Thanks, I am going to IIM-Indore!

This is going to be the last post from this office! I have had news!! I am going to IIM-Indore!!!
It has been real short notice. I came to know yesterday and I am leaving tomorrow!

So there is a lot of work lined up and I won't be able to do all that I have wanted to In case I get into an IIM.

However there are loads of people to thank. Gosh, and I haven't even won the Oscars!

So where do I start? From the obvious: God. It has been one heck of an experience and thanks for it. Then thanks for all those whom He has surrounded me with.

My parents word aren't enough so I would reserve them for others. Then there is Sandeep my brother who does everything at home whenever he is at home so that I don't have to(that he scolds me once in a while is a different thing).
My cousin who was at home when my parents were not there and took care of the house and me during the the CAT session and my Granny too who was a presence.

Then there are friends who asked about how I was preparing (even though they knew I don't do much in that way). Friends who were excited when I got the calls for the interviews and helped me in the preparation. And who had to listen to me when I didn't get a call from anywhere. Who were waiting with me for the final call. I could go on and describe a lot more but this is clearly a case when words are surely not enough.

And even as I type there is a tear in my eye! If they are reading this, great but I guess they would know anyway. I love each one very much.

there are friends from pagalguy with whom I was able to have some great times in a very short time of knowing them. Encouraging me through what has been a tough time! The same applies to friends at office who were great through the time I was with them


Some say I deserve it, there are some who would say that I deserve something better but I know that in more ways than one that it is more than what I deserve. However the people I have around me have played a big role in making all of my life such a great journey that any success I have can rightfully be claimed by them too.

I haven't mentioned any names but each of the persons know who they are! If I make a list it would be a long one with each one contributing in their own way! I would love to do that one day if I ever get around to an autobiography(hehe that was supposed to be funny)!

Thanks everyone!!!

I want to write about ....

There are a lot of things that I want to write about!!!

From the World Cup to the advertisements being shown during the breaks(the adidas ads are real good especially for a football freak with a knowledge of the game's history). The one with Patrick Viera saying 'deja vu' to Ballack has to be the clincher. The other ads in the series too are brilliant.

Football is something which I haven't written about on my blog and considering how much I love the game I think it is pretty amazing that not a single post has made it to the blog yet and this one too is not about football. But I want to write one soon!

Then I wanted to write about a lot of other things, some seemingly trivial but have angles which I consider important and then there are some issues which can be very deeply delved into.

For example I wanted to write a bit about marriage expenses and the good work being done by the Hyderabad Welfare Society. Read the it here(hope the link works, do inform me if it doesn't). While I think that marriages should be very simple but as I think more about the issue and realise the importance of memories I can understand the need for a little bit of pomp(the poor girl in most cases is going to be married only once). So when I read the article the first time round I was a bit skeptical but then realised that it was only through the Society's initiative that these people were able to have marriage which would have been beyond their reach. Hope that these small gestures which might not seem significant on the surface but are vital to the overall well-being of society since it is increases the good-will factor.(Logically it doesn't make as much sense but people are not just rational beings, at times I wonder if they are rational at all).

As I typed out the previous paragraph I had a call on my phone which I ignored and that was from the sales department(or whatever) of HSBC credit cards. While in the beginning I willingly cooperated but their persistence in asking for all sorts of details meant that I decided not to take the card and have not been receiving their calls since a month now(that they still persist is amazing but it is also a sign of desperation to sign on new customers, I wish I could help out that agent by giving him the information but I no longer have the patience to cooperate)

There is one I want to write about the nature of love, the seeming inexplicableness of the whole thing. This being prompted by the death of a boy who was around 10 years old due to tumors in the brain. His parents had to care for him for around 14 months and since I am not mentioning any details here but I just want to express my appreciation, the boy was an adopted one. I was going to write 'I know the pain must be great' but then realised that I don't. My thoughts and prayers at this time are with them and I pray that there are more people of their kind in this world. They would surely be an inspiration to me. And I want to explore more about the nature of love(especially in the broader sense of the word which is much misused to my annoyance).

I want to write a post about my friends each of whom is a special person and write a post each about the best of my friends. They are all pretty precious. Then there is a friend I made during the summer, so I would like to write about meeting people.

There are a lot more things which keep propping up in my mind and I think maybe I should blog about these too.

Now if I wasn't so lazy and if only I had the capability to write all those posts!

Shifting Office Locations

I usually do not crib about things but I have decided to do that now since it would be a different kind of post and I have told a person or two that I am going to do this post.

All was going well at my office, the place was good and the tea breaks even better, till the time they decided to shift locations for my project. We shifted from a building called 'Cyber Pearl' to 'Cyber Towers"(which is what one could consider the face of the IT/ITES industry in Hyderabad, yes it is the round building which you must have seen on TV). Seems a good move? Wait till you hear my story.

It has been a little over a week since we shifted and I still haven't got used to the place and don't like the look of it .
The first thing which goes against Towers is the fact that it is an older building and seems to have been designed to use all the space possible for work.However a deeper inspection would reveal that even that goal isn't fully achieved due to the circular shape of the building which doesn't allow for baloncies on the outside so has to make to imitations of the indoor variety. THe structure being such that it lends itself to being very dark. So much for the architecture, I haven't yet come to the part where the shift has been an irritant and then there is a real tragedy lurking there too.
I am trying to be expressive and lucid but my horror at being in this place doesn't allow me to go through my limited repetoire of words efficiently.First, coming to the machines on which we work, they are the same but we simply don't have the same access previlege to same number of sites. Earlier our project had access to almost everything other than sport and even that could be got on a few newspaper sites. But now they have blocked newspaper, orkut anything you can think of. Even the proxy avoidance scheme doesn't work with proxy avoidance blocked. The height of it has to be "Philanthropies and Charities blocked", Come on , give me a break!(breaks are also a tragedy here as you are about to find out) This has to be a tragic blow for anyone but for someone like me it is an unmitigated disaster which falls beyond measurement by the Richter scale.

Now, if only the place were more convenient, this could have rankled less. But even to take a break and drink a cup of tea one has to hold the cup of tea in the hand and then swipe the card not once but twice, struggling to keep the door open(Try conjuring up images of someone getting to all sorts of shapes just with a cup in one hand, card in the other and the leg try to keep the door open). It is definitely not funny if the door consistenly bangs into the back as you let it go. Once I agree is funny, twice and thrice too but everytime?

And now to the real bad part. You have to swipe twice everytime you have to go to the toilet!!! I mean what about the poor fellow who is in a hurry. I guess I can't elaborate further without being crude so I stop this paragraph right here. And I just remember the facility here is also real poor and the quantity low. So leading to queues at particular points of time. Ok, I stop here. But give me Pearl anyday!

Now the cafeteria! The food is equally pathetic at both places but the resturant downstairs at Pearl was better for the small snacks(However I admit I am yet to explore this place fully).And I have to go to change floors to get there! The cafeteria in the company however is totally insufficient to even hold the employees. The Coffee Day Express doesn't have enough variety of snack. I guess those who know me will surely be feeling sorry for me by now.

And then there are the elevators(or lifts as some would call). They have to be travelled in to be believed that such a variety too exists. There is one which would qualify to be a compartment in the narrow guage railway and it feels that way too. The lifts, because of the number of people are usually crowded and even when you manage to get into the lift, it takes an age to reach the floor you want. There are friends for whom it takes less time to travel from home to the building than from the ground floor to the office. I would recommend the stairs especially during peak hours.

Oh there is still good coming out of it for me! Maybe I would lose weight! Maybe I would work!!!

Thanks for a great time.

This summer has been one which I have thoroughly enjoyed insipid of having to go to office and lingering disappointment which now has stopped surfacing hull's someone brings up the issue. My parents had gone out for most of the time and my brother was at home and we had a whale of a time. My cousin who finished his twelfth had joined us too in the party that we had. While describing all the experiences is beyond my limited abilities and I don't have many pictures to post, there are a few things I would like to mention and a few people I would like to thank.

The reason being the football that we could play. We had this whole gang of around 10 to 12 and Saturday mornings were great. As were Sunday evenings! There could be no greater feeling of freedom and exhilaration than that of playing football in the rain. Absolutely great!!! And to follow that up with servings of mirchi and masala vada, with music accompaniment if one wished for it! I guess I would give more description as I keeping mentioning names.

First up would be Sandeep, my brother who got everyone together and organized and planned everything. From the idea of playing to the trips, most of the things were his ideas. And the best part was the entertainment with football, he was on the opposite team most of the time but I enjoyed being on his team. He almost always scored when he wanted to. I am privileged to have such a brother(I guess there are times when we all have a go at younger siblings but I keep thinking at times I know him even before he was born!)

Then there is Johnson 'the wall'(in footballing terms, so that means that whoever went in against him inevitably had to take the fall, ofcourse there were honorable exceptions which needn't be mentioned here!). He is someone who is always ready to help(and that is the one of the grossest understatements of my life)

Benny, awesome player, can dribble real well and always ready to play. He was willing to come at 12 in the noon just because I had to fulfill my whim of playing football that day as I had some other things lined up for later that evening. Great fun to be with and to quote him as he describes himself, "in one word 'cool'"

Then next on the list would be Vamshi, my brothers school mate and his brother Vimal, who not just added numbers but gave variety to the skill on display.

Sudeep, my cousin, enjoyed his time with us too. The best description I can give is one that an uncle of mine uttered ,"nee voolu antha etkaram"(when translated it means something on the lines of 'your whole body is filled with sarcasm'. He did help with the cooking and stuff around the house. And provided laughter on football field with regular mistakes.Talking of mistakes leads me to Rohit, whose being on the team seemed to boost the opposition but Sandeep did say that he could do a job if given clear instructions. However he is pretty enthusiastic and lends some of the variety needed to make the fun complete.

There was Arpan who joined us 2 times, he got so excited about playing football, he went off to buy a ball without even asking us(that he didn't seem to find it is another matter).

Paul, who played goalkeeper and whose size allowed him to perform a good job, managed to ignore the jibes and provided more entertainment of the comical error variety(ofcourse Rohit and Sudeep would rank way above him but still)

Sam, who was I guess the youngest but never let it show. He joined us on our night together in the house when we had a riot. And he liked to play defence but I think he would useful on the wing too.

Then there is Leena, she has to be seen to believed. Full of energy and towards the end picked up the nuances of football too pretty well. She was usually the last to feel tired and nothing seemed to faze her. Balls hitting her with force, clashing of heads for balls in the air and tackling did seem pretty routine for her. Atta girl! Way to go!!!

Beryl and Chrysolite did join us for the jaunt at Eat Street and the boat ride was fun too.

I seem to have left someone out. Hmm.. He played Defensive Midfield, tried to pass the ball(and was successful once in a while) and in general used to tire easily. However he enjoyed it to the hilt and is grateful for the time he had and would like to thank all involved in making this summer almost as good as the summers in Kotagiri!

Why the protests against reservations aren't working and a bit more

The protests against reservations have brought cheer to my heart as they are an indication that all is not lost. There are people around who seem to have the ability to take things head on. I have been seeing the way things have been going and I feel that this is the ideal way to go about things. Protesting in a peaceful manner.
However, the time for peaceful protests is long past. We have become a people who won't listen to words and our politicians are even worse. We fear those who are violent(radical should be the right word but not it is not radical enough to convey my meaning) and in this case fear is what should be generated in the politicians. For example, how to do movies get banned? Fear of violence!The time when voices of dissuading were heard was really short(if at all it was ever heard). It is the mob which rules.

I have read about people likening the situation to the revolutions in Eastern Europe but although they seemed to be spontaneous, they were very well planned. So we can go one up on them at this moment of time without actually resorting to violence(as in killing). One of the major ingredients for success is subversion from within. Unfortunately the best solution without violence is paralysis of work in the country. The movement needs even the bureaucrats, soldiers in the army to come together. The ultimate strike would be of those providing security to the vibes. That would certainly set the cat among the pigeons. I know this is wishful thinking but it sure would be effective. So let us consider a lesser alternative which is vandalizing the HARD ministry office. It would certainly set them thinking. I am surprised that I am suggesting something on these lines but that appears to be the only feasible solution. Bringing the country to a grinding halt. It would people up if in a city like Hyderabad the protest are not held on Sundays but rather on weekdays. The protests seem to be just a token expression and not that serious since no one is actually being affected(I am talking about the phenomenon in Hyderabad). By protesting on a weekday we would actually be sacrificing a lot more and at the same time make the point in a more emphatic manner. A thousand people on a weekday morning for 2 hours near secretariat would be more effective than five thousand on a Sunday. I still think that protesting in that way is unbecoming but that is the only resort left if anything meaningful is to come out of the protests. The protests are not registering where they should. The age of reason seems to have passed us by, and what is left is a mentality for which 'majority is right' leading to the culture of the mob.

We have got the weapon of productivity and the country's economy can be heavily damaged through a little bit of strategic planning. However it would affect us too. So we need to make a few sacrifices, so that the future generations won't be sacrificed. Looking at it logically, it is in the prosperity of the affluent that the not so affluent can prosper. A simple example here would be that of the maid servant, who is dependent on work from someone who is richer it is basically those who have the power who are ignorant of it and the ways in which to unleash it. Being a socialist at heart I still don't understand how the middle-class has failed to assert itself as a major influence which counts. (What does being a socialist have to do with it? You might ask. It is just that I see that there are more ways possible) It is only when there is a major crisis that we raise our head an moan , protest and go back to sleep. This is also a result of a lack of major sacrifices being made. For example, very few of our best students go on to become teachers, especially for someone in the age group of 14 to 22 it could be crucial unwillingness to come to terms with reality is affecting us. The dream to earn big bucks makes engineers and MBAs of us all but then there are few who actually want to build something more meaningful

Protesting as I have said before is all very good, but it is time for us to inarguable the direction that we are taking!!!



PS: this post was in draft mode for a long time and much more water has passed under the bridge.
PPS: I will be writing more probably on the issue but I may take up a diametrically opposite stance the next time around!!!

on being balanced

A balanced look at any issue would be the optimal way to solve problems arising from it. An objective view allows for an answer which gives satisfaction to everyone involved in the process. Being unbiased gives one much more room to maneovre and look at pros and cons of both sides of the coin.
Even in today's society, a balanced person is more appreciated and held in higher esteem than one who is prone to bais. I guess the advantages involved are bit obvious. When pure reason is held higher than emotions and reasons of the heart, we would have a world which is much easier to understand.
However there are a few issues which are not so clear. For example, how balanced should one be so as to be balancedly balanced. Can someone put so much of emphasis on being balanced so as to become imbalanced with regard to balance.While one could possibly be perfectly perfect, being balancedly balanced seems an impossibilty because of the very nature of being balanced.The dilemma is perhaps about the balance to be struck between being reasonable and irreasonably reasonable because of human nature being more than just 'reason'. There is also the question of just how much emotion to show. There are times when we just let instincts take control. However that is also a crucial factor in being balanced since the suppression of emotions for too long a period could lead to disturbing the equilibrium of the person as a whole.

As I ponder there are lot of things which come to the mind which are prescriptive and I don't particularly think that I of all people should be prescribing something as a thing to be practiced. As I keep typing the very nature of the matter baffles me since it is ambigous and will be contradictory the moment I put it down. So I would finish off this peice much shorter than I originally thought. Probably the secret to being balanced is allowing oneself to be imbalanced once in a while(in a balanced manner???)