Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Move on!!

If you don't change you may become extinct!!
I needed a change. :) You can now read this blog at babble2blabber.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Crazy Captions!

I had written about how lonely I was in the old team at office here. The new team is fun!! I guess it's because there are more members of my age group. We work, we chat, we tease each other and we fight over Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. It's been about four months and I can say the time has been good.

Now we are at the end of a release. Generally the team celebrates a release by going for a team outing or team lunch. Also a couple of times previously they had ordered similar t-shirts for the whole team. This is the plan for the current release as well. All the previous releases and the current one of our product is named after various breeds of horses. Now you may think how many releases can they name after horses? But I was shocked. Just go check this out!!

Now that I have written about everything except what I wanted to write, let me get back on track. We crazy bunch of teammates started a group chat in the afternoon about what caption should we have on the t-shirt. We laughed our heads off, with the things we came up with. Ended up with the manager and the ODC members staring at us. I thought I'll share it with you guys and lighten your mood (will be best enjoyed by people in the software industry).

The previous t-shirt read "Stallion - Racing Ahead". This release is called "Mustang". This is what we came up with -

Mustang
  • Tired after the race
  • We build it!! You break it!!
  • Errors Redefined
  • Wait till the next release
  • Bugs extinct*                                         *Conditions Apply
  • We build it!! You break it!! We repair it!!
  • Error In Code!!
  • We Deliver Bugs!
  • It's not a car! It's not a horse! It's an EMS!
  • License Expired!
  • E Mustang S
After all the awesome ideas, we had to put an end to the craziness and think seriously and we couldn't come up with even a single idea. Arrgh!! Why do we have managers?? :( It would be so much to fun to have some funny caption. But I guess we'll have to end up with some sober stuff. :-/

Monday, May 30, 2011

Kya Badal Gaya Zamana?

Eating the roadside sold guava and raw mango, the lollipops and the chocolates after school. What fun!! :D All this by saving up the 5 to 10 rupees that dad used to give me when I used to go to school. It wasn't like I was given money everyday. It was when I had none or when my Dad simply gave me some. :)

Not much was needed, everything was taken care by Dad or Mom. They used to pay our fee, buy us new clothes for all the important festivals and even got all the good and junk food that we craved for. The money was an additional thing we got. We never had a pocket money system in our house until I entered Engineering. Once into engineering college I was given about 500 - 600 rupees a month. Till then whenever we needed some money we would inform the purpose and get it. It was a delight when some relative used to visit home and would hand us a 50 or 100 rupees note when leaving. :)

Malls were a place that I had visited a couple of times when in college. It became a place where I shopped, only after I began earning. On the contrary, now I see kids (believe me they would be studying in the 6th or 7th standard, not more than that) roaming with a group of friends in the mall, shopping for their own clothes, discussing latest fashion, shelling out notes of 500. Am I old fashioned that I am surprised at this and unable to digest it or is it just the normal trend today?

I think getting used to spending such amounts is what makes many youngsters today consider joining call centers to earn early and spend more. A matriculation or Pre-University certificate is all that many call centers ask for. I am not saying that all youngsters are like this or that call centers are spoiling the career of youngsters. I'm just expressing my surprise/worry over the trend. Is it all fine and am I over-reacting? Or do you also feel what I feel? Perplexed with the thought that if this is how it is today, how is it going to be tomorrow?

Sunday, May 8, 2011

All it takes...

... is to catch a cold to realize how easily you breathe

... is a little shoe bite to realize how easily you walk

... is a cut finger to realize with what ease you hold things

... is a hot day to realize the value of rain

... is a lonely weekend to realize that you have great friends

... is a power cut and an empty tank to realize the value of water

... is switched off phone to realize the value of the dear ones

... is to trip in the dark to realize the beauty of sight

But what do we do? We crib, we complain, we are never ever happy. Nature's perfect and so are you. Just thank god for the way you are and what you can do. All it took me was an overnight insect bite all over my face, which left me with scars and swollen eye and face in just about 24 hours to realize how beautiful I am. To think of it, I was complaining about my increasing acne last week :-/

You are beautiful just the way you are. Know it, feel it and tell it yourself !! :)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Things to do before I die...

Watched the movie Anjaana Anjaani over the weekend ( yeah too late I know!! ) and started thinking about the things I would like or want to do before I die. These were the things that I could think of as of now. I am sure the list will grow as I grow older.

# Learn some form of dance. I have always wanted to learn dance, but ended up learning vocal music.

# Do something adventurous like bungee jumping or scuba diving. I am scared of great heights and depths of water. Never learnt swimming, though my father can and he insisted that me and my sis learn. Want to overcome those fears.

# Make and maintain a garden of my own. Lack of space is the huge challenge so I hope to atleast have a small one.

# Learn knitting and stitching. Now that I've learnt crocheting and I'm able to make nice stuff and follow patterns, I'm all excited to learn the other forms.

# Collect loads of books and start a circulating library some day.

# Live without being bothered about the world. I am this person, who thinks more than she does. More than half my energy is spent in analysis. Wanna live the way I want for a few days atleast, not being bothered about what others think or want me to be.

That's about me. Please consider yourself tagged and do write about what are the things you wanna do before you grow old/die. I didn't want the list to have things like I wanna own a house, buy a car etc. So tell me about the rest...

Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Crochet Along Bag

It's done.... Finished it over the weekend, but had no time to post the pics... This was done as a part of the Crochet Along/Knit Along with the South Asian Crafters, which is a group at Ravelry. The theme was bags. Here's mine... :) I'm pretty pleased with it.





What do you say??

Monday, March 28, 2011

Things keeping me busy

Wasn't able to think of anything new to write, so I thought will give you a peek into what I'm upto nowadays apart from the usual office work.... The pictures aren't very clear coz they are taken from a cell phone...


Try guessing what am I making?

I hope the the end product looks as lovely as the colors are!!




This is still in the initial stage..

 Apart from these what I am hooked onto is this -

My fav author :)
Will post pictures once I complete all the stuff and that time I will try taking pictures from a better camera... :)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Passion...

...is defined by Wikipedia as a very strong feeling for a person or thing... Well... I am talking about the thing not the person.. :P

What's your passion in life? What's that one thing which interests you? What is it that you wanna do or be in life? I really admire people who actually identify this and achieve it. The people who are happy in the work they do. It's not stressful but enjoyable to them. Majority of us get caught in the rat race from the start. From having to score the highest in class during schooling to bagging a job which offers a high pay. How many of us spend time on evaluating our strengths and deciding the right career path? How many parents today identify the child's skill and encourage it.

Finally when we do end up in a well paid but regular job, we get caught in the routine and the frustration gets to us. I am probably in that phase. I do like programming and logical challenges. But now I am constantly bothered by the question, is this what I would want to do all my life? To top it, I'm just a couple of years into my career. Is this just a passing phase? Does everyone go through it? Even if it is, what bothers me is that I'll just settle for it and keep compromising all my life just like how it is with another umpteen things in life.

How do I identify what'll make me happy? Professions like Architecture, Writing, Editing, Journalism etc always interested me. Sadly I never had the courage to think on it and pursue any of it. Its not just me, I hear it from a lot of my friends too. One of them has a passion for dancing, she even wants to quit and start teaching dance. She's just worried if what she's thinking is right and is unable to decide on it. Most of the people whom I talk to are unhappy in their jobs. There are all kinds... One having a bad boss, one wanting to do further studies but bothered about the fee, one wanting to get married and one who wants to get a job, post marriage.

I guess I cannot change my profession now. Instead what I am trying to do is spending time on other things which will give me a break from the routine. Cooking, reading, crocheting, are some of them. Few other things which have been on my wish list for long are, to learn to drive a car, gardening, to join singing classes again.

Kudos to people who are happy and enjoy what they do. For the ones who are yet to start, I would like to say take up something you are passionate about. For the rest, the ones like me - it's never too late they say. What say? We do something about it??

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Heat is On

No... I'm not talking about the cricket World Cup. :-P I'm talking about the season. Summer's here. :-( Summer last year had been really tough for me. Having come to Chennai in April I was in for big trouble.

The numerous sleepless nights when sleeping right under the fan also made no difference. Times when I was almost in tears as there was a power cut in the middle of the humid night ( yeah now people must be rolling their eyes thinking "Aah... these people from Bangalore!!" ). But that's how nice it has been for me always. Having lived in Bangalore, I used to never used a fan even in summer, in fact always used a bedsheet. But things have changed a lot over the years there as well..

Here, I remember tossing and turning at night trying to fall asleep, washing my face umpteen number of times, the time when me and my roomies stood outside the house at two in the night as there was a power cut. I gave up sleeping on the bed and slept on the floor for three to four months.

We have just stepped into March and I dread to think about the period from April to July. I remember the words that my friend had told me when I had told him that I am going to Chennai. It was "there are just three seasons in Chennai, Hot, Hotter and Hottest". Though his words have been true to quite an extent, I have been lucky enough to have experienced nice rain here last year. :-)

Gone are the days when summer meant two month long vacations, playing throughout the day not bothering about the holiday homework until the last week of the vacation. The time when there would be at least three bottles of Mum made Rasna concentrate kept in the refrigerator, apart from the Roohafza, which only Dad liked. :-/ Now all that we do is try and reach the office early before it gets hot, spend the rest of the day in an air conditioned room and come back home after sunset. :-(

To all people living in places like Chennai, "all the best" and for the ones who are planning a long vacation to hill stations to beat the heat or better still, live in such places, "hmmph!! I am SO jealous". :-/

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Ashaayein

The advantage of having a birthday on days like Jan 1st, Feb 14th, April 1st, Aug 15th etc is that a lot of unexpected people also remember it... 

The birthday was filled with fun, happy, sad and lonely moments. I so wanted to write this post on the same day, but as usual ended up finishing everything and sleeping late night with no energy left to write anything. Well... Better late than never. :)

A lot of people called up but a few dear ones missed out (probably forgot). Had fun at office with the team members of the new team getting a cake for me. Came back home to find that the room-mates had also got a cake. :) The best part was that both were chocolate cakes. But some how the party at home turned out dull, with the usual noisemakers missing. Missed home and family a lot. It's the first time in all these 24 years that I had to celebrate my birthday away from the family. :(

I received lots of gifts.. :D I got the best gift the next day though. Sometime late in the afternoon I saw a mail in the official inbox which had the details of the previous Quarter's award winners. Attached with it was an excel sheet having the names of the winners. I was about to delete the mail without reading it, as usual, and a thought crossed my mind "when will I win any such award?". I joined a new team just a week back and had worked in the old team for a little more than five months, with most of the initial time spent in learning about the product. So my chances of having done any significant work and that being recognized by the manager was bleak.

I opened the excel sheet with no expectation whatsoever and the first name that I laid my eyes on was mine. I couldn't believe it!! I read the employee id, the project name and the remarks, everything matched my details. Reading the remarks by my previous manager made my day... :) The award though small is a huge achievement for me considering the fact that I was least expecting it. The expectations now created have to be kept up.

All in all things turned out great.. :)

Friday, February 4, 2011

Of Crimes and Justice

Friday, last week, an employee of my office was murdered. The lady had left office by the regular shuttle and then the local train. Her husband has supposedly called the HR official past midnight, that his wife is missing and hasn't arrived home from office yet.

The police investigation reported that the body of the lady was found at a place about 60-70 km from the place where our SEZ is present. The lady is said to be identified by the tag of the ID card in her neck.The lady's neck was almost severed, with just one inch of it hanging to the body. Her arms, legs and face are reported to have been broken and mashed. The possibility of rape hasn't been ruled out either.

More than one person is suspected to be involved in it. There is also news going about that it could be done by some people known to her as she wouldn't have accompanied any stranger to such far distances without protest and discussions that nobody would be so brutal if it was for any monetary gain. How does anyone decide how much is brutal, isn't murder by itself brutal and heinous?

The lady on the other hand was apparently the youngest woman to be a Team Lead in our company. She had two very small kids. Was busy and happy preparing for the house-warming ceremony of a new home. As a person, she is supposed to have been a very disciplined and completely straight forward lady, who did not care about speaking out. This is deduced to be one of the possible reasons for her to have got into trouble.

Since the incident there have been meetings about security, work timings for women etc, which brought into light a number of measures which weren't being followed and a number of managers who cared a damn about the women working under them. It's so horrible in certain teams that the girls of the team are working almost on all days throughout the year, staying almost everyday until 10 or 10:30 pm, being denied early cabs, forced to stay even after the senior/manager has left. The meetings were a good opportunity for all of this to be discussed openly. In fact what was a significant thing that came into notice is that the ladies are travelling alone in the cab late at night after work, while the company rules clearly state that no woman will travel alone by cab after 9pm. She has to be accompanied by at least one male employee who will be the last one to be dropped off. In case of absence of such a person a security personnel will company her.

I remember that these rules came into effect after the Pratibha murder case in Bangalore. So many new rules came into existence especially in the BPO industry. Vehicles were not supposed to have tinted glasses, the cab drivers would change everyday etc. No matter what huge decisions are taken when the matter is new, the effect of it, the seriousness of it slowly goes down with time. Time and again it has been seen what fate these cases meet in the court. With the judgement being postponed and the cases running for years, the family members lose the energy and faith to fight for justice. (On this note I remembered, please watch "No One Killed Jessica" if you haven't watched it till now. Awesome movie.)

As of now investigations are running in full swing and hope that something significant comes out of it. It has left different sorts of fear in everyone's mind in the company. I just wish and pray that her soul and family get justice and she Rests In Peace.

PS: The irony is that just one day prior to this incident I read an article on the front page of a leading newspaper titled, "Chennai safest for women, crime bureau data shows".

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Solitaire

Am I horrible looking? Do I have bad breath? Do I stink? Do I look like a monster or do I give monsterous looks? Are my conversations irritating/boring? What is it?

Well... I don't think I'm horrible looking, pretty decent. NO!! I don't have bad breath. NOOO!! I don't stink. Infact stinking people and people with bad breath put me off... :-/

Hmmm... I do give monsterous and unapproving looks when I see misbehaving and disgusting people, who think they can stare, whistle and pass comments about any girl on the road, to people who spit on the road, to people who shove others in buses, in queues etc... Yeah, I do have a serious kind of a face, which breaks out into a smile or better into laughter for only familiar, close people, for kids, puppies and on occasions when I remember something funny or read/watch something funny. Quite restrictive I guess. I remember my professor always asking me, why do I carry a serious face and telling me that I should smile more often. Maybe this is the reason...

Ok... Let me come to the point. It has been complete six months since I joined my team at work and I still don't have a single friend in the team. :( When I joined the team it consisted of nearly 40 members, which has come down to about 25 now ( now you must be thinking that I'm a loner :P ). Well, I have hardly spoken to anyone except the colleague who sits next to me or my manager and all talks being majorly work related.

I take time to make friends and I sort of stick to the ones I've made. My closest friends are the chosen few from school and college. When I say few I mean really few. Here at work, we were a small group of friends who got acquainted during training, stuck to each other all the time, during study, assignment, breaks, weekend outings etc. It naturally continued that way once we got into projects, though different ones. Hence my interaction with the new project members was minimal. I wasn't intentional though..

Now, almost all my friends having moved to different cities, only a couple of us left. :( I get terribly bored and feel really lonely when the others are on leave or busy. The almost ever weekend roaming has stopped coz there's no group to enjoy it with. Less interaction with the team adds to the woes.

I'm to be moved to a new project, hope things get better there and hope I interact with more people and take less time to do so. :) Wish me luck...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Happy Republic Day

The best video I've ever seen. Brings tears to your eyes... No words to explain it... Just watch it..



Proud to be an Indian!!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Fee-Male

During a recent conversation with a very close friend, I asked her how her sister was? The friend I'm talking about has been really close to me since school days. We used to spend hours together in each other's house and I know everyone in their family. Very nice, down-to-earth people. When she got married I felt that it was a little too early, a couple of years more would have been good. But she was happy and was getting married to her childhood love, so I was delighted for her.

Less than two years later she told me her sister's getting married. I was surprised and enquired what was the urgency for? She said it was all unplanned, there were quite a few proposals and everyone had spoken highly of this guy and his family. So her parents felt that they should probably not let it go. That's how everything got fixed. Her sis was still in her final year of college. She was to complete her last semester and then go stay with her husband who was in another city.

Felt sad to hear that her sis is not happy and her parents are worried about her. The In-laws behave weirdly with her. Her Sis-in-law asks the Mother-in-law to overhear what she talks on the phone. The husband never got her a new sim but asked her to use the one at home. It was their first year wedding anniversary last week and the husband didn't get her anything nor did they go out anywhere. Every girl has wishes and expectations. To be treated in a special manner atleast on special occasions. When asked, he retorted saying "I know when to get you what, you don't need to tell me".

She was the darling daughter at home. Every wish of her's was a command. Her parent's spent nearly 12-13 lakhs for her wedding. They are from a normal middle-class joint-family, so that is a huge amount for them. Her parents gifted the son-in-law a gold chain during Diwali. All that the girl's MIL had to tell about this was "A longer chain would have been better".

For how long are such practices going to continue? Is there no end to it? No matter how educated the person is, the family is, such treatment with the girl and her parents still continue. This is a minor case, there are cases much worse and much hopeless. What about cases where the girl is tortured for dowry? The parents are overburdened by the demands from the guy's parents.

People don't have any regret in practicing such systems even today. During another conversation with a friend, he was telling me that in his place if the guy's an engineer, 10-12 lakhs and if a doctor, 12-15 lakhs is guaranteed in dowry.

Our conversation went on like this -

Me: toh tujhe bhi utna milega? (Will you be also getting that much?)
Him: haan (Yes)
Me: aur tu lega? (And you'll take it?)
Him: kyun? humne bhi toh apni behen ki shaadi mein utna diya hai. (Why? Haven't we also given that much during my sister's wedding?)
Me: Koi aur kuch bhi karega, toh tu bhi karega? (You'll do something just because someone else is doing it?)
Him: Arre main thodi maang raha hoon, woh khud se denge. (I'm not asking for it, they will give it on their own)
Me: Toh tu mana kar de. (You refuse)
Him: Nahi, woh mere papa decide karenge. (No, that my dad will decide)
Me: Kyun papa ko bol sakta hai ki yeh bike nahi, woh bike chahiye, par bol nahi sakta ki dahej nahi chahiye? (Why? You can tell your dad which bike you want, but not that you don't want dowry)
Him: Arre, woh aise nahi chalta yaar. Dahej nahi denge toh kya ladki ko ghar pe bithake rakhenge? Wahan phir koi rishte aate hi nahi hai. (Its doesn't work that way. What do we do, not give dowry and keep the girl at home itself? Later on there will be no proposals coming her way.)

The argument went on and he pushed it away saying that I act like Jhansi ki Rani , and my Gandhi vichaar (ideologies) will not work in today's world. It makes me immensely angry, that educated, well to do, working people who can make a difference and put stop to such things, also want to sit back and enjoy the profit. People who can't afford, have to keep their daughter's at home. They don't have a choice, it's shame, humiliation and frustration for them all the way. Such situations is what leads people to go drown their little daughters in the well even today.

I would want to ask all the educated men out there, who took or intend to take dowry, was calculation, profit and loss the only things you learnt in your education system, wasn't moral science and values a part of it??

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Infancy

My blog turned a year old today. But I wish I had written more posts during the year. Missed out on writing many posts when I had to move to a new city. I was busy with trainings at the work place on one hand and getting used to at home on the other hand. However what I'm happy about is that I didn't stop blogging and got back on track.

It was easier to stop than continue as with many other things in life. There are times
- when you have nothing to write about.
- when you have lots of ideas but nothing materializes into writing.
- when you start writing but it all stays in your drafts.
- when write and post and then get a feeling its junk.
- when you get a feeling as to what are you doing here? where there are people who write so beautifully.
- when you feel it's pointless, nobody's even reading you.

But despite all this there's are times when you feel you just wanna share what's on your mind. That's what makes me continue. I find it absolutely wonderful that people have been blogging for years and the finesse in their writing hasn't worn out but has only got better. The varied topics that people write about, the kind of responses it draws is all so awesome.

During this week for the first time I happened to visit the blog of IHM and realized how a blog can help people cope with their difficulties, how it can bring strength and how it can be source of tremendous support. I feel sad that I was too late in visiting and reading her daughter's blog. I could have known her maybe for sometime, could have found a place for myself in her life through the comment space.

Blogging means different things to different people. If you are here reading my posts, do feel free to comment, appreciate or criticize my writing. It would make a lot of difference. If you are a blogger yourself, do let me know what is it that makes you want to blog??

Happy Blogging everyone!!

Friday, January 14, 2011

GROWiNg up!!

Watched dad becoming a kid again.... :D :D

He recently joined a fifteen day yoga workshop, which happens to finish today.. Being home for the weekend, I got to talk to him about it.. He suddenly says "Oh god!! I forgot to do my homework!!" and starts searching for some book. I reacted with a puzzled "Homework???". He then goes on to explain that they were given some homework everyday and quips "Yay!! there's no homework since today's the last day". ( Aaah the simple pleasures.... :) )

We had a rushed visit to my sister's place to see her and cuddle the little brat. Rushed because my dad had his class at 5:30 in the evening. When he was planning about what time to leave her place, I said it's enough if we left by 4-4:30. He says "No.. It'll get late and if I don't go there before 5.30, they'll make me stand outside!!". :O :O :O

On getting back home he told that the workshop had also organized some sort of a 4 day program in some forest near Chitradurga. It's going to be an isolated stay with no sort of communication with the family/anyone. He asks "Should I go??" and I react with a "No", like I'm the parent. He agrees and says he'll return the form. :) :) ( I'm sure he agreed coz he had the same thing in his mind... :P )

P.S: He was also reciting many of the nursery rhymes (with actions), trying to entertain his grandson. :D

Friday, January 7, 2011

Books and Me

There were times when I loved reading books... So much, that I used to read it even on the dining table when having dinner and get scolded by dad for doing so. I know, it also depends on the book that you are reading. It should hold your interest. But previously I never lost interest so easily... :(

 I still love books... I like the feel of new books and old books, the cover, smell of the pages... oh.......!!! :)

But sadly though, off late I don't find enough time and interest in reading a book. I've picked up so many books, some still stay untouched and some abandoned midway... :(

The unread and partially read books on my shelf right now -
  • Sherlock Holmes Volume 1 and 2 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Jo's Boys - Louisa May Alcott
  • State of Fear - Micheal Crichton
  • The World of Nagaraj - R.K Narayanan
  • Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
  • The Mouse Trap and the other plays - Agatha Christie
Oh god!! I feel all guilty now... :(

To add to this I had plans of buying a few more and borrowing the ones that my sis bought recently!! I hope this post will keep reminding me that I shouldn't do any such thing... :D

Some people read two books at a time.. :O How do you manage to do that???

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

POLI-TICKS

Monday morning blues make it hard to go to work. To add to it, what if you are told to reach office early?

Our office campus and my house all lie along the highway, on which also lies a University to which the PM's visit was scheduled.

To celebrate the occasion, the road is blocked for 3-4 hours and the aam janta is asked to reach office way before time, if they don't wanna get caught into trouble on the way.. :P

Even the local trains which DON'T run on the roads are stopped, causing more trouble..

If VIPs are visiting the place, kindly beef up the security, check the identity of the people prior to letting them into the venue, check the contents they carry. But please stop bothering the public by blocking roads and traffic for 3-4 hours, when the to and fro journey for the VIP would at the max take an hour...

It irritates me to see that the public are put to so much trouble whenever any political meeting, event, conference, rally etc is happening. I have seen similar and worse situations in Bangalore as well. So much to democracy, which is "by the people, of the people and FOR the people"!!! x-(


PS: The PM finally came by a helicopter to the venue :-/