A poem by Robert Frost

Just found and liked a nice poem by Robert Frost...

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost.

Words going techie way...!

Since my childhood I have heard and read about the word "Blackout" which I vaguely remember to be associated with Indo-Pak wars. It meant total power outs to avoid the risk of air attacks in those times. However, in simple terms it is referred to as total loss of power due to some kind of failures. What kind of a blackout (or strategies) countries would have to devise now when thermal cameras are available which can detect people with their body heat aswell? Ah... ! God knows... Well I didn't sit here to write about this...

Well, today I read about a very similar word called "Brownout", which means a drop in voltage in the electrial power supply, or in short a dim bulb signifies brownout. I read this word in a completely different flavour which means "The loss of creative energy experienced by people when they have been working in high pressure scenarios for long durations", this is being used in high tech industry. Coincidentally today my boss was explaining his condition after a long days work. Boss, its just brownout...! well then I wonder what blackout would mean if it goes the same way...

Height of Ctrl C- Ctrl V

One fine day Ashish Kaul tried Ctrl - C on laptop no. 1 and the Ctrl - V to laptop no. 2 in an attempt to copy things from one laptop to another... and when it didn't happen he furiously said that all laptops are dabba...[:D]... no doubt it left C-7 in outburst of laughter...

Will you still be doing what you are doing if you had all the money in this world?

In one of the sessions Mr. T T Rangarajan of Frozen Thoughts said that "Just imagine for a minute that you have all the money in life and then think will you be still doing what you are doing today". A profound statement was made, do I know what would I be doing? People would ideally pick up things about which they are really passionate. The point TTR was trying to make was do things which are close to your heart and not just because someone else want you to do.

After this question I realized that many of us don't have the answer for this question. Some might have the answer but for others it's just a dream and they don't have the courage to live it. Am I becoming too philosophical... nah... that's a bitter truth...!

For quite some time now I have been trying to answer this very question for myself but unfortunately don't have till now, still pondering and longing to get some answers... my childhood dream was to become a pilot, but then elders say "Jo hota hai ache ke liye hota hai (whatever happens, happens for good)". Here I am an MBA with a engineering degree, back to the corporate world which is still reeling under the pressure of global recession. That's enough funda for today... :D

Celebrating Women's Success

We at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai hosted an exclusive event - SWIM (Successful Women in Management) to identify and promote Women who have the traits to assume leadership roles in management. It enables and empowers women to be effective, ethical and socially conscious members of society.

Ms. Anu Aga releasing (with Ms. Sudha Radhunathan & Uncle Bala) the SWIM magazine.

Key note speaker for the event was Ms. Anu Aga of Thermax, eminent personalities like Padmasri Sudha Raghunathan, Noted Carnatic Vocalist and Ms. Hemu Ramaiah, Founder of Landmark shared their experiences with students. Mr. T. N. Sheshan, former Chief Election Commissioner, moderated the panel discussion on the topic "Educated, Intelligent, Energetic and just in her 40's - Can she still pursue her career dreams?" Post lunch a corporate quiz was conducted which saw participation from the top B-Schools from across the country and Corporates like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, CTS, Satyam.

Click on the links below to read about what media has to say about the event

• The Hindu
• Business World
• Pagal guy
• Ergo

MSD vs a term at Great Lakes

Its over a month and half since I have landed in Chennai. Looking back I realize that MBA makes you do lot of things together, it forces you to learn multi-tasking, time management blah blah... It's a very small time to claim that I have perfected even some of these management arts, in fact I am far from it. It was proved from the fact that I messed up with the exams badly (i hope not very badly :-) ). I scheduled most of the stuff till the very last week, which was a bad idea... I always do the realization late... well last minute Macro Economics assignments kept most of us engaged for many nights, as the submission time use to be 9am the next day... and the lucky ones or rather the hard working ones who were abreast with the class proceedings in other subjects found it easy to handle...

Well coming back to the thought behind writing this piece was an idea to compare my work as a DBA and my first one month in Great Lakes... I actually dreamt about this idea in the class... confused ?? one gotta sleep to dream... how do you expect people to be awake after the assignments... gotcha... :-)

As a DBA we use to have deliverable for every MSD (Monthly software drops), and here at Great Lakes we do the deliveries in form of End term tests... Obviously you can't do the deliveries at the month end until you prepare for it... and there were low level designs as compared to pre-reads, planning as to classes, running test scripts as to surprise tests, daily update calls as to assignment submission, customer interaction as to attending guest lectures... and finally the delivery as to End term tests...

This idea of comparing MSD to an MBA term applies to a one year course, you do a delivery approximately in a month and here you complete a term in around one and a half month. You might miss a MSD as a DBA if you don't have enough customer requirements but there is no dearth of courses in an MBA term to give you a sigh...

After doing all this you wait eagerly for the customer feedback and here you sit back and don't wait for the result especially if you have bungled up your exams...

The Saravana experience

Today in the evening we reached T Nagar passing through the busy Usman road. We entered Saravana stores and the store was as crowded as the street outside. Each floor had just enough place left for people to walk and get past. Being my first experience at these stores I was surprised to see such a wide variety of goods, be it furniture, general house hold items, interiors, beds, you name it and you will get it here.

After sometime I started telling my friend about Kishore Biyani's book "It Happened in India" were he mentioned about the shopping environment in India. In his book he mentions about Saravana stores and concludes that in India people prefer shopping not in peace but in full rush, rubbing shoulders and waiting at the billing counters. It was at this time when it became very clear to me about what Kishore Biyani meant.

During our shopping here we bought 3 tables from one place, 3 chairs from other and then went back within 5 minutes to buy 1 of each from the same places. Meanwhile the earlier 3 had disappeared probably for delivery which was supposed to happen the next day. After this we also went on to buy some expendable FMCG products :-) bought a few things from 3 different places... no computer, no bar codes... just hand written notes from everywhere... and then went to the counter to make the payment, wondering where would the deliveries be made... miraculously all the things appeared at the delivery counter in one carry bag... that too in just 5 minutes... checked the packet because we were a bit skeptical about the process... you see lack of technology made us think twice... I was stunned to see their delivery method, even in today's technology age this store uses hand receipts!

Initially it looked like all the shops on Usman road are as busy as the streets or the Saravana store but again to my surprise the shop next to it, as big as this one with as many varieties as this one, had not even a single customer until we got in. Such is the brand Saravana in Chennai.!

We incidentally entered in one of the Saravana dinning halls and in the menu card read about their presence in UK, US, UAE etc. Post dinner as soon as we reached home I googled on Saravana and was baffled to see the list of things they are involved in.

Law of Calculating Rents...!

It was more than 3-4 days since we were searching for a house near our college in Srinagar colony. Till this time we were frustrated and with each passing day our desperation level increased, add to it the surmounting pressure of study backlogs we had. We were standing by our modus operandi of not paying brokerage. One fine day me and Mohit seperated from the group and started moving from door to door in search of a roof, during this pursuit I saw a watchman(usually they have all the information) of a building, expecting that I will have to use my newly acquired skill of sign language along with broken english and a line of Tamil, "Tamil Tariadu, means I don't know Tamil :-)". To my surprise this old man was very good at english. Once the initial conversation get going, I asked him about any vacant flat in the building.

For the next 5-7 minutes I heard something (with little resistant and high astonishment) which I call the law of calculating rents...

He replied tersely "How much rent can you pay? (Rent doesn't depend on the house, it depends on the depth of your pocket)" to which I replied 7000-8000 (the usual asking rate in this area varies from 13k to 30k for a 3 BHK house, this is more than double the amount our senior to senior batch paid). The old man turned red and some how managed to contain his anger and moved to the next question "How much brokerage will you pay?" to which I replied around 1000. By now he was fuming with anger and said "You have paid 6 lakhs fee to Great Lakes Institute of Management (Oh! he knew the complete name of the college) for a 1 year course (he knew this too)". After passing out you will earn a minimum of 45K per month per head (as I earlier mentioned that 4 of us looking for a house). So, why can't you pay a rent of 15k for a 2 BHK house and a brokerage equal to 1 months rent(which is a norm here). All of which is going to be shared equally within 4 guys. Phew!!! I was dumbstruck and could just mummer "Anna 12000 rent and 5000 brokerage" to which he replied "No house vacant for Bachelors".

Finally we got a house without brokerage but it took persistent efforts for around a week but the law was established and would continue to work as long as GLIM is located in this colony, hopefully next batch will enjoy the hostel life....

It's Business after all !

Yesterday I got a call from a recruitment firm for an opening with one of their client Tech Mahindra. When I informed that I am already working with Tech Mahindra, the lady on the other side candidly asked if I was willing to change as they have openings with other clients as well. The recruitment agencies are actually creating the vacancies and then they earn money by helping those clients to fill these vacant positions. A few days back I received a similar mail from another recruitment firm about a vacancy in my firm. I declined saying I am already working with Tech Mahindra and jocosely replied saying can he get me re-recruited in TechM with a better salary. The next day I received a terse reply asking for my resume...!

Today's Indian Cricket Team

Indian cricket has taken a nosedive since Saurav Ganguly's departure from the top post. Its very hard to believe that this team was last world cup's finalist. Those were the times when we use to proudly say that India is the only team who can beat the Australians. With world class batting line up including Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Sehwag & Laxman, India use to be a threat for any team. What's the reason for dismal performances if we still have same set of players who have won many battles for India, who have made their presence felt in the international arena with their record breaking performances.

It has been often claimed by many that the excessive experimentation is responsible for the team's dismal performances, experimentation has been done with certain key positions like no.3 , where Dravid has proved himself many times. Sehwag has been retained in the squad despite his piteous performances in the last 4-5 series. The inform youngsters like Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthapa, Wasim Jaffer have been ignored to keep an unreliable Sehwag. The dispensable experimenting in 2nd innings of the 3rd test match caused India the test match and the series, it was a gift on a platter given to the Porteas.

Indian team has been very consistent during the last 2-3 seasons in constantly slipping down the various ranking charts. The problem with Indian team is lack of consistency and an attitude of players of taking their positions for granted. The Indian team management rightly sent back Pathan to play Ranji to regain his form rather than just warming the bench in SA, but then same should have been the fate of Sehwag who had a very pity SA tour. Selectors should make it difficult for any player to remain in the team without performing. Domestic cricket should be made more competitive by allowing foreign players in domestic cricket, as Indians go to play county cricket in England. Every player has bad phase in his career, it should be seen as an opportunity to build bench strength and make way for other youngsters, its serving dual purpose. There is no dearth of talent in a country with population of over a billion.

This is a long term plan but the question is can the present Indian team be a threat to the mighty Australians and stop them to win there third consecutive world cup the way Kapil Dev's team did to the then mighty West Indians. Its very difficult to say because cricket is known to be a game of uncertainties. India have quality players with the likes of Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Karthik and the bowling department led by Zaheer Khan, Sreesant, Munaf, Harbhajan, Irfan(hoping he makes a good come back). If they all click together as a team India can beat any team and claim the world cup, am I being too optimistic, who knows, lets wait and watch.

A fruitful day...

I woke up at 5:30am in the morning, my usual time is at 9:00am, courtesy Babajee of Gurudwara. I woke up 30 mins late and had to leave for Gurudwara without(duh) taking bath, reached Gurudwara by 6:00am. Along side the Akhand path they follow a custom to do Japji Sahib paths as well, so was in the Gurudwara to do Japji sahib path Sewa for 2 hours.

Reached home by 8:35 and had a well deserved breakfast and then left for Woughton for my weekly Roller skating classes, it had been a 3 week long gap since the last class in lieu of Christmas and new year celebrations. Had a very terrific session, even contributed to a basic change in the training strategy. One needs to have a good balance on left or right foot to make turns at the edges of the training hall while going clock or anti-clock wise respectively. Since we use to go only clock wise during all the training sessions, I developed a very good balance on left foot leaving my right foot comparatively weaker. I shared my views with one of the instructors and within next 2-3mins we were doing anti-clock wise turns:-). Reached home at 11:00 with a great sense of achievement. Then came the second round of delicious breakfast, over the breakfast made plans for weekly shopping.

Me and Naveen left for shopping at around 1:30pm, in the market we started cursing our luck for not having a single blonde friend, missing the fun:-(. I am going to miss, every one does, these sexy babes when back in India its a treat for your eyes. We did the weekly shopping with the same sense of peevishness and occasional Ah's and went on to made the payments at counter no. 8 occupied by a beautiful Asian salesgirl behind the counter.

Reached home at 3:15, relaxed for a while, had our lunch while enjoying the latest bollywood flick Aparhan and left for office. In the office I did some project related study and started writing this.

I rarely do these many things in a day including writing this.

Hope to write more often now onwards.

GS

Cricket Talks on the eve of 4th ODI in SA.

This is how cricket talks are going on between Indian Fans.

Before the Match:

A: Hey lets bet on what will be the victory margin for the Porteas.
B: India will loose by 85 runs.
A: Why, 85 runs?
B: Last 2 matches it was 157,106 and 85 is a less number than 106, just a random
number below 85.
A: Well, I think it depends on who bat first.
B: Porteas are batting.
A: Oh, is it, then probably you are right.
B: Jaffar is playing today, so probably Sachin would be batting at no. 4.
A: It makes sense, but only if India gets a opening stand of around 30-35 runs and if India looses 2 wickets in the very first over, then it doesn’t make sense whether Sachin bats at 4 or he opens, he would better be opening the inning.
B: Yeah mate you are right.

Ok, well lets guess on what will be the opening partner ship today for India.
B: Not sure but I think the total opening partnership for India will add up to 50 runs for the entire series.


In office, during South African innings:

C: Score is 156/5.
A: Oh God!! Above 150, India lost the match again, they won’t be able to chase above
150.

After SA innings:
C: SA scored 243/8 in 50 Overs.
D: Well, let’s bet on what margin India will loose.
A: India will score 150.
D: What range, let’s keep a range of 20 runs.
C: 150- 170.
A: Same, 150-170.
D: 180-200.
B: I will go with D.
A: Well, I think Sehwag will score 22-25 runs, and Jaffar probably 12- 15 runs.
D: Hey come!! Today Sehwag has an added pressure of captaincy, I don’t think, he would be able to improve on last match’s score. Moreover that will become 30 runs opening partnership. NO WAY!!
A: Yeah, you are right.
B: Well, I think India would reach 180-200.
A: We will leave by 5 O’clock , atleast we would be able to see an hours match by then India would be all down.

Oh no not again…

It was late in the Friday evening, with the thundering sky giving a hint of impending rain shower. I peeped out from the window of my living room and noticed the minute rain droplets in the dim streetlight. The pitch-dark sky suddenly reminded me of the time, it was just 8:30 PM, surprisingly just a month ago the sunset use to happen at around 10:00 PM. Anticipatively, the irritating ring tone of my on-call mobile went alive, and it was my college friend, Soumitra, he reached Luton and then we planned to meet up at 9 AM the next day at Euston. He is employed with TCS and is put up in the sex capital of world, Amsterdam.

Every thing was set for a perfect weekend, setting the alarm for 7:15 am, I slept at around 4 am: I had been a nocturnal since my school days and add to it the Friday night fever. The irritating ring tone of my mobile woke me up at 7:00 am and very annoyingly it was a call-out. Every time I forget that people on support should not plan for any outings especially on weekends, seems that the probability of getting a call-out is inversely proportional to your availability. One following the other, one more fault was reported and finally it was already 11am when I left Milton Keynes.

The Da Vinci Code

Da Vinci Code is a pulse-quickening, brain teasing fictitious adventure. The very fact that it has been in the limelight, being the centre stage of lot of controversies, proclaims that it has some connection with our lives. It talks about the times of Jesus, about Mary Magdalene how they are related, what is the Holy Grail, what significance it has in the history and much more. This book is about how this confidential historic information has been conveyed by a dying old man to his grand daughter in forms of puzzles and verses, how she deciphers the hidden messages with the help of a well know symbologist. On the quest to solve the puzzles she unravels lot of true facts, which are hard to believe.

In the Louver museum, Paris its curator Jacques Sauniere has been assassinated and the curator leaves some cryptographic message seemingly for the investigating agencies to trace the murderer, but he indirectly involved his grand daughter Sophie Neveu, who happens to a cryptographist with the French police. The message was pointing to a symbologist, Robert Langdon, police believed to be the murderer but Sophie deciphered part of the message and in an attempt to solve rest of the puzzle, took Robert away from the police. They started on a quest to solve one of the biggest mysteries of all times. Sophie comes to know about the life of Jesus, the truth that he was married to Mary Magdalene, the romance between them conceived a daughter and their bloodline still exists. She also learns about how the church has been trying for centuries to hide this and destroy all the documents, which proves this fact. At times church also tried to destroy their bloodline. Apparently, the church was trying to destroy these facts because they feared that the Church would be feminised if Mary Magdalene took over the reins of Church after the crucification of Jesus and they considered it to be devilish.

Every attempt was made to defame Mary Magdalene, a lady from a royal family, as a poor whore. But the followers of Mary Magdalene tried to protect her identity and her history, this history is now been protected by a secret society called Priory; the sole purpose of this society was to protect the documents and the Holy Grail (the grave of Mary Magdalene), which proves these facts. At any time there are four members from the Priory who have the information about the Holy Grail and the documents, Jacques Sauniere happened to be the grand master of this society and he passed on the message to her granddaughter because the other three members have died recently, protecting this information.

Sophie and Robert unravel the history by deciphering the hidden message and during this they also come to know about the person behind these killings. She comes to know that she is one of the living offsprings of Jesus and to protect this bloodline her grandmother was living in hiding with her brother, who were declared dead with her parents in an accident. The priory thought that it was a murder disguised to be an accident and hence the family was living separately to protect the bloodline.