Birthday Bumps

"Happy bumping day" was the message most of my friends conveyed even before happy birthday as I turned one more year older to stay at, "male 24" :) But baring all the brunt of my roomies in the night was one horrendous task I have never ever experienced in my entire 24 years of life; the physical endurance that I had to display for the Bumps session was very very hectic and tiresome. Every one was taking their vengeance for all the birthday bumps that they had taken on their bdays, it was giveback time, and sadly for me, every one was at their best of forms. Absence of a few more people in the room was some sought of relief in one way, but never the less I got enough of beating to die down with those pain staking blows on my rump. Some entertainment section followed the cake cutting and bumps ceremony where I was made to narrate an innovative love story, recommend some LP* tips that every one knew already :p and some expressive dialogues to show how to propose a girl to win her love. It was fun really! I could not sleep or sit on my butt all day, it was like swollen lumps hanging, I would have to book an ambulance in advance if Vinil,Seeku,Dattu and Bunny were also present in the night, thank God for that! It was wishes, wishes and more wishes all day flooding from my friends. A few unexpected pals have called me which made me happy and at the same time felt sad for my mobile not to have rung on some expected numbers. The trivia that I had to face on every call was to recognize the caller as I lost most of the phone numbers with my old handset. Man that was real quizzing time, every time! i have to admit that it ended in a bash, thanks for all the love you showered on me dear friends ( am I sounding too much senti? ), the thought of each of you itself makes me stronger and fills the blank of the purpose to live! You are wonderfully sweet :)

* ladki pataanaa :)

Things, I am ashamed of

I have been thinking ! Well that’s what I do when I save a lot of time and end up am doing nothing with what I saved.One thought, what are the things that I am really ashamed of having done and will never do again, the things that keep lurking with skepticism in my mind?

a) Cheating in my exams? well I am not all that ashamed of it in the first place, so the second part does not arise at all :p b) The lies I told to my parents/family? Hey get real dude! are you joking. Consider the lies I did not tell. Ashamed, no way! c) Picking on those weaker than me? Of course not, that’s what every one does. In History books they call it war and in present day it changed name to politics. d) Infidelity, well I have not yet got the opportunity and when I do, believe me that It would be a proud moment for me. e) Being dishonest, Now that’s a tough one, but considering that we have already got lies and infidelity out of the way, that takes away most of the dishonesty part with it, does it not? I think it does. Believe me its my honest opinion :)

This confession isn’t working; let’s try to turn it around (it is at this point that the lawyer will dramatically turn to the Judge and say, “My lord, please note my client’s sincerity”).I have beaten up others. But then, I have got beaten up a lot more, so it should cancel itself out and there’s no reason for me to be ashamed of it. having said everything, I guess I can proudly stand up and say that I have done nothing that I am ashamed of entire life, or will not do it again. Then do I need such a lengthy rant to boast of :p. For a change, let us see, what are the things I cannot tell my mom or my child in future do I see the list forming? unfortunately yes,and its growing. Huh! now let’s cut this crap, and do something for a change. This thinking stuff puts me to shame.

Passwords, Passwords Passwords !

You idiot Dumbo, "your password should have a least count of 8 alphanumerics sequence with a minimum of three numbers in it, which is not similar to your login and does not start with a number and which was not used for the past three times and also which is not so very obvious string for others to guess with at least two upper case letters and with out three consecutive alphabets or numbers as part of the string". this is what my PC yells out every time I give a password or change it when ever I forget one on my computer. This has become a very strict norm to be followed and keep in mind for hell a lot of things that I come across every day which requires a password to access it. There was one last chance to do it right. Else, my gadget would inevitably self-destruct. Sure, the password cue was easily remembered. My mother's maiden name was an easy one. But for heaven's sake, what was the answer to the back-up question? Already, the previous test had ended in failure,Leave alone computers, unfortunately, everything needs a password these days; from opening my own mail account on Gmail,lotusnotes,Yahoo,Hotmail etc to pages on transactions in trading accounts, ATM cards, Airtel site,Bank accounts,Secured sites in my projects, and even entry in to my own cubicle at office. Why, do we need to enter those secret digits on the cell phone to make a local call [8-)] It is a hell to remember the login names and passwords for every petty thing these days. Forgot one! and you are dead. Be ready to face the more tougher challenge of retrieving it by answering some irritating security questions which you are not even sure what you gave when you created the password! I don't know how many times I clicked the "Forgot Password?" link on the login pages, I even ended up loosing access to one of my mail accounts since I forgot the password and could not retrieve it.What I found as a very useful technique to handle these challenges is by jotting all the logins and passwords for everything and meticulously updating it in a single Word file and protecting it again with a password :p to deny access to this file and ensuring the information is safe from the prying eyes of the world. I just have to remember the password of the word file alone, this has made my life much easier.The threat of loosing the file is always there but putting multiple copies online as well as on my local system ensures it is accessible anytime. No more emoticons with their eye blinking posers threatening to deny access inside :)

King on Court "Roger Federer"

The Lion Roared, and made his Opponent shiver with a whine.The shock trembled through the back bone and Nadal submitted himself for the definitive dialect of the King Roger Federer,and now Federer has made it a habit to win Wimbledon. His win on Sunday was, however, something special. He has now equaled fellow country man legendary Bjorn Borg's 27-year-old record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles. He has also taken his Grand Slam tally to 11, now eying on Sampras's 14.The expression on Rogers face after the match spoke it all, though it was not new of winning titles for him, he felt a great relief after rendering Nadal to submission in the 5th and final set, Federer knew he was facing a hard task in the final against Nadal who beat him at the Rolland Garros. He was in the center court for vengeance and to defend his Wimbledon title. There is already talk of Federer being a candidate for the best tennis player ever.Sampras for one has backed Federer to emulate his long period of domination.That prediction might well come true. But on current form is Federer the best all-time tennis player? That is a question that could keep tennis fans occupied for hours. There can, however, be no clear answer to such hypothetical questions. For instance, how do you compare Federer to Rod Laver or Boris becker?,The playing conditions, fitness levels of the former players and the topical players are so completely different.The problem of comparing different eras is common to most games. In cricket, the perennial question of who is the greatest batsman runs into similar problems. How do you compare Don Bradman, who played a majority of his 52 Test matches against England over a span of 20 years with Sachin Tendulkar, who has played 137 matches in 17 years against nine countries? As of now in this era, with their sheer talent, showmanship and cool temperament I feel Roger Federer and Sachin Tendulkar are two divas in their respective games. There will be players who may takeover the regime of these players at some point of time in the future, (for that matter Roger himself said Nadal has lot of potential talent and the age for him to be a dominant player in the coming years) but as of now the King is a King and the others have to pay him his due respects !

My Dad, my Hero

Dad,

Every time I faltered and made mistakes, you understood, and you made sure I learned from those mistakes to become a better person. You fostered a strong sense of pride in me from the day as far as I can remember. You instilled wisdom in me my entire life, You taught me that character cannot be developed in ease and quiet, Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. I am what I am today, only because of you, I know you would be a proud dad right now for your son, a Software professional at age 23, writing his own checks, signing documents, making a living on own. You have been an apt definition for a Dad, you truly are !
You taught me to think big. You taught me to take care of everyone around me like you always did, to protect and give from the heart. You taught me that life is tough but with laughter and love anything can be surmounted. Things were never easy between us, but what is easy is the love I feel for you. I am so sorry Dad, I didn’t get to tell you how I feel and how much I love you. You have become my strength and I everyday realize how many lives you have touched and transformed. I hope one day to be even half or even a quarter of the Father you've been to me. I hope that when my kids need something, I'm there for them as you have been for me. I hope that when my kids have questions, I'm there for them as you have been for me. I hope that when they are going through good times or bad, I'm there for them, just as you have always been for me. Dad, I never had to search for a hero, The hero in my life was you. Happy Father’s day.

Son.

World Telecom day Celebrations

The jinx of my second birth in this AT&T account at IBM after my graduation had taken its vengeance on me yet again. The "Not so uncommon" thing that life has screwed me up with, through out these two years of staying late night at office and waking up late has cast its spell once again and stood as a hurdle to vault over before I realized that I already fell down. This has deprived me from participating in this blog contest held as part of world telecom day in my AT&T account. The request for Blogging in the contest (which I always loved) on any Telecom topic had to be sent by 11 AM , so that we would be entitled for participation and would be authorized to access the blog space where the topic has to be posted. but It was 11.30 by the time I woke up. :( It was sheer bad luck that I could not participate. Skimming the wide variety of the posts that were posted at the IBM blogging contest and the quality of its content, I felt, I stood a fair chance of making a podium finish :p, This Post which was declared to be the best and given the First prize had made quite a few eyebrows raising as people found that It has been plagiarized from some other document online (In fact It was me who found it out and wrote a rotten comment at his post) I could not have taken part in this contest which saw quite a few highs and lows and ended dramatically with some sour comments at the winning post, but, that would not stop me from posting my post written for the contest on my own blog. So here comes my endeavor.

After the Trojan War, Nestor had to travel back home for few hundred years to convey the Greeks victory over the Trojans (poor fellows! didn’t have Mobile phones then :p) but now, practically witnessing a drastic transformation and an exceeding growth par or thoughts, during the past one decade in technology specially the communication sector which has telecom flavor attached to it is remarkably a stunning experience. The history kindles nostalgic memories of the efforts made by pioneers in the past to help people communicate with each other through telegraph and telephone. The trends had fast paced up, the Electronics and Telecommunications, together in conjuncture revolutionized the entire world, and are changing at an astounding speed driven by the convergence of technologies, especially in this span of bygone ten years. The Phrases like VOIP, SIP based services, Wi-Fi, IP-VPN,WAN are about to sweep the international markets leaving people stunned over. This is the time when the words like cell phone, internet etc which only a countable number of people used some time back, have become passé. There is nothing that you cannot buy on Internet literally or learn about anything that you are not aware of today, and Cell phones Huh! They were only devices to communicate when they initially evolved, now it is no more what it was. They have grown to unreachable expectations and every thing is incorporated in to this mobile device from cameras, organizers, Juke music boxes and what not! They have become portable computers with Wi-Fi to access fast speed Internet services and stay in touch with the rapid growing world all the time. This rise in telecom has changed our lives prodigiously. Now we cannot imagine a life with out our mobile phone for one single day. I am going through that now, as I lost my mobile for the second time :( in one year.
That’s enough of blogging, now get back to work and some serious stuff ! public static void main(String[] args) { ...

Learnings from the journey of Life

I have decided not to let my laziness get the better of me, I am going share my painstakingly accumulated gyan for all these years of birth. So here goes:

Ten things I wish I knew before entering the real world:

1. Life is unfair: The good guys sometimes do end up last. Things don’t always turn sunny side up.
2. love is not about champagne and roses but learning to stand each others farts too.
3. Nobody is perfect: No one is perfectly happy or miserable. There is no such thing as perfect, just an adjective, nothing else.
4. Everything that goes up comes down: Only make sure that you don’t land on your ass but on your feet.
5. Once you’ve hit rock bottom rejoice, you can only go up from there: It’s the ride down, which is the worst.
6. Ultimately it is inner peace that matters: If I spend the rest of my life making money and end up unhappy anyway I have wasted a lifetime.
7. It’s the journey that matter’s not the destination: Tell that to me when I am stuck in traffic jam!!
8. You can stop pretending, coz no one is watching and no one cares anyway. The ones who do care know that you are pretending and play along.
9. The baby fat that your mom said would melt away, doesn’t: It’s no longer baby fat, the truth is that you are just plain, adult fat. you have to be what you are and not try to be someone else.
10. Not everyone will like you. It’s ok! it really is!

Mobile talk

I really liked my new Nokia 6030 Mobile. So much, that I keep staring at it for hours together :) So as I was exploring my mobile world, I got to know that I had 187 contacts in the sim memory and 32 contacts in the phone memory.
Thought of dedicating one sentence that is right now going through my mind, to a lucky few in the address book. No names, give a try if you can, in spotting whats for whom ! its great if you feel and find your sentence in here and relate it to either you or whoever :p. Browsing my phone book starting from 'A' ....

I wish I could spend a day playing cricket with all you guys, Missing you every moment :(
Your finance is a real gem. Lucky you, take care of both of you.
I guess, the person you love , really likes you; take a chance, take your time.
You are a definite character, have a lot to learn from you, I can say you are Mr.Perfect.
I know, the person you really like needs time; take your time.
I care for you you. Hence, I have to be a pessimist. But will always be happy for you.
I wish you are reading this, it is hard being me.
I liked you for what you were more than anything, don't know If I loath you now.
I really liked you once. Wish you good luck.
I hope there is hope, I don't feel it is infatuation.
I am loving each and every bit of you. Can't say why I do not love you.
You are 93% perfect, would have married you if I wrote 100%
I am getting to know more about you, you are a smart one.
I am getting to know you, I wish you had more time.
I hate what you do to yourself. I love what you are.
You have this uncanny ability to act, and also have the intuitive recognition as to when to act.
I miss the insanity in you. I miss you.
I miss you too. I miss the fun and those blade jokes.
I wish you succeed. I will see you soon.

For the rest plenty, I do care, not in a traditional way and I thank you for being in my mobile :)
p.s. each line is for a different person.

Happy Mother's day

Got up on the wrong side of my bed , snuggled out of my blankets with the cramps in my neck still refusing to abate, got grouched at the paper boy for waking me up, to collect his monthly bill at this odd hour, It was no time to wake up on a clumsy Sunday morning, as early as 9.30 huh!. I then Realized that this was a day that I had bookmarked in my mind to wish my Mom a very happy Mothers day. Called her up after scolding at myself for being so unfortunate not to be with her this time around as well, like on her Birthday the last time. The routine thoughts that normally aroused on weekends, to do something useful in life, disappeared as soon as they sparkled, and by the time I realized that its 5 PM already. Talked to a few of my good friends, Played caroms, solved some enigmatic puzzles and sudoku, watched some routine stupid stuff on TV. I thought what better way to spend Mother’s Day than learning something new about the lady of the hour, So I came up with some fill-in-the-blanks to ask my Mom.

Mom ...
I’m giving up my name and nicknames, so from now on I’d like you all to call me ________
What’s the longest stretch I’ve ever gone without sleeping, in hours?
I may not be perfect, but everyone knows I’m excellent at ________
The strangest thing I’ve ever eaten is ________
Next year is the year I’m going to learn how to ________
The day you felt proud of me (if at all) is _________
The day you felt bad about me (if at all) is _________
I used to hate ________, but now I love it.
I would have been a ________ , If I were a born baby girl.
You want me to get rid of ________

May be I would be asked the same questions on some father's day in future, by my children :D

Are you searching for a reason to be kind ?

Its pleasant to hear. Its alleviation of pains in the heart. Its a soothing solace. Its charmingly simple and serene. It's a pastoral legends striking tune. Rehman has proved himself time and again that there is no match to his strings.
This time it has a reason attached, A.R. Rehman sung this esthetically exquisite song for Nokia India's charity project 'Pray for me, brother' which is the UN Theme song for poverty alleviation mission. This tune definitely creates magic in the hearts of any music lover.

Pray For Me Brother
Composed by A.R.Rehman
Lyrics by Blaaze
Singers: A.R.Rehman and Blaaze

Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother
Pray for me sister
Are you searchin’….
Pray for me brother

Lookin’ for the answers, To all the questions in my life
Will I be alone, Will you be there, by my side
Is it something he said, Is it something he did,I wonder why
He is searchin’ For the answers
To stay alive

Could you ever listen could you ever care to speak your mind
Only for a minute for only one moment,in time
The joy is around us but show me the love,That we must find
Are you searchin’ For a reason...
to be kind, to be kind…
He said Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother
Pray for me sister
Pray for me brother

Say what you wanna say now,But keep your hearts open
Be what you wanna be now,Let’s heal the confusion
Pray for me brother

Don’t let me take When you don’t wanna give
Don’t be afraid Just let me live
Don’t let me take when you don’t wanna give
Don’t be afraid
Say what you wanna say now But keep your hearts open
Be what you wanna be now Let’s heal the confusion
Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother
I’m ashamed ah, brother be dying of poverty
when he down on his knees its only then he prays
And it’s a shame ah, brother be dying of ignorance
cos the world is a trip and everybody’s a hypocrite
Need to stop ah , taking a look at the other
I’m not ashamed of poverty
need to be making his life better
So think about it, think about it once more
coz life is a blessing and it’s not just a show, ah

Round and round the world is spinning around
We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now
Round and round the world is turning around
We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now
Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith
We need to coming together just to win this race
Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith
We need to coming together just to win this race

Are you searching for a reason to be kind?

A story called ORKUT

"Orkut". My first meeting with this word was in 2nd year of graduation, when one of my friends from Pilani exclaimed saying " You are still not on Orkut ?" with a pitying look usually reserved for endangered animals. I wondered if I was missing something in life! Strange thoughts arose in my brain asking myself if I was so lame not to have known about some thing that is so very obvious for every one else or was I an educated nescient not to have known if he was speaking English, when he said "Orkut". "How ancient can you get?" said my conscience. Later, I was sent an invite to create a profile in this "about to become famous community". Stung by his critical tone I went online that very day and fashioned a new identity for myself on a site whose meaning I still don't know. It took me a while to study and know something about what actually Orkut was. Though I had a profile created, I was playing a spectator instead of a full-fledged addicted Orkut user for 2 years, attributed to the availability of internet facilities at college those days and the minuscule number of friends I had online to interact with. The saga of the journey of Orkut accompanied by cyber-silliness actually started when I forayed in to this IT sector. Since then Orkuting has become the verb used daily. At office you see the ubiquitous Orkut windows open all the time, no wonder the RDC att communications reported the Orkut site as the second most visited site only after Google mail. The gradual transformation of the "stages of orkutting" as I call, have left me with an opinion of useful-nonsense on orkut as I jot. The qualitative changes as I observed in myself on a retrospect varied from a mere visitor to orkut my passion to addicted to orkut to stingy orkut to utterly useless orkut to waste of time on orkut to I hate orkuting. No doubt orkut has helped me meet a lot of my old pals from my school and college days with whom I lost connection, but means of communication with them, through orkut I thought is not a very good medium. On Orkut, it's your calling card. And failure to leave one elicits responses like 'How dare you visit my profile and not leave a scrap?' and land you in trouble. Agree that it is more convenient than a mail. But it is also much less private. You can be as prolific as you want and portray your self as next to any Hollywood star or a President of country or what ever, on your orkut profile. This is one thing that I didn’t like, since a person cannot be judged of his identity based on his profile. You may end up anywhere, I mean anywhere! I also feel that the Dictionaries have the right time arrived for them to update the meanings of words. No longer is a 'scrap' something a dog gets after dinner [:p]. The dollar dreams of the persons who got this innovative idea to implement, have been fulfilled but after-effects are ignored by mere sentence "Conditions apply" with a * mark at some place in the agreement where we click I AGREE button when we create a profile on this "Now famous Orkut" I am sure! So be ware buddies its as addictive as a Rehman's tune.

Happy Birthday my Blog

It all started exactly an year back.The zeal to rescue a passion which was slowly thawing away, From that came the thought to blog, blog and blog more !! result: My blog was born on this same day, exactly 1 year back when I hosted my first post on the blogosphere in this same city Bangalore but at a different place at my office at 2.52 PM. Ever since then, I really loved my posts as much as I enjoyed writing them for all the comments I got on my posts, and especially for all those complete strangers I happened to befriend in this blogging world to grow so intimate that they even called me as soon as they knew, to wish on almost every occasion that I cherished and celebrated in my life.I really wished to blog more often but never to be, these days it has plummeted to very small numbers like 2,3,4 a month.All attributed to the crunch time at work and busy office schedules.Though I don't have a stunning number of posts on my blog, I cherished every post that meandered through my mind and came out materialistic. I want to Thank you too for coming along on the ride! I still feel the thrill I felt on the day when the count meter crossed 150 strikes in one single day, and the day when I received comments from some one unknown all the way from New Jersy !

So here We go, Wishes my one year little blog " Happy Blogiversary " [:)] Rock on !

Brag Brag Brag, Nonsense !

There is so much to say, Yet words don't flow.There is so much to feel, yet the heart does not melt.There is so much to do, yet my limbs are numb. Boredom, I don't know how many philosophies have evolved to beat this syndrome. But not with any specific output and always in vain. Its boring today ! I have been going through all those websites to just pass the time as I have nothing much creative to do at work today.So I keep thinking. Boredom brings out all the questions that I normally try to distract my brain from asking!! So generally my head gets more messed up! My inner soul just drives me towards reading some useful docs, but the other lazy guy in me stops him.If mans very existence has some meaning then why in the world do we feel bored? Wouldn’t living by itself make it worth while? Being bored implies I have nothing meaningful or fun to do at that time. Being lazy implies that I don’t want to do anything meaningful and fun at that time.
Boredom also puts the responsibility of self entertainment squarely on my shoulders,and that essentially points to the failure of my mind in coming up with things to do! Right now I am so bored that even thinking of doing something to do is boring.I did read all the labels on the back of my laptop and skimmed through some stupid sites which are of no use, read long back bookmarked blogs of few of my friends, checked my Rediff and Hotmail inboxes today after a long long time, and even took some online tests to know how nerd I am !! yeh you heard it right its "Nerd".Ok, here are some totally useless facts that only bored people like me read. Enjoy, I am too bored to be original enough to continue writing this piece.

1.Albert Einstein was dead, So did his final words with him. The nurse by his side didn't understand German !

2.It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary!!!! (I mean if her name is :p )

3.In Ancient Peru, when a woman found an 'ugly' potato, it was a custom for her to splash it into the face of the nearest man. ( Poor beings, I wonder who went to market to fetch them !).

4.In Michigan, a woman isn't allowed to cut her own hair without her husband's permission.

5.The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger. (is it because it is tallest? )

6.A vulture will never attack a human or animal that is moving

7.Al Capone's business card said he was a furniture dealer.(Now who the hell is he !)

8.6% of men propose over the telephone! (60 % reject may be)

9.It is now possible to print human skin with an ink jet printer! (but why do we want to print the human skin?)

10.There are 23 doctors in the U.S. called Dr. Doctor, and one called Dr. Surgeon!

BTW, I dint say you what my nerd score is right? 98%, They say I am a Nerd God :)

Do you really think I am that nerd? well you just need to be smart enough to show up that nerd, Adios!

Mr. Narayana Murthy for president ?

Its hectic, Its damn disgusting to stay late if I had to jot in my blog now at office on this subject with all these project delivery tensions, issues and stuff ! but I am here to vent out all the anger and aroused belligerence from the dribbling blood in my nerves on this much hyped protagonist and proclaimed next president of INDIA Mr.Narayana Murthy, The founder and chief mentor of Infosys.

After reading this news article on the Deccan herald this morning, I really felt mortified on why the people of India are striking a common tune to nominate a person, whom I think do not rightfully deserve the most revered and honored name " the First Person of India "
Do you think that Mr. Narayana Murthy depicts the fast rebelling, slowly emerging, brightly Shining, seriously growing INDIA, with an epaulet of an Indian flag on his shoulder where ever he go and portrays the true face of India, and his hair stand stiff on listening to our national anthem ? Well think again !

Your Highness Mr president Abdul Kalam, was in town on Sunday and Monday at the Mysore Infosys campus, and what greeted him at the stunning campus was not the mellifluous rendition of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem sung by humans, but the electronic version of crappy mis tuned version of notes which sounded more like some polyphonic ring tone than a National Anthem.

Reason? well, this is what the host himself has to connote,

"We had arranged for five people to sing the anthem. But then we canceled it as we have foreigners on board here. They should not be embarrassed while we sing the anthem," - Narayana Murthy.

Infosys said last year it had some 1,800 foreigners on its rolls. But there are no precise figures on how many foreigners were at the Infosys Mysore campus, which is designed to seat 6,400 students, yesterday. But it is on record that it had offered jobs to 126 students from 82 foreign universities last year.But still, Even if that figure of foreigners is ten times greater, does it mean Mr Murthy’s company is willing to slavishly mute his nation’s anthem for their sake?
The national anthem of the winning team and the national anthem of the two competing teams are played at all the Football games and other games like rugby etc even at the Olympics which is witnessed by global television audience, which is always foreign.If that is OK, why is it difficult for Infosys professionals who also happened to be foreigners to listen to a 52-second, five-stanza number? Or for their faculty to make them listen to it? I don't really understand what is the precise embarrassment that foreigners feel by listening to their host-country’s national anthem as was averred by Mr.Murthy. But, above all, coming to a foreign country, to a foreign city, to a foreign company is all about learning, appreciating, assimilating, understanding, and respecting that country’s, that city’s, that company’s culture.
If Infosys’ foreigners—all the 126 or whatever multiples of them—are not doing that, then they have missed a vital ingredient of their education and even more vital ingredient of their excursion I suppose.I don't think they might have neither objected to listen to our national anthem nor be embarrassed with it. Narayana Murthy is being spoken as the “fantastic” next President. Hopefully, the would be Rashtrapati will not have similar views on the National Anthem being sung in the presence of foreigners.

On the same Discussion which I had with my friends at office, I came to know that a local kannada news paper Praja Vani alleges that 90 per cent of the 5,000 employees who had assembled for the Kalam function yesterday at the Infosys campus didn’t know the lyrics of the national anthem by heart.I don't have any feeling to reveal, either to pity them or feel ashamed of them or what ever, Only thing I can do is to show these lyrics of JANA GANA MANA for those ignorant Infoscions. Let go what ever, hope India would be in better hands !

" Water " A review from my eye

I don’t know why, but I always prefer the comfort of my room over a movie hall or a multiplex when it comes to watching good meaningful movies....'water' I wanted to watch not only because its a DeepaMehta movie...but the topic it is dealing with. Thankfully, I could dig one out from the debris at my nearest CD vendor a couple of days back, and I got a chance to view it. The plight of the widows or for that matter the sufferings of a 'woman' is always a topic creating much hype and for these obvious reasons the more realism You can bring in it the better it creates a buzz, a favorite for film makers treading the non conventional path, and thus here was another film with magnificent cinematography, trying to recreate Benaras , somewhere in Srilanka.....oh yes I have to give it to the cinematographer for the beautiful imageries...but beyond that I found nothing 'new' or outstanding that will separate the film as something extra ordinary. Well its my version of course and I am only being critical from an analyst's point of view. On the whole I really feel its a wonderfully shot film....the story line drags at points and yet catches on....the scenes where the clouds enshrouds the sky is worth gaping at I feel.....surprisingly John Abraham actually 'acted'....need I say anything bout Seema Biswas, she is outstanding in her own right...but the one who surpasses them all is the child actor Sarala named chuiya in the movie....the child-widow, the reason why the film was worth a watch.....somebody I dint like at all and felt had taken away much from the movie by her 'not so good' performance was Lisa Ray...her Hindi was pretty anglicized, and though was a pretty picture she just could not bring out the suffering, the pain, the helplessness, the excruciation that the widows endured in the bygone days,

I agree it was an Oscar stuff, but it could have been better to go a step higher from Oscar nominee to Oscar winner yet its a What left me a bit unhappy was the death of the heroin at the end who sacrifices her life when she could not battle out the life's causes and The little Kid is handed over to Gandi ji to be taken care. the film ends on that note. yet, the film is worth watching for various other reasons if not for the story and performances.

The Speaking Coin

In spite of several whole-hearted attempts to go to sleep, I haven’t been too successful. So here I am after all those mundane daily working hours at office.Its been hectic at office and the spirits of people in the team have plummeted to crash down like the stocks on the fifth day, because of controversies with mails and misunderstandings.In this flood was my second mail to my second line manager this time, which got the guts off that guy for sure I guess !! He could not answer to most of my questions which proved there is quite a bit of wrong committed which requires apology.With all these thoughts, my 2 hour journey to office every day in those BMTC buses has become haven to lot of incidents, comedies, misfortunes etc. The "grow up stronger" song, I am listening to as I write this reminds me that I'm nowhere near almost famous yet.
Caring a damn to what ever they are busy with, I had this thought to play punter with my coin (Of course I am the only betting person against none !) I intend to run a small research survey among inhabitants of a Coin Land in order to ascertain their opinion on the recent developments in my world. This research is not likely to prove reliable to most of the world. That said, I don’t really care so I’m going to go ahead and toss up my coin for questions. I present my findings below for the benefit of those who have nothing better to do than to seek reason behind an insane man’s actions.I remember the logic and mental ability from my 7th standard where I matched Heads on the coin to true and the Tails to false to solve some questions, and may this is what is called effective reuse of the Code in this globalized software terminology where anything and everything which has some thing to do with usage of a little bit of brains is called hard work.I mean to remind you that I am a Software guy lolz !! :p
Here it goes

Mr.Me: Will I have a good day at work?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Will I get to go home on time?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Will the girl in the next cubicle smile at me?
Mr.Coin: yes

Mr.Me: Will I ever know what I want before I lose it?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Is my 2nd line manager mad?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Will this headache go away?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Is there a point to this?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Do I already know everything I need to know?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Can I be a rock star?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Do I owe anyone an apology?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Does anyone owe me one?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Am I completely incompetent at everything I do?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Will I ever be able to make my own decisions?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Can I be someone else?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Will India win the World cup?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Do I ever really like any of the people around me?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Then will they stop being so irritating?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Am I crazy?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Are my parents proud of me?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Do my friends really like me?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Does God exist?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Am I God?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Does anything ever matter?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Is everything you’ve told me above true?
Mr.Coin: No

Mr.Me: Is any of it true?
Mr.Coin: Yes

Mr.Me: Should I believe all of it to make life easier?
Mr.Coin: Yes

there we go, the Coin did speak, and I arrived at my office and the the girl had already smiled before I did.I am now with crossed fingers to decide on the probability of the success which the coin just said on my sojourn way, the Coins are as believable as anything else.

Happy Valentine's day

It is the most colorful and loveliest day for all those people waiting to express love and get a positive response from their beloved. So I was out with a perfectly planned and rehearsed sketch to impress my valentine. Woke up early, had put on a beautiful dress that depicts me as a person and also matches my mindset. Then I stepped out as my mobile rang my favorite Titanic song "every night in my dreams" and the number flashed was of "My love". We decided to meet at the perfect place for the day and so went to the Oswal green park which is very serene, that is just half way between our houses. I, with a bunch of fresh cut red roses in my right hand on half knees and she, standing in front of me, blushing as if she knew nothing that is going to happen, and her palm nicely held in my palm just about waiting for a kiss. We were both very avid as the moment I dreamt for all the while is actually about to happen. I knew she would accept my proposal to stride along me all my life and would agree to hold my hands till the very end. And as the moment unfurled, My mind went blank, what ever I thought of telling her to show up as a modern day romeio with all the qualities that she wanted in "her perfect man" were not anymore in my mind. All the words that I could utter were those three magical words, first I thought I was very naive to have proposed like that but then, I thought the actual content is delivered to her heart and was awaiting a reply from her like a batsman waiting for the ball never knowing if he would be bowled or would hit it for a sixer :p (I know I am very crappy here). Suddenly I felt this jolt at my back and I heard my roomies yelling it was 10 AM and I have to wake up to reach office on time :) I woke up knowing that I don't have anything better to do in Bangalore on this most romantic day of the year than to sit in front of the same system at my office and do all the routine project stuff and blog away the pain of not having something better to do than this. Should I call it the pain or illusion of pain ? well I am not sure anymore. Especially when I consider myself to be beyond these pity emotions :D. But now, more than ever, am really glad of the fact that I am a normal human, to whom the laws of nature apply in the same way :D and be a cool guy thinking of all those movie dialogs where the Hero says how happy he is being single and ready to mingle :) Any way, I wanted to say a very happy Valentines day to all the people in Love. Cheers and be happy guys!! for, you are being loved by someone not common.

"THE ANGREZ " - Movie review

In hundred steps, one step is always fumbled, In hundred movies we miss one good movie, this happened with me too,Last week I watched a gem of an old movie which I some how missed watching when it was released, and believe me friends, this movie called "THE ANGREZ" definitely deserves a mention in this prestigious blog of mine :p The rookie cast of the movie should be appreciated for the efforts it has taken in bringing it to people.I am so much amazed at the authenticity of the exact delivery of the words and sentences used in their full form, the exact replica which you hear in the interior parts of Apun kaa Hydraabad.This film tends to bring out its inherent flavor and the spicy tastes, the praise must go to the dialogs writer, he has done everything possible to overlook all commercial compulsions in penning the dialogs of this film.I think the crew really enjoyed the making of the movie than making of money, that is the primary reason why it came out in flying colors.with all these software parks, International Airport, and many more super money intensive ventures being started in Hyderabad today, the old look of Hyderabad is slowly on the loosing track.the Ismail bhai and his gangs are very rare to find these days, and this is a very timely film to save these people from extinction to eternity on digital format.His film will remain a very entertaining documentary down the history lane to the times our beautiful city was a witness to, I am sure this film is very entertaining and funnier than many contemporary films being made today. I am happy that I saw this film finally.Lucky me !! I f you are a mad fan of Hyderabad as I am, and like every thing about it, the dialect and our very own Hyderabadi Zubaan, then do watch this movie, its really worth your bucks.The only song in the movie which is all about Hyderabad sung in English is simply awesome !! I loved it like an ice cream.It seems that the crew of the Movie were going on their knees with a red rose in hand and proposing the fair damsel that is Hyderabad, and swearing their undying love to this maiden to eternity preserved in digital,laser disk format permanently :) I know it does not reach the team of the movie but Kudos to the team once again for their achievement.

I am the Reason !!

To strike the right cord at the right time is difficult, that too when it is against someone who is a cadre above you is definitely being courageous. There was no other option other than to retaliate the topical scenario that was happening at office. It was appraisal time and there was fear added to what I was contemplating to do. It was THIS letter to my manager that I had to send desperately, to change what was happening to me at office. I was working for 12 hours every day, where actually I am supposed to work for 8. I don't really say I was "working" But I was compelled to stay at office to attend the calls with The US team, and to discuss some issues that could have well been done in the day time by mail coordination. More over I was really frustrated by these questions that bore my mind when ever I stayed late at office, Why the hell does the US team not come earlier or leave late for discussions with us in IBM-RDC India? Why should only we in RDC suffer at their expense by working late after 10PM? Are we slaves to work in their time? Do we have more than 24 hours a day? What is that we are being paid if we stayed late? Why should we not maintain a work-life balance? I dared to send the letter to my manager, and I should say that I had answers to what ever I wanted with in 2 days, The scenario has changed, the MR status calls were made in advance by an hour (that means the US team would be joining the call at 8 AM instead of 9 AM), The off shift allowances which we had to be paid for working late would be paid soon (manager confirmed this in another mail to all the team mates). I had this year ending appraisal meeting, I was challenging enough to articulate all my accomplishments this year. All the hard work that I have done all these days to handle my projects would be recognized with some incentive in the near future, my manager said. I was also given a good appraisal at the end of the year, rating that I was given was good enough (I felt I deserved more!! but you know how selfish these human beings are :p). Every thing is well now, and I am leaving on time, my friends are awoke by the time I reach my room in contrast to earlier time, when I would reach my room by 12 midnight and every one would have slept!! I feel much satisfied now. I made it possible, in IBM lingo we say " I am the Reason " !

Cheers to TEAM INDIA :)

My first attempt to be a bit more imaginative ( I call it weird :P ) came out in flying colors after I uploaded my first video in google videos.This video which I have created is an outcome of 6.45 Hours of brain hammering + skipped supper + loads of research to prepare a movie.The intension is obviously to cheer the men in Blue a head of world cup and instill the confidence to romp home successfully after capturing the battle and be crowned as the caribbean kings.

Note: The true fun in watching this video would be only after allowing it to load completely, instead of watching it in bits and pieces as it buffers.