Life is slowly turning out to be a routine. Past 1 week was pretty decent. First few days was roaming around the Business School - meeting new ppl and utilising the free internet:) Then tookt the trip to London to pick up mine & Anila's luggage. It was fun - a pretty sight - me and 6 pieces of luggage (3 bags + 3 cartons). Dont ask how I lugged it all the way to Manchester. All i can say is that I was relieved once i got everything into the room and took a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breath.
Anyway in London, the first day was at home (fitzroy court). Day 2 was spend going to Kuttan's sister's place in Kenton and picking up the luggage from there and getting it to Croydon. Unfortunately couldnt spend much time there coz of many reasons. After getting back, in the evening had a night out with few of my ex-clients and now friends. Walking around Covent garden, we ventured into a pub which looked pretty decent and then suddenly realise it is a "Gay bar" - you dont generally see guys kissing lip to lip in pubs here;)!! Anyway collected our belongings and scampered to the next nearest decent pub and this time I made sure I saw atleast one female (for not so obvious reasons) before I ventured into it.
Anyway that was fun. Day 3 was mainly spent trying to get a refund of my ticket sorted out with Infosys and meeting a few of infy colleagues. Evening was a night out with clients + infy junta. We had dinner at a sushi bar and i hogged out nearly 20 plates of sushi - it was buffet and 20 was the limit!! Since then, I haven't had one morsel to eat..cant eat..too full. I might puke now if i go anywhere near food.
Anyway now back in Manchester.
In the sports side, India as always screwing up things for itself in Cricket. You think they are going to have a cake-walk win and the nincompoops go and gift the victory to the opponents. Each time the captain declares that we will win the next time and we have learnt from our mistakes but the "next time" never seems to be anywhere near!!! High time the BCCI or whoever is responsible, start plucking out the weeds and let the good ones mature and grow!! We are in desparate need of a bowler. Ppl said we needed allrounders. But I personally believe we need more of a genuine bowler rather than an all rounder. Our biggest incapability in the recent matches has been bowling out the opposition. God alone knows when these guys will realise and do something about it.
In football, ManU is havin a terrible time. Worst start in my memory. Rooney yet again away for nearly half of the season courtesy his fractured ankle. Ronaldo getting a red-card in game 2. Ole gunnar retiring due to his leg problems. And the defence sucking big time!!!! Before last weeks' victory they were second last in the table. And with a single victory, they have creeped up to number 10. Hope the tide turns and we see more of victories for ManU. Chelsea seems to be grinding victories just like how they did last season. Every match taken on a 1-on-1 basis. Anyway wishin ManU the best. Hail ManU!!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
On your marks, Get Set........................
The fun times are over..the relaxation is complete..the race is about to begin!!
My long awaited break - after quitting Infy and before joining MBS - is getting over today. Tonight I fly out to Manchester embarking on a absolutely unaware/unknown platform.
The past 2 months have been pretty hectic. After I got back from Bangalore, time in kerala just flew away. Everyday there was something or the other to do. 2 major event took place during this time - my cousin Asha's engagement/wedding and Anila's grandmom's demise. Due to the latter, my in-laws had also come over to kerala. Amidst all this, my sis was enrolled into P.C. Thomas vacation gulf classes in Trichur. So my time in kerala was spent between travelling from mavelikara to chengannur to trivandrum to Trichur. The good thing with so much of journey was that I started driving on a more regular basis in kerala and i can confidently say that i am expert enough to drive in kerala now though there may be huge lorries and reckless state transport buses coming from the opposite direction!
Anyway we - me & Anila - boarded Gulf Air to come to Kuwait on 19th August morning. After reaching kuwait, it was bliss. No tensions, no power cuts, no disturbances, no sweating and 24 x7 internet access and unlimited supply of delicious yummy food - courtesy mum-in-law!!
Tomo early morning 3:45 is my flight to Dubai and from there connecting flight at 7:55 to Manchester. FOr the first one week, i have arranged for temporary accomodation in Hulme Hall, near the university. Anyway hope all goes well. Keeping fingers crossed. New place, new life style..student yet cant be irresponsible;)lol
Anyway will give further updates later!!
Cheers
My long awaited break - after quitting Infy and before joining MBS - is getting over today. Tonight I fly out to Manchester embarking on a absolutely unaware/unknown platform.
The past 2 months have been pretty hectic. After I got back from Bangalore, time in kerala just flew away. Everyday there was something or the other to do. 2 major event took place during this time - my cousin Asha's engagement/wedding and Anila's grandmom's demise. Due to the latter, my in-laws had also come over to kerala. Amidst all this, my sis was enrolled into P.C. Thomas vacation gulf classes in Trichur. So my time in kerala was spent between travelling from mavelikara to chengannur to trivandrum to Trichur. The good thing with so much of journey was that I started driving on a more regular basis in kerala and i can confidently say that i am expert enough to drive in kerala now though there may be huge lorries and reckless state transport buses coming from the opposite direction!
Anyway we - me & Anila - boarded Gulf Air to come to Kuwait on 19th August morning. After reaching kuwait, it was bliss. No tensions, no power cuts, no disturbances, no sweating and 24 x7 internet access and unlimited supply of delicious yummy food - courtesy mum-in-law!!
Tomo early morning 3:45 is my flight to Dubai and from there connecting flight at 7:55 to Manchester. FOr the first one week, i have arranged for temporary accomodation in Hulme Hall, near the university. Anyway hope all goes well. Keeping fingers crossed. New place, new life style..student yet cant be irresponsible;)lol
Anyway will give further updates later!!
Cheers
Friday, June 29, 2007
Countdown...
The last lines I am writing from Infy office:)
All the clearance process is over - the only thing remaining is deletion of my mail id and network access and that is due to happen in another hour or so!
4 long years and now no more Infy..no more Hosur road - no more sweating out in the heat cursing the 1000's of cars, no more walking at express speed from London Bridge station to Monument, no more coffee breaks, lunch breaks - all has come to a grinding halt. The Machine has stopped!!
Emotions are mixed -
happy? - YES,
sad? - a bit maybe
Apprehensive? - about the future, YES
miss Infy? - Dont think so
miss the friends/banter? - YES
Signing off for the moment...may get very less chance to blog in the next couple of months but will do when time permits.
Adios!!!!!!
All the clearance process is over - the only thing remaining is deletion of my mail id and network access and that is due to happen in another hour or so!
4 long years and now no more Infy..no more Hosur road - no more sweating out in the heat cursing the 1000's of cars, no more walking at express speed from London Bridge station to Monument, no more coffee breaks, lunch breaks - all has come to a grinding halt. The Machine has stopped!!
Emotions are mixed -
happy? - YES,
sad? - a bit maybe
Apprehensive? - about the future, YES
miss Infy? - Dont think so
miss the friends/banter? - YES
Signing off for the moment...may get very less chance to blog in the next couple of months but will do when time permits.
Adios!!!!!!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Last week @ Keonics Elec. City, Bangalore!
Things are slowly coming to a grinding halt. The train is reaching its destination finally - chugging away the last hundred metres in absolute slow motion. Every moment, every dialogue, every scene is crystal clear. I can see the platform at the far end - feels like the horizon is in grasp finally!!
Another 2 days in Infy and I am no longer employee number 21269! Deleted from records completely or maybe archived!? All the networking, friends, coffee day coffee's, evening chaats/chats , lunch @ Golconda/Kamat - all going to be a distant memory soon! Not that I regret the step I am taking but i am surely getting out of comfort zone now. 4 years - absolutely no worry of money, could spend whatever i wanted without being questioned. Now its slowly back to student days - every penny counted. Coffees and soups are going to be once again 1/2 (dont think this will be the case in Manchester but sure was in Trichy - "Anna, oru one by two podungae";))
I had my exit interview yesterday and surprisingly there were no arguments coz whatever I said the HR agreed and said they are working upon it:D Whoever invented "present continous tense" surely had HR junta in mind - coz they are always "X"ing something or the other and it never reaches the "X"ed state! Anyway all the best to whatever they are doING and hope it gets doED soon!
Leave alone work - the past one week has been pretty smooth. Took a day off on Monday to complete a bit more shopping. Yesterday went for the movie "Sivaji - The Boss". The movie concept was good and the comedy was good but probably the comedy didnt suit
"Thalaivar" - but he made up for that in the second half with his typical "Baasha" role :D. BUt the movie was tooo much of a drag in terms of length of the movie! We(Me & Kicha)went for the 21:45 show and got out of show at 01:20!
In world of football - Henry finally made his impending move to Barca:)))
The new number 14. This was to happen last year but the defeat by Barca in the finals of the Champions league'06 propelled him to continue a unfruitful season with the Gunners! But finally he has joined the Catalans!! What a line-up - Eto and Henry attacking in the front and Messi/ Ronaldinhio feeding in from either flanks. The mid-field have a line-up of Deco, Xavi and Iniesta....
If they click together as a team - Barca is going to be a formidable attacking force. Dont think Henry will find it too difficult to integrate into the team given that Barca play a "Total Football" and one-touch football quite similar to the Gunners. The coach may have problems in trying to integrate the team. One potential issue could be both Henry and Ronaldinhio preference to play from the left flank and into the centre. Hope this doesn't become an issue similar to the much talked about English midfield issue!
Wishing Henry all the best in Barca! Hope they win the La Liga tis time without any trouble - given that my fave. in RM have left - Carlos & Beckham!
Go Catalans:)
Another 2 days in Infy and I am no longer employee number 21269! Deleted from records completely or maybe archived!? All the networking, friends, coffee day coffee's, evening chaats/chats , lunch @ Golconda/Kamat - all going to be a distant memory soon! Not that I regret the step I am taking but i am surely getting out of comfort zone now. 4 years - absolutely no worry of money, could spend whatever i wanted without being questioned. Now its slowly back to student days - every penny counted. Coffees and soups are going to be once again 1/2 (dont think this will be the case in Manchester but sure was in Trichy - "Anna, oru one by two podungae";))
I had my exit interview yesterday and surprisingly there were no arguments coz whatever I said the HR agreed and said they are working upon it:D Whoever invented "present continous tense" surely had HR junta in mind - coz they are always "X"ing something or the other and it never reaches the "X"ed state! Anyway all the best to whatever they are doING and hope it gets doED soon!
Leave alone work - the past one week has been pretty smooth. Took a day off on Monday to complete a bit more shopping. Yesterday went for the movie "Sivaji - The Boss". The movie concept was good and the comedy was good but probably the comedy didnt suit
"Thalaivar" - but he made up for that in the second half with his typical "Baasha" role :D. BUt the movie was tooo much of a drag in terms of length of the movie! We(Me & Kicha)went for the 21:45 show and got out of show at 01:20!
In world of football - Henry finally made his impending move to Barca:)))
The new number 14. This was to happen last year but the defeat by Barca in the finals of the Champions league'06 propelled him to continue a unfruitful season with the Gunners! But finally he has joined the Catalans!! What a line-up - Eto and Henry attacking in the front and Messi/ Ronaldinhio feeding in from either flanks. The mid-field have a line-up of Deco, Xavi and Iniesta....
If they click together as a team - Barca is going to be a formidable attacking force. Dont think Henry will find it too difficult to integrate into the team given that Barca play a "Total Football" and one-touch football quite similar to the Gunners. The coach may have problems in trying to integrate the team. One potential issue could be both Henry and Ronaldinhio preference to play from the left flank and into the centre. Hope this doesn't become an issue similar to the much talked about English midfield issue!
Wishing Henry all the best in Barca! Hope they win the La Liga tis time without any trouble - given that my fave. in RM have left - Carlos & Beckham!
Go Catalans:)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
il(l)literate!
"Please Do not dump garbage here - Bangalore Mahanagar Palike" -> And the same was inscribed in Hindi and also presumably the same in Kannada! Saw this on the one of the walls on my way home.
Now either the statistics are wrong (claims Bengaluru to have the second-highest literacy rate among the metropolitan cities in the nation) or the citizens of this city have absolute disregard for instructions!
Right in front of the the inscriptions on the wall was a HUGE pile of dump and garbage. And right there when I was pondering about this, I saw couple of really respectable ppl (atleast their dressing sense led me to believe their respectability) comes with few garbage bags and dumps on top of this pile. And next to this huge dump are very posh-styled residential buildings!! It would be least bit surprising if the residents of this residence were the main reason for this filth.
Whats with the common sense of these ppl? Dont they realise they are staying in dirt and they are going to affect their own health by all this? Hygiene ??- whats that? The very word seems to have disappeared from everyone's dictionary.. Its not only these, even the highly educated and sophisticated software engineers lack the etiquettes. How many of us have resisted a pee at the roadside/ a shady corner due to hygiene/environmental reasons? We'd rather have our "release" rather than hold back and think about the environment.
Is this indifference only to our country? How is that when on foreign soil, each one of us Indians transform into a perfect gentleman - where does the extra endurance, patience, politeness, tolerance etc. come from? A simple example is if we walk into someone absent-mindedly in some foreign country, we are courteous enough to apologise and carry on. But in India, you walk into someone - you first check your pockets to see if your pocket was picked. Once you are assured of that, a 95% chance is there of abusing the other person publicly and slinging abuses at each other till each is out of earshot of the other! Why the difference? Do we consider each other (read as Indians) as inferiors and hence this attitude?
What use was it for the British to leave the country and let us rule ourselves? Has our country really developed post-Bristish rule? Or are we still stuck in 1947!
If people can't read, understand and follow a simple rule, how is this economy going to get out of the clutches of "developing" and become a "developed"!God's own country can be saved only by GOD himself now!
ps. for all my atheists friends - this country of ours can be saved only by each one of your efforts (no help from GOD from you!)
As A.P.J. said -
"It's time to wait and see.
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the shadow"
Meanwhile read a related article about the Perennial Problems in Vishakapatnam (Vizag) - once known for its UNspoilt beaches.
Now either the statistics are wrong (claims Bengaluru to have the second-highest literacy rate among the metropolitan cities in the nation) or the citizens of this city have absolute disregard for instructions!
Right in front of the the inscriptions on the wall was a HUGE pile of dump and garbage. And right there when I was pondering about this, I saw couple of really respectable ppl (atleast their dressing sense led me to believe their respectability) comes with few garbage bags and dumps on top of this pile. And next to this huge dump are very posh-styled residential buildings!! It would be least bit surprising if the residents of this residence were the main reason for this filth.
Whats with the common sense of these ppl? Dont they realise they are staying in dirt and they are going to affect their own health by all this? Hygiene ??- whats that? The very word seems to have disappeared from everyone's dictionary.. Its not only these, even the highly educated and sophisticated software engineers lack the etiquettes. How many of us have resisted a pee at the roadside/ a shady corner due to hygiene/environmental reasons? We'd rather have our "release" rather than hold back and think about the environment.
Is this indifference only to our country? How is that when on foreign soil, each one of us Indians transform into a perfect gentleman - where does the extra endurance, patience, politeness, tolerance etc. come from? A simple example is if we walk into someone absent-mindedly in some foreign country, we are courteous enough to apologise and carry on. But in India, you walk into someone - you first check your pockets to see if your pocket was picked. Once you are assured of that, a 95% chance is there of abusing the other person publicly and slinging abuses at each other till each is out of earshot of the other! Why the difference? Do we consider each other (read as Indians) as inferiors and hence this attitude?
What use was it for the British to leave the country and let us rule ourselves? Has our country really developed post-Bristish rule? Or are we still stuck in 1947!
If people can't read, understand and follow a simple rule, how is this economy going to get out of the clutches of "developing" and become a "developed"!God's own country can be saved only by GOD himself now!
ps. for all my atheists friends - this country of ours can be saved only by each one of your efforts (no help from GOD from you!)
As A.P.J. said -
"It's time to wait and see.
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the shadow"
Meanwhile read a related article about the Perennial Problems in Vishakapatnam (Vizag) - once known for its UNspoilt beaches.
Monday, June 18, 2007
वीकएंड कैच-उप
A hectic weekend has come to an end!
It started off with a ride to Zak's home in E-city. The dude's got a classy 3 BHK on a real bargain rate. While we waited for him to transform himself into his classy self, we (myself & Kicha) played Postal2 - just like how the movie trailer suggests - its disgusting, retarded & shocking - to say the least! Keep away if you are the "Love your neighbour/enemies as yourself" types - this one is not certainly for you!!
Anyway once that was done, I took both of them for a guided tour of the Infy campus. It was tiring but fun. Showed them the gym and the food courts and various shaped buildings of Infy infrastructure & recreational facilities.
Heritage Building
Pyramids - Media center
Recreation - Swimming pool
We also managed to play Basketball and Volleyball for half an hour. Once that was done, we proceeded to Marathahalli to Brand factory for my shopping. We spent nearly 2 hours there looking through the various brands and doing our shopping. At the end of it, we had nearly spent 5K - but every penny worth the value:) When we were nearly done, Ashwin (Raks bro-in-law)called and we met up with him. Following that, it was a very good time spent listening to "soft" music and eating, drinking & making merry;)By the time we were done, it was nearly 22:30 and we went all the way to BTM to munch on the ever delicious "Paratha rolls" - Double Egg Chicken for me;) For those of you who have been in bangalore and not tasted this one, you are missing something - this is a small dhaba in BTM 2nd stage just before the new flyover. Its awesome and pretty reasonable as well (and you get both veg and non-veg:)). Post dinner we went back home and had a good sound sleep tired from the hectic outing of one day!
Sunday - church, had to get my luggage sorted out, met Asha and Sheba (cousins recovering from a bout of flu) and met Satishchachan (dad's cousin). Had a good time and then in the evening had dinner with Kicha at Casapicola. Got back home and watched "Baba Kalyani" (Mohanlal flick) and slept off eventually!!
Well that was my weekend!
On the Sporting side - Beckham made a perfect bow-out of the la-liga with the Spanish title in his kitty! What a comeback after capello sidelined him calling him a second-rate hollywood actor - It has been an amazing turn around by Becks and what better way to exit than win the league title after a wait of 4 years!!!!!
In motorsports - the Brit is taking the world by a storm. Near perfect driving by the kid. Alonso seems to be loosing the plot and his mind! Let's see what he comes up with next after his tirade last time that the British team is favouring the Briton!!!lol. Anyway the constructors seem to be more or less wrapped up by the Mclaren's unless the Ferrari's come up with something really superlative and Kimi/Massa start winning races (1-2 finish) regularly!! 7 races and therez already a 35-point gap between them! Season may turn out to be much more exciting than the last one. Hoping that Ferrari makes a turn-around just like last year where they very nearly pulled it off in the second-half of the season, only to be edged out courtesy one man - Mr. Alonso!!!
It started off with a ride to Zak's home in E-city. The dude's got a classy 3 BHK on a real bargain rate. While we waited for him to transform himself into his classy self, we (myself & Kicha) played Postal2 - just like how the movie trailer suggests - its disgusting, retarded & shocking - to say the least! Keep away if you are the "Love your neighbour/enemies as yourself" types - this one is not certainly for you!!
Anyway once that was done, I took both of them for a guided tour of the Infy campus. It was tiring but fun. Showed them the gym and the food courts and various shaped buildings of Infy infrastructure & recreational facilities.
Heritage Building
Pyramids - Media center
Recreation - Swimming pool
We also managed to play Basketball and Volleyball for half an hour. Once that was done, we proceeded to Marathahalli to Brand factory for my shopping. We spent nearly 2 hours there looking through the various brands and doing our shopping. At the end of it, we had nearly spent 5K - but every penny worth the value:) When we were nearly done, Ashwin (Raks bro-in-law)called and we met up with him. Following that, it was a very good time spent listening to "soft" music and eating, drinking & making merry;)By the time we were done, it was nearly 22:30 and we went all the way to BTM to munch on the ever delicious "Paratha rolls" - Double Egg Chicken for me;) For those of you who have been in bangalore and not tasted this one, you are missing something - this is a small dhaba in BTM 2nd stage just before the new flyover. Its awesome and pretty reasonable as well (and you get both veg and non-veg:)). Post dinner we went back home and had a good sound sleep tired from the hectic outing of one day!
Sunday - church, had to get my luggage sorted out, met Asha and Sheba (cousins recovering from a bout of flu) and met Satishchachan (dad's cousin). Had a good time and then in the evening had dinner with Kicha at Casapicola. Got back home and watched "Baba Kalyani" (Mohanlal flick) and slept off eventually!!
Well that was my weekend!
On the Sporting side - Beckham made a perfect bow-out of the la-liga with the Spanish title in his kitty! What a comeback after capello sidelined him calling him a second-rate hollywood actor - It has been an amazing turn around by Becks and what better way to exit than win the league title after a wait of 4 years!!!!!
In motorsports - the Brit is taking the world by a storm. Near perfect driving by the kid. Alonso seems to be loosing the plot and his mind! Let's see what he comes up with next after his tirade last time that the British team is favouring the Briton!!!lol. Anyway the constructors seem to be more or less wrapped up by the Mclaren's unless the Ferrari's come up with something really superlative and Kimi/Massa start winning races (1-2 finish) regularly!! 7 races and therez already a 35-point gap between them! Season may turn out to be much more exciting than the last one. Hoping that Ferrari makes a turn-around just like last year where they very nearly pulled it off in the second-half of the season, only to be edged out courtesy one man - Mr. Alonso!!!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Bye-bye Infy - Hello Manchester!!
Just winding up my last few days with Infosys. It has been quite an eventful 4 years.Joined on 9th June 2003 in a batch of 140 freshers in Bangalore for training. The 3 months of training was the first time in a long time (read as 4 years) that I actually took the pains to study seriously!! From the jovial, fun-loving, noisy back-bencher in college, I had changed to become a studious, serious second/third bencher. What had come over me? Why the sudden change?
It was nothing but the psyched feeling in me that I am no good at programming. In college, I had barely managed to pass my "C" programming exam - thanks largely to few of my friends who taught me few fundas and ofcourse God's grace. Post that, there was never any programming in my curriculum and I never bothered putting in efforts. I was sure of getting into a core communications technical job and determined not to sit for software engineering. But call it fate - I ended up being picked up by Infosys and the brand name kinda pulled me to it and that was it. I knew for a fact that if I remained the way I was in college, there was a possibility of me being chucked out! I decided to play the slog overs in a smart way and lo!!I had become a first-class geek. Add to that the fact that we were getting trained in COBOL/CICS gave me the undue advantage of starting fresh with all the other programming wiz's!!!
From there my stay at Infy was pretty good..Fortunately for me, there was very little coding that I had to do in my period here. Following my first project, I went to UK for production support. After that I was into the client testing team followed by the role of an Onsite co-ordinator. Next up was the technical lead role which I played out to perfection at Bangalore and then again back to UK as Onsite co-ordinator. My main activities till date @ Infy comprised of: understanding functionality, managing people - colleagues & clients, resolving functionality issues, solution designing and discussions - Therez been no (rather very less) developer coding phase in my period here and I thank God for taking me through 4 years in absolute success.
During this period I also got promoted from a software engineer to a Programmer Analyst. This didnt change any of my responsibilities much - I had mostly performed the role of an analyst rather than a developer.
Also this period saw my promotion from a bachelor to a husband - In contrast to the previous promotion, this however did change a lot of my responsibilities. I became the matured, family guy (no cross-checking allowed with wifey;))!
All said and done, my stint with Infy is coming near an end. Another 14 days and I am done. Its back to student life at Manchester Business School for an MBA, beginning in Sept.I got my student visa stamped for 2 years, blocked my tickets and now looking forward to the break before the gruelling starts!
It was nothing but the psyched feeling in me that I am no good at programming. In college, I had barely managed to pass my "C" programming exam - thanks largely to few of my friends who taught me few fundas and ofcourse God's grace. Post that, there was never any programming in my curriculum and I never bothered putting in efforts. I was sure of getting into a core communications technical job and determined not to sit for software engineering. But call it fate - I ended up being picked up by Infosys and the brand name kinda pulled me to it and that was it. I knew for a fact that if I remained the way I was in college, there was a possibility of me being chucked out! I decided to play the slog overs in a smart way and lo!!I had become a first-class geek. Add to that the fact that we were getting trained in COBOL/CICS gave me the undue advantage of starting fresh with all the other programming wiz's!!!
From there my stay at Infy was pretty good..Fortunately for me, there was very little coding that I had to do in my period here. Following my first project, I went to UK for production support. After that I was into the client testing team followed by the role of an Onsite co-ordinator. Next up was the technical lead role which I played out to perfection at Bangalore and then again back to UK as Onsite co-ordinator. My main activities till date @ Infy comprised of: understanding functionality, managing people - colleagues & clients, resolving functionality issues, solution designing and discussions - Therez been no (rather very less) developer coding phase in my period here and I thank God for taking me through 4 years in absolute success.
During this period I also got promoted from a software engineer to a Programmer Analyst. This didnt change any of my responsibilities much - I had mostly performed the role of an analyst rather than a developer.
Also this period saw my promotion from a bachelor to a husband - In contrast to the previous promotion, this however did change a lot of my responsibilities. I became the matured, family guy (no cross-checking allowed with wifey;))!
All said and done, my stint with Infy is coming near an end. Another 14 days and I am done. Its back to student life at Manchester Business School for an MBA, beginning in Sept.I got my student visa stamped for 2 years, blocked my tickets and now looking forward to the break before the gruelling starts!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Privileged to be a ST!!?
There was a time when there were fights to remove "Untouchables".
Gandhi fought for them - to treat them as equals, Lincoln fought for the "blacks", William Wilberforce fought to abolish "slave trade" etc. Now after so many years - all the happenings in India especially is making me think whether I would have been better off being born as an Scheduled Caste/ Tribe!!
Come to think of it - there were recently riots in Rajasthan because the Gujjar community wanted to classified as Scheduled tribes rather than as "other backward castes(OBCs)!! And why this sudden urge - coz of the reservation issue thats become very prominent in India these days. Everywhere you go, you are now penalised for being a normal person rather than a ST/SC!! In the olden days, villagers migrated to the city to raise their status in the society and to earn money. But these days - everyone still wants money but also , at the same time, wants to be classified as one of the many scheduled tribes. When the govt. of India still holds on to such traditional systems, how can we blame the ppl for not thinking otherwise! To get an admission in a good university in India there are basically 2 criterias now - either you are rank 1 or you belong to one of the many ST/SCs. Where is this world going to? We are in the age talking about nuclear technology, microchips etc. but the thinking of the common man is still traditional and backward. Coming to think of it - how many of these ppl are actually backward - not many. Many of the so called "tribal" people are actually financially very well off compared to your average middle class-citizen. But then our system is so damn porous that such things are just ignored. All that is valid at the end of the day, is whether you have some certificate which classes you as a backward - and voila!! - all the good things in India come to you!!
This country will not progress unless such things are completely abolished. Gandhi fought for the untouchables and I think someone (a new father of the nation) should now actually fight against them - to rid them of all the privileges that they get
courtesy the "tag" they carry along.
I am frusturated already with this system and I have not even been on the receiving end yet:(!!
Gandhi fought for them - to treat them as equals, Lincoln fought for the "blacks", William Wilberforce fought to abolish "slave trade" etc. Now after so many years - all the happenings in India especially is making me think whether I would have been better off being born as an Scheduled Caste/ Tribe!!
Come to think of it - there were recently riots in Rajasthan because the Gujjar community wanted to classified as Scheduled tribes rather than as "other backward castes(OBCs)!! And why this sudden urge - coz of the reservation issue thats become very prominent in India these days. Everywhere you go, you are now penalised for being a normal person rather than a ST/SC!! In the olden days, villagers migrated to the city to raise their status in the society and to earn money. But these days - everyone still wants money but also , at the same time, wants to be classified as one of the many scheduled tribes. When the govt. of India still holds on to such traditional systems, how can we blame the ppl for not thinking otherwise! To get an admission in a good university in India there are basically 2 criterias now - either you are rank 1 or you belong to one of the many ST/SCs. Where is this world going to? We are in the age talking about nuclear technology, microchips etc. but the thinking of the common man is still traditional and backward. Coming to think of it - how many of these ppl are actually backward - not many. Many of the so called "tribal" people are actually financially very well off compared to your average middle class-citizen. But then our system is so damn porous that such things are just ignored. All that is valid at the end of the day, is whether you have some certificate which classes you as a backward - and voila!! - all the good things in India come to you!!
This country will not progress unless such things are completely abolished. Gandhi fought for the untouchables and I think someone (a new father of the nation) should now actually fight against them - to rid them of all the privileges that they get
courtesy the "tag" they carry along.
I am frusturated already with this system and I have not even been on the receiving end yet:(!!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
My Solid P(a)unch!!
Not a very attractive thing - but then everyday i look into the mirror and first thing I notice is the ever so evident bulge (stop getting wild ideas - you perverts!:)) - I am talking of ....... my Paunch!! No matter what I do, how much of running, sit-ups, crunches I do - this just seems to haunt my otherwise good looking physique;)
I remember the time when I was a perfectly shaped (assumption: round/ sphere is a perfect shape) weighing nearly 85 kgs in my 8th std. One can well imagine my fitness during those days. I was the chubby dude of my class rolling all over the place when I claimed to be "walking". During sports day (pre-high school), the only race i consistently managed to win was the "Banana eating race" - for those of you who dont know this one,it is quite simple. The physical education sir blows the whistle, you peel the banana off, eat the whole banana, open your mouth to the sir and show you have eaten it completely (and not still chewing) and then you run the 100 meters to the finish line. And for 3 years (4th, 5th and 6th std) in a row I managed to win gold in this particular race (see the Nadal link;)). Then some wise guy decided to scrap this race and that was the end of my winning a medal/certificate for sports - atleast temporarily!
And thereafter, i continued on my mission of reaching 3 figures before I turned 15 years. But then like a silent robber came the attack. There was no forewarning, no hint. Just like every other year, I visited my home town - Mavelikara during the summer vacation in Doha. I had a marriage to attend - one of my cousins getting married. And another of my cousins came for the wedding with none other than.....CHICKEN POX!!!!!A week from then, it had penetrated through the layers of protection I had over me - all that layers of fat I had pain stakingly accumulated over the past years proved of no use! I had it and a pretty severe attack. From 85Kgs, courtesy the pox, I reduced to about 60 kgs - a pretty decent weight for someone who was 14 years old;) - Hallelujiah!!I had become normal:) From then on I was just like any other normal kid and not abnormally huge. I started playing football more frequently. My history in sports was re-written. I started winning some medal or the other during the school sports day though there were no eating competitions anymore - went to the extent of representing my school for high-jump and relay. And came out quite successful to say the least without blowing my horns too much.
Anyway having said all these - one thing that has remained with me is my paunch - even chicken pox could not get rid of that one:( and 1 year of gym could still not get rid of that one. I still continue to dream of that day when I can show off a six-pack or a 4-pack but that always seems to be in the horizon. Everytime I feel that I am near it, within grasps of it, I see it going farther away!!!I dread the day when I may end up looking like many of the elders in the family - pot-bellied and sporting a proud thick moustache!!(typical malayalee):P
Anyway, all things said, after so many years of struggle and fighting, I am finally getting used to the sight of it..slowly coming to terms with the fact that "it" is there to remain - a sign of prosperity, a sign of good health, an asset passed down from generations
I remember the time when I was a perfectly shaped (assumption: round/ sphere is a perfect shape) weighing nearly 85 kgs in my 8th std. One can well imagine my fitness during those days. I was the chubby dude of my class rolling all over the place when I claimed to be "walking". During sports day (pre-high school), the only race i consistently managed to win was the "Banana eating race" - for those of you who dont know this one,it is quite simple. The physical education sir blows the whistle, you peel the banana off, eat the whole banana, open your mouth to the sir and show you have eaten it completely (and not still chewing) and then you run the 100 meters to the finish line. And for 3 years (4th, 5th and 6th std) in a row I managed to win gold in this particular race (see the Nadal link;)). Then some wise guy decided to scrap this race and that was the end of my winning a medal/certificate for sports - atleast temporarily!
And thereafter, i continued on my mission of reaching 3 figures before I turned 15 years. But then like a silent robber came the attack. There was no forewarning, no hint. Just like every other year, I visited my home town - Mavelikara during the summer vacation in Doha. I had a marriage to attend - one of my cousins getting married. And another of my cousins came for the wedding with none other than.....CHICKEN POX!!!!!A week from then, it had penetrated through the layers of protection I had over me - all that layers of fat I had pain stakingly accumulated over the past years proved of no use! I had it and a pretty severe attack. From 85Kgs, courtesy the pox, I reduced to about 60 kgs - a pretty decent weight for someone who was 14 years old;) - Hallelujiah!!I had become normal:) From then on I was just like any other normal kid and not abnormally huge. I started playing football more frequently. My history in sports was re-written. I started winning some medal or the other during the school sports day though there were no eating competitions anymore - went to the extent of representing my school for high-jump and relay. And came out quite successful to say the least without blowing my horns too much.
Anyway having said all these - one thing that has remained with me is my paunch - even chicken pox could not get rid of that one:( and 1 year of gym could still not get rid of that one. I still continue to dream of that day when I can show off a six-pack or a 4-pack but that always seems to be in the horizon. Everytime I feel that I am near it, within grasps of it, I see it going farther away!!!I dread the day when I may end up looking like many of the elders in the family - pot-bellied and sporting a proud thick moustache!!(typical malayalee):P
Anyway, all things said, after so many years of struggle and fighting, I am finally getting used to the sight of it..slowly coming to terms with the fact that "it" is there to remain - a sign of prosperity, a sign of good health, an asset passed down from generations
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
End of a season
Atlast the football season has come to an end - well almost. There is the Champions league finals scheduled for the day after but apart for that everything is kind of wrapped up in England!
The EPL this season, was one of the best fought titles. ManU kicked it off from day 1 and Chelsea were in hot pursuit. Relentless in nature Chelsea never ever gave up till the death fighting out despite injuries, taunting the refs, claiming rules were different for different teams blah..blah... There never was a weekend when I could enjoy the game - if ManU lost one of the games, I would literally pray for Chelsea to loose and if ManU won, I would still pray for Chelsea to loose;)
At the end of the day, I think both the teams have taken EPL to whole new level. Teams 3 & 4 (read as the Mighty Reds n Gunners) are still to catch up on these 2. To be absolutely fair, I think ManU lacks the fighting spirit which has been quite evident in Chelsea. If ManU were to develop the never-say-die attitude seen in Chelsea and Liverpool too, then there would be no stopping them. ManU and Arsenal love to play free flowing football - where they attack and keep attacking until they score. But if there comes an opponent who put 11 men behind the ball, then both these teams find it difficult to get a break through. However Chelsea and Liverpool are quite different. They sit back with a dogged determination, hoping to have that one little chance. And give them that single shot on goal ….. they score. Chelsea nearly had 15- 20 games (I think) this season where they won 1-0 and that too by scoring in the injury time of the second half - no simple feat, if you think about it.
Anyway at the end of the day ManU were crowned League Champions and Chelsea won the Domestic Double - Carling cup & FA Cup. I am hoping for a repeat of 2005 for the CL finals. It would be fantastic to see Stevie lifting the cup again - Go Reds!!!!!
Meanwhile all the blame game, fights etc. have come to an end with the end of the season. Now comes the time where the club owners (billionaires) are given maximum importance during the course of a season - the amount of money they make available for transfers. Just hope this time around Hargreaves comes over to ManU. He would provide the perfect defensive cover for the frequent lapses of Heinze and ocassional lapses by Ferdinand. My only worry is if Carrick would end up being a wasted resource similar to Shaun Wright Phillips in Chelsea.
The other option is for Fergie to use Scholesy as an utility resource - similar to his use of Solksjaer this season and play both Carrick and Hargreaves in Central mid-field. I doubt if Fergie will keep Scholes out for this season - he is one of the gems as is Giggs. And to find their replacements is quite a herculean task. Anyway all this assumptions provided Hargreaves joins ManU. Don’t think Bayern will pull a fast one nor do I think Chelsea will be able to lure away Hargreaves (fingers crossed)!! This season will see the maximum utilisation of the (in)famous "Chelsea bench strength" with their star performers being pulled away for the African Nations Cup - Drogba, Essien, Mikel. A good buy by the Chelsea has been Sidwell from Reading - a very good mid-field player.
Just noticed that amidst all this football gibberish, I have not mentioned anything about Arsenal!! Honestly, I think it is a team in the making similar to the "Fergies Fledglings" of 94-95!
Anyway being a hardcore ManU fan, I hope the Gunners don’t flourish much!!
Ps. Given that I will be just few miles away from the Theatre of Dreams, hoping to get hold of some tickets next season;)!!
The EPL this season, was one of the best fought titles. ManU kicked it off from day 1 and Chelsea were in hot pursuit. Relentless in nature Chelsea never ever gave up till the death fighting out despite injuries, taunting the refs, claiming rules were different for different teams blah..blah... There never was a weekend when I could enjoy the game - if ManU lost one of the games, I would literally pray for Chelsea to loose and if ManU won, I would still pray for Chelsea to loose;)
At the end of the day, I think both the teams have taken EPL to whole new level. Teams 3 & 4 (read as the Mighty Reds n Gunners) are still to catch up on these 2. To be absolutely fair, I think ManU lacks the fighting spirit which has been quite evident in Chelsea. If ManU were to develop the never-say-die attitude seen in Chelsea and Liverpool too, then there would be no stopping them. ManU and Arsenal love to play free flowing football - where they attack and keep attacking until they score. But if there comes an opponent who put 11 men behind the ball, then both these teams find it difficult to get a break through. However Chelsea and Liverpool are quite different. They sit back with a dogged determination, hoping to have that one little chance. And give them that single shot on goal ….. they score. Chelsea nearly had 15- 20 games (I think) this season where they won 1-0 and that too by scoring in the injury time of the second half - no simple feat, if you think about it.
Anyway at the end of the day ManU were crowned League Champions and Chelsea won the Domestic Double - Carling cup & FA Cup. I am hoping for a repeat of 2005 for the CL finals. It would be fantastic to see Stevie lifting the cup again - Go Reds!!!!!
Meanwhile all the blame game, fights etc. have come to an end with the end of the season. Now comes the time where the club owners (billionaires) are given maximum importance during the course of a season - the amount of money they make available for transfers. Just hope this time around Hargreaves comes over to ManU. He would provide the perfect defensive cover for the frequent lapses of Heinze and ocassional lapses by Ferdinand. My only worry is if Carrick would end up being a wasted resource similar to Shaun Wright Phillips in Chelsea.
The other option is for Fergie to use Scholesy as an utility resource - similar to his use of Solksjaer this season and play both Carrick and Hargreaves in Central mid-field. I doubt if Fergie will keep Scholes out for this season - he is one of the gems as is Giggs. And to find their replacements is quite a herculean task. Anyway all this assumptions provided Hargreaves joins ManU. Don’t think Bayern will pull a fast one nor do I think Chelsea will be able to lure away Hargreaves (fingers crossed)!! This season will see the maximum utilisation of the (in)famous "Chelsea bench strength" with their star performers being pulled away for the African Nations Cup - Drogba, Essien, Mikel. A good buy by the Chelsea has been Sidwell from Reading - a very good mid-field player.
Just noticed that amidst all this football gibberish, I have not mentioned anything about Arsenal!! Honestly, I think it is a team in the making similar to the "Fergies Fledglings" of 94-95!
Anyway being a hardcore ManU fan, I hope the Gunners don’t flourish much!!
Ps. Given that I will be just few miles away from the Theatre of Dreams, hoping to get hold of some tickets next season;)!!
Back after a looooooooooonnnng time....
Its been nearly a year since I last blogged anything. But that doesn't necessarily mean I have been sitting devoid of any thoughts/ ponderings! Life had been quite busy/ hectic over the last 1 year. I came over to London on 1st of April, settled down, then had to get my wife here, her job hunt, settling down in London, my app'ngs to Uni's for my MBA etc etc. I have been on my toes and finally I am at peace now - needless to say this is the calm before the storm.
For those who have lost touch with me..i have got into Manchester Business school - some tell me, i am going to learn the complete meaning of the word "tough", "hectic" etc. Meanwhile Anila also has got into Leeds Business school - an hour away (by train) from where I am. Not bad for a start - time will tell how our lives are going to twist and turn courtesy all these! - Hoping for the best.
I have already put in my papers and June 29th is going to be my last day in Infy after 4 years and 20 days (to be precise). Returning to Bangalore on 3rd June and not really looking forward to it this time. Most of my close gang is abroad/outside blore - Vithal is in the US, Kay is in S'pore, Kolli and Ashwin in Phillipines, Assok in Mauritius, Bitla in the US, Sid in Mumbai, Kuts in Kerala, Raj in US - anyway will have to try and meet up with the Kandu magas when in blore!
Will be posting regularly henceforth - atleast i hope to!!
For those who have lost touch with me..i have got into Manchester Business school - some tell me, i am going to learn the complete meaning of the word "tough", "hectic" etc. Meanwhile Anila also has got into Leeds Business school - an hour away (by train) from where I am. Not bad for a start - time will tell how our lives are going to twist and turn courtesy all these! - Hoping for the best.
I have already put in my papers and June 29th is going to be my last day in Infy after 4 years and 20 days (to be precise). Returning to Bangalore on 3rd June and not really looking forward to it this time. Most of my close gang is abroad/outside blore - Vithal is in the US, Kay is in S'pore, Kolli and Ashwin in Phillipines, Assok in Mauritius, Bitla in the US, Sid in Mumbai, Kuts in Kerala, Raj in US - anyway will have to try and meet up with the Kandu magas when in blore!
Will be posting regularly henceforth - atleast i hope to!!
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