Wow. What a finish to Bigg Boss Season 3. It was one of the most awesome Bigg Boss Seasons. I have supported Vindu Dara Singh right from the beginning. Somehow, I felt amongst all housemates Vindu was the best.

And yes, today was the finale. Guess who won the Bigg Boss Season 3 crown, none other than Vindu Dara Singh. I am so happy, the good has prevailed.

Vindu Dara Singh was an exceptionally good person. Each member of my family was supporting him only.

Today he has won the BB3, and I cannot tell you guys, how much happy I am.

My 84 days of watching Bigg Boss has finally had a sweet result.

Tomorrow is the Bigg Boss Season 3 Finale. It has been a wonderful 3 months watching Big Boss. Many people told me, I am a fool watching Big boss. I wonder what made them say that. Though I did not watch the very first episode of Big Boss, I have been watching it regularly since then.

My favorite house mate of Big Boss season #3, is none other than Vindu Dara Singh. I have enjoyed his stay at the BB house. I have even sent SMS supporting him.

Now that the season is coming to an end, I wish to see him as the winner.

Cheers,

I would like to thank all the people who have helped me during my stay at Honeywell. I sure not gonna take their names here. All my current team mates, current manager, have been very kind towards me.

I would like to thank my former team members, many of whom are on orkut. I would like to thank my ex-team lead/manager, in particular, for providing a laptop to work and flexi work timings. If without a laptop it would have been very difficult.

So thank you all guys..

This week starting from 21 Dec 2009, to 24 Dec 2009, was one of the scariest weeks. It was kind of a tight situation for me.

In other words it was a hard working week for me. I was about to quit my organization on 24 Dec 2009. I had to complete loads of things.

The last Sunday when I wrote the post, it surely was heartfelt.

I am thankful to God for helping me to carry myself with grace and humility during the past week, without whom I would have landed in a tight situation. I wish he gives me still more strength. So now with a majority of work done, I am nothing but happy with myself.

So now its not only a new year 2010 for me, loads of things are new as well.

Cheers.

Yesterday was my last working day of the year 2009. It also happens to be my last working day @ Honeywell. I had joined Honeywell on 5 March 2008, so it ended on 24 Dec 2009.

Initially during my notice period found it very easy to go about things. But yesterday one of my friend's asked me a question, how can you quit after working together for 2 years. I mean, it was a very difficult question to answer. Infact I had no answer.

I have left behind all those friends whom I have worked with over the last 1 year 10 months or so. I wish them all the very best for their future career.

Though its going to be my fourth company in less than 5 yrs. I still am not feeling that happy.

Somehow I have realized that this job and stuffs are just a part and parcel of our lives. The core thing is how much we enjoy ourselves in it.

I feel we need to enjoy ourselves while at work and we need to do what we love. There is no point being someone else.

PS:: Coming to the point of doing what you love, I always have loved to drive heavy vehicles, like loaded trucks etc though I have not got a chance. Does it mean that I have to become a professional driver?

Difficult question, but I have a simple answer, I love coding, debugging and learning new Microsoft Technologies, so I am enjoying my job as programmer as well.

Cheers & Merry Xmas.

This is supposed to be my last working day for the year 2009. I am at home for the whole of next week, starting from 24 Dec 2009, to 3 Jan 2010. Though I have a taken a long week off, I do not have any plans for a trip. I had planned to buy a PC for the last week of December and start gaming. But that idea did not work out.

Now I am sitting in the library of my office and blogging. This week is a memorable week for me. It signifies not only my last working day, of 2009, but also the last working day at my present organization.

I only pray that I get relieved today so that I can join an altogether new organization for the year 2010.

Cheers,

PS:: If I had not resigned from my current organization I would have started planning for loads of things. Now I have no plans waiting for the year to get over.

Its been a truly hardworking Sunday for me. Apart from doing office work I have done loads of additional work. I mean, what I am saying is heart felt, I ve worked very hard to complete some tasks.

This week is a memorable week for me. The tide is either going to swing in my way or I am going to end up as a loser. Only time will tell.

I am seriously tensed as the Monday is approaching. I shall blog about in detail about what I am talking sometime later.

As of now, I have loads of concerns for the coming week.

I pray to God to give me more strength. Please God help me carry myself with more humility.

Cheers.

It feels superb. I have been able to post 100 posts for the second consecutive year. Yippy. I would like to thank God for keeping me alive and kicking all through 2009. I wish 2010 brings in more happiness for everyone.

Cheers,

Its been quite a tiring week for me. I had loads of work to do. Lots of things had to be set right. But the sad part is, the whole thing is not done yet. It shall go deep into the weekend. Tomorrow I have to give my car for first service.

Its night 12:30 am and I am awake commenting on the Big Boss Season#3, blog, praising Vindu Dara Singh. I wish he wins.

Tomorrow is our company Annual Day. I had a very funny incident when it comes to Annual Day. The year was 1998. I was in 10th Standard. We had Annual day. As usual, I bunked the school's annual day. Unfortunately we had an attendance sheet that day and the whole absentees had been tracked out.

And can you guess the outcome. Yes, I was SUSPENDED from school, for a day, for not attending Annual Day.

I still do not attend Annual day functions. These days, they are not mandatory anymore.

Yes, gone are the golden days of schooling.

Cheers,

It all started when I came to know that Mr Amitabh Bachchan would host the Big Boss Season #3. I feel hearing his name associate with the show brought a whole lot of audience. One among them was me. I am a huge fan of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.

Its been 68 days, I have enjoyed each and every episode. I come running home early just to catch Big Boss Season 3. Day 68 has been an exceptional day.

There was so much twist to the tale. I ended up throwing my remote control onto the sofa and vowed never to watch Big Boss again. The reason being simple, my favorite person in the show, Vindu Dara Singh was voted out of the show, not by DESH KA ADESH, but by the participants who felt he was the most probable person to win the show.

I immediately said to my parents, its the end the road, no more Season #3, Big boss from today onwards. But at the end of the show came to know, Vindu was not voted out of Big boss, instead, he is kept in a separate room, but still in the competition.

That is such a huge relief. Loong live Vindu Dara Singh.. I am so happy. I shall continue to watch Big boss. If only Vindu gets ousted before winning, I shall stop watching the show.

Cheers,

What a rocking Friday..

Over the weekend, somehow I recollected my password for my Twitter account and I am redebuting over there.

Now I am realizing its been 8 months since I last tweeted. I have a good memory. I still can recollect my password. Thats a feat.

So now trying to tweet through mobile. The site says, the cost is none. Let me try it out.

I hope I do not tweet my frustrations out over there

Yup, its been a very long weekend for me. I was unwell for the last 2 working days of the week. So its 2+2 days. I am in a situation where in I am not supposed to take leaves. But I could not avoid it, since I was very much down with fever, flu, throat pain.

Me taking leaves has added to the complexity of the scenario. Now I am wondering about the effect it is going to have on me, my plans. I sure will blog about it in the month of Jan 2010.

As of now, enjoying my weekend, reading Tintin -> 7 crystal balls & prisoners of the son.

I drove my vehicle today for around 20 kms. It sure looks cool.

Watched Big Boss Season 3 yesterday, I just love it. I am wondering what will I watch once Big Boss Season 3 gets over. I wish and hope that Vindu Dara Singh wins Season #3. He sure is an awesome guy.

Cheers,

Day was even more interesting. I had visited the Salar Jung Museum on Day 1, but my hands were tied since I could not take any pictures within the museum.

But Chowmahalla Palace too had loads of antiques. But here I took a whole bunch of pictures. Yes.

Here it goes..

Day 3, in Hyderabad, was a fabulous day. I visited the world famous Ramoji Film City. I can tell you I had loads of fun over here. So much stuffs to see. So less time.

I feel I could upload few pics which could tell super stories instead of me writing everything over here. So here it goes.

I woke up around 4 am in the morning. Did not find anyone awake at that time, so slept again for 40 more minutes and again woke up at 5 am and had bath.

The Muhurtham was at 8 am so there was plenty of time for me to catch some sleep. Slept for some time and then chatted with cousins. At around 7 10 am I left for Lord Venkateshwara temple which was located next to the Marriage Hall. After coming from the temple I went straight to the marriage hall, took some snaps and then went for breakfast.

Since I had slept very less the previous night I began to start feeling drowsy in the marriage hall. I slept there in bits and pieces, clicking photos time and again. Finally it was lunch time and I had a heavy meal consisting of North Indian dishes.

Finally checked out of the marriage hall into a hotel.

It was indeed a pleasure being a part of the marriage. I had whole lot of fun during the marriage. Altogether a memorable experience.

On 20 Nov 2009, I left Bangalore for Hyderabad, the reason being to attend my cousin's marriage. I had applied for 4 days leave at the office for attending the marriage (2days) and visiting places in and around Hyderabad for another 2 days.

The marriage went well. Infact it went really well. On 21 Nov 2009, during the evening time when there was Vara Pooja, there was a procession, along with it there was a country band. I danced for almost 2 hours on the roads of Hyderabad. It was altogether total fun, with lots of crackers n stuffs.

Finally the procession ended at around 11pm in the night and the Vara Pooja formalities begun.

The dinner was around 12 pm and I slept around 1pm in the marriage hall itself.

I have not blogged about since a long time. I have loads to write about, but there is so much of activity happening around, I am not able to recollect what to write and what not to write.

So here's listing what all I need to write.

> My new car, driving it near my house, my exp.
> My uncompleted book (by Ernest Hemmingway).
> My trip to Hyderabad.
> Places visited @ Hyderabad.

Hope to write some over this weekend.

Cheers.

Looong time since I actually blogged. Loads of things have happened over the past two weeks. Firstly me, being absolutely bugged at work.

Secondly, I turned 26 on Oct 30.

Its been close to a month since I have booked Indica Vista Tdi, and I am yet to take the delivery of the car. Hopefully next week.

I am reading the book, The Complete Short stories of Ernest Hemmingway. The book seems to be way beyond my understanding. I have to go through each chapter atleast 3-4 times to get a hang of what is going around. In any case that wont happen, so most probably I would finish the book reading each story once atleast. :)

My friends have read my blog and the post about booking an Indica Vista. Though I wanted to keep it a secret, it has come out in the open. I was kind of embarrased when my friends came to know about the booking through the blog. I wanted to tell them after I had brought it.

Well, most people have ridiculed my decision about buying this car, and also buying diesel with monthly running of less than 300 kms.

But do I care ? No. I love diesel cars and my heart will always prefer diesel car only, no matter whats the amount of running per month.

Cheers,

I have a strange topic name. I do not how what topic to write for this particular post. I love so many rock bands. One among them is The Police.

I started loving The Police even more after the Global Earth 7/7/7/ concert.

Soon I came to know that my father is also a fan of The Police.

Not sure whether I have written about this before. But looks cool rite, same rock band influencing 2 generations.

~~~~
Cheers

After reading Ayn Rand - We The Living, I started with another book, " The News of a Kidnapping ", its a superb book, I am about to complete the book by this weekend.

Planning to start with another book, " The Complete Set of short Stories by Ernest Hemmingway ". Love that book, waiting to finish the current one :)

Just wanted to update about the crazy little situation I am into.

My company people organized a Tata Sumo which drops me at my pickup point itself.

The cab is scheduled at 6:20 pm, but there is a clause with it.

The cab will ply only if I come at 6:20 pm. If not... Well as of now I do not know about this situation. I hope it will ply in my absence was well.

Finally, I have decided to go in for a new car. Its none other than Tata Indica Vista Terra Tdi.

My budget was 4 - 4.2 lakhs.

Loads of options were available when it came to petrol vehicles. But when it came to diesel vehicle, only a single vehicle stood above the rest. It was none other than Tata Indica Vista Terra Tdi. The on-road price for me comes to Rs 3,82,000. Ain't it awesome. Its literally at the price of a petrol car.

And remember its a diesel car. No other diesel (new) cars are available at this price. I could have gone for the Indica DLS. But somewhere I read, Vista had loads of improvements compared to DLS. And it was mere 15-20k more than DLS.

I always have loved to drive a diesel. Though I have not driven Indica Vista, I still booked the car. I have driven the " naturally aspirated " indica DLS. I have never felt what turbo kick is. Soon I shall blog about it.

I am happy about my decision. The car does not have a tachometer, no power windows, no 60-40 rear seat split. But do I mind all of these. Never. I will opt for 5 spoke alloy wheels. Also inquired about Bull bar. Got to know, its not a part of standard Tata equipment. That makes me disappointed. With a 14-inch tubeless tyre I am more than happy. (I feel petrol variant comes with 13 -inch tyres.)

But all in all, I feel a real value for money car.

I did it on a Saturday. I am deeply indebted to Lord Shani. And hence I wanted to do this on a Saturday only. Hope he keeps me going.

Ever since, I could not finalize on the used Scorpio, I have not been able to find interest in looking out for used cars. Yes, I may not use a car as a daily commute to work. An used car could have chipped in, but now I have thoughts of buying a new car.

Today was an eventful day for me. I did lot ,learnt loads infact. I recently saw an ad in my company intranet, about a Scorpio for sale. The Scorpio was about 5 year old and done about 50k kms. The asking price was Rs 435000.

Though, till date, I never had thought of owing such a huge vehicle, I somehow made all the guts and courage in the world to interact with the owner.

Since he was from the same company as I am, I could easily approach him for the vehicle inspection. The date was fixed, ie today.

I recently got my driving test completed, and I did not have an inch idea of what to do. But somehow mustered enough courage to visit a nearby mechanic seeking help.

The mechanic was quite helpful, and I visited the house of the person, who was selling his vehicle. I was quite impressed with the car. It was in mint condition.

I told the mechanic to go ahead and have a look at the vehicle. He did. In about 20 mins time, the inspection was done and I was ready to go back home.

After coming back the mechanic told me to go for the vehicle only if the price is brought down to 3.8 lakhs.

Some of the key observations which the mechanic told me was:
> Though the owner insisted the vehicle had run for 50k kms, mechanic told me the vehicle had well run over 1 lakh kms.
> The seats were all neat and redone. The mechanic told me this situation comes only if the seats are worn out, and they wear out only if its used too much. So the question of 50k kms was far from thought.


I was also advised to drive a smaller vehicle before buying such a huge vehicle. Though I have always loved to drive the Mahindra Bolero, it seems that day is far too away.

I am literally confused on what is to be done. But I feel my plans of having a Bolero / Scorpio have just been flushed out and I need to re-think on what I really need to buy.

I have been given a green signal for an Indica. But now I am running low on confidence. I need to gather all the courage in the world to buy a car.

Cheers,

I am so happy today, I started reading a new book today morning and finished it by afternoon, isn't it impressive. On the contrary, I do have another book which I have been reading since a month.

The book which I read in a single day, is " How to Handle your BOSS ".

It definitely tells us about some nice tricks, to handle your bosses.

It sure was a good read.

And yes today is "Gandhi Jayanthi". Proud to be an Indian :)

Cheers,

It seems weird, but I always end up having a panga with company transport guys. Be it my first company , second or third, there seems to be no pickup and drop facility close to my house.

@ Wipro, the shuttle used to go via Uttarahalli Road, but they refused to give a stop / pickup point, I had to walk around 1.5 kms just to reach the pickup point, which made me quit Wipro (yes I uploaded my CV because of this ).

@ Honeywell, I do have a pickup point close to my house, but the drop point is 3kms away from my place. Have you ever imagined about such a scenario where in you are picked up at some place and dropped at some other place. I mean it looks silly and weird, but I am at the recieving end of it.

I saw an advertisement on the televison, about a lady eating pani puri and the vendor advising her about the ill effects of junk food. About improper digestion, burping etc etc.

So, I was wondering, after moving to new campus, I have easy access to Junk Food every evening. though I eat only once / twice a week (which is tooo much), I had an idea of intaking fibre by having Oats or Cornflakes? I hope I do not end up with an upset stomach.

What say??

Today was my driving test. I needed loads of luck and confidence.

Yes, with loads of luck, "GuruBala" and Gods grace, I cleared it.

There were 12 people who had to drive. The instructor stood in the main road, watching them drive. But when my turn came, I had to drop him back to the RTO. Hence he came along in the car with me.

Frankly speaking, I did not have any issue, on my mind, about what if the engine stalls. And believe me, I took a U turn and drove amidst traffic, even in 4th gear.

My instructor was stunned, coz he thought I was a dumb guy.

Yes, the lesson I learnt was, if we stop worrying about end results, we can perform better.
Worrying about engine stalling, and other stuffs, would have led me to nowhere.

Phew so many classes just came and went away. I improved considerably during these classes. Yes, I now could drive with more confidence and 25 - 9 -2009 was my driving test. I was suppose to drive for my license.

Last two sessions I was trying out on the reverse gear. Did learnt it though, not master it.

Cheers,

Watched Jab We Met on Pogo TV. I was surprised to see Jab We Met being aired on Pogo. Could not make any reason behind it, considering the channel is meant for kids.

Later came to know some of the adult scenes and adult words were edited/removed.

Surprise, Surprise, isn't it??

Today, was my 13th session, I am 5 sessions away from finishing them all. No clues on buying a car yet. I drove today after almost 2 weeks. But I felt little bit high on confidence. I drove amidst very very heavy traffic. But still managed with one or two hiccups here and there.

I shall take my test this Friday, I need to bunk office for that.

Let me see.
Cheers.

Though my Driving class Session 12, was dated 5 September 2009, I could not blog about it, since I found nothing encouraging in that particular session. I drove amidst heavy traffic. But I was bit sad about my driving. I then postponed taking driving sessions for about 2 weeks, till today ie 21 September 2009, due to some urgent official work.

So as on 5th September 2009, I am quite quite, upset about my driving skills,.

Its been a looong weekend, but a boring one. Its almost 20 days, but still I am not able to complete reading the book which I had begun.

I have two more books queued up in line, but lacking the enthusiasm these days.

Travel is taking up loads of my time. And I end up doing nothing on weekdays.

I feel as though I am staring at a deep pit full of shit, my future seems to be dull, black and full of boring days.

Feels like I am stuck in the moment.

But I would like to thank God for keeping me alive and kicking. I just hope these boring days just pass away, and I hope I shall be back blogging about my happy days.

Cheers.

I have moved out of Kalyani Magnum Campus located @ JP Nagar 3rd phase. I am now put up at Orion campus, located @ OuterRingRoad.

This appears to be my 11th different workplace( location), in a span of 4 years. Feat in itself.

Cheers,

> I am still reading the book Ayn Rand - We the living.
> Still not done with my driving classes.
> Have some other commitments before actually I invest in a car.
> Feeling some heat, because of work.
> Wanting to read loads of stuffs, but lack of time and my mood swings are constant threats.
> I am enjoying being all alone, all for myself.
> I am happily listening to the radio and coding :P.
> Surprisingly, none of my buddies are online on GTALK. ???

I was today wondering, whether, this power to express ourselves and publish it, controversial?

Here and there I find examples, where people have landed up in soup, because of blogging, though they have not blogged anything hatred.

But, but, such is life.

I have blogged about something which ends up with visitors from all parts of the planet.

Yes, I have written about SJBIT. Do a google search for yourself, with the word, SJBIT, you will find my post. Though my post is heartfelt, (nothing bad I have written), I am still scared, what reaction it invokes to the reader.

I wish some of my fond teachers, read through that and comment. I would be on moon :)

Cheers,

My driving classes have been suspended till next Monday. The plan is to take the remaining 7 sessions on consecutive days and wind up with a Driving License test at the RTO.

Looks crisp. Hope I gain more confidence in myself, by next Saturday.

So having loads of time, I recently finished reading a Perry Mason mystery book.

So thought of starting with a new one. This time it is Ayn Rand - We The Living.

Hoping to finish it soooon..

Cheers.

Today, the whole day, I was at home. I watched a whole lot of stuffs on the television. Watched an advertisement on the television, which showcased, a boy and a guy, who had not taken any sick leave over the past year and have won accolades in their school and workplace respectively.

I was wondering whether, have I ever been through such a year, and yes, to be frank and honest, in my 8th standard, I had not taken a single sick leave. Not that I was not all that fit and healthy, but somehow too much of luck was on my side.

But what I feel is, it a waste trying to attend school/ office all the days.. Sometimes we need time all for ourselves. Weekends are perfectly alright. What I have figured out is a leave on a weekday is equal to nothing else. I feel its the best way to recharge.

And yes, during my 10th standard, the leaves which I took went, up to 15, for the whole year, and that is another kind of a feat in itself.

Cheers,

Yup, my 11th session, 7 more, and its all over..

Today I drove on steep roads. Engine did stall 2 times, but that should be fine.

Cheers,

Not much progress when it comes to driving. I am getting bored day by day driving a petrol vehicle. Seems like I will complete my remainder of the classes on a Santro itself.

I need to gear up for driving a petrol vehicle, mentally. Driving seems to be so boring these days, I want a diesel vehicle.!!!!

I am listening to this super song by Eagles, " Get over it ". I just remembered something to blog about. After working for 4 years in Indian IT industry, I just found out, there seems to be a single career band when it comes to software. Thats the managerial band.

I somehow feel, as we put in more and more years in the Indian IT Industry, there seems to be a technical stream which tends to vanish. I feel we all end up on the same boat, being a manager, booking conference rooms, attending meetings, approving timesheets.

Its not just the recession which is playing a hard ball. But even the thought of career growth seems to be making some people sick. Don't want to mention who though..

This scenario ideally happens since there are no new development projects which are being undertaken, be it recession or not. But there seems to be whole new technologies coming out.

Enthusiasts are waiting to rope in new technology. But there seems to be a lack of projects where we can make use of this technology.

This definitely tends to frustration. So just wanna say... Get over it.. :)

PS: I had recieved a mail about an article written by an ex IT Company employee which clearly mentions about the kind of projects being undertaken in many companies.

Saturday, I drove a Santro for the third time. Frankly speaking I am beginning to hate petrol cars. They seem to be bit boring to drive. I do not know why, but I loved driving the Indica.

The same feeling I am not getting while driving a Santro. I am easily getting bored while driving a Santro. I do not know why. Its got good horse power, good torque, does a good speed within the city, is quite zippy too.

But my heart and mind both prefer a diesel I feel.

Let me see , whether tomorrow I get to drive the Indica or not.

Session #8, drove the Santro only, still the problem of engine stalling while trying to move in the firs gear remains. I am beginning to hate myself. This used to happen rarely in an Indica. Why the hell, Santro engine stall so many times.

Secondly drove with a little more confidence in traffic, with plenty of buses coming in opp direction.

But my interest still seems to be lacking when it comes to driving, I somehow want to get a licence and stop this gimmick called learning to drive.

After a week's break, here I was about to drive a Santro. Firstly I had lost all my interest, which I had to drive in a week's time (after the break). Secondly, I preferred a diesel vehicle not a petrol vehicle. So was somewhat tentative to start with.

I observed a whole lot of difference between a Santro and an Indica. Finally after driving Santro for one day, you would expect me to say, I fell love with it ??, not really, I proudly say, I prefer a diesel. I am the one who hates the zippy factor.

Santro was quite quick and responsive, it was generating high torque at a very low rpm, which according to me was quite non-essential. It had loads of horse power, lot more than Indica.

But with Indica, the vehicle was quite slow in reaching the same speed, less on horse power, but was more of a beauty to drive.

And believe it or not, the engine stalled 2 times on the first day I drove it. I was quite unhappy with this whole incident.

So at the end of class #7, I can manage driving in morning traffic, but in peak traffic,i am still unsure.

Finally somehow, I managed myself to go back to the driving school after a week's time to resume my driving classes. It was certainly a difficult task to do, since I had lost all my interest and enthusiasm for learning how to drive. I could have learnt driving 2 years back and brought a car quite earlier, but I did not. The reason being I am very moody. My mood swings quite frequently and somehow I lose interest in many stuffs quite quickly.

One such thing was learning how to drive, second thing is buying a car. Yes its true, my enthusiasm to buy a car has halved. As I find no real reason to buy a car.

But I made up my mind to resume driving classes, since:
> I had paid money while enrolling and my parents were now making fun of me, saying I am fit for nothing. ( Well they never understand how quickly my mood swings, how can I tell them that I have no more interest left in driving a vehicle.)

Finally when I went to drive, I ended up driving a petrol vehicle, what happened next, well , its up in the next post.

Cheers

I have not blogged anything for the last few days. The reason being nothing going as per plan. Everything seems to have come to a standstill. My decisions, my timing, my schedule, everything is just stuck or thrown out of gear.

Firstly its almost a week since I last went to my driving classes. The instructor seems to have disappeared. Hopefully not with the money I have given. I am at the recieving end of lots of criticism from my parents with things related to my driving classes.

Secondly I am not able to go to a Tata showroom and decide on what car am I gonna buy, what is the EMI, what is the downpayment. Fuck man. I have never been so much out of sorts in the last one year.

Moreover, work related stuffs, nothing interesting happening at workplace. I have loads of things to be sorted out before I actually " be my normal self". Not sure when's that gonna happen.

And my PC at home seems to be having some kind of problem. It keeps on rebooting all the time, testing my patience, time and again.

I can only pray to God and keep my fingers crossed, hoping for the best. Let me see.

But one thing is for sure, I can thank God for whatever he has given me, for what situation I am currently into. No more complaints, now its time for me to work a bit harder and stop making noises like this on the blog.

Cheers.

Just listened to this song on the radio.

Fell in love with this band from South Africa

Call it luck, call it co-incidence, call it by God's grace, I do not know how to explain it. It was just 2 driving sessions before, I was unable to shift to second gear, instead I was applying fourth gear.

I got sound thrashings that day. The very next day, I managed to apply second gear, but I was still at the recieving end of some scolding because of engine stalling.

Now today being the 6th session, I countered most of the stuffs. I drove with all my vengeance. I thought let me drive as if there is no tomorrow. It worked. The engine stalled 2 times, well, my inexperience in traffic, but rest of the places, I was shifting gears at very ease.

I drove quite well today, pat on my back, which left even my instructor surprised. I mean, not a huge achievement, but this is my 6th session and I am comfortably driving in 4th gear. Wow, must be God's grace.

Let me see how do I drive tomorrow.

Cheers.

Yesterday was my fifth session. It went partly well and rest of the part went horribly wrong. I had problem in shifting gears the previous session. This time around I was quite confident on them, 1st 2nd, 3rd 4th, I did it all. I was so happy I could do it with ease. But my happiness did not last long.

I faced huge problem while downshifting. I could not shift the gears down as easily I did it the other way round. The car felt like it was over sensitive. It refused to pickup speed in second gear and hence stalled 3 times. (my bad, I had to press the gas pedal hard on an ascent or I had to downshift.)

Never did I feel scared, but my instructor told me "Its not the correct way to drive. You are not following my instructions." And yes he was visibly upset, very upset.

When I thought about what had happened when I came home, I quickly realised what had gone wrong.

1. The car did not have power steering, I was nervous while downshifting on curves and turnings, waiting for them to pass before I actually shifted the gear down. In order to shift gears while making a turn I needed to control the car single handedly. I was quite held back with this approach. (the width of the car seems to be bothering me.)

2. 80% of the time I was trying to steer the car amidst traffic people that I hardly noticed the drop in speed, which made the car to stall. I do not even look at the odometer. I keep looking straight on to the road. I mean, the car looks huge, maneuvering needs to be precise else there will be a scratch. I keep on concentrating on this forgetting about gear shifting.

I am hoping I will drive more confidently tomorrow. Lets see..

Cheers.

Somehow I was ridiculed about, for blogging about these driving classes. For a moment I was all set to delete the posts, since there was no hide option available.

It may look silly to an onlooker, but somehow I feel the enthu, hovering around me which makes me to type these posts.

So, today was my fourth day. I am driving with more confidence also applying brakes. I still sometimes make a huge left turn, which really pisses off my instructor. I need to look into that as well.

Today I tried applying 1st and 2nd gears. First gear did work quite well, the engine dint stall, while letting the clutch off. But somehow I was unable to apply the second gear itself. It used to land up in 4th instead of 2nd. I need to work on it too.

One more thing was applying clutch as soon as I braked. This is not happening and engine is stalling. I mean I need to apply clutch more harder. So let me do with more power tomorrow and see. I need to get less curses from my instructor. That is my aim.

Still lots to be learnt before I actually drive properly.

Cheers.

Today was my third session. I felt a little bit more confident. I was driving after a gap of a day. But none the less, I was raring to go. Drove a good distance covering lot of humps and sharp curves.

I was much much more confident on braking today. I did apply brakes quite well infact.

I drove the car single handedly while I was trying to give signals using my right hand. Well rare feat for me, a first time driver and that too driving without power steering amidst quite a traffic.

I was driving a diesel vehicle, tata indica to be more precise, which has run for almost 70K kms. Not even a single moment did I feel any vibration nor sound.

I still cannot feel the so called vibrations what people are talking about when it comes to a diesel vehicle.

As of now looking forward to drive more confidently. Let me see.

Cheers.

Today was my second day at the driving school. Everything started off quite well. I was hoping and praying not do repeat the same mistakes of day 1.

Infact I did not. The problem of oversteering and understeering almost disappeared. I now tried to focus on the braking part. But sadly, I am still not confident on braking. My instructor told me to apply clutch whenever I apply brake. It did not work out on the second day. I felt little uneasy in doing so.

One more problem which I noticed was while taking left and right turns. Left turn has to be taken quite crisply. Right turn has to be taken with a little bit more curve.

I did it the exact opposite. My left turn was way too much curvy. I was always focussed on the rear wheel on the left side.. Let me see, I need to pick up quickly.

Cheers

I planned to take driving lessons from morning 6 30 till 7 am.

So first day, I was wondering, whether I will start in an empty stretch of road or a play ground.
But to my surprise, I started off in a main road, with full control except gear shifts. I did not expect that.

I have never driven a car before, but somehow drove it without getting scared. There were lots of trucks, buses coming in the opposite direction, I drove it all along with few mistakes.

The instructor told me the car did not have power steering, but I ended up driving with almost single hand. May be its a power steering, need to cross check.

I was very poor in braking, almost ignoring the brakes.

It was day #1, and my right leg was quite reluctant to let off the gas pedal and move to brakes. My left leg was itching to move to do the braking. But somehow I controlled myself from not using the left leg. There were 2 occasions when I almost hit the gas pedal thinking it to be brakes (my bad, need to improve), and 2 more occasions when I ended up getting zapped while making a turn. (I regret, hope not to do it again).

All in all I drove on wide roads and some very very narrow roads. I did not get excited nor scared. But I was low on confidence. Thats for sure. Need to check how do I drive tomorrow. Till then.. Cheers

Recently, all of a sudden, I had sudden interest in learning car driving. I do have plans of buying a car in near future, but not that concrete plan. But somehow lumbered out some courage to go and join a driving school.

I enrolled over the past weekend, in a driving school, which is not so close to my house. You may be wondering, why join a driving school not so close to my house??

Well, I wanted to learn how to drive a Tata Indica, found this driving school near Uttarahalli, having one, so went and joined.

My driving sessions are to be covered over a period of 18 classes each of 30 mins.

I would love to post all in all 18 entries over here. Let me see how do I do that..

Cheers.

We left Bangalore on 17 evening at 11pm and were struck at Hosur RTO. It took an hour from there and drove all the way to Kodaikanal. Some of the pics on the way are here..

Back to blogging after long time. What made me blog this time was my trip to Kodaikanal over the last weekend, with my cousins.

The trip was unsure till the very last day, with people joining in, people dropping out. I thought I would never make it to Kodai on 18 and 19th July 2009. Even if I could make it, I felt it would be heavily pouring @ Kodaikanal.

Now that the trip has been realized, I have had the time of my life, and I am back, here to blog about those wonderful memories which still remain with me.

I had been to loads of places, some of them whose name I remember, I would love to post some of the pictures of them as well.

Let me post it as a part of different series of pics..

I read an article in today 's newspaper, about layoffs in a very popular company in Bangalore. It did not come as a surprise to me, because many of my friends over there told me earlier itself, that there is going to be a layoff. The article said, the people who were laid off were mostly entry level professionals.

Lets give some thought into it. Entry level professionals meaning people who are at the LEAF node in the organization. It generally includes freshers, software engineers, programmers (like me of course) and few other people.

But why do the entry level people only are targeted? Just because they do not have any prior experience or they do not add much value (in case of programmers)? I do not have an answer for this.

Rest of the post has been indiscriminately removed...

Got a mail from pravsworld about quotes of Micheal Jackson. I have been a fan of MJ if not a huge fan. The first time I came to know about MJ when I saw MJ's poster in my cousin's room way back in 1988. I was a 5 year old, and my cousin was in his early teens. He surely loved MJ's moves.
When I got this from pravsworld, I was very keep to put it up here:: so here it goes..
*********************************************
Michael Jackson Memorial

I was touched watching Michael Jackson Memorial yesterday.

As a kid, I remember hearing of this legend probably even before I saw him, hearing about his dance before I saw him dance, hearing about his music before I listened to it. When I saw him, when I watched his dance, when I listened to his music - he was undoubtedly an legend.

Michael Jackson - The King of Pop. His music will last forever.

Remembering Michael Jackson - here are his select quotes & videos. My tribute to this icon who moon-walked on this earth.

Michael Jackson Quotes:
“In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.” - Michael Jackson

“The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life.” - Michael Jackson

“If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.” - Michael Jackson

“But I will never stop helping and loving people the way Jesus said to.” - Michael Jackson

“I’m a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity. I’m happy to be alive, I’m happy to be who I am.” - Michael Jackson

“People write negatives things, cause they feel that’s what sells. Good news to them, doesn’t sell.” - Michael Jackson

“I’m never pleased with anything, I’m a perfectionist, it’s part of who I am.” - Michael Jackson

“I’m just like anyone. I cut and I bleed. And I embarrass easily.” - Michael Jackson

“When I see children, I see the face of God. That’s why I love them so much. That’s what I see.” - Michael Jackson

“You know, let’s put it this way, if all the people in Hollywood who have had plastic surgery, if they went on vacation, there wouldn’t be a person left in town.” - Michael Jackson

What A Dog Teaches You

A dog teaches us a lot of things, but we never seem to take notice. These are some of the lessons you might learn…

• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
• When it’s in your best interest, practice obedience.
• Let others know when they’ve invaded your territory.
• Take naps and stretch before rising.
• Run romp and play daily.
• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
• Avoid biting, when a simple growl will do.
• On warm days stop to lie on your back on the grass. On hot days drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.
• When you’re happy dance around and wag your entire body.
• No matter how often you’re scolded don’t buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.
• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
• Eat with gusto and enthusiasm, stop when you have had enough.
• Be loyal.
• Never pretend to be something you’re not.
• If what you want lies buried dig until you find it.
• When someone is having a bad day be silent, sit close by… and nuzzle them gently.
  

It was 23 June 2009. The time was evening 7 :30pm, I was about to enter my house through the front gate, immediately I saw a creature just in front of the gate. Yes it was a baby snake.

Recently I had encounters with earthworms, leeches, centipedes etc etc. Some of them I have mistaken to be a snake. Incidentally I saw an insect the previous Saturday and I thought it to be a snake. I touched it with a small stick, it moved in such a way that, it made me feel, boy is this a snake.

When my father saw it, he just laughed at me saying its a earthworm or any other insect but not a snake. After all snake babies tend to grow a little bigger.
But this very day, what I saw was a real snake baby. I was about 20 cms away from stepping on to it. I realized immediately and backed off another 30 cms. But still I was very close. I could clearly see its raised hood. I think and I hope its a rat snake. I was surprised to see the baby snake take its stance even after seeing me. It did not move an inch. I wanted to show the same to my parents. I called them from outside.

But they did not hear, moreover I did not want to call neighbors instead and also there are some pathetic (loser) assholes who tend to throw stones, infact stone slabs on snakes as soon as they spot one of them. Yes there are such morons near my place. Both educated and uneducated losers, who do not have basic sense.

So I moved towards the gate, trying to make sound using the knob of the gate so that my parents come out. I knew the snake cant hear sounds and only can sense vibrations.
As I made cranking sounds with the gate knob, the snake tried to move into the bushes. And recollect the snake moves very fast, but this one was hesitant to go, it was almost saying, " dont go public , you better fuck off ". But somehow I had to make the snake go back to bushes, since my brother or anyone can step on to it. I would not like this to happen, nor those morons to spot one of them. So I was quite happy to see it back to bushes.

One thing I am still scared is that it still moves around one of those bushes close to my gate. And recently my small cousins 5-10 yrs age, were playing around the same bushes with their cricket ball. The ball went into the bushes and we managed to get it. But my mother and aunt were consistently scolding to forget the ball, since there could be such creatures, I infact ignored the call and ventured into the partenium filled empty site and got the ball. May be I survived to see just another day.

Learnings:
Take your parents or elders advice seriously.
Do not try to be a HERO, unless its in front of the camera.
Respect Snakes.

PS:: If it was an adult snake and if it had given me a surprise, I even may have pissed in my pants, who knows .

French Open this year was a goood one. I enjoyed it every bit of it.

I thought Federer played so so well, in the semi final match, I felt like bowing down and saluting the person. His energy, enthusiasm and love for the game is just uncomparable. I remember sending an SMS to my friend in the middle of the night, saying I want to bow down to Federer.


Way to go Mr Federer. Hats off, for your performance.

Cheers

I registered my blog @ indiblogger.
I do read many blogs. Most of them being technical blogs. I mostly keep my posts about myself and some fictious stuffs. But somehow I felt like joining the network of Indian bloggers. Hopefully I can get some tips and tricks from there and also try to better myself @ writing.

~~~~~
Cheers

I have had a good sleep, but its a kind of nightmarish monday. Indian Cricket Team is out of T20 world cup. I can understand. Tired pair of legs. Playing too much of cricket. It was bound to happen. I wish they were into semis.

Loong time since I have posted. My computer has had a major breakdown. I have no clues on what to do regarding it. I wanted to write about lots of stuffs. Some of the stuffs I have already forgotten.

Let me see, how can I go about it.
Cheers

music @ dhingana.com

Incidentally I happened to listen to an awesome song, which brought me back, good old memories.

I have shared the song, which is close to 18 years old. I was 7 year old may be at that time.

I did get to watch the movie on a neighbor's VCR, at my grandmother's place. Incidentally it happened to be my summer holidays of the year 1991. Once in a while we used to get a VCR, and on such an occasion, many people of the family would sit and watch the movie.

Well, these days, everyday, I get to see, close to 5 different movies at the same time. But none of my family members accompany me. Even when many relatives come to my place, none of them are interested in watching a movie.

The same Golden moments are hard to come by again.

I still cherish those golden moments I spent @ my grandmother's place.


~~~~~~
Cheers

Sometimes, I just wonder, whether I have made a right decision not to pursue, higher education, just because, I am so happy doing coding. But looking at the current scenario, I wonder, should I have been better off, being a management guy ?

One reason, why I did not like to go in for an MBA, is because, I hate to attend meetings, and book conference rooms. I love to sit in some corner, and silent code and code till I get headache.

But after working for close to 4 years, I have slowly begun to realize the truth. There are very less opportunities to code from scratch. Moreover, coming home after work and doing some open source coding, seems to be quite difficult as of now.

Does this mean, I have to give up my love for learning new Microsoft technologies and dedicate my efforts towards becoming a Project Lead or Project Manager. I am in a real dilemma whether to give up what I really love.

Is there any way out? I am thinking. Coding open source in free time is definitely an option. But how long to code side projects, without hitting main stream.

Is there a way out.. God please show me a way out of this..

~~~~~~~~
Cheers

Many times, I have found myself at the receiving end of criticism, regarding speaking a lot and doing a little. Yes, intentionally I do give a nice build up churning out ZERO output. It happens. But once in a while.

But what do I do, if, time and again I encounter people who just show this kind of caliber. Talking till the throat hurts and when it comes to output, they just provide nothing. Infact I have seen people who just love to talk and talk, and when its time to put them into actions, they hate to dig their hands into SHIT to make things happen. I had even once told a guy, " Why do you show off so much". But that is a way too long time back .

Can you guess the guy's reply " I am what I am " . True, after all, every person is unique. You cannot ask them to change, since it takes years of practice to just bluff around impressing everyone and escape without doing anything.

What if I encounter one such person? I just would not care, that is sticking to plain old basics. I believe in doing rather than speaking, though there are, but not many times, when I too begin to talk crap, without knowing whether its achievable or not. (But not many a times).

Disclaimer: Removed

" Better be a workhorse rather than a jackass "

Well, this is one " One Liner ", I just churned out of nowhere. Most of my friends would know the meaning of this one liner. If you don't know, do write a comment with your email id, will explain it to you. But I wish not to post its meaning over here. [Courtesy : some unknown reasons :P]

~~~~~
Cheers

Today I received some feedback on my last post on the blog. The feedback was about my previous post on the " Lows of my trip ". One of my friend read the post and asked me, " How come you get wild sometimes ? ".

Hmmmm....(sigh).. Well I really do not know. After all I am also a human. I do get angry sometimes. There are times when my anger just shoots up, many other times my ego shoots up and rest of the time my attitude shoots up. If none of these shoot up, my comic ssense definitely kicks in.. :P (my brother calls this comic side of mine very very cheap, do I mind, not a single percent ).

Well if I am not wrong, most of the times, its my attitude which floats above the remaining two.

As of now, not sure, how to deal with anger. May be I need to count from 1 to 100 for my red hot temper to turn colorless (and may be odorless, smoke it !!!)

Well, regarding comments and criticisms, they are most welcome, anytime..

PS :: None of my cousins', read my blog. I can be rest assured, there is no way they are gonna find about the incidents written in this post. Even if they read my blog, I would have posted a lot more by that time, and for sure, they wont dig into each and every post to find about these two incidents..

> At one moment during the wedding, I came before the recording camera man. The camera man, literally touched my back (more like a pat). Immediately I got to know it was for me coming in between his shot. Moreover I saw his dirty expression. My temper rose almost 100 times, (coz I hate to be at the receiving end of such gimmicks amidst public). I could feel my hands waiting to beat the living hell out of someone(cameraman). But somehow I controlled myself from doing that, since I did not want to create a ruckus amidst dancing and partying people. I swallowed it partially, when the photographer apologized by saying " Sorry " for 5 times. But I did not accept his apology. I did not say anything to him, nor did I look into his eye. I just nodded my head and went away.

> At one more time, @ Hotel RamDev in Belgaum, I was filling water into my 2 litre mineral water bottle, using the jug / jar placed on the table, the waiter came and told " fill water from the tap over there " (in hindi), in kind of rude voice. This time, I did not notice it, but when I came out of the hotel, my brother reminded me that it was a kind of insult, how come ur silent.
My temper shot again this time to about 500 times, and I did not want to control it. I went back into the hotel, called the manager, pointed towards the waiter, called him and scolded him nicely till my temper came down. I was about to show my middle finger, but I felt it was kinda too much. So scolded the waiter till I got a soothing relief and came out, happily. I wanted to write a feedback form. But I preferred to give it back on the spot this time, coz I know where the feedback forms land up, ie in the nearest dustbins.

And the hotel was Ramdev, it seems to be a good hotel @ the entrance of Belgaum after some medical college. The food was kinda good, but the attitude of the waiter who served me lunch was pathetic. He deserves to be fired I feel. After shouting at him this is what I could have done least to vent out my anger against him.

Disclaimer:: This incident has happened in real on 17 May 2008. The hotel in picture and the location are all true. Nothing is fictious over here. This is the same hotel which comes up in teh 1972 movie Bombay to Goa. ( I feel)

And yes, I may be dumb(silent) at that very moment, but I do strike back with a lot of venom..

> Visited YellammanaGudda
Prayed a lot, great to be back @ YellammanaGudda, awesome feeling.
> Super cousins and relatives
My cousins and relatives made the wedding most memorable one. I can recollect continuously laughing for 20+ mins ending up with a chest pain and tears in my eyes.(literally, its like laugh till it hurts. )
> Awesome food
Some of the best food I had in recent times,
> Super snaps
Got some of the best shots (according to me)
> Gala time @ Gokak falls.
Had a great time @ Gokak Falls.
> Awesome ride along Belgaum - Dharwad highway.
Travelled at a speed of 140km amidst heavy rain, that too, with 9 people on board a Sumo Victa LX. One unforgettable ride. Belgaum to Dharwad in literally 1 hr. (60kms)
> Spoke to whole lot of people.
Well spoke to a lot of people also listened to them.
> Danced as though no one saw me.
Yes yes, like last year, this year too I danced to the tunes of a brass band. It was really awesome.

After coming from my cousin sister's wedding, and a 4 day off from my regular bullshit routine, I would like to thank a few people. Here it goes...

> Firstly loads of thanks going out to none other than GOD for keeping me alive and kicking.

> My cousin who not invited us for the wedding but also arranged for travel.

> My other cousins' and relatives who had come from far off places, whom I met after a year. Thanks guys for coming.

> Another bunch of my cousins' who had arranged for accommodation in a guest house and travel to Gokak and YellamannaGudda.

> My 5 cargo trousers, which I carried all the way for a 4 day function. They came in really handy.. They took lot of abuse from me.

> My American Tourister travel bag. Though it is huge, carrying(lifting) it was a little pain, but it held too much of luggage, my entire set of clothes, my father's as well, my 2 pairs of footwear. It also took a lot of abuse, being pushed on top of the carrier of vehicles. Though there were cuts in 2 or 3 places on the leather edge, rest of the travel bag seems to be rock solid.

> My Sony ion battery (and also my dsc h7 cam). This time, I had made sure, I charged it properly, and it too bore the brunt of my use, silently. I started using flash during day time, and that too in most of the photos. But still I did not run out of battery. Three cheers for making that super battery.

Got these from pravsworld.

> Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

> Memorize your favorite poem.

> Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

> When you say, “I love you”, mean it.

> When you say, “I’m sorry”, look the person in the eye.

> Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

> Believe in love at first sight.

> Never laugh at anyone’s dreams.

> Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.

> In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

> Don’t judge people by their relatives.

> Talk slowly but think quickly.

> When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”

> Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

> Call your mom.

> Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.

> When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

> Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.

> Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

> When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

> Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

> Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

> Spend some time alone.

> Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

> Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

> Read more books and watch less TV.

> Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll get to enjoy it a second time.

> Trust in God but lock your car.

> A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.

> In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

> Read between the lines.

> Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

> Be gentle with the earth.

> Pray. There’s immeasurable power in it.

> Never interrupt when you are being flattered.

> Mind your own business.

> Don’t trust a man/woman who doesn’t close his/her eyes when you kiss.

> At least once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

> If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth’s greatest satisfaction.

> Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.

> Learn the rules then break some.

> Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.

> Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

> Remember that your character is your destiny.

> Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Phew, I had a rocking 4 day off-work, just to find myself in a situation, where I was actually having a ball. I took 2 days leave 14th and 15th May 2008, to attend my cousin sister's wedding, on 15th May @ Dharwad.

I ended up not only attending the wedding but doing a whole lot of things, most of it was not really anticipated. Like,

> Trip to YellammanaGudda.
> Traveling in luxury vehicles, free of cost.
> Spending 4 days, @ an AC room almost free.
> Laughing my heart out,
[ oh my gosh, there was a moment where I started complaining of chest pain after laughing for 20 min completely. I thought something was wrong with me. But I realized my cousin brother also complained of chest pain. It meant, the chest pain was because of continuous laughing infact laughing our heart out. ]
> Walking on a lonely road with no lights @ 10: 30 during night, just looking out for a meal, ending up with some super cool pictures as well as some cool food (rice, dal, sambar and whole lot, infact worth the 2.5 km walk we did during the night.)
> Dancing my heart out during the wedding.
> Meeting whole bunch of relatives, who had come all the way from Hubli, Dharwad, Belgaum, Pune, Mumbai. Yup.

I would like to thank god, for putting me thru this situation, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Feels so good, to be part of a wedding. Just love it.. !!!!!

Lemme post some pics of it..

This song really peps me up. I never knew a few simple selected words could end up in such an awesome inspiration song. Yep, its true, I just love this song.. No second thoughts.

Generally I hate to write about cribbing. But I had a conversation where in my friend was cribbing about his work place, this so called recession and its effect on him. I would like to write about the strange situation in which he is in at the moment.

My friend incidentally happens to work for a neighboring IT company. First let me write some points about the recent recession.

> Managers tend keep an eagles' eye on the team-members performance.
> The so called friends (before recession) tend to outsmart each other,.
> People generally do not want to make mistakes, especially in their work.
> Individual work is preferred over team work. After all you need to separate the milkable cows from non-milkable ones. Also easy to fire individuals rather than entire team.

The situation my friend is in, is kind of a strange one. His team comprises of an individual (Lets call him A ), who is unsure about his role. He is either trying to demoralize the entire team to save his job, or he is trying to outshine the rest of the team members.

Assume my friend is given a piece of work, which he might take 2 weeks time to complete. But this particular individual " A ", tends to shout out loud in the meeting saying, this work can be done in 4 days.

This particular individual " A " after the meeting is done, is not even bothered to help, to complete the task in 4 days, he is only interested in his part of the work.

My friend's concern is during this time of recession, what will the manager feel about him. A task which can be done within 4 days, is being done in 2 weeks. Does the manager feel, is this guy, a non milkable cow. So my friend feels he is the one in the line of firing, just because of this so called individual " A ", who incidentally happens to pass sarcastic comments about others work and try to find fault in others work.

All I can say is I am quite lucky not to be in such a team.

Over the past month, I have not been able to blog anything infact. There are loads of things which have happened over the last month, I also have learnt quite a lot of things.

Firstly I had problem with my computer, so could not blog anything.

I could have blogged from a cyber center, but as usual I am quite a bit lazy.

Secondly after working on a project for over an year now, I got released from the project. I did need a break, which I definitely got after this move.

Thirdly, I will be going to Dharawad, on May 14 to attend a marriage. So hoping to have a great time @ the marriage party.

Cheers..

You may be wondering, when you look at the last few posts of mine, that, Am I cribbing a lot??. I also removed one of the posts, thinking that, I was criticizing a lot. Hopefully I will write more about more myself and some of my experiences, acquaintances.

In one of my all time favorite books, there is a line saying, there is a solution to the aging problem. It is learning. Yes its true. Mark my words, its a brilliant line infact.

You can learn a whole lot of things.

> Work related.
> Professional life related
> Personal life related. etc etc.

You can also learn from a variety of sources
> Books.
> From people who are kind enough to share their thoughts and insights.
> From internet.
> Also from your critics.

In this post I would like to write, about handling active criticism. How do you react to it. Or you can rather say, how did I react to it??

Over the past few months, I have been lucky enough to be at the receiving end of some great criticism, advice @ workplace. But all was not quite well over the past few months.

Infact I hated criticism, I hated it, when people said, this could have been better. Why, why? I do not know, nor did I make any effort to analyze the whole thing. Things just whizzed away, I always kept running away from critics. I was indeed afraid of them.

Critics, were some of my friends, colleagues. Sometimes I would even lose my temper and angrily say, this is the only way I can do it. (How bad I feel, when I recollect that day, when I said this.)

Now after few months, things have changed. I am ready to listen and adapt as per even my friends advice. Its a remarkable change, I thought today, when all of a sudden I started to think about it.

When I tried to understand what really caused the change, I was shocked to learn that, when I was not so confident, not so well equipped with knowledge, on/about a particular task, I turned my backs on the advice or criticism recieved.

But once I found a better approach of doing things, I gained more confidence, I found myself listening to the advice of other people, started to debate on different ways to do things.

Yes, that is what I want to infer, the more you are confident about yourself, your approach, the more you can handle criticism. But also you need to be willing to work hard and be disciplined to be confident.(that is the catch point).

I would like to say sorry to all my friends who have been so kind to share their insights and advice, but inturn I turned my back to their advice, sometimes even raised my voice, in dis-agreement. Hope you have forgotten it guys. :)


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Cheers.

Last month, I was reading a book, which is one of my all time favorites. I have read it many a times, thought lemme read it once more.

There is an interesting event mentioned in one of the chapters.

A woman meets a famous painter in a busy street. She greets him and asks him to sketch something for her. The painter immediately comes up with a sketch and hands it over to the lady.
He also tells her, its worth a million. The surprised lady immediately asks, worth a million?, it took only 30 seconds to draw that out, to which the painter replies, it took me 30 years, to draw it in 30 seconds.

Cute, very cute isn't it.

There are many such incidents where in I have repeatedly done the same task again and again to gain familiarity with it. But the real twist in tale comes here. What if we do not have the opportunity to try the second time.

Assume a programmer is trying to code a bit @ workplace. He fails first time, betters second time, but still fails and starts for the third time. But what if his first/second time failure is fatal? What if there is no second/third time chance for him, since he may have lost his job by then.

I feel here luck comes into picture.

You need to be lucky enough to find a proper place and your enthusiasm to try must not come down. Else, the case can be drastically different

Interest is a superb word. I have been been fascinated by this word, a lot more since I joined the software industry.

By the time, I realized I was interested in studies or not, I completed my schooling. I did not hate studies that much. I think right through my school days, I just studied and studied, never wondered whether I am really interested in studying the subjects or not. How bizarre, but actually its true. [I can write loads about this whole thing, but some other day.]

By the time, I realized I was interested in programming, I completed my engineering. Well, I was anyways interested in programming that is a different issue.

So I thought, before any task let me make myself interested in the task, and then try to approach it. [Assume: I have a book in front of me, let me make my mind to think that, the book is interesting.]

The result was a total flop.

My mind failed to accept thing as interesting. [Though I find coding very interesting, but I cant force myself. I may sometimes lose interest in that too. ]

So it was literally impossible to force my interest into something.

I only wish to make my mind interested in a task, and do the task and check the outcome. I feel the outcome will be super success.

I think more than dedication, you need interest in the first place.

Also I feel, trying to hold interest is like grabbing sand in your hand. The more tight you hold it, the more it falls off.

Example, you can see my number of posts on my blog, its a result of interest, by the way.

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Cheers