On The Bench

I am on the bench
With some snacks to munch
Growing my tummy as I work on nothing
Waiting for the day, that brings an end to everything

I am on the bench
Along with some pathetic bunch
Worrying about my future,
As Idleness evades me and causes torture

Any software engineer on the bench would have this common apprehension. But fortunately I was never benched before, for none of my employers had the concept of free resource pool. Every dog has its day. I too had that day. It was in my go-plus (global orientation) program held at ICRISAT resorts. It was a two day out-bound programme where we had some interesting management games. Every game had some values to teach like evolving a strategy, prototyping, collaboration etc. And on the final day we were given a real time project management scenario. We were divided into three teams with a team lead for each. Also a project manager to coordinate the three teams. Our task was simple (appeared at first). Each team must construct a similar kind of arrangement as shown in fig1 sequentially in the stipulated time(120 seconds). We were given time to analyze and practice and there were also progress reviews before the final demo.

My team developed a good strategy using modular approach. And in the reviews we were able to do in 26 seconds. The next team didn't have any such strategy in hand, yet they were able to produce the output in 35 seconds. The third team were in a pathetic situation as they were no closer to completion. Our PM sucked big time. He had the faintest idea about shuffling the teams and knowledge transfer. He brought external trainers to impart the new technology which was already in place in my team, at the cost of all our hikes for the next two years. After training the third team were able to do it successfully in 16 seconds.

With everything set we were ready for the final demo. We were given three chances of which we were asked to perform the demo without a fault at least once. The first demo ended in a fault as my team didn't notice the small gap shown in fig 2. We placed a plank in the reverse order. This fault never occurred in the initial reviews lest we would have been careful. Once we confirmed with the reviewer that it was the only fault made by us, we gave the second demo. As our team got tensed we took a little longer, so the we were not able to complete the entire demo in the stipulated time. We were left with one more chance.

"It was a Do or Die situation. Our team lead encouraged us by his powerful speech. And we all gathered our momentum and performed exceptionally well in the third round". This would have been a possible ending for a movie. But the rules are very much different for the real life. Considering our team's track record the PM asked us to step aside for the third and the final demo. And the team which got external training were asked to do the demo twice. We had no choice, but to sit on the bench over there and watch the other teams perform.



At first we got angry on our PM but after giving a deep thought we realized that it was the only good decision made by him in the entire project life cycle. In the postmortem analysis our facilitator argued about the fairness of our team. We contributed to the success of our project by not participating in it. In other words we never stood as a hurdle to the success. Though these soothing words comforted me, yet it failed to expunge this unhappy memory : on the bench.

Big Confusion At The Brand Factory

It was quarter past seven. The daylight was not completely down. I was in a auto with my face completely out, not minding about my safety and with vigilant eyes reading the name boards of each and every building for I was never been there before. "There it is", i said to myself. The building stood five stories high with glazed windows, prominently divided into three fairly equal phases with ads painted on randomly selected locations. And the name and the logo embossed centrally in Impact font which read

"The Brand Factory - Best Brands Smart Prizes"

Asked the driver to stop and alighted from the auto. Then i climbed the staircase attached to the central phase that took me to the lobby, which had a little walking space that ended in an escalator. As i ascended the escalator, i noticed the central atrium quite deserted. Though Lumbini mall is situated on the highway connecting hitec city and Hyderabad not many seems to be acquainted with this place. Unlike a typical mall there is no necessity to elbow your way through the teeming crowd for it had none.

Before I could explore the mall any further,my mobile rang. It was my friend B on call. He said "I am on the way, will be there soon" and I gave my usual rejoinder "ok". B is one my very good childhood friend. He came to Hyderabad for a vacation. As my schedules were tight and my weekends got blocked by cat coaching, all I could offer him is accommodation for four days and accompany him for a shopping in the evening. But one of his close friend took off from office and offered him full day company. So I was safe. We decided that day morning to meet at the brand factory in the evening.

I placed my mobile back into my pant pockets and searched for the mens apparel section, one of my favorite past time. It didn't have a direct path. One must necessarily pass through the beauty and cosmetics section to reach there. The men section had all leading brands from Pepe to Wrangler arranged in no particular order, in an ambiance that befits the brand. And that they give more importance to the brands was conspicuous as the raiments were not segregated based on type like ethnic, sports, casual etc. The collections were huge. That comforted me; I brought my friend to some good place. But his delay worried me more.

B called me for the second time. I felt a pang of guilt in his voice. "We got struck in traffic and will be there in few minutes" he said plainly and cut the call. "What else can I expect from a guy who is roaming with a girl for girls never keep up time except a very few" I said to myself and went back to my business. I spent my time by doing some trials with the jeans. Added few to my wish list. Yet it all got over very soon. I decided to explore the other sections of the mall. Also attempts to spot some one noteworthy in this already meager crowd proved futile. I felt quite bored.

It was 8:30 when I got another call from B.
"No more excuses" I thought and picked the call.
"Reached" said B
"Oh good, where are you ?"
"Right in front of the entrance"
"Ok. I am coming down"

After few minutes I called him and asked
"I am at the entrance but I couldn't spot you. Come near the steps"
"I am near the steps"
"How can that be ? There is only one staircase over there. How can I not spot you ?"
"I am near the steps" he said impatiently.
"Ok. Is there an escalator in front of you ?"
"Yes"
"What does the caption board in front of you say ?"
"Best Brands Smart Prizes"
"Fine. We are not more than 5m away. yet why none of us can see the other ?"
"How do I know ?"
"Are you at Lumbini mall ?"
"Where is that ?"
"Hey one second. Which place are you in ?"
"I don't know."
"Ask someone near by"

After some time I heard the word
"Abids"

Only at that time I came to know that there are 2 Brand factory in Hyderabad. Then I apologized him about my ignorance and we decided to do our shopping in central which is in the midway between the two brand factories.

Business with Books...

As we all know, the indiaplaza offer for harry potter and the dethaly hallows attracted the attention of quite a large number of readers. And around 15k copies have been preordered and successfully delivered. For those who have dipped too much into the book here is the recap of the offer.

• 35% discount
• Delivery on the same day
• Free shipment
• 6 months book club membership in indiaplaza
• Gift vouchers
• Game CDs and many more...

As their website hits were quite high they want to make hay while the sun shines. In order to promote their sales they started to give offers for other bestsellers as well. A typical bestseller would have an offer something like

• 24 hours shipment
• Free of shipment charges
• 20-30% discount

Not only me any bibliophile would have been happy looking at these offers. Buying books via this portal comforted to a much larger extent. As I bought new books at discount prize without the slightest repentance of promoting piracy. But that didn't last long. After completing harry potter I took my list of 'whats next ?' and picked a few for ordering it at Indiaplaza. But there was not even a trace of such an offer. Its all vanished like magic. Every book had this note "ships between 3-16 days and shipment and handling charges Rs25 additional !!"

But thank god, i got the free book club membership for the next 6 months. I still have an assured discount of 25% on any book I buy.

Federer Rocks !!!

It was late Sunday evening. Averse to go to office the next morning, bored of flipping through all the TV channels and moreover driven by an avid need for Monday to be a holiday, would be my possible mental state on a typical Sunday night. That Sunday was no exception although something more gripping and more engrossing averted me. That was Wimbledon mens finals between the Swiss and the Spaniard. This match was so crucial for Federer as winning it would earn him the glory of winning five successive Wimbledon titles in a row make him on par with Bjorn Borg. But having Nadal, the king of clay as the opponent, who had a vehement desire of proving himself on grass court, it was not an easy task for Federer. They had won 2 sets each and it was the final deciding set. Even now none of them were able to break the opponents serve. They were 3-2(Fed-Nad) and it was Nadal's serve when the ball turned court. Fed broke his serve and gained hope of winning the match. The next point was very easy for Federer as he is the man of aces. Thus it became a momentous day for Federer.



Andy Roddick just says "Here's my racket. I won't need it any more."




Federer, currently holding a record of winning 11 grand slam titles must win 3 more to equalize the tennis legend Pete Sampras. Though he is the king of grass, he faces a tough time in clay courts. Its quite difficult to serve an ace in clay courts and that would be a probable reason for his failure there. He must start defensive plays rather than relying on aces to become the king of tennis.

Federer Rocks!!!

My Memorable Birthday

I am from Chennai. Though my parents' native is Vellore, they settled in Chennai before my birth. My school, my college and my first job were all in Chennai. So i never got a chance to stay away from home till the age of 22. As i was not a hostler during my college days i never experienced or gave birthday bumps, nor thrown the rotten eggs and tomatoes. On the day of my birthday i generally get up early (as i am a software engineer now i felt thats worth mentioning :-)) and take oil bath. i will go to temple and then fill my belly with the sweets my mother had made. This is was the routine till last birthday but I never knew that for my next birthday i wont be with my parents. Everyone says the only thing that is permanent in life is change. Thats true. I got a new job and relocated to Hyderabad by Jan 2007. As i am going for CAT coaching in the weekends it was little difficult for me to frequent my home. But as i had a big circle of friends, enjoyment was not a problem for me.

Last week(4-6-2007) i celebrated my 23rd birthday, a memorable birthday i would rather say as it was a birthday full of surprises. First of all i never knew i would be celebrating my birthday till 11 pm the previous night. It was decided during the dinner at pizza hut. My friends invited me to their house for celebrating my birthday.

"Nope he cannot come with you guys", said a shrill voice, "he needs to accompany me back home", solicitous about reaching home. She added few more, "Else i will also join the birthday party celebration at your residence".

My friend quite intimidated by the deal she put forth said, "I will drop you at your home in my bike", and saved the day.

It was 11 pm, all bakery were closed at that time. They don't know what to do. At this time the hero of our gang came up with an ingenious plan. Why should we cut cake why cant we cut an ice cream bar??? Agreed, but where to go for ice creams ?? He had an answer for that too. Having a very generous heart, he made up his mind to sacrifice his half eaten ice cream for this noble cause. It was two minutes before midnight and everything was set on table. At the stroke of 12 i cut the cake sorry the ice cream into 4 equal quarters. Then we started to take snaps with each other and finished the ice cream. It was birthday bumps next. Thank god they were too gentle. Finally the celebrations ended with a pleasant chat. I thank my friends who made this birthday different :-)

Mozhi : The language of optimism

Mozhi, meaning language, portrays the secrets behind an unsual language : the argots of the mute. The movie is like sensing a fresh aroma amid the commercial tamil cinema replete with violence and vulgarity. Director Radha Mohan has fabricated this gripping tale suitable for all age groups.

Karthik (Prithviraj) and Viji (Prakash Raj) were working with music director Vidyasagar, as keyboard players. They both move into a new flat much to the annoyance of the flat secretary who despises the frivolity of aimless bachelors. As luck would have it, their flat is opposite to the secretary's. Things always go wrong between the two and the secretary which peeves him more. One day Karthik sees Archana (Jyothika) on the road thrashing a drunkard, who ill treats his wife. Quite impressed by her candid and bold nature, Karthik instantly fells in love. In the pursuit to find her identity, he comes to know that she is a deaf and dumb girl. Yet, he is firm about marrying her much confused about expressing his feelings. Sheela (Swarnamalya), best friend of Archana comes to the rescue and helps Karthik to speak and understand sign language. Slowly Karthik and Archana become good friends. One day when Karthik played his notes, Archana was able to shake her head in resonance to the music by merely feeling the vibrations. Awestruck at her response, Karthik proposes her. Unable to withstand the shock,she slapped him with ire. What made Archana to spurn Karthik's love ? and did Karthik convince her ? forms the rest of the story.

All four of them have done their roles exceptionally well and its really tough to single out who is the best. Jyothika has acted just fair enough to suit her character. Prithvi has performed exceptionally well this time while Prakash Raj's wit is like garnishing the pudding with cream.

The music and lyrics are really a treat to the hears. Music Director Vidhya sagar has done a good job. Katrin isai..., Pesa madandhai..., are noteworthy.

The movie shows us agony, fear and sorrow but in a positive tone. How humans must perceive them ? and the reality is they no longer stand as show stoppers for a happy living. After seeing this movie one will feel light in their hearts and all the things around him will appear good. And hats off too the team who gave such an engrossing movie.

Mozhi is a must watch movie.

Status Messages : The Reflections of Mind

The nature is inclined to nurture man with its supplies and quenches much of his desires. Yet, of grasping nature, man developed a tendency to mend nature so as to suit his needs. This very attitude of man gave way to the genesis of the custom thingy. Even the software products were no exceptional. Let it be templates, layouts, patterns or be the status messages one can always see the custom option. The creators thought right about man as a creative being but end-users think different. In the name of being different, they type some weird messages. Not very long back, i felt bad on seeing the status messages of my friends.

One read :

Happiness: an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.

Let me ask one question; Is this the definition of happiness or sadism??? I feel the later would be more appropriate.

Next, a girls status read as below.

Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others

In a trice one can easily judge the mentality of this girl.

Last and the most weird of all one guy had a link to sex survey. i agree to the point that these topics captivates everyone but it can be probably shared as a forward. What does this guy wants to say ??

Why do these people fail to realize that these messages are mere reflections of their inner mind. Some may argue that they have own way and liking but they must not forget liking goes by attitude and attitude goes by character.

In Search of an Offbeat Pastime...

After I moved to Hyderabad, my friend and I have become ardent theatergoers (read The movie marathon begins), somehow managing to watch a movie every weekend despite our hectic schedules :-). At times we even saw two movies a weekend and one day i was about to see two movies back to back but avoided somehow. Of late, we felt this movie marathon has reached to nauseating extremes and decided to try something different.

We developed a relish for live stage performances. One such attempt was a magic show by a magician Anand. Though my intellect said magic is nothing more than an optical illusion and can exist only in Harry Potter's world, neither my eye nor my mind can see through the delusion. Some of the tricks conjured by him like vanishing the statue of liberty, cutting a girl with a saw, making a girl float without any support are noteworthy. Even my over intelligent friend could unveil only a few. I enjoyed the show as it gave a break to the monotony.

The next attempt was a play. I just said ok when my friend suggested it without even inquiring about the details, as the very idea gave me a satisfaction of evading boredom. The play was a spoof of hamlet by EVAM group. This was the first play i ever saw in my life, and was hilarious. Though they failed to start the play on time, about which my friend is very sensitive, there was an interminable supply of joy. With just 3 guys, playing the roles of eight characters interchangeably, they did the trick of provoking humor in the audience. Quite interesting of all, Ophelia, the love of Hamlet, was enacted by a girl from the audience and the way she was asked to scream while hamlet proposed her was really funny. In addition they did few other small comedy shows which were equally good. In short it was worth the money.

Waiting for something different to come in the following weeks...

Disclaimer : My friend and I watched this play together and both of us wrote the review on same day. We enjoyed the show to the same extent and readers may feel the reviews to be similar. This piece of work is original and any type of resemblance is purely accidental :-)

Tuesdays with Morrie : Brimming with Confidence

Well, I am not a voracious reader. Generally, I read books under the genre fiction and fantasy. These books though big, being a story full of thrills, never cease to clasp me. Very recently, I began to study non-fiction books. Definitely not those of Ayn Rand's that delve deep into philosophy, but those books with a lighter dose and only a few pages to flip; commercialized versions I would rather say. One such was Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie.

With a slight graze, Tuesdays with Morrie is a story about an old man, Morrie Schwartz at the verge of death telling his experience to his old student, Mitch. But this magical chronicle of their time together turns out to be a great session : lessons in how to live.

The narrative starts with Morrie being infected by ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease. Morrie despondent about his failing health secludes himself from the society. But Mitch comes to the rescue when he accidentally hears the news about his old professor, Morrie. He promises Morrie that he would meet him every Tuesday. Every Tuesday they talk about different aspects of life. Mitch, on the first meet with Morrie looks scared about death and the agonies of life. But as the days sorry the Tuesdays goes by he builds a sanguine disposition on demise : Death ends a life, not a relationship. The author performs this miracle of starting from an absolute void and slowly building confidence like a waxing moon in reader's heart as well. In short, a nice book to read.

When you learn how to die, you learn how to live

- Mitch Albom

When Clouds Shed Their Tears...

For the past three months Hyderabad was really dry; let it be summer or winter there was no moisture. And yesterday it was different. I saw water laden clouds that showered this arid place. The scent that arose from the sodden soil provoked me to write. Albeit am not good at this, I gave it a try...

When clouds shed their tears,
Joy blossomed in every kids heart,
Fervent to drench they gave a kick start.
Slipping silently from their house with bare feet,
They jumped in every puddle down the street.

When clouds shed their tears,
Many indulge in sleep without a budge,
Taking it granted there is nothing to drudge,
Laughing at jokes that were mediocre at the best,
With some chat in hand and sharing the rest.

When clouds shed their tears,
Rivers deluges out of the blue,
Trailing through mystic paths without a clue,
Carrying enormous potential that turn turbines,
Help evading darkness and enlightening lives.

When clouds shed their tears,
Farmers shelve their combat with anguish,
And till soil and sow seeds with relish.
They thank God for giving them this bliss,
And ask nature to cry without a miss.

When clouds shed their tears,
The poor do the same with nothing to cover.
Homeless are they,pursuing life with fear.
Without a shield they brook the piercing drop,
Not an amulet handy to make the rain stop.

Almost 350 million people in India are below poverty line. Most of them are homeless; sleeping in streets, scorching in sun, freezing in cold and drenching in rain. We claim ourselves to be responsible citizens what are we going to do about this ???

The Dejection Point

22nd June 2005
GRT Grand

More than two hundred people were gathered in the conference hall at GRT Grand hotel. Students who wore only t-shirt and jeans appeared in full formals. Bright faces filled with zeal were seen. I too was one among them. It was verizon five day induction programme. To everyone's expectation, it started with the diffuse talks of the HR people. After these tiring talks, sumptuous GRT buffet meal revived us. Post lunch session was light as we were expected to fill up forms only. The following two days we had communication workshop at Shelter resort Mahaballipuram; lots of games providing fun and insight. These two days went in a blink of an eye. The fourth day we were all back to the great hall. Not the HR but technical managers and directors were there. They divulged how verizon business operates and gave us an insight about the various portfolios that support the mighty tree.

The much awaited final day arrived. Its the sorting day; the day we were allocated into projects; the day that determines our career path. The destiny was already determined but yet to be known. The IOBI projects were the center of attraction. Its a project in development stage; latest technologies were used; only creams will enter. Every bloke entered the great hall with this preconception. There was no sorting hat; only HR people stood with printed papers. They read our names one by one and notified the projects we were assigned to and the respective technical training schedule. My name was read; my heart said IOBI but they thought different. I heard a recondite name "DSL online". I could only manage a downcast smile. The HR also informed me that i should be at Tidel park the very next day 9:00 AM sharp. I inquired about my training; they responded negative. Everyone except me got a training schedule. Have i fulfilled all the prerequisites for the job or the job was not worthy enough to deserve a training ?; I wondered. I saw loneliness despite so much people in the hall. Absolute silence i sensed despite the clamor of the crowd. Despondence evaded my heart. But I didn't want to sink on this any longer. Every cloud has a silver lining; I said to myself; cheered up my mind and left for the day.

Grief is the agony of an instant, the indulgence of grief the blunder of a life.
-Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Blogging Upsurged

Very recently there is a sudden upsurge in the number of bloggers. I really wondered why ? For the past one and a half years i didn't have time to reason these as i had a very hectic schedule,working with my previous employer. Then i decided it cannot go on like this and shifted my job. I moved from Chennai to Hyderabad. I was also selective about shifting because i don't want to land up in another hell. Once i came here, the answer to my question became apparent. Many of the Pay Masters which are actually dream companies for many people, not only pay the employees a huge amount but also provide them with ample time and internet connections at their desktops 24x7. What else a blogger want in addition ? Just a piece of creative mind to be a prolific writer. So do I am.

Competition prevails even here. bloggers want to increase their visitors count desperately . For the same they start to use flowery languages. At times they even post silly things in their blogs like dispute among friends, junk snaps and videos as well. A few notorious bloggers developed a habit of enlightening sensitive topics similar to our press do. But they never realize that it aggravates the wound. And as a fellow blogger i may also follow the same trend to increase the hit count. Nobody knows. Let me stop right there. Don't want to write too much stuff in my first blog.

Hurray!!! I wrote my first blog