign a 2.5 lac bond for a year,so this year’s CAT is only a formality.
We have our training sessions started and the biggest surprise is that I am made group leader………the girls in my group of 8 …..have great fun waking me up With a yell “GOOD MORNING” as soon as a session gets over , as I was sleeping …swaying to an fro……I must admit it was quite embarrassing .The later part of the day was spent checking emails in my lab,with the help of a senior who logged in with his email id.I cant get to use internet on my own until I have an email id @infosys. Its been a great week ,and I am all set to become a software engineer ……..I am leaving tomorrow to Bangalore by car ,to move into my new accomadation and show around the infy campus to my father.
10/16/2004
INFY ROCKS
I had just been to the INFY main campus in bangalore and it's absolutely stunning.I have caught quite a few pics on my mobile and shall be transferring them soon on to this site.Last night Kishore and sid came to the station to see me off and after they left...I was on flashback mode for about a couple of hours going back to the college days.I heard that the college felicitation function was preponed from saturday to thursday , and that would mean I wouldn't be going to college to receive my gold ring as I would be at work.
The journey last night was a little cumbersome as I didn't have a pillow and my height was a little longer than the space provided by the side lower berth.I happened to bide away time by having ground nuts...and had a real chill wake up call at around 2 in the morning , when I found my shirt and pant partially wet ,due to the heavy rains lashing from bangarapet. It was a cold and dark morning,when bangalore greeted me ....I pushed my luggage amidst the rain to catch a bus to my cousin's place at basweshwara nagar,having avoided the auto and taxi wallah's who demanded nothing less than 100 bucks(double rate as it was raining then...).
After settling down with some tiffen,I managed to take my mother along to the INFY campus in electronics city ...after a sleepy ride for a hour long journey in the local bus.The campus is spread over quite a large area and the classrooms for training are awesome.The campus layout,the canteen's and the work atmosphere has simply got me bowled over.I will be checking into a hotel tommorow morning provided by Infy at a place called VT PARADISE on devanga sanga road near HUDSON circle. I am quite tired roaming around the huge INFY campus ....so it's time to hit the sack...................
I had just been to the INFY main campus in bangalore and it's absolutely stunning.I have caught quite a few pics on my mobile and shall be transferring them soon on to this site.Last night Kishore and sid came to the station to see me off and after they left...I was on flashback mode for about a couple of hours going back to the college days.I heard that the college felicitation function was preponed from saturday to thursday , and that would mean I wouldn't be going to college to receive my gold ring as I would be at work.
The journey last night was a little cumbersome as I didn't have a pillow and my height was a little longer than the space provided by the side lower berth.I happened to bide away time by having ground nuts...and had a real chill wake up call at around 2 in the morning , when I found my shirt and pant partially wet ,due to the heavy rains lashing from bangarapet. It was a cold and dark morning,when bangalore greeted me ....I pushed my luggage amidst the rain to catch a bus to my cousin's place at basweshwara nagar,having avoided the auto and taxi wallah's who demanded nothing less than 100 bucks(double rate as it was raining then...).
After settling down with some tiffen,I managed to take my mother along to the INFY campus in electronics city ...after a sleepy ride for a hour long journey in the local bus.The campus is spread over quite a large area and the classrooms for training are awesome.The campus layout,the canteen's and the work atmosphere has simply got me bowled over.I will be checking into a hotel tommorow morning provided by Infy at a place called VT PARADISE on devanga sanga road near HUDSON circle. I am quite tired roaming around the huge INFY campus ....so it's time to hit the sack...................
10/15/2004
A BREAK FROM ROUTINE
It does seem a lot different that in about 4 days time I am all set to work .It would be a total change of surroundings and life for me. I am currently running out of time ,packing my bags and running through my checklist.I have this habit of forgetting atleast 1 important thing on a trip ,so I am planning to changed this unstated rule of mine , by packing things in a phased manner ......to the extent that I have sacrificed going to the second day's play of the second test match being played here at chennai .
I just received INFY'S physical offer letter and went through all the rules and the various tax planning schemes.....and I am yet to figure outwhere I started,as I dont understand anything pertaining to insurance,banking and related stuff.I need to ask my father ,with regard to the various statistics mentioned in my salary package.
It does seem a lot different that in about 4 days time I am all set to work .It would be a total change of surroundings and life for me. I am currently running out of time ,packing my bags and running through my checklist.I have this habit of forgetting atleast 1 important thing on a trip ,so I am planning to changed this unstated rule of mine , by packing things in a phased manner ......to the extent that I have sacrificed going to the second day's play of the second test match being played here at chennai .
I just received INFY'S physical offer letter and went through all the rules and the various tax planning schemes.....and I am yet to figure outwhere I started,as I dont understand anything pertaining to insurance,banking and related stuff.I need to ask my father ,with regard to the various statistics mentioned in my salary package.
10/11/2004
OF FRIENDS AND RELATIONSHIPS
I have always respected the maxim”It’s tougher to maintain a particular thing ,than the toughness in getting there or getting it” .Friendship is something like that.It may take years or minutes to find a friend ,but very difficult to maintain relationships over a period of time,and what is more appalling is the attitude of people in general to lose touch wioth old friends.As far as I am concerned a person with whom One might have spoken for more than an hour or two is a friend for life,even if not a close friend.
I have tried my best to still be in touch with my friends since school and college and It’s a little disheartening when I see a few of them totally having forgotten that they were once friends.People treat friendship as a one-night stand these days and that is really bad.
I somehow feel very emotional that I am leaving away my set of friends in Chennai and moving over to a new place in search of work.It’s a new experience and new set of friends to be with …….but it’s not about getting new friends,but the fact that one has to maintain his contacts . Some how it’s really sad to see some of my classmates who behave as they are really busy after having been employed. I agree that employment does restrict one’s time , but certainly not to the extent that he/she forgets his friends.People don’t seem to realize that a solitary email/sms might really gladden their friend and at least keep in touch.
5 days to go before I join INFY and I am getting nostalgic about college life.I never seemed to enjoy all that when I was in college,as I felt that all I did was to vegetate there and was wasting my time listening to morons who come and lecture us . One such huge moron was my HOD Mr Veeramalai ,who was the root cause to me hating the very mention of college.He is one guy , whom of all the person’s I miss today because I realize that I have no one to have verbal duels and fights with.He with his highly ridiculous behaviour against me ,was solely responsible for developing my aggressive attitude at times.Anyways this is the softest compliment that I can pay that idiot …..
So getting back to the core of this article,I request all of you still be in touch with every one of your friends….(hey that includes me …too .)
I have always respected the maxim”It’s tougher to maintain a particular thing ,than the toughness in getting there or getting it” .Friendship is something like that.It may take years or minutes to find a friend ,but very difficult to maintain relationships over a period of time,and what is more appalling is the attitude of people in general to lose touch wioth old friends.As far as I am concerned a person with whom One might have spoken for more than an hour or two is a friend for life,even if not a close friend.
I have tried my best to still be in touch with my friends since school and college and It’s a little disheartening when I see a few of them totally having forgotten that they were once friends.People treat friendship as a one-night stand these days and that is really bad.
I somehow feel very emotional that I am leaving away my set of friends in Chennai and moving over to a new place in search of work.It’s a new experience and new set of friends to be with …….but it’s not about getting new friends,but the fact that one has to maintain his contacts . Some how it’s really sad to see some of my classmates who behave as they are really busy after having been employed. I agree that employment does restrict one’s time , but certainly not to the extent that he/she forgets his friends.People don’t seem to realize that a solitary email/sms might really gladden their friend and at least keep in touch.
5 days to go before I join INFY and I am getting nostalgic about college life.I never seemed to enjoy all that when I was in college,as I felt that all I did was to vegetate there and was wasting my time listening to morons who come and lecture us . One such huge moron was my HOD Mr Veeramalai ,who was the root cause to me hating the very mention of college.He is one guy , whom of all the person’s I miss today because I realize that I have no one to have verbal duels and fights with.He with his highly ridiculous behaviour against me ,was solely responsible for developing my aggressive attitude at times.Anyways this is the softest compliment that I can pay that idiot …..
So getting back to the core of this article,I request all of you still be in touch with every one of your friends….(hey that includes me …too .)
NIGHT BIKING = NIGHTMARE
Last night was a terrible experience in my rickety old bike .I had gone to the central railway station to drop my father ,parking my vehicle at the guindy station. I had also managed to drop into my classmate Achut’s place in triplicane at around 8 pm and stayed there till 9 pm. I got into a beach-tambaram local BG EMU train and the train got delayed after waiting for more than 10 minutes at Park and egmore stations respectively.I got so engrossed in thinking about my college life,to the extent that I had missed getting down at guindy station and got off only at the next station ST Thomas Mount , for the umpteenth time.I got a return connecting train that dropped me back at guindy….and this where the story begins……………
My choke wire in my bike had been broken and had fallen down somewhere,earlier in the day.My bike generally starts with the Choke on….especially during the night time.I reached guindy at around 11 pm and tried kick starting my bike for about 15 minutes,It wouldn’t start ……and to compound things was the rain clouds looming large at night,it would become terrible If I were to be stranded all alone in the rain,but thankfully the skies didn’t cry that night.
My abortive attempts at starting my bike went on till 11 15, when I requested a couple of rare passerby’s to help me with starting the bike. The bike refused to start …..And raised the anxiety level in me, whether I would reach home at all last night. After pushing the bike …to a distance I spotted a couple of auto drivers, who were quite adept in the mechanics of biking and helped me start my bike in a jiffy, But there was this unstated clause which I soon found out that, If I slowed down the bike by applying the brakes ,or reduced a gear , the bike’s engine would be switched off.
This was a SPEED like scenario where I had to maintain a constant speed at one particular gear ……failing which the engine would switch off and again starting the bike would be a nightmare. I had to drive at 30-40 km’s an hour speed unmindful of the pits and potholes and the slush that was in it. If I had normally seen a pothole,I would slow down and try to avoid it,but last night ,getting home was high on the priority ,so slowing down was never on the agenda.Thankfully there were no heavy vehicles coming in my opposite direction,otherwise I would have had to reduce my speed and put the brakes on.
I came home,with my legs and bike bathed in slush. I was happy that I had made it home last night …even though I had to endure a dangerous biking journey …..imagine driving into slush filled pot hole at 40 kms/hr …….with the water splashing allover me and my bike…..it was certainly a journey worth forgetting.
Last night was a terrible experience in my rickety old bike .I had gone to the central railway station to drop my father ,parking my vehicle at the guindy station. I had also managed to drop into my classmate Achut’s place in triplicane at around 8 pm and stayed there till 9 pm. I got into a beach-tambaram local BG EMU train and the train got delayed after waiting for more than 10 minutes at Park and egmore stations respectively.I got so engrossed in thinking about my college life,to the extent that I had missed getting down at guindy station and got off only at the next station ST Thomas Mount , for the umpteenth time.I got a return connecting train that dropped me back at guindy….and this where the story begins……………
My choke wire in my bike had been broken and had fallen down somewhere,earlier in the day.My bike generally starts with the Choke on….especially during the night time.I reached guindy at around 11 pm and tried kick starting my bike for about 15 minutes,It wouldn’t start ……and to compound things was the rain clouds looming large at night,it would become terrible If I were to be stranded all alone in the rain,but thankfully the skies didn’t cry that night.
My abortive attempts at starting my bike went on till 11 15, when I requested a couple of rare passerby’s to help me with starting the bike. The bike refused to start …..And raised the anxiety level in me, whether I would reach home at all last night. After pushing the bike …to a distance I spotted a couple of auto drivers, who were quite adept in the mechanics of biking and helped me start my bike in a jiffy, But there was this unstated clause which I soon found out that, If I slowed down the bike by applying the brakes ,or reduced a gear , the bike’s engine would be switched off.
This was a SPEED like scenario where I had to maintain a constant speed at one particular gear ……failing which the engine would switch off and again starting the bike would be a nightmare. I had to drive at 30-40 km’s an hour speed unmindful of the pits and potholes and the slush that was in it. If I had normally seen a pothole,I would slow down and try to avoid it,but last night ,getting home was high on the priority ,so slowing down was never on the agenda.Thankfully there were no heavy vehicles coming in my opposite direction,otherwise I would have had to reduce my speed and put the brakes on.
I came home,with my legs and bike bathed in slush. I was happy that I had made it home last night …even though I had to endure a dangerous biking journey …..imagine driving into slush filled pot hole at 40 kms/hr …….with the water splashing allover me and my bike…..it was certainly a journey worth forgetting.
10/07/2004
TIRING DAY
I am blogging from the British council library.Today I had a really tiring day in the chennai sun,roaming about guindy-chennai central-perambur-central-.........to BCL .I had been to my perripa's place to see him before I scoot
off to bangalore.I happened to see Kishore,to whom I had to give his Motherboard CD. Then I took the train from perambur and reached central,famished by the chennai sun.I was half asleep when the station arrived.I had to then go to the Southern railway booking office to meet the chief supersvisor to have my tickets changed from my father's name to my mother's name...After that I was too tired to walk even a step further, somehow gathered some energy to buy a platform ticket,and had some tiffen at saravana bhavan (chennai central branch).
The Chennai sun literally saps whatever energy that's left in one's body.I am a living testimony to that.Given a chance I would lay myself flat on the desktop here,But since it happens to be a public place ,I have to control myself.I am waiting to rush home.......and hit the sack( go to bed ....that is )
I am blogging from the British council library.Today I had a really tiring day in the chennai sun,roaming about guindy-chennai central-perambur-central-.........to BCL .I had been to my perripa's place to see him before I scoot
off to bangalore.I happened to see Kishore,to whom I had to give his Motherboard CD. Then I took the train from perambur and reached central,famished by the chennai sun.I was half asleep when the station arrived.I had to then go to the Southern railway booking office to meet the chief supersvisor to have my tickets changed from my father's name to my mother's name...After that I was too tired to walk even a step further, somehow gathered some energy to buy a platform ticket,and had some tiffen at saravana bhavan (chennai central branch).
The Chennai sun literally saps whatever energy that's left in one's body.I am a living testimony to that.Given a chance I would lay myself flat on the desktop here,But since it happens to be a public place ,I have to control myself.I am waiting to rush home.......and hit the sack( go to bed ....that is )
10/06/2004
10/04/2004
well since october was born(thats 96 hours ago ) I have been spending
a high percentage of my hours sleeping or being half asleep when not
sleeping. I have never felt so dizzy before........In tamil terminology
I am experiencing "mabbu"... I have just recovered from a format of my hardrive,
I have lost all important data that was there,so it's strange to start up the
PC and find that my favourite song isn't playing .....
This boredom at home is killing me ...To beat the boredom I
decided to pack up my bags and i have kept the shirts and trousers
required for Infy ..for which I am leaving on 15th.
well I cant browse at home,so i have to waste my time at a IWAY nearby
to check my mails .
a high percentage of my hours sleeping or being half asleep when not
sleeping. I have never felt so dizzy before........In tamil terminology
I am experiencing "mabbu"... I have just recovered from a format of my hardrive,
I have lost all important data that was there,so it's strange to start up the
PC and find that my favourite song isn't playing .....
This boredom at home is killing me ...To beat the boredom I
decided to pack up my bags and i have kept the shirts and trousers
required for Infy ..for which I am leaving on 15th.
well I cant browse at home,so i have to waste my time at a IWAY nearby
to check my mails .
9/29/2004
9/28/2004
GREAT FUN @ HOME
I had a real blast at home with my cousin sisters who had come home.One of them,Abinaya is in her 6th standard …and other , Aishwarya is in her 11th……Both had come home after a relatively long time. My little cousin is an extremely active and naughty girl…..just as any other girl of her age,but her acumen at this age seems remarkable. I played shuttle badminton after a long time with her and also ended up playing Wrestling with her , to the result that she tore my vest…..after a protracted struggle to keep me down…on the floor till the count of 10…(.lookup for the picture).
My other cousin Aishwarya had come to learn some maths and she …has an amazing sense of responsibility ,when it comes to keeping the house clean and helping people with household work.What I couldn’t’ clean in 2 years (My room of course ) was done with her help ….in quick time.
What really moved me ….was what my grandfather told me about his life. I felt sorry for whatever he underwent without actually showing up…his difficulties. He told me about how he was a bread winner for his family at the age of 16-17 and his life in the Indian army in Jalandhar and Lahore.
I was surprised how he actually hid his feelings about the various difficulties he had faced …..and for the first time he actually spoke his heart out to me ……..as earlier I was considered as a kid in the family, but hey…..all of a sudden when I have got a job…he feels I am more mature so decided to vent out his story…..about how ungrateful certain people were..after he had helped them….
I listened to his story …..imagining a malgudi like place in my mind as the settings…..
It seems strange that 10-15 years back , getting a job was perceived as “manna from heaven” and one used to settle for any salary ….and there was life going on at it’s own pace. People had time 4 everyone and the men generally used to settle down life after working for 7-8 years generally at 28-30 and marry ….and had a vehicle .(a rickety bajaj or lambretta ..as in my dad’s case)at 35 would bring down a great sense of achievement surging through their veins and they used to feel great when they used to get promoted….before they turn 50 .
But today things have changed tremendously thanks to the IT and BPO industry …and have flooded the market with jobs.Each software engineer makes a minimum of 15000 to start of with and by working for two years he can easily amass quite a wealth on his own to build a house or a plot of land and settles quite early in life by 23-24 and actually breaks down if he dosent earn a million by 25 or isn’t a managerial level person by 28-29…..So technically speaking he is ready to have his family by around 24-25……
On the agenda tonight …….I am quite busy Watching movies since I have to return two movie CD’s to my cousin’s tomorrow….I have to watch the last part of the movie KOI MIL GAYA(2003) and KABHIE KABHIE(1976)…but watching can b strenuous, so I may store it to my hard disc.
I had a real blast at home with my cousin sisters who had come home.One of them,Abinaya is in her 6th standard …and other , Aishwarya is in her 11th……Both had come home after a relatively long time. My little cousin is an extremely active and naughty girl…..just as any other girl of her age,but her acumen at this age seems remarkable. I played shuttle badminton after a long time with her and also ended up playing Wrestling with her , to the result that she tore my vest…..after a protracted struggle to keep me down…on the floor till the count of 10…(.lookup for the picture).
My other cousin Aishwarya had come to learn some maths and she …has an amazing sense of responsibility ,when it comes to keeping the house clean and helping people with household work.What I couldn’t’ clean in 2 years (My room of course ) was done with her help ….in quick time.
What really moved me ….was what my grandfather told me about his life. I felt sorry for whatever he underwent without actually showing up…his difficulties. He told me about how he was a bread winner for his family at the age of 16-17 and his life in the Indian army in Jalandhar and Lahore.
I was surprised how he actually hid his feelings about the various difficulties he had faced …..and for the first time he actually spoke his heart out to me ……..as earlier I was considered as a kid in the family, but hey…..all of a sudden when I have got a job…he feels I am more mature so decided to vent out his story…..about how ungrateful certain people were..after he had helped them….
I listened to his story …..imagining a malgudi like place in my mind as the settings…..
It seems strange that 10-15 years back , getting a job was perceived as “manna from heaven” and one used to settle for any salary ….and there was life going on at it’s own pace. People had time 4 everyone and the men generally used to settle down life after working for 7-8 years generally at 28-30 and marry ….and had a vehicle .(a rickety bajaj or lambretta ..as in my dad’s case)at 35 would bring down a great sense of achievement surging through their veins and they used to feel great when they used to get promoted….before they turn 50 .
But today things have changed tremendously thanks to the IT and BPO industry …and have flooded the market with jobs.Each software engineer makes a minimum of 15000 to start of with and by working for two years he can easily amass quite a wealth on his own to build a house or a plot of land and settles quite early in life by 23-24 and actually breaks down if he dosent earn a million by 25 or isn’t a managerial level person by 28-29…..So technically speaking he is ready to have his family by around 24-25……
On the agenda tonight …….I am quite busy Watching movies since I have to return two movie CD’s to my cousin’s tomorrow….I have to watch the last part of the movie KOI MIL GAYA(2003) and KABHIE KABHIE(1976)…but watching can b strenuous, so I may store it to my hard disc.
9/26/2004
I have got a new MOTOROLA C 650 color mobile with MP3 support and camera.The phone seems a good value for money considering the fact that I got it for 8.5 k . This phone burnt a hole 8.5k deep in my dad's pocket. I have given it a HUTCH connection.I maintain this mobile apart from my RELIANCE mobile,which i plan to push it off to my dad, once he comes back to chennai. I feel really releived at having got Bangalore as some of my friends and relations are in that place and i can go and visit them rather than making shuttle trips from mysore.
I have attached a pic taken from my mobile camera .......
I have attached a pic taken from my mobile camera .......
FINALLY.................THE WAIT ENDS.........
Infy has finally given me teh joining date and order......and guess what it's in bangalore !!!! just what i wanted.....thank goodness i am not having training in mysore.So i guess i should book my tickets to bangalore at the earliest.more on the infy news later......as i have some errand jobs to do for my dad...........
Infy has finally given me teh joining date and order......and guess what it's in bangalore !!!! just what i wanted.....thank goodness i am not having training in mysore.So i guess i should book my tickets to bangalore at the earliest.more on the infy news later......as i have some errand jobs to do for my dad...........
9/20/2004
TANHA DIL
Well Shaan's album does echo my feelings right now."TANHA" as in hindi means loneliness and at the moment I am just feeling that with no one to talk to. 60% of my friend's circle are scattered in different parts of India and the rest are waiting for employment/order.......like me . but atleast aren't as lonely as i am. I tend to get easily euphoric if any friend calls me on the phone or sends me an email/or replies to one .I may have been alome for the past 20 years or so ...but am feeling it the most only now.....with absolutely none of my friends to talk to....
I really feel this loneliness is pushing me into a dark chasm.......as life no more interests me....with me turning to be a recluse.......and sleep being my only companion.My reading habit has suffered and have so of my other hobbies.It's a life without any goals and all i do is just vegetate at home.I have learnt so much about life and people in general in these 5 months since college got over and probably I am not able to digest some things about reality....that has made me a silent guy lost in my own thoughts .with MR.PESSIMISM marrying TANHAI and raising up a new offspring of pessimistic laziness in me .............I have got to probably re-examine my needs in life and set myself some goals .......to get out of this rut that I am in.....
Well Shaan's album does echo my feelings right now."TANHA" as in hindi means loneliness and at the moment I am just feeling that with no one to talk to. 60% of my friend's circle are scattered in different parts of India and the rest are waiting for employment/order.......like me . but atleast aren't as lonely as i am. I tend to get easily euphoric if any friend calls me on the phone or sends me an email/or replies to one .I may have been alome for the past 20 years or so ...but am feeling it the most only now.....with absolutely none of my friends to talk to....
I really feel this loneliness is pushing me into a dark chasm.......as life no more interests me....with me turning to be a recluse.......and sleep being my only companion.My reading habit has suffered and have so of my other hobbies.It's a life without any goals and all i do is just vegetate at home.I have learnt so much about life and people in general in these 5 months since college got over and probably I am not able to digest some things about reality....that has made me a silent guy lost in my own thoughts .with MR.PESSIMISM marrying TANHAI and raising up a new offspring of pessimistic laziness in me .............I have got to probably re-examine my needs in life and set myself some goals .......to get out of this rut that I am in.....
9/17/2004
THE LORD OF THE LADDUS
I have always thought that Citibank's tagline"the citi which never sleeps" would suit Tirupati(Tirumala to be precise) more than any other Indian city,simply because the city is alive and bustling 24 hrs.I happened to stay in tirupati at my friend's(sudhir) aunt's place.The place even though deserted still housed a set of neat pillows and a rickety old guitar,which we guys took in our hands and tried to create music out of it.......(READ CACOPHONY).We had a nice time in the room where we were lost in remembering our college days and the antics that we did.Santosh,sudhir and I were from the same college while hari(a.k.a PG) was from our neighbouring college Sriram engineering college ,who did his ECE there. A lot of photos were taken thanks to Hari's camera phone,which did help us capture a couple of candid pics.....(courtesy-hari and santosh ...) .
What was even more suprising was the fact that paying the normal 50 rs ticket we got darshan at tirumala in just about half an hour and were out of the temple at 4 30 hrs, but it took us almost 40 minutes to get the laddus.......as one had to fight and wade through the semi-bald crowd to get a 2 rs cover for laddus and then go join the fight for the laddus itself.....But it's worth fighting for that unique taste of laddus they make ......!!!!
Tirumala has a lot of mosquitos ,thereby making it difficult for the people sleeping on footpaths and the roads to sleep.We tried ourhand at sleeping in various positions from 12 15am to 3 20 am as our alloted darshan time was 4 30 am and we had to kill time ..somehow....but instead the mosquitos killed us. What really irked us was the return journey in the train from tirupati to chennai.THe train supposed to leave tirupati at 10.05 started only at 11 and after that there were over 10-15 stoppages, the maximum being the 1 hour wait at Arakkonam......all due to some finishing touches being given to the pattabiram track as Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav was inaugarating a new "dedicated" track in a couple of days , coupled with the fact that some students of Jaya college in thirninravur were on strike,bcoz trains dont stop near their college...Due to this I finally reached chennai at 4 pm.....(just imagine being 3 hrs late in an actual journey of 3 hrs ,so -to -say 100% late ).
IMPORTANT INFO---ANY VELTECH STUDENT WHO IS VISITING THIS BLOG , PLEASE SEE THIS AS AN INVITATION FOR THE INFORMAL GET-TOGETHER HAPPENING TOMMOROW AT MARINA BEACH...(OPPOSITE TO THE MARINA PLAYGROUND )AT 3 45 PM . if any help regarding how to reach there is required pls call up Achut.P(28444361) OR SUDHIR(28441372) OR MYSELF AT (22580934/32695453).
R E C R U I T M E N T N E W S
---------------------------------------
I heard VERIZON is planning to recruit ppl with knowledge in c++ ,java and unix.U can attend their tests by attending the job fair at loyola college on the 25th and 26th organized by the TIMES OF INDIA group. This news was given in today's ET(economic times).PLS CALL THESE PPL AND FIND OUT WHTHER THIS IS FOR FRESHERS B4 REGISTERING THERE.
I have always thought that Citibank's tagline"the citi which never sleeps" would suit Tirupati(Tirumala to be precise) more than any other Indian city,simply because the city is alive and bustling 24 hrs.I happened to stay in tirupati at my friend's(sudhir) aunt's place.The place even though deserted still housed a set of neat pillows and a rickety old guitar,which we guys took in our hands and tried to create music out of it.......(READ CACOPHONY).We had a nice time in the room where we were lost in remembering our college days and the antics that we did.Santosh,sudhir and I were from the same college while hari(a.k.a PG) was from our neighbouring college Sriram engineering college ,who did his ECE there. A lot of photos were taken thanks to Hari's camera phone,which did help us capture a couple of candid pics.....(courtesy-hari and santosh ...) .
What was even more suprising was the fact that paying the normal 50 rs ticket we got darshan at tirumala in just about half an hour and were out of the temple at 4 30 hrs, but it took us almost 40 minutes to get the laddus.......as one had to fight and wade through the semi-bald crowd to get a 2 rs cover for laddus and then go join the fight for the laddus itself.....But it's worth fighting for that unique taste of laddus they make ......!!!!
Tirumala has a lot of mosquitos ,thereby making it difficult for the people sleeping on footpaths and the roads to sleep.We tried ourhand at sleeping in various positions from 12 15am to 3 20 am as our alloted darshan time was 4 30 am and we had to kill time ..somehow....but instead the mosquitos killed us. What really irked us was the return journey in the train from tirupati to chennai.THe train supposed to leave tirupati at 10.05 started only at 11 and after that there were over 10-15 stoppages, the maximum being the 1 hour wait at Arakkonam......all due to some finishing touches being given to the pattabiram track as Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav was inaugarating a new "dedicated" track in a couple of days , coupled with the fact that some students of Jaya college in thirninravur were on strike,bcoz trains dont stop near their college...Due to this I finally reached chennai at 4 pm.....(just imagine being 3 hrs late in an actual journey of 3 hrs ,so -to -say 100% late ).
IMPORTANT INFO---ANY VELTECH STUDENT WHO IS VISITING THIS BLOG , PLEASE SEE THIS AS AN INVITATION FOR THE INFORMAL GET-TOGETHER HAPPENING TOMMOROW AT MARINA BEACH...(OPPOSITE TO THE MARINA PLAYGROUND )AT 3 45 PM . if any help regarding how to reach there is required pls call up Achut.P(28444361) OR SUDHIR(28441372) OR MYSELF AT (22580934/32695453).
R E C R U I T M E N T N E W S
---------------------------------------
I heard VERIZON is planning to recruit ppl with knowledge in c++ ,java and unix.U can attend their tests by attending the job fair at loyola college on the 25th and 26th organized by the TIMES OF INDIA group. This news was given in today's ET(economic times).PLS CALL THESE PPL AND FIND OUT WHTHER THIS IS FOR FRESHERS B4 REGISTERING THERE.
9/14/2004
GOVINDA GOVINDA
I am heading northward for a trip to tirupati with my friends sudhir,santosh and PG hari....just hope it makes my day better ...as I am feeling really bored staying all alone at home for the past so many months. I have an early morning 6 20 train to catch....so i have to get down to packing my bags, for the 10th time since my B.E exams were over on 5th may . I've been 7 times to bangalore for reasons ranging from company entrance tests to watching one day cricket matches...once to hyderabad for the ORACLE walk in and of course up north to delhi,shimla,kullu manali.......for my trekking tour.
I am heading northward for a trip to tirupati with my friends sudhir,santosh and PG hari....just hope it makes my day better ...as I am feeling really bored staying all alone at home for the past so many months. I have an early morning 6 20 train to catch....so i have to get down to packing my bags, for the 10th time since my B.E exams were over on 5th may . I've been 7 times to bangalore for reasons ranging from company entrance tests to watching one day cricket matches...once to hyderabad for the ORACLE walk in and of course up north to delhi,shimla,kullu manali.......for my trekking tour.
GOVINDA GOVINDA
I am heading northward for a trip to tirupati with my friends sudhir,santosh and PG hari....just hope it makes my day better ...as I am feeling really bored staying all alone at home for the past so many months. I have an early morning 6 20 train to catch....so i have to get down to packing my bags, for the 10th time since my B.E exams were over on 5th may . I've been 7 times to bangalore for reasons ranging from company entrance tests to watching one day cricket matches...once to hyderabad for the ORACLE walk in and of course up north to delhi,shimla,kullu manali.......for my trakking tour.
I am heading northward for a trip to tirupati with my friends sudhir,santosh and PG hari....just hope it makes my day better ...as I am feeling really bored staying all alone at home for the past so many months. I have an early morning 6 20 train to catch....so i have to get down to packing my bags, for the 10th time since my B.E exams were over on 5th may . I've been 7 times to bangalore for reasons ranging from company entrance tests to watching one day cricket matches...once to hyderabad for the ORACLE walk in and of course up north to delhi,shimla,kullu manali.......for my trakking tour.
9/12/2004
COLLEGE NYABAGAM
It's precisely 130 days since the camaradrie of college life got over.....with the last exam of VB on may 5th...I somehow feel like being transported to the days of college life.
This is how my typical day at college wud be......I used to get up at 6 and quickly take a shower and get ready....pack my bag for the day ( not with books , but with the required playlist ....of cassetes ).switch on my walkman at 6 40 and walk up to the bus stand and after seeing a horde of engineering college buses plying wud... sight my bus...where the bus would come to a screeching halt after driving a dozen vehicles crazy .....on the road.My driver had a insatiable appetite for scaring the guts out of other people driving on the road.It was his version of need for speed ............
the next 1 hour would be spent listening to music along with prasanna who too wud have his playlist ....in his bag. On certain days when neither of us had our walkman's ,we had to put up with up the GANA PATTU the driver used to blaringly play...much to our discomfort in a set of really dumb screeching speakers which he thought was the next upgrade of a woofer sound system.On certain days when the driver was in a good mood , we would get to listen to suchitra ramadurai's sexy voice on radio mirchi 98.3 FM ...or sometimes doze away with the music ringing in our ears......which would be rudely awakened by the rush of students who board the bus at AVADI bus stand. That is the time when our bus would rest for about 10 minutes after filling petrol when our eyes start to ogle around in avadi , trying to find a ripe apple among the rotten lot.....Unfortunately the ripe apples :-) are pretty much less in the colleges in and around avadi.......
Then some time later all the noise would come to an abrupt end ....as the bus chugs along the college road ......stopping for all VT students to get down.......
It would take me quite a while to realize that college has indeed come and I have to remove the ear plugs of my ear and console myself to the fact that I have arrived at the doorstep of Hell.
It used to be long walk from the big gate to the main gate where the nepali guard used to scan us with his sharp eyes as if we were intruders entering a forbidden e-secure zone,checking our ID cards. Well sometime back my friend prasanna in 2nd year used to be regularly caught at the gates simply because the green color pant he wore and the colour prescibed by the college were marginally different.....and the other excuse was of course the shoe's we used to get caught for.Initially it was a mental torture seeing the guards off, but what suprised me most was that apart from the guards there were a horde of 6-7 idiots meant to check on our ID cards and transport cards......and those arseholes were called the "MEN IN GREEN" ....
Then it was automatically the toilet that we headed for, after which would come the best part, a 45 minute stint at the canteen.This is the place where the mama's met the machan's and so on , gossip would reach a crescendo at 8 30 am and would continue on till 9 am , the time when the classes were supposed to start.Our meal would finish at 9 :05 and we would amble our way...to the classrooms just in time , when the names on the attendance register were called .
I would somehow struggle shrug off a friendly cousin of mine called SLEEP until he came and cuddled ,cajoled me over....to visit his world daily ....when the classes were on. This ritual would continue every few minutes and.....just to be in the teachers good books , I would get up and ask her a question ...based on whatever crap lay in my classmate Achut's notebook...which was relevant(or irrelevant to the class) and lo....the teacher would feel that I paid attention to her.
Lunch was the most important period where i was fully awake......this was the period where all our gang would meet up at the canteen to lend our ears to the latest gossip and news about symposiums ,quizzes and of course discussions.Then there were the "guys " who would eat in the most peculiar manner. One guy would buy a lunch token and an incredibly huge amount of rice on his plate and 5-6 guys would put their hand in the plate wherever they got space to rob the guy of his lunch.........and munch on with other guy's lunch untill the clock struck 1 and a few minutes beyond.
The classes in the final year were a mere formality as the lecturer would spend more time with the girls in the adjacent row than on the dias.......and I had no complaints as i sneaked in time to work out a few quant problems ........and then again the cycle wud repeat in the evening with the same old bus journey .....plagued with the chennai heat.
Time just rolled by and 4 years went by just like that........
even now time is going by........just like that,whole day listening to music ...sleeping , chatting with the same guys on phone......the only thing is that the venue is different. quite glad to know that a sizeable amount of the class's intelligensia are employed.
prasad, Srivathsan(a.k.a STEVE): CTS
Achut, Joshy, kartik kannan(me): INFY
Anand, sheik, selva, jaffer, ananthavenkat, dinesh, tamilarasan, Jency, laxminarayanan: HCL
prasanakumar: IGATE/ISOFT
Nandagopal: YCS
venki: AOL
sudhir. b. k: TCS ...........and if i have left out anyone .......pls do lemme know
It's precisely 130 days since the camaradrie of college life got over.....with the last exam of VB on may 5th...I somehow feel like being transported to the days of college life.
This is how my typical day at college wud be......I used to get up at 6 and quickly take a shower and get ready....pack my bag for the day ( not with books , but with the required playlist ....of cassetes ).switch on my walkman at 6 40 and walk up to the bus stand and after seeing a horde of engineering college buses plying wud... sight my bus...where the bus would come to a screeching halt after driving a dozen vehicles crazy .....on the road.My driver had a insatiable appetite for scaring the guts out of other people driving on the road.It was his version of need for speed ............
the next 1 hour would be spent listening to music along with prasanna who too wud have his playlist ....in his bag. On certain days when neither of us had our walkman's ,we had to put up with up the GANA PATTU the driver used to blaringly play...much to our discomfort in a set of really dumb screeching speakers which he thought was the next upgrade of a woofer sound system.On certain days when the driver was in a good mood , we would get to listen to suchitra ramadurai's sexy voice on radio mirchi 98.3 FM ...or sometimes doze away with the music ringing in our ears......which would be rudely awakened by the rush of students who board the bus at AVADI bus stand. That is the time when our bus would rest for about 10 minutes after filling petrol when our eyes start to ogle around in avadi , trying to find a ripe apple among the rotten lot.....Unfortunately the ripe apples :-) are pretty much less in the colleges in and around avadi.......
Then some time later all the noise would come to an abrupt end ....as the bus chugs along the college road ......stopping for all VT students to get down.......
It would take me quite a while to realize that college has indeed come and I have to remove the ear plugs of my ear and console myself to the fact that I have arrived at the doorstep of Hell.
It used to be long walk from the big gate to the main gate where the nepali guard used to scan us with his sharp eyes as if we were intruders entering a forbidden e-secure zone,checking our ID cards. Well sometime back my friend prasanna in 2nd year used to be regularly caught at the gates simply because the green color pant he wore and the colour prescibed by the college were marginally different.....and the other excuse was of course the shoe's we used to get caught for.Initially it was a mental torture seeing the guards off, but what suprised me most was that apart from the guards there were a horde of 6-7 idiots meant to check on our ID cards and transport cards......and those arseholes were called the "MEN IN GREEN" ....
Then it was automatically the toilet that we headed for, after which would come the best part, a 45 minute stint at the canteen.This is the place where the mama's met the machan's and so on , gossip would reach a crescendo at 8 30 am and would continue on till 9 am , the time when the classes were supposed to start.Our meal would finish at 9 :05 and we would amble our way...to the classrooms just in time , when the names on the attendance register were called .
I would somehow struggle shrug off a friendly cousin of mine called SLEEP until he came and cuddled ,cajoled me over....to visit his world daily ....when the classes were on. This ritual would continue every few minutes and.....just to be in the teachers good books , I would get up and ask her a question ...based on whatever crap lay in my classmate Achut's notebook...which was relevant(or irrelevant to the class) and lo....the teacher would feel that I paid attention to her.
Lunch was the most important period where i was fully awake......this was the period where all our gang would meet up at the canteen to lend our ears to the latest gossip and news about symposiums ,quizzes and of course discussions.Then there were the "guys " who would eat in the most peculiar manner. One guy would buy a lunch token and an incredibly huge amount of rice on his plate and 5-6 guys would put their hand in the plate wherever they got space to rob the guy of his lunch.........and munch on with other guy's lunch untill the clock struck 1 and a few minutes beyond.
The classes in the final year were a mere formality as the lecturer would spend more time with the girls in the adjacent row than on the dias.......and I had no complaints as i sneaked in time to work out a few quant problems ........and then again the cycle wud repeat in the evening with the same old bus journey .....plagued with the chennai heat.
Time just rolled by and 4 years went by just like that........
even now time is going by........just like that,whole day listening to music ...sleeping , chatting with the same guys on phone......the only thing is that the venue is different. quite glad to know that a sizeable amount of the class's intelligensia are employed.
prasad, Srivathsan(a.k.a STEVE): CTS
Achut, Joshy, kartik kannan(me): INFY
Anand, sheik, selva, jaffer, ananthavenkat, dinesh, tamilarasan, Jency, laxminarayanan: HCL
prasanakumar: IGATE/ISOFT
Nandagopal: YCS
venki: AOL
sudhir. b. k: TCS ...........and if i have left out anyone .......pls do lemme know
9/02/2004
OF TEMPLES AND IYER MAMI'S
Yesterday my day was spent well at prasanna's place at yelaahnka.The evening did end on a sour note with India's lack lustre performance at nottingham.Suprisingly we went to a temple yesterday in yelahanka as we just wandered around the place,bcoz I generally am not such an ardent devotee of god.I went inside the temple as there was no gumbal-sattham etc etc, no iyer mami......showing off her culinary skills like "pongal la neyyi konjam korayathu" or saying "kadavaullikku pannina abishekm amogam a irunthuhthu ".
I like temples that dont have these pretentious characters,who tend to project themselves as if God gave them an personal appointment.Some tend to show off as if they were the CEO's of the temple ,and as if the temple would never run without their prescence. Especially near my place in chennai ,where there is a temple bang oppposite my place ,where some people come there,mumble some thing(supposed to be sloka ::: thats what we are supposed to belive) and after chanting verses in favor of the god.........the iyer mami's get down to business "who's son is in the US? Who's salary has more zeroes in it? whose daughter is coming of age? whose daughter ran away.............so to say in short ...it's a mini kumudham-cum-femina --40+ chat show when any kovil abishekam,kumbabishekam or any relegious festival in the name of god is celebrated.
whats more.........this kitty party ends when they close the curtains where the GOD is kept bcoz these pernicious thoughts of the IYER MAMI's has irritated the GOD and he prefers some silence.....and wants to shoo away these IYER MAMI's by offering them some offerings of food and some spoilt milk (by the way........it's called prasadam ).
Even there a sence of parochialism and nepotism shoots up....as certain self-proclaimed closest-2-god- mami's queue up to get a double take on the prasadam.....and ask prasdam in a huge ANDA ...(as per our tamil slang ! ) for the family....(that's the official excuse) and go home and hogg it ......
Then there's this great debate at the end of it all after the gathering has broken up , as to whose prasadam, served was better....was it andha theru mami or pakkathuveetu paati.
Inbetween all this we youngsters sincerely hope that bcoz we have invested some time in seeeing god...he will give us a great return of investment by sending some beautiful iyer girl ...in the temple....
thats the way life is ...............
Thats why I keep off temples..........but i do love places that are quiet and offer u piece of mind or has a a great heritage about it. I am not any ardent fan of any particular god.....but just believe in the existence of a universal power above us.
Yesterday my day was spent well at prasanna's place at yelaahnka.The evening did end on a sour note with India's lack lustre performance at nottingham.Suprisingly we went to a temple yesterday in yelahanka as we just wandered around the place,bcoz I generally am not such an ardent devotee of god.I went inside the temple as there was no gumbal-sattham etc etc, no iyer mami......showing off her culinary skills like "pongal la neyyi konjam korayathu" or saying "kadavaullikku pannina abishekm amogam a irunthuhthu ".
I like temples that dont have these pretentious characters,who tend to project themselves as if God gave them an personal appointment.Some tend to show off as if they were the CEO's of the temple ,and as if the temple would never run without their prescence. Especially near my place in chennai ,where there is a temple bang oppposite my place ,where some people come there,mumble some thing(supposed to be sloka ::: thats what we are supposed to belive) and after chanting verses in favor of the god.........the iyer mami's get down to business "who's son is in the US? Who's salary has more zeroes in it? whose daughter is coming of age? whose daughter ran away.............so to say in short ...it's a mini kumudham-cum-femina --40+ chat show when any kovil abishekam,kumbabishekam or any relegious festival in the name of god is celebrated.
whats more.........this kitty party ends when they close the curtains where the GOD is kept bcoz these pernicious thoughts of the IYER MAMI's has irritated the GOD and he prefers some silence.....and wants to shoo away these IYER MAMI's by offering them some offerings of food and some spoilt milk (by the way........it's called prasadam ).
Even there a sence of parochialism and nepotism shoots up....as certain self-proclaimed closest-2-god- mami's queue up to get a double take on the prasadam.....and ask prasdam in a huge ANDA ...(as per our tamil slang ! ) for the family....(that's the official excuse) and go home and hogg it ......
Then there's this great debate at the end of it all after the gathering has broken up , as to whose prasadam, served was better....was it andha theru mami or pakkathuveetu paati.
Inbetween all this we youngsters sincerely hope that bcoz we have invested some time in seeeing god...he will give us a great return of investment by sending some beautiful iyer girl ...in the temple....
thats the way life is ...............
Thats why I keep off temples..........but i do love places that are quiet and offer u piece of mind or has a a great heritage about it. I am not any ardent fan of any particular god.....but just believe in the existence of a universal power above us.
8/31/2004
Well I have decided to cool my heels in bangalorethis weekend.Bangalore seems to be my weekend holiday destination.Chennai's heat and Power cuts seem to have got the better of me.I will be put up at my friend prasanna's place at yelahanka.Its quite some time since i went there.I feel damn guilty of spending close to a 1000 bucks every other week scooting to bangalore,but what to do........there are some pleasures which are well worth the money.
Cognizant seems to have forgotten that they selected a candidate called kartik kannan, but to be honest I am least bothered when cognizant calls me for the interview as I am waiting with unabated breath to work at Infy.
In my circle of friends only 3 remain who are yet to get themselves a job......and I guess in a week that shall be decided.Prasanna might attend the TCS re exam in bangalore this week or the next..........sid has his interview tommorow at TCS and kishore has gone to allahabad for selection in the indian army.Just hoping I get a posting in bangalore,along with Umesh in hexaware and santosh in wipro ........all at electronics city........should be quite a trio.....(Achut..enjoy mysore da.........)
Cognizant seems to have forgotten that they selected a candidate called kartik kannan, but to be honest I am least bothered when cognizant calls me for the interview as I am waiting with unabated breath to work at Infy.
In my circle of friends only 3 remain who are yet to get themselves a job......and I guess in a week that shall be decided.Prasanna might attend the TCS re exam in bangalore this week or the next..........sid has his interview tommorow at TCS and kishore has gone to allahabad for selection in the indian army.Just hoping I get a posting in bangalore,along with Umesh in hexaware and santosh in wipro ........all at electronics city........should be quite a trio.....(Achut..enjoy mysore da.........)
8/30/2004
NIGHTMARE : If i needed one word to decribe this , it would be my TCS interview yesterday.I have never had such a worse interview.It was my height of incompetency....and that sure put me off for the rest of the day..
I am planning to go for a short outing some time this weekend ...as I am getting really bored sleeping at home.My mind batteries are really dead.Whaetever energy was left....was used by the TCS test and so I guess it's time to recharge my batteries ......
I am planning to go for a short outing some time this weekend ...as I am getting really bored sleeping at home.My mind batteries are really dead.Whaetever energy was left....was used by the TCS test and so I guess it's time to recharge my batteries ......
8/29/2004
IT's RAINING OFFERS'
Today at around 6 in the morning I got up only to find a heavy downpour,I pitied the guys who were to take the TCS walk-in test today...sighed and went back to bed only to woken up rather rudely by the noise of the telephone.It was my friend Kishore on the call,who called up to ask whether i would be coming over to write the test today....and seeing the rain ...stop at I decided that I might as well go , give it a shot ...as there was no current at home and I was swaeting pretty badly...so i quickly had a shower and packed off at 8 from my place to reach there to find a 2 hr long queue.
Finally I managed to get a slot at 6 30 in the evening,betwen which i found time to peruse through Khushwanth singh's latest offerings at Odyssey,meet a girl named kritheka whom i only knew on the telephonic world and of course through the telephone.It was nice meeting her and I dicovered quite a nice hangout in T nagar that's light on the purse...Ram's Milky world.....Then i scooted off to my chitti's place in St.Thomas mount ,watched KOI MIL GAYA with my cousin sister and dozed for a while before which i was reminded that I had a test to attend at TCS.
I rushed in my bike to anna university,and found that the test was slightly delayed ,met up with a lot of my classmates who had attended the walk-in.I gave the test and gave myself no chances to qualify , but when the results were announced at 9 40 pm , I was suprised to find my name on the list.
Anyways I still have to attend the tech interview tommorow at their vadapalni office.Wow i can actually relax and go there in a cool mood with no tension due to the backup's i have in the form of CTS and INFY. But it was a great day .........when things happened...............
I am now a great beliver in the maxim........JAB BHAGWAN DETA HAIN TO CHAPPAR PHAD KE DETA HAIN.
Today at around 6 in the morning I got up only to find a heavy downpour,I pitied the guys who were to take the TCS walk-in test today...sighed and went back to bed only to woken up rather rudely by the noise of the telephone.It was my friend Kishore on the call,who called up to ask whether i would be coming over to write the test today....and seeing the rain ...stop at I decided that I might as well go , give it a shot ...as there was no current at home and I was swaeting pretty badly...so i quickly had a shower and packed off at 8 from my place to reach there to find a 2 hr long queue.
Finally I managed to get a slot at 6 30 in the evening,betwen which i found time to peruse through Khushwanth singh's latest offerings at Odyssey,meet a girl named kritheka whom i only knew on the telephonic world and of course through the telephone.It was nice meeting her and I dicovered quite a nice hangout in T nagar that's light on the purse...Ram's Milky world.....Then i scooted off to my chitti's place in St.Thomas mount ,watched KOI MIL GAYA with my cousin sister and dozed for a while before which i was reminded that I had a test to attend at TCS.
I rushed in my bike to anna university,and found that the test was slightly delayed ,met up with a lot of my classmates who had attended the walk-in.I gave the test and gave myself no chances to qualify , but when the results were announced at 9 40 pm , I was suprised to find my name on the list.
Anyways I still have to attend the tech interview tommorow at their vadapalni office.Wow i can actually relax and go there in a cool mood with no tension due to the backup's i have in the form of CTS and INFY. But it was a great day .........when things happened...............
I am now a great beliver in the maxim........JAB BHAGWAN DETA HAIN TO CHAPPAR PHAD KE DETA HAIN.
8/27/2004
IT's a little hard to belive that i ave exhausted the kishore collection in Music world and I really cant buy any more of the kishore-lata-asha combo's as it would mean more of repetition's and redundancy.Life as of now is really boring as half the day the current ain't there at home and to compound my misery is our very own CHENNAI'S SCORCHING HEAT.
I might be spending this evening most probably with achut and umesh (who's got a 16.5 k job @Hexaware ) . Life just seems to be chugging on...........and i seem to have lost all that competitive edge i had in quants and verbal......so i guess i wouldn't be going to write TCS's walk in tommorow at Anna University.
I might be spending this evening most probably with achut and umesh (who's got a 16.5 k job @Hexaware ) . Life just seems to be chugging on...........and i seem to have lost all that competitive edge i had in quants and verbal......so i guess i wouldn't be going to write TCS's walk in tommorow at Anna University.
8/25/2004
Bangalore 's got the edge over Chennai in the IT field simply bcoz of the weather conditions and the prescence of large IT majors. I had just been there and felt that this was one huge factor in influencing the mind of people.The pleasant weather kept me in high spirits and never for a moment did my bangalore trip seem boring. But as soon as the train hit chennai....The hot sun and the 35+ temperature had the better of me ....
I am back to doing what i best do in chennai,sleep,sleep and sleep more. Oh...I do prepare for an exam called the CAT in between..but seriously......the weatherand the high humidity here has a big impact in keeping me indoors. Even though many people talk highly about chennai and it's culture , ultimately what takes precedence is how comfortable the city is for living.....
But Bangalore after making it's great IT moves in attracting many heads of IT corporations recently had a faux paus....in the form of the partial ban on non-kannada movies,simply bcoz their industry is incapable of producing hits....This is unpalatable to any avid movie watcher.
So...the newly opened PVR cinemas at the FORUM in koramangala will remain empty at least for 6 months to come. By the way THE FORUM in Koramanagala is a smaller, but hip version of our spencer plaza...and houses the best of bangalorean chicks on the menu.Try it out , if u r vetti ...like me.It has a great atmosphere inside.....with large screen TV's especially in a restaurant called TRANSIT where i recently met up with 2 of my chennai based friends Joshy and Preeti.
I am back to doing what i best do in chennai,sleep,sleep and sleep more. Oh...I do prepare for an exam called the CAT in between..but seriously......the weatherand the high humidity here has a big impact in keeping me indoors. Even though many people talk highly about chennai and it's culture , ultimately what takes precedence is how comfortable the city is for living.....
But Bangalore after making it's great IT moves in attracting many heads of IT corporations recently had a faux paus....in the form of the partial ban on non-kannada movies,simply bcoz their industry is incapable of producing hits....This is unpalatable to any avid movie watcher.
So...the newly opened PVR cinemas at the FORUM in koramangala will remain empty at least for 6 months to come. By the way THE FORUM in Koramanagala is a smaller, but hip version of our spencer plaza...and houses the best of bangalorean chicks on the menu.Try it out , if u r vetti ...like me.It has a great atmosphere inside.....with large screen TV's especially in a restaurant called TRANSIT where i recently met up with 2 of my chennai based friends Joshy and Preeti.
8/21/2004
E L A T I O N R E L O A D E D
.........................................................................
I just got a mail from Infosys technologies confirming my job there as a software engineer .
this is how the letter went .....
Dear Kartik
We refer to your application and the subsequent tests and interviews you have had with us. We are pleased to inform you that we have decided to make you an offer of employment as Software Engineer in Infosys.The details of your date of joining, location of training, and terms and conditions of the offer are currently being finalized.
The signed hard copy of the offer letter with the terms and conditions will be sent to you once the decision on the aforementioned details has been taken. This could be anytime in the next three months.
Kindly consider this as an official communication from our end.We look forward to having you on board.
as of now i am in bangalore , have come here to meet joshy , a friend ofmine in infy ...to ask him details about the training , the atmosphere at INFY and of course some info about the accomadation here.....
.........................................................................
I just got a mail from Infosys technologies confirming my job there as a software engineer .
this is how the letter went .....
Dear Kartik
We refer to your application and the subsequent tests and interviews you have had with us. We are pleased to inform you that we have decided to make you an offer of employment as Software Engineer in Infosys.The details of your date of joining, location of training, and terms and conditions of the offer are currently being finalized.
The signed hard copy of the offer letter with the terms and conditions will be sent to you once the decision on the aforementioned details has been taken. This could be anytime in the next three months.
Kindly consider this as an official communication from our end.We look forward to having you on board.
as of now i am in bangalore , have come here to meet joshy , a friend ofmine in infy ...to ask him details about the training , the atmosphere at INFY and of course some info about the accomadation here.....
8/19/2004
LAZING AROUND .......................
life is chugging on its own pace .......and when i decided to give it a mild acceleration yesterday.......seemingly brakes are being applied to stop the accelaration.when u want something desparate to happen , and u know that , the thing u wish to happen can change ur approach to life ...........and some people unknowingly tend to change that......then it causes dissapointment of a high degree... and that in turn makes u find out ways to reach ur goal........
well i am still searching for ways to get to my goal.....even as my ways are being squahed upon one by one, for the lack of clarity in them.........
It seems damn vague a post.........I realise that.........and so do u .........but the amount of hidden inner meaning that lies here is symbolises the saying "KNOWN IS A DROP, UNKNOWN IS A OCEAN........" as i lie fretting my luck............378 kms away........
life is chugging on its own pace .......and when i decided to give it a mild acceleration yesterday.......seemingly brakes are being applied to stop the accelaration.when u want something desparate to happen , and u know that , the thing u wish to happen can change ur approach to life ...........and some people unknowingly tend to change that......then it causes dissapointment of a high degree... and that in turn makes u find out ways to reach ur goal........
well i am still searching for ways to get to my goal.....even as my ways are being squahed upon one by one, for the lack of clarity in them.........
It seems damn vague a post.........I realise that.........and so do u .........but the amount of hidden inner meaning that lies here is symbolises the saying "KNOWN IS A DROP, UNKNOWN IS A OCEAN........" as i lie fretting my luck............378 kms away........
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