Being Human

I Mean IT

2010-09-06T01:29:00.003+05:30

Back to business after a long gap of 7 months .Feels like I m a stranger to my own blog ;-)

Not long ago i had posted something on my two year stint with this industry and I don’t believe that was a year ago.Today I enter into the fourth year of my career, with new dreams carrying forward and letting loose other aspirations.

Anyways after an eventful first half of the year, I finally felt of writing something. All these months have been filled with emotions with some very good friends leaving the firm, few challenges with new responsibilities creeping in and also had some disturbing thoughts which might/would have played a big role in my future.

Although I am happy to be sticking with one of the greatest firms of the world in terms of innovation and its social responsibility, I feel like looking beyond the obvious, (Yeah!!The grass always looks greener on the other side),

Life has not been mundane in these three years. Few changes I noticed this year are…I started sleeping a lot..(bade bade sapney dekhne ke liye jyaada soona padta hai)…reading a bit….cursing the manager…and of course a new Citibank ATM in the cafeteria 

Its quite bizarre how few words that are used in practical life keep us bolted to our work @ office,
Few years ago whenever i heard the word "Sev", the first thing that struck my mind was "bhujiya Sev”, but now I ask .Sev1 or Sev2??...’Ticket ‘was something which is bought, here it’s something which should be resolved.. Being accustomed to some phrases like “fix it:” “debug” “open a ticket” “do it by EOD” “update the status”…I have almost forgotten to say “miss you”...” good night” and “ Keep smiling”..

With the thought of higher studies luring me each day, I am on a voyage with my feet on two boats.
The worst part is …..I can’t swim!!

Path to Excellence ---Harsha Bhogle

2010-01-30T17:28:00.002+05:30

I have been working on weekends for a month now and I don’t know how much of it is worthy. But last weekend I came to the office in an intention to work…but before starting my work I was just randomly going through the Wikipedia (which I usually do in the office hours) I looked at the profile of a noted commentator- Harsha Bhogle.

I knew Harsha as a Hyderabadi, an IIM-A graduate, a noted Cricket commentator, but to my surprise I found him as a very good speaker on “Path to Excellence”.

I happened to follow the link where I found Harsha take a session for IIM A students.

This is a 60min video which I would suggest everyone to watch.

I have heard many Saints/Gurus in the early morning TV shows but everything went over my head. but I feel what Harsha said stays in my head for some time as he explained through Sports and his personal experience...

Till today I watched cricket as just a game .and after watching this video, I found what the Game Cricket could actually teach you.

He explains about luck and hard work in cricketing terms and that’s an awesome comparison.

“The harder u try the luckier u get”…

This is something which enlightens!!!

Please look at the following link to visit the video.

http://brijux.com/2009/09/12/harsha-bhogle-achievers-of-excellence-iim-ahmedabad/

The M(e)anager

2010-01-18T23:13:00.005+05:30

With all respect to “The Managers”…

Its appraisal time and we get lots of funny things to hear from our managers. We work day in and out for the entire year and yet we find ourselves responsible for our ratings..

Well I m done with my appraisal discussion and my firm asks not to disclose the discussion as it is confidential…Well who cares!! I would like to present the funny version of my discussion with my manager…

I was busy organizing the playlist for my windows media player, the dude enters and asks me “Santosh, If you are not busy could we have a 1-1 discussion”…

No! I wish I said that...”Yes!! Of course!! Let’s pass time...

Mgr: Please sit Santosh!!

Me: …… (I should have said thanks, rude!! Ah it’s ok!)

Mgr: So, You must know why we are here…

Me: Yes, so shall we conclude and get out?

Mgr: How is your work?

Me:It sucks!

Mgr: Well...gr8...So you got a clear idea what u are doing..Gud

Mgr: Coming to your appraisal…

Me: (smiles.. rather laughter)

Mgr: Santosh, what have you done different in this year other than your regular work... you know. Something different

Me: Mmmmm….different matlab..I downloaded all the latest audio within the timelines,

Responded quickly to my friends who pinged me on gtalk. wrote some meaningless blogs,

Practiced flirting with gals of other teams….and attended many interviews for other

companies : -)

Mgr: I meant innovation….

Me: (WTF…I thought)…mmmmm…..naa

Mgr: Any organizational givebacks?

Me: What do u mean?

Mgr: I mean how this company is benefited by u?

Me: Oh yeah!,I buy two Smart cards (Coffee cards) every month..

Mgr: Ok. Do you have any problems.. or something you want to discuss and sort out?

Me: (You!)Yes. Sometimes when I select option 4 in the vending machine for Badam milk ,the badam nuts get stuck and I hardly get half a cup of milk…

Mgr: Come on Santosh be serious!!

Me: (Should I slap you?)...Ok,

Mgr: I have received your feedback from the team and it was pretty good..

Me: Thanks. (They send the same feedback every year…)

Mgr: Any more questions?

Me: Do u have any friends in banking companies. ?

Mgr: Yes. .I have friends in CBSH, XEMA,

Me: I will send my resume by EOD...Please review and send it across. Thanks.

Mgr: Questions related to our firm. Your future in this company….

Me: Stopped him. Did u get ur rating ?

Mgr: So I found you as as good resource and your rating is .. ? Are u satisfied..?

Me: Satisfied..? I m overwhelmed..(p****d off !! ) I can’t express my feeling in words…(Come out.. I will see you).....I did not expect such a good rating… You are god (bloody dog!!)..

Mgr: Thanks Santosh..for your valuable time

Me: Yeah..that was fun…!!

And now...If you found foul words used or something disgusting….then

“I believe your appraisal meeting is not yet over!!! Hahahaa “

The Half burnt Flower pot ....India

2009-12-09T12:41:00.005+05:30

India, the biggest democracy of the world, one of the most balanced economies and the richest in cultural heritage has truly been a land of balanced features. Hence could be aptly compared to a beautiful flower pot with colorful flowers.

However in the recent past, this flower pot has been facing severe threats from inside the country, along the border and from the other side of the border, thus ruining the balance to some extent.

The 26/11 Bombay attack is just a testimony .A lot happened before that and few still happening after that.

In the name of judicial trial we are just feeding terrorists, be it Azmal Kasab or Afzal Guru. Everyone is evident that they would be hanged till death.

It’s been 8 years since the parliament attack took place...Yet Afzal guru, the main culprit is not punished. Leave about Kasab.It’s just over a year for him.

Though in this year long judicial trial we have earned evidence about the involvement of Pakistan based terrorists, what did we really gain.Atleast did we console the families of the 174 people who lost their lives. Does paying a mere 2 lakh for the dead would help the cause?? The families would have been happier had kasab been hanged some 10 months ago.

Let’s assume that Pak acts on it and punishes the responsible ones. But does it end there?

It would be interesting then to see what does our politicians (so called Leaders) do…Will they keep quite and satisfied? If they do, it depicts that our EGO has satisfied and which resembles that the peaceful fight we are putting across is just to satisfy our ego…Hope it doesn’t turn out this way.

Terrorism and Naxalism are hurting a lot not only to life and property but also to the public relations and

Social development... How?

Reports suggest that Rs.31 crore has been spent on Kasab in the past year. The money could have been used to save over 600 children who died of heart diseases.

It is estimated that 6000 people have been killed by Naxals in the last 2 decades. .and over 240 in chattisgarh in 2009 alone. This number is much more than the victims of Bombay attacks.

What did we do if a political party attacks Bihar/UP students in Maharashtra, burnt buses and other public property? Who took action against ‘Raj’ when a Bihar boy died in the attack…?

We keep quiet when maoists blast our schools, buses, Police stations, yet we expect them to change, we provide employment and forgive them once surrendered!! Isn’t this a brilliant strategy for the unemployed… huh?

Can you name a naxal who was hanged? If a foreigner attacks us, then it’s a national issue and it’s taken as a stain in the Indian Security System…and if one of us attacks…its just NEWS!!

Why is this difference in approach? A culprit is a culprit and he deserves to be punished.

It’s time to act tough .Its not just enough to pay homage to the three top cops or the other innocent killed in Bombay , its not just enough to build a memorial or lit candles around it on every anniversary. Its time to control rather act on it on a serious note...

Corruption and injustice will help these anti social elements flourish. It’s never late and we could make the system blossom again by taking few effective steps

Do we have solution for this? Who should take charge? Police?

Yes.Police… He is the one in my view will be the key in this change.

Just physical fitness and an average of 50-55% in education isn’t just sufficient .Moreover being a police is not doing a job for money. It’s social service.

We bribe a traffic Police (with a 50 rupee bill) who charges 1000 bucks for not having a PUC.

Will we bribe if the fine itself is 50? And most importantly the sum goes to the Govt.

How many of us pay the tax without deceiving (duplicate medical bills, rental agreements etc.,) the Govt? Will we do the same thing if the tax is low?

Instead, a mandatory tax cut (no exemptions) should be made based on the salary for all employees and this is for providing proper wages/technology/weapons for the Police.

I may not be an economist, I may not have sufficient knowledge about the tax systems and I may not understand the serious aspects of police or military recruitment systems. .but I am educated enough to understand its failures and consequences, I m sensitive enough to understand the emotions of the society. All the above questions are raised by a helpless Indian in me.

P.S: I have used the word “Bombay” 3 times…Is there someone here to object this and ask
me to say Mumbai ;-)

The Accident !!

2009-10-30T17:25:00.004+05:30

A year ago……

Winter started in Gurgaon and I could have a pleasant sleep as the noisy ceiling fan in my bedroom had to rest. It’s October and a not a bad time to visit a hill station…

We (office friends. I hate the word ‘colleague’, don’t know y) had planned to visit ‘Nainital’ .After several discussions and plans we finalized a long weekend for a comfortable 3 day trip.

After ‘Bhai’ dropped himself at the last moment, Saurabh, Nilesh, Thrinath and I booked a Tata Indica, and started our journey on a Friday night. Saurabh sat next to the driver as I could not sacrifice my sleep.

It was a wonderful journey from Delhi with winter winds and fog travelling together.

The road was hardly visible and the drowsy driver made sure to steal our sleep.

We reached Nainital the next morning.

After visiting few of the local places we had to travel some distance on a scenic ghat road The driver assuming himself a Michael Schumacher drove as fast as he can overtaking every other vehicle on the road. It reminded me of the climax scene of “Tokyo drift”.

Our frequent efforts in reminding him, that the Ferrari hez driving is actually a Tata Product, went in vain. This bloke was very good with his steering, but how many times have we seen cars crashing on a well built F1 tracks? And this after all was a stone studded tar road…

We had a break to have Chai and it was my turn to sit next to the driver.

A Toyota Innova was coming in the opposite direction .This foreign branded car with a couple of newly married couples was speeding towards us. Within no time our car and theirs collided!! Banggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!

All the mountains and the long trees watched this collision silently. Silence prevailed in both the vehicles for the next one minute…

My head struck to the windshield which eventually cracked. I got down the car and had spit a spoonful of blood. For a moment I thought that my head broke into two.

Obviously it wasn’t!!

The radiators of both the cars were blown out and the jaws of both the drivers hammered.

The guys sitting behind were safe (enough to take a photograph of the wreckage) and had minor scratches.I could hardly speak…

The couples in the other vehicles were also injured. What a Honeymoon!!

That day could have been my last day had our Desi car’s strong body and trust worthy brakes failed! Thanks Tata.

This accident of mine did not find a place in the next day’s NEWS. May be because Rahul Gandhi wasn’t travelling with us or may be because it wasn't a BMW. !!!

Happie Diwali....!!!

2009-10-18T00:17:00.001+05:30

Diwali comes and a long weekend too...
Give up the bombs..just Diya's will do!!.

Enjoy the festival of lights...
Happy Diwali!!

Life in a Super Metro !!

2009-10-14T18:03:00.013+05:30

It’s been 6 months since I came out of Gurgaon and now I feel like writing something about this city, a so called “Super Metro” or “Millennium City”

The resplendent express way with sky scrappers on either sides, fantabulous malls and not to mention beautiful and hot professionals (read as “*****”...well u know what to read).

Gurgaon, a super metro in the making welcomes you with the Asia’s longest toll plaza and “The Ambience”, India’s biggest mall (with 1 km shopping on each floor).

The city is mostly owned by Real estate giant DLF owning about a property of 50 thousand crores…there’s is no wonder if some one calls this city as “DLF-Gurgaon”.

I started my IT career from this city. I met surprises from day One. The peddling rickshaws,
September’s heat (42 deg), Power supply lasting just 6 hrs a day, and daily headlines about robbery/rape/murder … Staying in “The Vikram Lodge” for 2 days was the worst experience of all.
One can imagine what the situation of a guy who travelled 1000 miles to stay there cud have had.

As time went by, nothing but I changed.....
New friends, fun at work and the mall culture helped in getting along with the city.
I still remember the movie “Chak de India” as my first movie in Gurgaon, rather than a shahrukh starrer. Walking 5 km @ midnight enjoying the December cold (2 deg) from “Sahara mall” to “Jalvayu vihar” after watching “Taare Zameen Par” with Krishna was a thrilling (rather chilling) experience.

My weekend travel to Delhi, passing time at CP, Sarojiini market,waiting for a bus in Dhuala-kuan and adjusting in an auto-rikchaw at IFFCO Chowk…….kya mazedar lyf tha….

Woh Gobi ke paranthe @ Sec-41 Mkt, Veg Momos, OM sweets ...…..Metropolitan, City Centre, Grand, Ambience, MGF…and finally.. DLF Silokhera :)

Don’t think ki …”yeh saaala gurgaon kaam karne gaya tha ya…khane peene aur maza karne....” ..nahi..maine kuch khela bhi hai
The practice sessions for the Cricket Tournament, Tasty snacks at Jitin’s residence and a Man of the match award….and many more moments to cherish..,

Well I don’t miss all these things …but I definitely will never forget them.
Wait did I miss something??......
…..
….
Yes
…..
……
”Bluedart” I Miss You :(

2 years and Counting......

2009-08-30T18:45:00.003+05:30

Guys it’s been two years for this young keyboard player (my term for s/w developer) surviving in the IT industry. These two years had some beautiful moments to cherish and some embarrassing moments to regret. From the ‘firing flu’ at the beginning of my career to swine flue to the latest, this has been a wonderful journey.

I have spent most of this period in Gurgaon.Visited (rather stayed in) North-India for the first time. This helped me visiting some of the beautiful places on earth. From hill stations to plains, river basins to deserts, holy shrines to huge palaces….

This short career till date was a very satisfactory one working with a very good team. I made some intelligent friends and beautiful ‘friende’s. I always wanted to do something naughty other than key strokes and mouse-clicks. From re-imbursements for non-existent expenses to booking office cabs for Delhi darshan, from visiting Malls during office hours to downloading movies using office broadband .All these are un-official, yet adventurous, strict violations but calculated risks.

I am in Pune these days and breathing air J … (doing nothing important than this)

To be working in a leading MNC was an achievement then, always wanted to be “one in a million” keyboard players, ironically during this period the word ‘in’ changed to ‘among’.

( All I knew about preposition was that it is one of the Parts of Speech in English Grammar. Now I understand that they are part of our lives too... Prepositions do make a difference!! ).

Today, the path on which I am is a straight and smooth one. I could see a junction ahead from where I wish to take right. If nothing goes right, I will go straight!!

And "they" lived happily together

2009-08-27T16:23:00.004+05:30

Many love stories begin in a train…….

Not very often one finds a beautiful passenger by his side during long journeys.

Incidentally (I wish I could use ‘fortunately’), I found one...

A masked woman with white top over blue jeans sat by my side. Her hair covered her ears but not her long ear rings with blue emeralds and a small ruby. Those sparkling ear rings looked like she hung a dozen stars down her ears. She was the only one wearing a mask (swine effect) in the entire compartment, being odd she removed the mask.

Her cute smile, sparkling eyes, shining skin were very similar to the dream girl I was waiting for. Is this one of my many crushes or is this love, yet again??

Our conversation started when “chai waala” asked us to share the change for the amount we paid for Tea. She smiled at me and my smile was on its way before that….During our conversation I discovered that she is pursuing MBA from a reputed college in Pune.

She has a younger brother in Hyderabad who works for the same firm in which i do.

That was a wonderful journey and wished this journey should go for few more years.

That was never gonna happen.

The next morning, it was time to reach Hyd.We exchanged out phone numbers, hoping to get in contact again. When the train reached the station, she was received by a young man who I thought was her brother. I went to her to say Goodbye. She smiled and introduced me to that person

“He is Pranav, My husband!!” she said.

…… and most of them end there as well.

Hamare naseeb mein woh nahi tho hame koi gham nahi..

be-naseeeb tho woh hai jinke naseeb mein ham nahi….

Religion..a Social barrier??

2009-06-12T12:58:00.004+05:30

Before You Read:
This Post is my general opinion and not meant to insult or discriminate any Religion. If this hurts the feelings of any individual, then…well who cares ;-)

Hey Guys, I m back with a blog after a long time I guess.
This time lemme get religious!!

Preface:
Azhar Rehman (Name Changed),a Muslim Student filed a petition in Supreme Court early this year stating that he was not allowed to attend classes in his School with his beard. Azhar argued that his religion does not allow him to shave, but the school management were very particular about their rules that no student(irrespective of any religion) should have a beard .However, the Supreme court had dismissed the petition.

India, a country where ‘Religion’ is rated higher than ‘humanity’, is a land of cultural
barriers (at least emotionally).Should we be proud that we are a State of Diversified religions yet we are one or should we be hating ourselves for implanting these differences in our children’s minds right from their Schooling? .I used the word ’School’ because it is where a human being gets molded as someone useful or useless.

I feel that a student should not be allowed to carry religious symbols to schools This may be of different forms .A ‘Cross’ wore by a Christian .A ‘Tabeez’ or beard by a Muslim. The 4 k’s of Sikhs Kesh(uncut hair),Kanga(wooden comb),Kara(steel bracelet),kirpan (small sword) (Kachhera ,cotton underwear the 5th K is an exception) and for Hindus ,A ‘Namam’ indicating a Brahmin ,a bracelet or lockets of any of the million Hindu gods ,sacred threads, or other tilaks..
This is a long list if we count the religions or castes in India…..
Do you think these symbols are required for a student?? I don’t think our children go to school to represent our religion. Do they??

As said by a Muslim Scholar,’one, who has a beard, is a true Muslim’.
According to my observation, none of the Pakistan’s Presidents or PM’s had beards, even Jinnah did not have .APJ Abdul Kalam,Omar Abdulah,Farookh Abdullah,Gulam Nabi Azad,
All the khans of Bollwood, Ajim Premji and many more. So, are all these not true Muslims??

I have later discovered that even Quran(Islam’s Holy Book),does not mention these rules. It even does not say to perform prayers 5 times a day or even Roza. All these are the rules made by people and say these are the rules made to reach God (Well these are personal practices, no comments on it)

In France, it’s a Govt. rule that the students should not be distinguishable by their attire or religious markings. Hence no student is allowed to represent his religion in one way or the other.

I feel there must be one such rule in India where schools should produce good human beings and not Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs.

Epilogue:
I condemn all the religious massacre’s happening around the world. If religion is the root cause of all the social disturbances then I would be happy to sacrifice it.
Let us learn to be Humans first!!

Inspired From:”The Buck Stops Here’, NDTV.

Book Reading results in… writing!!!

2008-11-30T17:00:00.009+05:30

It’s been a year since I read a book or feel like reading one. I feel really bored when I travel alone from Delhi to Hyd, unless I find some interesting (****) passengers by my side. I was given a book by my friend to read..(I refused initially) through my journey.

I felt reading a book is a boring as waiting till 6’o clock to leave the office..But some say that it’s as exciting as waiting for your salary to be credited to your account over the month end….(Mind blowing analogy na ?? )..

The book was titled ‘The 3 Mistakes of My life’ by..Chetan Bhagat. The cover page with three guys (Yuva Pose) with bails on their top..has something to say about their story…..

This is probably the first book I read from beginning till the end..

(My College Professors may be happy knowing that I finally read a book)

I knew Chetan was the Author of “Five Point Someone” .(which I incidentally read on my return journey,my second book of course)..But I found his latest book more interesting than his debut ‘Five Point Someone’. I first thought ,how come a studious guy from IIT & IIM can write a book on sensitive issues (At least in India) like Cricket and Religion.Chetan, I think, was successful in maintaining balance between the two with a perfect mixture of business..

It may be Ishaan’s Commitment as a coach,Omi’s over enthusiasm or Govind’s world of maths…Every thing was perfect in their own way..

There are some excellent quotes right from ‘acknowledgements’ page ..few are quoted below,..,

· ‘Admiration Passes Love Endures’

· ‘There are advantages of having an intelligent wife, I could never be a detective’

· ‘More Hindu kids sleep hungry every night than Muslim, but they say Muslims are downtrodden’.

The Earthquake of Kutch,India-Aus Cricket match at the Eden Gardens or the Godhra Attack…all are rightly described in the context of the Story..

It becomes a boring iniatilly..but author injects interest through ‘Vidya’.I bet most of you will i agree that.I found this book better than ‘Five point someone’,may be Vidya’s character is much more interesting than Neha’s or may be because it has some interesting aspects like maths and Cricket, because with Cricket, Life is the second priority,.

Overall it is a sensitive & thought provoking book, you may not get enlightened but you definitely Think!!

Lyf in Corporate jungle....

2008-06-20T17:14:00.004+05:30

I reached home half past midnight yesterday..not because of a late night show nor partying at the famous metro pub..but from my office!!!Meals was ready at home but Pizzas in my stomach never allowed me to eat,it was 2am and i thought of taking leave that day॥it was a very peaceful sleep i had in many months here..A couple of hours later, my mobile rang with a pleasant ringtone..guess what!!My boss' call as if it was my alarm!!With hardly 5 hrs sleep i rushed to the office to get the work done!!sometimes i wonder whether i am in Police Dept. or what!!

Nothing suits me here...neither my boss' funny face nor the office clock(Which always seem to be very slow than usual),even the girl next to me isn't that interesting (@#$ %)..

(of course i take this word back on a 'friday'.. :-))

Thank god that the coffee machine 'at a distance' which eats about 2hrs a day..a place u really feel relaxed ..of course there is colourful place ..Cafeteria..Although the price of fresh pastries (which are two days old) is a bit high,i never worry as i have a very gud collection of credit cards of various banks ;-)... with little fun and loads of work..(don't ask what? even i m confused) lyf goes on as a 'Roller coaster' (when it is steady!) ..my mom once said, 'बेटा तू बड़ा होके अच्छा नाम कमा... .' shayad isi liye i m not earning(money) much :-) ..well jokes apart(par maine kab mazak kiya ??) the time comes when u need to deliver ur project on time and u r not done with it ( the reason is i write such stupid blogs in office ..)..then begins a new face (rather phase) ,hangover without being drunk,eyes turn red,hair (on head of course!! ) starts shedding॥and to make the situation even worse,when u reach home sometime in the midnight,u find the gate locked inside!!

ye bhi koi life hai!!!

guys!! What say??