When things go wrong, they go wrong in bulk ! .. Murphy's law is so true..atleast in my case ! I have been having a horrendous time over the past month.Anything i do is going wrong..No mercy at all!
Let me start with the 7 km trip that cost me 10005 bucks!
Yes, 10k. It takes 15 days to earn that and it took only a fraction of a second to lose it. This happened 3 weeks ago in a crowded MTC bus. I generally start to office at 8.30 and reach coolly by 9.45 or so..now dont ask me why i go so late..reasons are there ;). but that fateful day of July 24, i thought of going 15 minutes early,thinking that i will get a seat in the bus to sholinganallur. All buses were as usual crowded.. n i was lucky to find A51 with empty seats..i barged into it happily. The ticket is Rs 5.50. i gave the conductor 10 bucks and he gave back 5 rupees to me stating he dint have changes. I thought this was my lucky day as i got a seat and also made a profit of 50 paise ! he he .. so i thought let me do things differently than usual..n i put my headset into my bag,kept my mobile in my pouch and stopped listening to the songs which i regularly do while travelling... While i was thinking how lucky the day has started off today,my destination arrived and i had to wade through the immobile standees who were reluctant to part with some space but were only concentrating on grabbing the lone seat that was getting vacant because of me. Cursing them, i got down the bus and saw the bus dissappear from sight. Only then I realised that something else has also dissappeared. My Nokia N91 !! ;( . Some smart fellow had flicked it in the melee when i was cursing the ppl! Smart because he had switched off my cell immediately !
Now, I was perplexed. I was cursing myself now. Why did i do things differently that day? i could kept listening to songs. The conductor could have given me the exact change, the bus could have been overflowing so that i would not have boarded that...everything could have been done..but there i was, not knowing whether to be happy for saving 50 paise or losing 10k. 7 km cost me Rs.10,005..a journey i would never forget!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Gone are the days..
This is one of my older posts. I just picked it up to put it here. This was written when i was in office slogging off like anything on a daily basis for around 8 months. This was a way to vent out my frustration. Things have changed quite a bit now and hopeful that it would change for the better in the future too..so read on and comment,if you would like to.
Life has changed a lot, more so has the lifestyle. Gone are the days when we used to get sound sleep during night, even better sleep in the classes. Inspite of all the noise of the lecturers' shouting, we were in our own world- the world of dreams.
How quickly all these have changed.. Probably somebody didnt like us having such uninterrupted fun. In the name of earning money, we are trying to find out the happiness in us.. but but.. do we ever realise that we have lost the art of finding out happiness itself ?
"I Have no time at all yaar".
"Abey, bahut busy hoon. I will talk to you later."
These are probably the most common lines that can be heard nowadays. The days when one used to barge into another's room and tell "hey, come for a game of basketball" are not there anymore. Gone are the days when one could sleep forever without being questioned by anyone.. gone are those days when one had a lighter moment every now and then with the closest of buddies.
What have we come to after all those fun filled days? Days and Nights are spent "Productively" now.Trying to meet deadlines which keep hanging by the neck. A slight mistake and there are hundreds of fingers ready to point at you, ready to push you into the grave already dug. We fail to realise that we are just like a robot slogging off, like what I am doing right now, for what is supposed to give us perpetual happiness. But will that happen? Will happiness ever come to us? Will we get back those days which are gone ? The search continues....
Saturday, July 5, 2008
We have been Naught. We shall be all
I was going to have dinner at my regular place in Tambaram today. As usual, it was a crowded place and again as usual, a political party had put up pandals right in the middle of the road. Some white clad men were seated on the dias. The background on the dias had the picture of few men on one side and that of their leader on the other along with something written in Tamil. The audio system was rendering a very harsh output of a person who was already shouting at the top of his voice. With little attention to the speech and more towards sailing through the crowd, I was passing by the dias when the only English words on the dias caught my attention.
"We have been a naught. We be all"
Somehow, this line put me in a thought. What could it mean? why was it put up in that meeting? I could not figure it out at that point in time. Then I came back home and started watching the TV and I thought I would forget that like I always do. But to my amazement, I didnt. In fact, my curiosity was increasing by the second !. So i thought let me go ogle..err i mean Google ;). And i could make out why that statement was put up in that rally.
Extremely captivating words they were. And in a political scenario which is highly volatile now, this does invoke lot of interest in the onlookers. This line has that power in it to grab attention(as it did to me. To be frank, I m a person who gives least interest to details), to convey the intentions of the speaker/party, to bring about a change. It says that all the big things that we can perceive and see today were actually nothing in their initial days. Perseverence pays. I am mesmerised by this line. Just wonderful !
The google result page is here.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811656-1,00.html
"We have been a naught. We be all"
Somehow, this line put me in a thought. What could it mean? why was it put up in that meeting? I could not figure it out at that point in time. Then I came back home and started watching the TV and I thought I would forget that like I always do. But to my amazement, I didnt. In fact, my curiosity was increasing by the second !. So i thought let me go ogle..err i mean Google ;). And i could make out why that statement was put up in that rally.
Extremely captivating words they were. And in a political scenario which is highly volatile now, this does invoke lot of interest in the onlookers. This line has that power in it to grab attention(as it did to me. To be frank, I m a person who gives least interest to details), to convey the intentions of the speaker/party, to bring about a change. It says that all the big things that we can perceive and see today were actually nothing in their initial days. Perseverence pays. I am mesmerised by this line. Just wonderful !
The google result page is here.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811656-1,00.html
Friday, July 4, 2008
Irresponsible Idiots..You bet WE are
This is the logo for an account level competition we had in office a couple of months ago. we won the best logo for this one. The Irresponsible Idiots were Juggy, Hari(my project teammates) and of course the most important ME !!. The logo was designed by me in around 15 minutes, of course with inputs from the other Irresponsible Idiots too. ;-) . 
When 10=1
10 characters. 1 person. Its Dashavatharam
I generally dont watch many movies,especially in theatres. In fact I have a count as to how many times I have watched a movie in a theatre. Believe it or not, its Just 7 as of now ! Including the recently released Kamal's Dashavatharam.
Some movies have this great ability to keep lingering in your mind for quite a long time after you watch them. Dashavatharam is one of them in that league.Add Kamal to it, the movie is just unforgettable. He is one of those actors who can perform any role with such ease, be it romance, be it comedy,drama,action or anything ! Simply amazing. Out of the Last 3 movies I have watched in a theatre, 2 of them happen to his, Vettaiyaadu ViLayaadu being the previous one. And the Kamal you see in that movie is very much different from the Kamal in Dashavatharam. Hats off to him to put in 10 different characters, that too,everyone of them being very different from one another, in the same movie.
The movie starts captivating you right from the first song, Kallai Mattum Kandaal . Laden with immense meaning in lyrics ,awesome music and enthralling voice of Hariharan, it just kept me glued to the seat. Initially, I thought that the movie was something religious in nature with the words of Rangarajan Nambi biased towards Vaishnavism. And when I was adjusting my nervous system to synchronize to that mode, there is jump(or should i call it a sink to) to current world. Enter Govind. Then Fletcher followed by Balram Naidu. Paati (forgot the name :( ) pitches in to add to another role,Narahashi,Kalifulla, Syamalan,Avatar and last but not the least, the Big daddy himself!! Though I felt that some were just filler roles, every role was done to perfection. Especially, the Fletcher and Balram Naidu role. A very aggresive and extremely fast and brutal Fletcher is totally in contrast to the character of Naidu who is a full time comedian (atleast thats wat i felt !) playing the role of RAW officer.
The movie was properly paced. It could have been really better if Asin were not shouting at the top of her voice. Whenever she spoke, there was bound to a Perumal in it. In fact, i was surprised at her character. Inspite of Kamal tells her the gravity of the problem, she did not understand the situation. It added to my frustration when it was known that she was an educated girl !!!
The movie then relates to the Tsunami really well. And of course the connection to the first character Nambi. It was only then the whole movie could be understood. It kept you guessing till the end unlike other movies where you can foresee what could happen if you watch 30% of the movie.
It has all the ingredients- comedy, action, drama,romance(not actually i guess),religious,music everything. I still remember the dialogue by Kamal Bush when a scientist tells him that the biological weapon is pretty complex to explain. 'If it is complex, then better dont explain it to me.' LOL !!! says many things !! Also, appreciation of many local practices(ppl applying salt all over their body b4 getting into the drainage being one of them) is also done in a very subtle manner.
The movie begins with Kamal being a theist and it continues with him playing an athiest(Govind) and finally turning neither of them !. Also another important thing is that he played roles of all major religions in the movie which probably signifies all of us are one. A master class of a movie
I should be giving credit to my cousin.If it was not for him who asked me to join him for this movie 2 weeks ago, I could not have been writing about it here now. Though two weeks are past, it pretty much fresh in my memory. Probably, one of those unforgettable ones by Kamal. Hats off to him!
I generally dont watch many movies,especially in theatres. In fact I have a count as to how many times I have watched a movie in a theatre. Believe it or not, its Just 7 as of now ! Including the recently released Kamal's Dashavatharam.
Some movies have this great ability to keep lingering in your mind for quite a long time after you watch them. Dashavatharam is one of them in that league.Add Kamal to it, the movie is just unforgettable. He is one of those actors who can perform any role with such ease, be it romance, be it comedy,drama,action or anything ! Simply amazing. Out of the Last 3 movies I have watched in a theatre, 2 of them happen to his, Vettaiyaadu ViLayaadu being the previous one. And the Kamal you see in that movie is very much different from the Kamal in Dashavatharam. Hats off to him to put in 10 different characters, that too,everyone of them being very different from one another, in the same movie.
The movie starts captivating you right from the first song, Kallai Mattum Kandaal . Laden with immense meaning in lyrics ,awesome music and enthralling voice of Hariharan, it just kept me glued to the seat. Initially, I thought that the movie was something religious in nature with the words of Rangarajan Nambi biased towards Vaishnavism. And when I was adjusting my nervous system to synchronize to that mode, there is jump(or should i call it a sink to) to current world. Enter Govind. Then Fletcher followed by Balram Naidu. Paati (forgot the name :( ) pitches in to add to another role,Narahashi,Kalifulla, Syamalan,Avatar and last but not the least, the Big daddy himself!! Though I felt that some were just filler roles, every role was done to perfection. Especially, the Fletcher and Balram Naidu role. A very aggresive and extremely fast and brutal Fletcher is totally in contrast to the character of Naidu who is a full time comedian (atleast thats wat i felt !) playing the role of RAW officer.
The movie was properly paced. It could have been really better if Asin were not shouting at the top of her voice. Whenever she spoke, there was bound to a Perumal in it. In fact, i was surprised at her character. Inspite of Kamal tells her the gravity of the problem, she did not understand the situation. It added to my frustration when it was known that she was an educated girl !!!
The movie then relates to the Tsunami really well. And of course the connection to the first character Nambi. It was only then the whole movie could be understood. It kept you guessing till the end unlike other movies where you can foresee what could happen if you watch 30% of the movie.
It has all the ingredients- comedy, action, drama,romance(not actually i guess),religious,music everything. I still remember the dialogue by Kamal Bush when a scientist tells him that the biological weapon is pretty complex to explain. 'If it is complex, then better dont explain it to me.' LOL !!! says many things !! Also, appreciation of many local practices(ppl applying salt all over their body b4 getting into the drainage being one of them) is also done in a very subtle manner.
The movie begins with Kamal being a theist and it continues with him playing an athiest(Govind) and finally turning neither of them !. Also another important thing is that he played roles of all major religions in the movie which probably signifies all of us are one. A master class of a movie
I should be giving credit to my cousin.If it was not for him who asked me to join him for this movie 2 weeks ago, I could not have been writing about it here now. Though two weeks are past, it pretty much fresh in my memory. Probably, one of those unforgettable ones by Kamal. Hats off to him!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Motor On.Tap On
The location is perfect.A house which is spacious. 2 rooms, a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, 8 taps. they seem to be like museum pieces for the past 3 months. Let alone water, they dont even spew air out of them!!
This is the situation in our house in Tambaram where 3 [no connection to The N03!] of us are staying. One tank and 7 households. We stay in the 2 second floor of the building. A family occupies the first floor house and 5 smaller houses in the ground floor are occupied by 5 different tenants. . most of whom are uneducated and are ladies. [I always wonder at their ability to keep shouting and fighting @ the edge of their voice. Truly amazing].
Problem Description:
Regularly Irrregular [guess oxymorons and myself go hand in hand]water supply for 3 months now.
The problem is compounded when you find out that the other 6 households are getting the water in their taps and its only you who doesnt get it. Add to it, the owner not even addressing the problem but only waiting for his monthly fixed income from our end.
The irony is that the 5 houses have a single common tap and they get water and we have 8 of them, none of them doing their job !
On further analysis, we could make why we were not having water everytime the motor was switched on and others(specially the ground floor fellows) had it. Simple and effective strategy.
Motor on.Tap on !
On deeper analysis, the strategy is a very good one. The people are making use of simple science. The motor's outlet is simply redirected to the tap via the overhead tank [They would have wished for a direct connection..but unfortunately there is not one]. The OverHead tank is dry and whatever water is being pumped by the motor into it is immediately directed to the ground floor tap which is open.[you should also appreciate the use of principle of gravity here. Just brilliant ! I guess this is the reason people prefer to occupy ground floor houses!] . For them, the motor switch is like a TV remote. Whenever they need water, use it !
Ok..so with all the analysis done and conclusions drawn,I, with a hope of making them see light, go talk to them (with my limited Tamil knowledge) to ask them not to use their "Motor On,Tap On" strategy. I took pains to explain them for around half hour and finally they agreed to my suggestion of not opening the tap when the motor is switched on. Satisfied with my achievement and a sound sleep , i wake up the next morning..
Back to square One! Sab kiye pe paani [literally??!] pher diya.
Dejected, we started to think of a variety of solutions to solve this problem from which included shifting to a new place to teaching the ground floor people a lesson or two apart from science.. but finally thought, only one solution will hold good. And that's why, at this hour of the day, I am here awaiting to use the same strategy
Motor On.Tap On !! :-) Just hoping that i succeed !!!
This is the situation in our house in Tambaram where 3 [no connection to The N03!] of us are staying. One tank and 7 households. We stay in the 2 second floor of the building. A family occupies the first floor house and 5 smaller houses in the ground floor are occupied by 5 different tenants. . most of whom are uneducated and are ladies. [I always wonder at their ability to keep shouting and fighting @ the edge of their voice. Truly amazing].
Problem Description:
Regularly Irrregular [guess oxymorons and myself go hand in hand]water supply for 3 months now.
The problem is compounded when you find out that the other 6 households are getting the water in their taps and its only you who doesnt get it. Add to it, the owner not even addressing the problem but only waiting for his monthly fixed income from our end.
The irony is that the 5 houses have a single common tap and they get water and we have 8 of them, none of them doing their job !
On further analysis, we could make why we were not having water everytime the motor was switched on and others(specially the ground floor fellows) had it. Simple and effective strategy.
Motor on.Tap on !
On deeper analysis, the strategy is a very good one. The people are making use of simple science. The motor's outlet is simply redirected to the tap via the overhead tank [They would have wished for a direct connection..but unfortunately there is not one]. The OverHead tank is dry and whatever water is being pumped by the motor into it is immediately directed to the ground floor tap which is open.[you should also appreciate the use of principle of gravity here. Just brilliant ! I guess this is the reason people prefer to occupy ground floor houses!] . For them, the motor switch is like a TV remote. Whenever they need water, use it !
Ok..so with all the analysis done and conclusions drawn,I, with a hope of making them see light, go talk to them (with my limited Tamil knowledge) to ask them not to use their "Motor On,Tap On" strategy. I took pains to explain them for around half hour and finally they agreed to my suggestion of not opening the tap when the motor is switched on. Satisfied with my achievement and a sound sleep , i wake up the next morning..
Back to square One! Sab kiye pe paani [literally??!] pher diya.
Dejected, we started to think of a variety of solutions to solve this problem from which included shifting to a new place to teaching the ground floor people a lesson or two apart from science.. but finally thought, only one solution will hold good. And that's why, at this hour of the day, I am here awaiting to use the same strategy
Motor On.Tap On !! :-) Just hoping that i succeed !!!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The NO3-genesis
This might be the next question that would come in your mind. The N03 ? why would someone address himself by a number..that too 3?
All my life, I have had a lot of nicknames.kar, karu,karakaddi,tension etc etc and some which cannot be mentioned in public ;-) [thanks to hostel life]. To be frank some of my friends have never called me by my proper name even to this day! Guess i have a very good affinity to nicknames. And in that list comes the latest one.. The N03.
The N03 is now around 3 years old. Born in Mysore on sep 19 2005. That was my first day as a software professional in one of the reputed companies in India. It was the time when I was getting to know the new faces around me. And as usual, wherever i go, I have competions with the name[I dont know why Karthik is such a common name !] which has been the case right from my Kindergarten!
On final count, we were 4 of us sharing the same first name and all of us were given the email ids. Now, everybody had their second name as part of the email id. Since i had no last name (officially), my initial was used to provide the id. And thats when the N03 was born. Everybody started using this as a factor for differentiation between the 4 of us. And to add to the co-incidence, i was the third in order out of the 4..so the nickname started to stick with me like fevicol !!
As if you could not ask for more,It has various dialects too !. 'Number 3', 'eN woh 3', 'zero 3', 'N zero 3'. .thanks to my close group of friends in office and of course 'The LIST' members[the guys in the LIST christened me as the N03.will write about the LIST another time]. This name has creeped into this blog too now !
Though i was initially hating this name, over the 3 year period, I started liking it. It has given me that unique identity. It is not as bad as I thought it to be. In fact, it was very easy for me to find my blogspot's url ! ;-). With so many good things with the nickname and which is pretty decent when compared to some really worst ones which i accumulated when i was in college, The N03 is here to stay,
All my life, I have had a lot of nicknames.kar, karu,karakaddi,tension etc etc and some which cannot be mentioned in public ;-) [thanks to hostel life]. To be frank some of my friends have never called me by my proper name even to this day! Guess i have a very good affinity to nicknames. And in that list comes the latest one.. The N03.
The N03 is now around 3 years old. Born in Mysore on sep 19 2005. That was my first day as a software professional in one of the reputed companies in India. It was the time when I was getting to know the new faces around me. And as usual, wherever i go, I have competions with the name[I dont know why Karthik is such a common name !] which has been the case right from my Kindergarten!
On final count, we were 4 of us sharing the same first name and all of us were given the email ids. Now, everybody had their second name as part of the email id. Since i had no last name (officially), my initial was used to provide the id. And thats when the N03 was born. Everybody started using this as a factor for differentiation between the 4 of us. And to add to the co-incidence, i was the third in order out of the 4..so the nickname started to stick with me like fevicol !!
As if you could not ask for more,It has various dialects too !. 'Number 3', 'eN woh 3', 'zero 3', 'N zero 3'. .thanks to my close group of friends in office and of course 'The LIST' members[the guys in the LIST christened me as the N03.will write about the LIST another time]. This name has creeped into this blog too now !
Though i was initially hating this name, over the 3 year period, I started liking it. It has given me that unique identity. It is not as bad as I thought it to be. In fact, it was very easy for me to find my blogspot's url ! ;-). With so many good things with the nickname and which is pretty decent when compared to some really worst ones which i accumulated when i was in college, The N03 is here to stay,
3..2..1..Goooooooooooooo
The time ticks 8:59 pm. And the keyboards starts clattering vigorously, trying to bring the words from inside my mind to the screen. Seems a difficult job for the first time blogger. But lets wait n watch..i believe.. Things will change!
This is the start to be responsibly irresponsible ! [:)]
This is the start to be responsibly irresponsible ! [:)]
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