It hurts to see this happen to India's Gateway..

It hurts to see this happen to India's Gateway..

I have particularly never blogged on a social issue. At some level may be I have belonged to the class of Indians who believe in what was once a famous movie dialogue - " If we take care of ourselves, the world ll take care of itself"... But, this November 26th incident on Mumbai has hit me somewhere.

Though I have not been a Mumbaikar, the spirit of Mumbai is something that has always been a "shot of positive energy" for me even when I think of it. The dabbawala system which has attracted even Harvard Business school to do a research on this business model is not something I can forget. That, business is the lifeblood of Mumbai and that Mumbai is a city which has made so many write their own rags-to-riches story is something that gives me a good feeling about this city.

Those very roads connecting the CST Terminal, The Taj, The Oberoi, the Nariman house and the famous Marine Drive that were targetted in the attacks yesterday, are roads I have walked through at three really weird stages of my life.
(There have been many visits in between.. but the ones I list here, I ll never forget.)

One - When I was 8 years old(4th standard). I was visiting my aunt who lives in Mumbai(she was in Colaba then) and I was with my grandfather on that day, who had been in Mumbai for a very long time before coming to Chennai. Even after 15 years of not being in Mumbai he remembered the exact order of stations from CST to Dadar. I was looking at this in awe and even at the age of 8, when I had no clue of what "Positive energy" actually means it was nice to be in a station of like that. We walked it up from CST to Gateway of India and I do not exactly remember what was running in my mind then. I only remember getting awed by looking at The Taj.

Two - This was in September 2006. I had gone to visit my aunt for durga puja in Mumbai. I was just into my 3rd month in my first workplace and I was not feeling good at all - personally and professionally. With a lump in my throat that I could not swallow, I went all on my own to CST from Powai trying to find some kinda solace by being in a place where grief is not noticeable because we are made to feel too small to worry about something to even feel depressed. (Exactly the same with New York...). Travelling in Mumbai did make me feel better.

Third - This was in January 2008. This was the first and the ONLY time I actually had the chance to visit the Taj. It was a really good b-school's interview and I went there again driven by some hope, some heaviness, some uncertainity and some nostalgia. I was dressed in formals and as I got down at CST and walked along the road leading to the Taj, there was something that was making me feel better. I still do not know what it is. I went to Taj with a hesitation. I was really thinking someone would stop me because I was not "classy" enough to be there. It was a silly feeling. Nevertheless, as I went inside I realized that the Taj is more than what anyone can actually imagine when seen from outside. I felt lucky to be invited to a place as grand as that. After my interview, as I was returning, I remember seeing some of the best books I have read being sold on the pavement. 1984, Animal farm, Wuthering Heights.... Seeing these was making me feel good in a weird way. I had the Rs 5 Vada paav and Rs 5 sugarcane juice and was in bliss. I returned to CST and as I was waiting for the local, I was time and again reminded of my previous trips to Mumbai.

Mumbai has been a place which I have visited when I have been in some of my weirdest mind states and as I have suffciently belaboured here, just being in this city has always made me feel better and less depressed. Studying Financial Engineering now makes me feel even closer to this financial capital of India and to see that city take this beating makes me feel really bad. I join the thousands of others who are angered, frustrated and feeling helpless, to pray for relief for those families who would be mourning the loss of their loved ones.

I believe that it is too hard to break the spirit of Mumbai and even driving a bullet right through its heart will not deprive it of its oxygen.

I miss Mumbai ......

A really cool way to find sleeping hours. !

A really cool way to find sleeping hours. !

This technique works when:
a) U are a googler. U use google for search( not yahoo or msn etc.)
b) U have access to sign into google accounts throughout the day.
c) You dont access internet when u sleep.

For me these three are perfectly valid assumptions. Ok, so how do I find out my sleeping hours ? Ans:Google - web history trends

Google Rocks !

From this it can be seen that, 6 am - 11 am is when I sleep the most. :-) No wonder I keep missing classes.

If not on the 'mother of all mondays', when then ?

If not on the 'mother of all mondays', when then ?

I have like a 100 headlines to read and atleast 25 blog articles inviting me to do something more interesting. However, "if not today, when then ?" - is the question that is forcing me to write this blog.
September 15th, 2008 - This day will go down in US history as one of the most chaotic days on Wall Street.
Bear Stearns started it 7 months ago, Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae renewed it last sunday, Lehman Brothers and Merryl Lynch. made it historic today. Washington Mutual & AIG are struggling hard to make their names indispensable from the above set. They are not far away...

There are tons of blogs and articles that will give any reader actual news and opinions about what he/she wants to know. Try : marketwatch.com . So, I decided to blog about something different. As I was thinking, it hit me that gtalk was full of innovative status-es.

So let me, as a representative of all those who feel crushed under the enormous burden we are being forced to carry, pen down a few statuses that I came across, more as an elegy than as just an observation.

Praveen D : " Wall street is worse than Renganathan Street."
Gaurav: "How many geniuses will fail ? "
Partha: "ACDC: "I am on my way to....." "
Man Mohan: "Blood Bath on Wall Street."
Yours truly: " The writing on the WALL says :-' you will be in the STREET' ."

And the best:
Aditya: "India Chalo"

As I conclude this article, there is something else that struck me. Will post it by tonight. As the galaxy collapses newer stars will continue forming :-) Thats driving me to start something today. Of Course not a company..... then ? :-)

Squirrels of NYC !

Squirrels of NYC !

May be the myth behind the three stripes on Squirrels in India is true. !.. The squirrels in NYC are devoid of the three stripes, gigantic, apathetic to human presence, slow, lazy and more than anything cute when they stand on their hind-legs.

Here is a decent snap !.


Caveat: Objects are a lot cuter in reality than they appear on snaps.

Running MATLAB 7 R14 on a AMD Turion X2

Running MATLAB 7 R14 on a AMD Turion X2

Are you using HP Pavilion lx2000 with "AMD Turion X2" and trying to run that cant-do-without Matlab 7 R14 ? Is it opening perfectly and closing immediately. A good solution is here:

 

http://asadasif.com/index.php?itemid=2

(or) 

http://unitstep.net/blog/2006/08/21/getting-matlab-to-run-on-a-newer-athlon-64-x2-cpu/

It is about adding two lines to the file "blas.spec".

For me the last two lines that had to be appeneded to the blas.spec found in  matlab7/bin/win32/blas.spec were:

AuthenticAMD Family 17 Model 3 atlas_Athlon.dll # Turion 64

AuthenticAMD Family 17 Model * atlas_Athlon.dll # AMD64

To get the Family and Model number do this:

a) Go to device manager.

b) Double Click your processor.. and Select 'Details' tab.

c) Select 'hardware ids' in the dropdown.

Note the family number and model number. IF they are 'a' and 'b' respectively, then the above lines change to:

AuthenticAMD Family a Model b atlas_Athlon.dll # Turion 64

AuthenticAMD Family a Model * atlas_Athlon.dll # AMD64

__

An invain attempt at trying to feel better doing "charity".

Two methods to shatter an ego.

Two methods to shatter an ego.

Learnt this the real hard way.
Let me personify ego.

a) Clutch it in one quick firm grasp right in the neck and hit it so hard squarely on its head that it dies before it realizes that it is suffocating to death because of the asphyxiating grasp.
(This according to me is far less cruel.)

b) Pamper it a bit. Let its ego ( ego's ego) get to the head slightly. Know what it is like to revel in slight superiority. Then make it understand that it is going to be not destroyed but annihilated. Make it understand the fundamentals of Chemistry. " All elements are made up of small ( for most practical purposes indivisible) particles called atoms". Rip it atom by atom, molecule by molecule. But again not fast. Make it understand in the process that it is dying. Dont let it die without recognizing what is going on. Make it realize that its not dead, may be it never will die, but the destruction will continue for eternity. It can only think of half-life. May be its too radioactive to be theoretically destroyed. Give it a fake and completely ephemeral joy of building itself back and then again do the destruction. This time a little more slowly but a lot more severely.

Slow and steady. Patient and Ruthless. Meticulous and continuous. Unbiased and uniform.

There is only question or may be rhetoric that remains with the battered ego: " What have I been reduced to ? "

Reminded of this amazing line in 1984.
"....A needle slid into Winston's arm. Almost in the same instant a blissful, healing warmth spread all through his body. The pain was already half-forgotten. He opened his eyes and looked up gratefully at O'Brien. At the sight of the heavy, lined face, so ugly and so intelligent, his heart seemed to turn over. If he could have moved he would have stretched out a hand and laid it on O'Brien's arm. He had never loved him so deeply as at this moment, and not merely because he had stopped the pain. The old feeling, that at bottom it did not matter whether O'Brien was a friend or an enemy had come back. O'Brien was a person who could be talked to. Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as be understood. O'Brien had tortured him to the edge of lunacy, and in a little while, it was certain, he would send him to his death. It made no difference. In some sense that went deeper than friendship, they were intimates: somewhere or other, although the actual words might never be spoken, there was a place where they could meet and talk.... "

At times the ego does feel like how Winston Smith feels here. Inexplicable masochistic tendencies of an otherwise normal human - I would call it that.

"E(This blog appearing | Ft) = 0 , Not anymore though :-) " *

"E(This blog appearing | Ft) = 0 , Not anymore though :-) " *

HeheHehe.
I really cant believe I am gonna blog on something rather technical. It feels good in a way to do that.
I had this amazingly fascinating lecture on something called "Brownian motion" today. And quite abnormally, I was totally glued (physically and mentally) to the lecture.
Y ?

This is one of those concepts which I would classify under the "beauty of mathematics". For readers who have no clue of what I am talking about, Brownian motion is the mathematical way of trying to explain the path that a particle of dust takes when it is randomly bombarded by sunlight , air molecules etc. Using Brownian motion we try to get a mathematical expression for the most random and irregular of happenings in life. Have any of those phenomenally less talented guys (like me) ever wondered what it would take to actually try to give an expression for anything and everything you see ??? I dont think many would have thought about it. But I always have. Just drawing a zigzag line and trying to think " Sheesh.. There is actually an equation to define even this curve and I have no idea what that is..", used to be a little depressing atleast because it reminded me of how little I knew. But today I had a glimpse of that.

There is more to math than mere (a + b ) ^ 2 = a^2 + b ^2 + 2ab .

However, on the examination front, my marks are characterized by a Random variable which has an increasing probability for taking lower integer values. How (much is the ) "mean" !!!!! :-)

Never even dreamt that I would blog on my opinion on Brownian motion when in Seventh Standard I heard this statement for the first time.
"The movement of very fine insoluble particles in water is characterized by Brownian motion."

Okay, as I conclude, is someone thinking why a Financial Engineering student is talking about Brownian Motion. It's actually a little weird. The movement of a dust particle in air and the movement of stock prices are characterized by the same equations ( with a set of rather misleading assumptions :-) .. )

As my professor mentioned, here is the link:
http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/bachelier.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bachelier

What fascinates me most about the Wiki entry ? :-)
... "Bachelier arrived in Paris in 1892 to study at the Sorbonne, where his grades were less than ideal."

Reallllly reallllly exciteddddddd :-)

_____
* t = When in India.

The title means, "Expectation of this blog appearing = 0, when taken at a time when I was in India."

A Romantic Location to blog from...

A Romantic Location to blog from...

Jus wanna make sure that I dont miss blogging from a environment as romantic as this. It is 2 am. I have a midterm tomorrow.
Nevertheless....

I m on the steps of Low Library with an "almost Crescent" moon smiling at me, which is basically a warning that it is going to disappear behind the Butler Library. It is 16 deg C here and the place is unusually quiet except for a few couples making the slightest noises which I personally think is cos even they do not want to disturb the sanctity of the environment.

One of those few moments being in which makes one wanna genuinely thank every second in his life that has brought him here( in the dimension of time).

One of those few moments which only a deprived heart can completely identify with.

One of those few moments which make me realize that there is more to life than mere brooding.

One of those few moments which make everything I see look beautiful.

Reminded of one of my most favorite lines from American Beauty:

Ricky: It's like God's looking right at you, just for a second, and if you're careful you can look right back.

Jane: And what do you see?

Ricky: Beauty.

_ I agree. There are a few moments in life which seem plainly beautiful and just that - beautiful.

The blog content says it all.....

The blog content says it all.....

My first "handwritten" blog!!!:-). Yayyyyyy...... TABLET"ED"..

If only probability theory favors me...

If only probability theory favors me...

If we try to associate a probability to a particular event happening when we consider a set of infinite events, it is known that the probability for that to happen =0.
Consider my stupid little life(phrase inspired from american beauty obviously):

Considering I live long enough, there are infinite events in my life.
Events = { everything from gettin up, brushing, bathing, walking to sleeping ...... } ( effectively everything that I do because I am alive that day.)

Now the probability that any particular event occurs in that set of events is 0. ( Mathematically, it can be proven, Intutively, come on !~!! there are like infinte events..the event that a particular event will happen is 0.)

Now, consider the event A as
A:I dont get up on time for an very important lecture on an abstract topic which cannot be complemented with notes.

IP(A) = 0 !!!

But, F**k it happens..! :-( :-(

So, this math is "almost surely" not correct. So, I neednt learn it at all in the first place.

So, Should I even feel bad enough to blog about this ?

Irritated !!!!

Irritated !!!!

I am really irritated now about this damn punctuality of the survey I have to take up now. !! ! ! I get up at 8.45 am for a survey at 9.00 and rush grabbing a coffee and muffin ( hehe. ya ya kinda sorta showing off about the food ) almost tripping near the subway entry and after all this when I finally enter I am asked to wait !

I am now jobless enough to actually blog !...  

Longest Bike-ride till date.

Longest Bike-ride till date.

On the fifth of June, 2008, I decided I will waste as much as petrol as I can on a Colleague's bike. :-)

I think the whole trip must have been some 80 km circumscribing almost 3/4ths of Bangalore.

Here is the route ( marked in Red) on the Bangalore city map.

:-)

"Sayonara DDY :-(

"Sayonara DDY :-(

I really dint expect I will write this when I wrote my first ever blog ( which coincidentally happens to be from DDY again). This will be the last time I am accessing internet here and this means so much to me cos, "internet" is the one single resource which I have used the most in my last two years in office.

I really leave DDY with a heavy heart and a light purse :-) and I so will cherish all the moments(read chats) I have had here.

DDY, you have fuelled some of the best things that have happened to me in the last two years. ( including this blog). I will ever remain grateful to you for that.

Miss u, DDY.

"Hey Nandy, unnaku evalo ஈ ?"

"Hey Nandy, unnaku evalo ஈ ?"

This is something which Thirukumaran and I came up with, when we were at our peak joblessness. 

First watch this video.

With immense empathy for people who dont have decent internet to view the video, I post a snapshot of the single most important item of the video.

This is one of the parts of this film which according to me is irritatingly annoying. Nevertheless, it was based on this part that I decided that there has to be a unit to quantify that emotion which was specifically designed to overwhelm logic and reason. The apparatus shown in the clip above is so silly that at times I wonder how a director like Shankar can come up with things like this. Well, if there can be an instrument to show love, so can there be an unit to quantify it. Based on that kinda reasoning, here I present  ஈ .

Had Cheeyan known our idea, he would have mostly probably asked, "Hey Nandy, unnaku evalo  ஈ ?" :-)

I attribute 50% of "concepts" in this blog to Thiru and it is he who came up with the symbol ஈ and also half of the idea about this blog. 

So, Thiru, I have given you enough credit. Happy ?

Please read this chat:

__________________

10:58 PM
Thirukumaran: machi orey bore adikkudhu da
10:59 PM
me: dei
try finding out a SI unit for love da
i ll laso hlep u
Thirukumaran: poda goyya thala
me: it is required da
serious aaa
quantifyin love..
" enna da.. avan evalo da love panran ? "
11:00 PM
" semma loves da.. 3 Mega XXXX da.."
it shuld b like that
Thirukumaran: avan kalzilo love panran da
11:01 PM
hmmm i have discovered da
zilo s the unit
and zilometer s the meter to measure it da
me: zilo ille
somethin else
11:02 PM
Thirukumaran: pillow vechikkalam da
me: ille da
somethin else
Thirukumaran: saw my status message
me: somethin like...
11:03 PM
greek god of love
who is greek god of love da ?
11:04 PM
Thirukumaran: Eros
me: Eros
super da
Thirukumaran: erosion
me: so we keep
woowwwwwwwwwww
macha
awesome da
:)
ok
so symbol is E
and unit erosion
:)
Thirukumaran: machi
simple e venam da
11:05 PM
me: now v ve to define 1 erosion da
dei
tjhere is no E unit da
Thirukumaran: the symbol should b different
me: so it ll b ok
Thirukumaran: wait
11:06 PM
ஈ
will b the unit
me: HAHAA
HAHAHAHAHAH
Thirukumaran: english karan greek words a symbol a use pannum bodhu
me: google transliterate ellam aa
Thirukumaran: mambalum tamil use panrom

__________________

So, people how many ஈ do you think you have. Do leave your comment. Thiru, U rock da :-).

It is there, right within.

It is there, right within.

-Dedicated to someone who needs this the most now:

He is able, who thinks he is,

Things are stable, nothing is amiss,

Everything that you feel about the future,

Am sure is on its natural way to suture.

Regret - rest it like a dead egret,

Guilt - drown it like dry silt,

Agony - throw it like spoilt honey,

Fear - dispose it without givin' it an ear.

Feeling dead and burnt in pain ?

Be assured it is going to rain,

... happiness, pleasure and bliss,

because it has closed - the abyss.

Everytime you slip, it takes just a moment to brush the dust off,

Everytime you trip, it is nothing but a momentary layoff,

Why bother when events poles asunder,

Try to rip you, forcing surrender ?

Fight, dont give up !

Battle, dont let go !

Focus, dont let blur !

Push, dont retreat !!

Let the world turn its back towards you,

Let the sky not dawn to eclipse light from you,

Let the wind stop blowing to suffocate you,

Let the water stop flowing to dehydrate you,

I promise to lend...

a helping hand,

a supporting shoulder,

and a listening ear.

United we stand, Divided you will still stand !!!!

My seniors..Their Farewell Lunch.. and Everything that doesn't always matter @ workplace :-).

My seniors..Their Farewell Lunch.. and Everything that doesn't always matter @ workplace :-).

I am more than contented to have immediate seniors at work who were philanthropic enough to invite me to the farewell party they organized for the few stalwarts of their seniority, who decided to 'get a life' (read quit). That, I would have in any case gatecrashed is something I do not want to talk about at length now considering how nice they have been to me.

The lunch had one of the best of spreads I have ever seen and I painstakingly noted down each menu item just because I would love to read what all I ate yesterday may be 10 years from now. :-)

1. Chicken manchow soup
   
2. German veg potato soup
   
3. Hawain chicken salad
   
4. Mutton dhum biriyani
   
5. Egg fyung
   
6. Mutter Paneer
   
7. Mirchi ka Salan
   
8. Veg Kali Mirch
   
9. Veg dhum biriyani
   
10. Papad
    
11. Rolls
    
12. Salad
    
13. Chutney
    
14. Buddha Delight
    
15. Veg Hakka Noodles
    
16. Veg Schezwan fried rice
    
17. Steamed Rice
    
18. Rasam
    
19. Sambar
    
20. Aloo fry
    
21. Semiya Kheer
    
22. Gaajar Halwa
    
23. Butter milk
    
24. Curd Rice
25. Pickles ( 3 varieties of them)
26. Papdi Chaat
27. Breezer ( This is supposed to actually be in another list. But, we were all too full to drink.)

      

____________________________ 

Pic 1: CEO and Infy-Harmony expert. Pic 2: Me and Kuls. Kuls I think was trying to imitate the first scene in "A Clockwork Orange". Pic 3: Rambler - Rambling on something that only can be sourced by an inconsistent mind.

____________________________

Thank you people. This place would not have been what it has been if not for your advice, suggestions and pertinent guidances. Keep this going.

Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp ! { Sorry for this almost flagrant violation of blog-manners. }

My Loo-mate*

My Loo-mate*

I do not know how many of you will know what it is like to be "living" in a room that is right there. I mean right in the middle.

Right in the middle - in every sense of the phrase. ( Downtown proximity, commercial centre proximity, workplace proximity etc).

Rents in such areas generally tend to burn a hole in your pocket and hence it is not too sensible to look for luxury. However, after a lot of Googling I was able to manage a sexy room for a mere Rs 2500 pm right in the middle. ( This happened almost an year ago..!. )

But as Morpheus puts it - Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

I had to share my loo with another homosapien. Sadly, he only biologically can be classified under this species mainly because he does not know how to use the loo.

Flush is a word that is not present in his lexicon. Neither does he know the verb form nor does he know the noun form. (adjectives ? Yes, he is such a flush.! I wouldnt mind using that on him. )Or may be he just doesnt want to. Or may be he just does not care enough. Or may be for him all that matters is his room and not the common loo !.

Most of my mornings the first thing I get to see is something that is shunned from the human body. May be I should have included me seeing a clean loo in my "A marvelous morning" blog.

Anyways...Was in my friend's house and just did not know what to do when she (Heparin) was studying 's'edulously, so that she can do an MS. Hence this entry. :-)

PS:- This by no way is a lament. I loveee my room and I have no problems with it at all. ( It's all about the loo... aint it ? :-) .. )
______
*Term coined by Heparin! - I have No intentions of plagiarizing that too when 'plagiarize' is one word which has affected her life so much :-|. Heparin, if u ever read this, you better comment !.

Three on Three.

Three on Three.

Cruising the heights of joblessness at supersonic speeds, I have decided to write something as inane as this. :-)

Three different laptops...,
With three different operating systems...,
From three completely different sources ...,

One Sunday evening their paths cross over...,
Some arbit blog ( .. :-) .. ) changes irreversibly.

Acer - Ubuntu , Dell - Vista Home Basic, IBM - XP.

When it rains @ work:-)

When it rains @ work:-)

Today we had the time of our lives when it rained cats and dogs. What did we do ?

We had regattas. :-) Four-Five paper boats made from single side printed paper competed in what was by all means a competition that was the first of its kind in my workplace.
______________________
Before I continue further, an explanation of "we" - Three people ( all x- MTs) who have resigned and are trying their best to [have fun at] work.
______________________

Using Cafe coffee day cups as propellers was only going on to prove the tag line - " A lot can happen over coffee."


Rain Reins :-) .

Watching a T20 @ Chinnaswamy! - many FIRSTs and no regrets.

Watching a T20 @ Chinnaswamy! - many FIRSTs and no regrets.

Srinath blogging about cricket ? No,  you have not lost your sanity. You did read what you just read. :-)

I did get an opportunity to watch a match in the Chinnaswamy stadium at Bangalore. 

Match: RC vs RR.

I got the opportunity to watch it in a corporate ticket and this was absolutely awesome.

To start with - a great view of the field, free food, free liquor, free snacks and last yet not in anyway the least - a mere 4 feet from CheerLeaders :-) I simply had the time of my life watching the match. Got my face weirdly tattooed and again this happens to be my FIRST face tattoo.

   

Bangalore performed pathetically and the match was not interesting particularly because right from the word go Rajasthan seemed to have the upper hand. But, I can aver that in the entire corporate stand only 50% were watching the match. What about the rest 50% ?

CHEERLEADERS :-) 

                      

Though slightly less than half my mind is telling me to blog in detail, slightly more than half my mind is telling me to hit the bed. Its 0534 hrs and I guess it's time to actually let the snaps do the talking. After all, a snap is worth a thousand blogs :-D.

Haven't slept in 36 hours. Good Night :-).

Scribblings from Ramamurthy Nagar, KR Puram, Pin: 560016.

Scribblings from Ramamurthy Nagar, KR Puram, Pin: 560016.

I live 'only' 19 km from this part of Bangalore and I am here today quite frankly for getting free internet and decent food :-).

This is where FS* ( Very Senior Business Associate - Manh Asso. ) and MP ( Very Very Senior Business Associate - Manh Asso. ) live.

This is their new house and it kinda rocks except that it is irrationally stuffy inside. Nevertheless, being a Rajni fan I can only think of - " Namben da.." and I am fighting the heat.

Having made an achievement of traveling this distance in less than an hour, I wanted to "hoist" my Malleshwaram flag here and hence this entry.
_________________

*Name changed and shortened beyond decent cognitive recognition to preserve the integrity, stability and virginity :-) of these two guys.

iShuffle :-)

iShuffle :-)

This is a little late to enter this blog. Nevertheless.

On April 9,2008, I got my first apple product. 

I had such a huge crush on it that I wanted to tell any girl I met-

'Adi "Podi", nee ennai "kavutha" ..... "iPod" aai irukirrai..! '

Girls reading this.. Sufficiently Repelled ? :-)

That something so light, so sleek and so good exists is something I fail to come to terms with.

PS:Isn't the engraving conspicuously asinine ? It was meant to be.

Bangalore is getting HOT { :-) + :-( = :-| ... }

Bangalore is getting HOT { :-) + :-( = :-| ... }

Pun ? err.. Nope ! At least not entirely intended.

Bangalore is actually getting hot. When I discuss this topic with seasoned Bangalore-ans, I get this really bored and as-a-matter-of-fact look on their faces as the repartee. They attribute it to pollution, irrelevant real estate expansions of an unplanned dimension and of course "global warming". I honestly consider these problems above my level of comprehension.

Having stayed in Chennai for 21 years before coming to Bangalore, I should not have found this topic worth a blog.  But, Bangalore was not "designed" to face these temperatures. Mercury kissed 35 on the celsius scale today ( just April ! ! ). And I was not designed to face Bangalore in this temperature. The lack of water vapor in the atmosphere makes the heat a little unbearable. It's now some 2330 hrs and I find my room so hot that my chair (plastic) is a little too hot to sit on for the first 4 seconds. !

What is with the pun in the topic then ? The opposite sex population ?

Kinda sorta.

Still, heat is best enjoyed when generated within.

Chennai, I miss you so much.

A Marvelous Morning

A Marvelous Morning

How many times have you had exactly the kind of morning you wanted to have ?

By all standards of skepticism/optimism/pessimism I have had none.

Until today.

Yes, work begins at 8.30 am and people at office are not actually strict about timings. Nevertheless, the dirty and oh-u-come-at-this-time look is not very welcoming even for people who are comfortably apathetic. I am an apathy aspirant. So, that surely is not the look that I want to get and hence I generally tend to be 'punctual'.

That being said, I will explain my morning.

"Tee Tee tee Teeeeeeeeeeee teeeeeeeeeeeee tee tee tee. Tee Tee tee Teeeeeeeeeeee teeeeeeeeeeeee tee tee tee. " - went my cell which was in its last stages of battery life. I got up and realized it was just half an hour since I hit the bed and all my forethought into deliberately keeping an alarm in a cell almost devoid of battery charge so that it wont wake me up - was some really inane estimation ! It was just 6 am and I had gone to bed at 5.30 am.

Err... If by any chance you are thinking what a busy life I have been living, then please correct your assumption. I was watching a movie till 3.30 am and chatting till 5.30 am about topics which I really do not remember. 

This came to my mind in a flash and I realized it is not worth getting up at 6 am. So, I acted as if I never heard the alarm ( but y did I act ? I live alone and neither am I capable of being questioned nor am I answerable to anyone). Still.

When I next woke up my TV was still ON, showing the same ad (of Sharukh about Airtel's concept of earning Rs 5 crore being easier than passing 5th standard ) that comes every 10th minute on Star World.! I slowly tried moving and just found out my cell was as dead as a DODO. The equation that defined the curve that my lip took was a smooth and broad parabola open upward. I realized I would have been unreachable for anyone who tried to contact me and hence I am not the "call ignore-r". Then, I strained hard and tried seeing the time on NDTV ( without my specs, I barely distuingish numbers these days). It was a romantic 12.35 pm. 

That I actually slept through the entire morning was giving me inexplicable and ineffable joy. Not that I have never woken up at 12.35 pm or later, but that today is a working day and I am actually expected in some other place and still I was in my bed in my night clothes was the source of all the pleasure. Slowly trying to turn around, I realized I had to wash clothes before going to office. 

TV in full volume, not a soul to question my sluggishness and the arrogance of a impending unpunctual attendance - these drove me to finish my morning chores at a decent pace. I returned to my room only to find yesterday's F.R.I.E.N.D.S and Seinfeld just starting on TV. Wow.. :-)

I watched these sitcoms and simultaneously  groomed myself rather nonchalantly and left my room. The moment I stepped out of my apartment complex, I got an auto to my office. Generally, I need to walk about 400 m to get one. As I got in, I got calls from two-three friends and hence I dint even get impatient about spending time in the signals. And when I reached office I understood that the Auto Meter had been going slow because the auto guy asked me for the same rate I usually pay (though I got an auto without walking the 400 m distance. :-) ... )

With iPod full blast in my ears, I pressed the lift button and the next second the lift opened. (Trust me, this only goes on to show there is a probability that Murphy's law will fail. The lift which otherwise takes at least 300 seconds to stop in your level, today takes just 1 second. This is a clear exception of Murphy's).

Its 1.40 pm and I walk in to the office with an air of indomitable rudeness :-) ( I tend to walk like that now-a-days.... me dragging my leg a little too much is being perceived like that.). All these people who give me the "looks" are now lunching and I have no one looking at me.

I am simply awed by the sequence of events and realize that I have to blog on this.

QED.

 :-).

(Part 2/2) Automation Controllers..... buy 2...get 3 free !

(Part 2/2) Automation Controllers..... buy 2...get 3 free !

Well.. it has been a while since I blogged and I ve decided to write more often. So let me first complete my previous topic. 

Lunch:

There are certain human characteristics I am awed by and 'adaptability to bad food' is one of them. A classic example of this was our lunch. We were taken to a "mess" ( wow.. never knew "MESS" could have such a beautiful pun built into it) where we HAD to eat( hunger driven by  acids etching the stomach linings is a natural force overriding any protest by the tongue). My boss being the strictest of vegetarians was completely shaken seeing the "mess". I, on the other hand was driven purely and solely by hunger and I was waiting to even eat the banana leaf kept in front of us ( yes, food in a frond). For the sake of my self-esteem I choose not to mention the spread in this blog. But it was here that I realized the Rand-ian phrase : "driven by a sense of ruthless purpose". Hunger being the purpose, I devoured food like how a sandpaper would absorb ink. Yes, the food stained me :-(

Moving on.....Then started the most boring part of the trip. We had to go through painfully long discussions on topics which we were completely ignorant. It was actually interesting to know how even the smallest of things cause the biggest of frustrations to customers. Ego boosts, a sincere acceptance of not-a-big-mistake as our fault, smiling and of course assurances made the customers deal-able. 

I was also offered tea twice or thrice in between and people started taking my cell phone number. Now, Y on earth should I be giving my personal number to the customer ? - that being no rhetoric, I realized I could not protest much if I wanted to get out early. So quite against my wishes, I shared my number( Not a single girl has asked my number since the year began but this happened. Murphy's Law it seems.)

We then had to meet the president of the Cement plant to say a formal 'hi' ( read 'bye'). He was treated like he was an incarnation of Hitler and his voice and build were, I think the reasons for the treatment he received. Being a man with a stentorian voice and a sinister smile, the President lived up to his name. We sat in his room in the meeting for almost 50 minutes in which he spoke with us for only 3.1415 minutes. Calls, Calls, Calls and calls - from every damn person in the plant distracted him. I really hoped the president has his hearing intact till he retires at least.

After the not-so-meeting types meeting we embarked on our return journey. It was awesome. The relief that I will not be staying for more than 3-4 hrs here and the compassionate sun made it a pleasure drive. We drove quite fast to a "Adyar Ananda Bhavan" and had( i mean ate) some Chat. Then we left to our suite :-P.

This was again interesting. I was left alone in my room and I had all the time to do whatever I wanted to. And only in the fag end (no pun intended) did I realize I can burden blogspot a bit and hence my previous blog :-)

There was nothing special about the dinner and my boss was patient enough to actually wait for me because he sat with me though he ate only half the quantity of what I had. After having some delicious Rumali Rotis and Mushroom and Gobi Channa, we left to the station.

MORAL:->

He who comes from Karur is not afraid of Limestone.

And today I said...."Automation Controllers... Buy 2, get 3 free.." (part 1/2)

And today I said...."Automation Controllers... Buy 2, get 3 free.." (part 1/2)

"Yayyyy ! Today I did my first front-end marketing :-) :-) .. " - This is what I wanted to tell today evening, when I left my room today morning. BUT I realized that there is always a BUT. With little time left now.(before I get to the train).. I think I ll blog... :-)

To start with... an amazing hotel, a rich breakfast and a super cozy car... The hotel room was nothing less than a suite... BAD LUCK - My luggage spent more time there than I did. The breakfast menu was a complex combination of every possible cuisine one can think of for breakfast. I dint know the name of half the items in the buffet. When already I was cursing my ignorance, a cute looking Chinese girl walks up to me, points at the Kichadi kept and asks - " Isss thessse made of potaato.. ? "...Frankly, I wanted to say, "Yaaay... oru China Chittu enna paathu question kettuta.... yayy... " ( ya ya.. Alaipayuthey Maddy style only)..But quietly told her "No, this is mashed rice... "...Flirting is as involuntary as heartbeat...Never starts when you want it.. Never stops when you dont want it..

Anyways after satisfying my stomach and my eyes ( :-P ) ... we( i was with my boss) embarked on a 35km drive. It must have been the food, I slept off in less than 120 seconds.. Woke up somewhere in some town with a severe headache.. Feeling very uneasy, I opened THE HINDU and went straight to the Friday Review.( I always make it a point to read "Business News" before marketing presentations :-P .. ). Then came the Cement plant....

A brief definition of cement plants as I perceive them - "A place where Limestone is turned into "powdered Limestone" after adding ash, in the absence of women.. " .. Yes, a cement plant is "DRY", DUSTY and HOT. However, it is wonderful to stand amidst tall chimneys and Kilns admiring what all the human brain is capable of.

We had to surrender our laptops and cellphones at the gate itself. "Come on..we need to sell you guys some controllers and this is not possible without MS- Powerpoint. ", I was telling the security.
"Saaar.. Enna saaar ? "
"Oh.. tamil aaa ? laptop ulla udnga boss... "
"Ille saar.. athu ellam mudiyathu.. ithu kovil mathiri.. seruppa vella uttutu pora mathiri, laptop vella ututu thaaan ponum"....
(in my mind) ".........@!#$%^&*()_...... "

Okies..we surrendered everything and then we get into Customer Corolla and go 0.654 km before we were dropped... And then we go around inside this CONTROL ROOM asking each guy we meet. " Mr. X ? " ... "Mr. X ? " .... "Mr. X?"
All of them give us equally misleading directions and we somehow end up sitting in Mr.X's table waiting for him. Several thoughts flash through my mind. "Are we not DDY marketing managers ? .. How can we wait.... ? This is toooo much... Come on.. I have some self-esteem and pride....."
But all that is of no use. Customer is God for "marketing" people. And then God came. A man of few words and fewer hair :-) ( ok ok.. i m myself balding.. so i can tease...).. He then stretched his hand forward. "Hello.. I m X...", "Hello, I m Srinath... how was the morning?" .... What followed is a phony conversation between me, my boss and Mr. X. I was actually enjoying it. "First "Marketing".. come on.... u need to do all this...", I was telling myself.

After a lot of unnecessary talk about climate in Karur, food in Bangalore, economy in India and agriculture being the best job for politicians, we agreed to go to the controller site to examine the actual configuration. For this we had to wait for Mr. Y ( the specialist in this operation). We waited and waited and then came Mr.Y. From the moment I saw him what surprised me was his resemblance to the Tamil Comedian Vadivelu :-) .He was actually junior to Mr. X, however there were a lot of ego clashes. Inane jokes and phony humor overtook the conversation, with X and Y taking turns in trying to impress us regarding who is better.

But, it was great to actually go to the quarry (or mine) from which the limestone required for cement is obtained. The mines were 6 km away (! ! ! !) from the plant and it was transported through a roller. I was stunned at the way this was being monitored. 300 motors working in complete synch to get the limestone rolling. If the operator wants to freeze a load of limestone, all he needs to do is CLICK his mouse. When we reached the quarry, I was reminded of Fountain Head. Frankly, I was searching for a Domnique :-D. It was unbearably hot and dry. But we had to convince the customer about a lot of things (which I personally considered stupid). I constantly kept reminding myself of GABTAIN. He always puts duty before his belly(though that is a tough task for him). After spending about an hour there discussing various issues such as "Controller peak load, Safety, Reliablity.."(things really which I don believe in), we returned and went for lunch...

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Will continue in my next blog.. Train is just 1 hr from now and we have not yet had our dinner. !

The rave(st) review I ve ever got...

The rave(st) review I ve ever got...

The truth always surfaces when anger seizes control of the brain... There was one such incident recently where I got the most candid review of my blog from someone whose comments (unfortunately) matter to me :-) ... Here it goes..

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X:"Your blogs SUCK...." ( It was told with such hatred, anger and indifference- a deadly combination- that it STUNG me... :-) .. )

Me:"err..excuse me..... of course u r kiddin... :-) . "

X:"NO... NONO.. They actually suck, you dont write well at all.....Try to improve...instead of arguing about it with me.. "

Me:"Hmmmmm....... " ( this is the single most often repeated word in most of my chats.. a friend of mine calls it "tacit half approval.." .... I ve no idea what it means though.. ll blog on it sometime.. )

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Other candid comments are welcome ..... .... .... :-)