The company bus

Prelude: Friends, Romans, countrymen...not my mistake. I was so taken into work, (body, soul and all) that all i got to write down was the title before my GL called me for a critical meeting. Still i didn't click on the [Publish] button. Blogger.com is playing a prank on me, publishing my draft. Since it got published and i can't stand the thought that i might lose my sincere readers, im now content to write some content.
My trepidation for precipitation obliged me to take the company bus. There is another reason as well. As my loyal fans would remember there is girl in our company, very beautiful, very delectable, very curvaceous, very likable and very married....upon whom i have an eye for. An eye would be an understatement of the century. I would merry give worlds for her. I just took the first step and joined the bus in the hope that someday the only seat empty on that bus would be the one next to her and i have to content myself sitting there. Me being an Engineer, I calcualted the probability of that event: taking into account the average number of people, the variance in the number, the humidity, the amount of oil in the bus and hazar technical details and it came up to be 0.00005383(pretty stiff, huh?). I glowed that it was a greater than zero and probably more than that of India winning an Olympic gold.

The name `Smitha` is working. The `Profile Views` has rocketed to 114, while my fellow bloggers are still clinging on to their dear 32 views. But im sure they must have immediately closed the window when they see male against Gender. Whoever have done this, i swear, will not die a peacful death.

Okie, i gotto go catch the 7:30 bus back home. Who knows, she might call me Smitha.

Am I?

I am.
My GL went onsite and part of his responsibility dawned on me. "Yes, YOU!" said my GL. The question i've been asking myself these days is "Am I?". My fear is towards `responsibility`. Can i handle it? Remember the most responsibility i have handled is assemble my PC.

I remember, we always joke on the management guys. Like
"Do they know anything except Excel?"
"What do u think they really do? I mean really do."
"Do they have development environment on their PC?"
"Why? They always get the praises. They didnt write even a line of code."
"Q: Hey, in Excel how do we....?
A: Stop right there. No developers know Excel. Go to a GL or PM."
"We work our ass off, and this GLs and PMs can surf all the porn..."
And many other short stories on monkeys, assholes and hot air are written on the mystical profession that is the Project Management and they failed to put a smile on our face.
Although i havent opened Excel yet, i already feel like im in the middle of all those jokes. I dont think i can open Excel at all. It is going to be harder than quiting cigerette.

I was never a peoples person. Maybe that why i took to computers so well. They are easy to understand and a lot easier to control. People on the other hand are enigmatic and unpredictable. Agreed that sometimes computer do behave eratic, but at least they are consistent at it. While i can handle a mean Pentium IV, 3GHz with 1GB RAM and 17" flat screen, i go weak when im asked "When do u think the coding will be completed by ur group?".

P.S: Sorry readers, i really thought i'll forgo my complex and write something sensible and informative here. But i learned that im only good in self-humility. Guess it my style.

The balancing act

Im not myself these day. I looked into the mirror today and a stranger stared back. Then i realised that the refelction was my roommate standing behind me, making funny faces.
But actually im still very disoriented by all the things i have to do, day in, day out. There are so many things that needs my attention that in the bafflement i find myself attending to none. With only work and home to take care (remember no social life, no girlfriend, no family) im not able to meet the expectations. I cant even begin to imagine what is goin to happen when i would be asked to take decisions at office and at home. My mom words always surfaces during these lean times: "You are the most irresponsible person i have ever known". Quite reassuring. It cant get worse than that. Can it?
So as i try to comprehend why SqlInt32 cannot be passed from a COM component to a web service, my roommate calls and reminds me that we are out of bottled-water and the maid is not washing our clothes properly. And i write my observation on SqlInt32 and send it to the client: "So it is by design that SqlInt32 cannot be serialized that makes them a bad candidate for web service input parameters. So the way out is to order a water-bubble every week and get a new maid."
That day my GL asked why did i change a link in the Design document to point to sidin.blogspot.com and why why in the world did i sign the mails Smitha. Boy, im loosing my grip or what? I had to convince my GL that some colleague is playing a practical joke. I took a lot of effort to sell him that.
My aptitude acumen is at its all time nadir. 8 X 3 = : im bowled. And im supposed to crack CAT this November. Yeah there will be a crack alright.. one through my head. Visiting time - 10 to 4: Gunaseelam Mental hospital.
All in all i think im doing a great job balancing the whole thing.

P.S: There is atleast one lie in each sentence above.

Mr. Nilekeni is a joker..

The whole process where people get an idea and put together a team,
raise the capital, create a product and mainstream it -- that can only
be done in the US. It can't be done sitting in India. The Indian part of
the equation is to help these innovative US companies bring their
products to the market quicker, cheaper and better, which increases the
innovative cycle there. It is a complementarity we need to enhance.

- Nandan Nilekani, CEO, Infosys, quoted in The New York Times, March 7,
2004.

Is there any one still working for Infosys?? Urge them to switch the company, you will continue to remain slaves.

Is there any one who has Infosys shares? Sell them, don't invest on the
company which has leaders like these..

I had hopes with Infosys that one day they will lead India and Indian
youngsters by example.. But if this is the kind of example they want to
show. I would like that company to *die*..

How the hell this "bugger" can make the statements like this?

May be Nandan Nilekani or Narayana Murthy can be slave, Not all of the
Indians.

Article here

Innovation...

Innovation by Indians. : condoms used for roads, roofs and sarees.

The return

Im back! But a pact is in the agenda. U see, im preparing, in many's views, for one of the toughest exams in the world. MEOW(3). So expect a post per week, max.
Saw `Catwoman` promos. I love Halle Barrey. But I like Michelle Pfiffer better. For quite sometime i was not able to tell the difference between Gwyneth Paltrow & her. The same happened with Deepti Bhatnagar & Sonali Bendre(I think this is common atleast). But im wiser(definitely) and older(22 years and 11 months of it) now and capable of remembering faces like the back of my palm.
That reminds me, im still due one post. The return journey i did from Trichy to Pune on 18th last month. Well, as i already told u guys, the Gods have this thing against me. Now i try to remember what happened during the flight. I realized, I've a very bad memory. But then again, i can recognize all the five airhostess if i see them anytime, anywhere in my life. The other thing i remember was the take-off and landing. 3 to 5 Gs the plane reached during those times. About the plane itself, a Boeing 737, a congested KPN airbus with 3 seats on either side of the aisle is what it is. Nothing great. Greatness was the stewardess. There was a rookie in the lot and my fellow hot-blooded passenger tried to flirt with her. Boy what nerve this guys have...I just asked for more water...very politely.
And to top it all, Star Movies showed `View from the top` that evening.
All in all, it was one of those rare journeys i did without any embarrasing moments.

Of TMC and MegaWatt...

(True incident that happened during the riots in b'lore over cavery water. I know i promised u guys a short story with characters and all... but forgive me i can only manage a monologue here.)

I passed out of college in May, 2002. I was offered a job in a good(`paying` is silent) company through the wonderful thing called `Campus selection`. But nobody told me that they could defer my joining by eight months. They did. Believe me when i say those were the longest eight months of my life. Star Movies ad HBO gave me company through those lean times at home, Trichy. After some time i had to get off that couch, since it was developing a huge dent because of all the lying around. I went to Bangalore where most of my friends(already joined their companies) and two of my cousins lived. I fell in love with the city the moment i disembarked(they have females for bus conductors!). And the daily walk through MG and Brigade road were the best i have done. We would give each girl a score in the Aish-scale (Aish being 100). It was like trying to sort an almost ascending array that is infinitely long. I even managed to get a full-time job in Mangalore for a meager pay. And i would visit my friends in b'lore every other weekend as they were the closest.

One weekend when i was over in b'lore...the still standing Cauvery water issue rose to its zenith in years. With farmers from both states commiting suicide, the tamil film industry getting involoved, buses burnt and all the political stunts it was indeed an acme. The problem is that Karnataka would send the alloted water across the border. TN retorted or rather the stunt parties suggested that Karnataka who are marginally dependant on the electric power from the dams of TN should be given the finger. Im sure it added fuel. There was a sort of mild-curfew in tamils predominant areas of b'lore. It was nothing like in the Mani Ratham movies, where a mob would walk around with assorted varieties of spears and spades. Since nobody was allowed to come outside and even if they did there should never be more than three persons standing together for more than a minute, it was quite calm, nevertheless tense. The situation was under control simply because it never went out of control. Although Mysore and the related areas still showed hostility towards their tamil neighbours b'lore was still unmenacing. My mom got panicky and called me to ask me to rush home immediately. I assured her that there is little trouble and im not coming home and i have to go to work on monday to M'lore.

The Majestic. Sunday night. Cool air. Shoulder bag and water bottle.
I cant read kannada, but i was never not able to find a Mangalore bus from Bangalore. I inquired the condutor standing infront of such a bus whose starting and destination point's words differed only by the first letter, "when does the bus depart to m'lore?". The conductor told me it would do so in fifteen minutes. He was a 45-years-uncle-next-door sort of guy complete with a beer belly, thick glasses and gutka. I gave him Rs.500 and asked for a ticket to m'lore. ...click... The entire area went black. Power-cut. The conductor was actually entertaining a small group and the power-cut made to change their point of discussion to the cauvery issue. The conductor seemed eager to join the conversation. As he gave me the ticket and the change and went back to it. As i was mildly interested in the topic i stood there and tried to decipher the kannada. Im was not good at that. But i know profanity when i hear one. The carefully thought out blasphemy were directed at the Tamils who by their view are directly responsible for this power-cut. The conductor was the most heated one. I had a feeling that he called out to the entire Kannada community to unite against the dark force that is Tamilnadu. He even used some tamil swear-words. Being an orthodox Tamil i couldnt take it anymore.

I walked away and saw the ticket read Seat#35("Penultimate row, God! My spine!"). I went into the bus and depositted my overnight bag in the luggage slot over the seats. I came outside again to light a cigerette. In the light i checked the change the conductor gave me. There was a Rs.500/- bill in the change. He must have thought it was a 100. It would be very simple to just ignore the mistake and walk away a few hundreds richer not to mention the free bus ride. But my upbringing would never allow that. I promptly went back to the conductor to inform him of the mistake. He was still engaged in the same conversation if not with more might. I interpretted him right in the middle of "..all tamils are arrogant bast.." and told him "U gave me a 500 instead of a 100." in Tamil.