Software saint and some IT gyan..

Before I start let me make certain things clear.. I am the self proclaimed software saint as in the title..As for the Gyan.. Read on..!!

To start with.. Setting : Just after a meeting..



Me : Defect Reductions, Targets, Process improvements.. Man.. Too much stuffed into the same meeting...Sure... But quite informative..
Arun : Dai.. Welcome slide pota apove thoongnavan thane da ni...
Me : Vidu Machi.. Ipdi build up vita than juniors nammala madhipanga..
Bhai : Naan kuda oru second aadi poiten da. Enaku thoongi company kudukra ore aalu ipdi elam pesa aramichtane nu.. Thanks for uphelding my belief machi..!!..

There's one thing I always liked about good for nothing meetings.U needn't spend cash for sleeping pills.Just sit back and enjoy a wonderful trip down memory lane, right back to your kindergarten sleeping hours.

Back to my cubicle now..Me, browsing through my outlook.
One unread mail.. marked high importance..

Dear developer,
Bugs have been reported for the subject task.
kindly do the needful.



Before I could turn back,
Arun : De Maapi.. elam inga vanga da.. Thalaivaruku mail la oru gift vandruku..
Me : (Well u can imagine my worked up face at this instance!! )
Arun : Moraikadha da.. Un thunbatha share panlame nu than elathayum kupten..
Bhai : Ivan meeting mudinju overa pesnna apove nenachen da.. Ivunuku oru periya aapu iruku nu..
Me : Ada paavi.. Company kudukra nanban nu dialog elam viteye da..
Arun : Adu sari. First attachment open panu.. evlo bug nu pakalam..
Me : Double clicking the attachment..!
Bhai : Enada... 2 lines description irukum nu patha oru essay ve eludhi vechurkanga!!
Me : Gasping for air and frantically scrolling down the pages..
Final count : 29 bugs !!Crestfallen..!
Arun : Target exceed pananum nu un kita sonnadhu thapa poche da.. Ni gethu machi..
Dept. target single task la exceed panita da..
Me : Hm.. Bug vandadu kuda prachanai ilai da.. Ivan elam pesra alavuku naan vanduten pathiya.. Romba feelinga iruku da..

Well.. end of a typical day.. Don't ask me what happened in the bug analysis after that.. I believe blogspot provides me limited storage space :)

Being somebody from the Mechanical Background, having gotten used to practical ideologies, the transformation into a world seemingly virtual has not been easy.infact i'd say the transformation has never happened. But then I'd have equal reasons to grumble had I been in some Toyota Shopfloor managing inventories!! :)
Atleast the rhetoric is a little tone down here..!!.. Come on guys.. I do have ample A/c and some good birdwatching to cool down my nerves. I meant the serene wallpapers on my desktop u morons!! :)

Now back to the present..

Me : Enada idhu.. Virtual Memory nu solranga.. Adula store agudu nu solranga.
Bhai : Thats simple da.. Virtual memory is something which gives an impression that it has contiguous working memory, while infact it may be physically fragmented....
I swear, he stopped abruptly on seeing my face......
Me: Dai.. Apdiye odi poidu.. Just before i could find something to hit u..

Software does give you some valuable lessons though. One such is to bridge the age old hierarchial differences through effective communications.But even that is a subjective natural resource that might command over exploitation.But the best lesson that i've derived is..
No matter how rigid or complicated things may be, it will always boil down to one's and zero's.
(Romba yosika venam)..!!
The one's who can improvise and the zero's who trust copy paste..
I never bother if I draw a blank. I know.
"Picture Abhi bakhi hai mere dost"!!:)

Youngisthan Meri Jaan

Yeh hai Youngisthan Meri Jaan..!!.. Gen Next..!!

Catch this...It so happened that I was attending the 60th wedding anniversary of one of my relatives.. As was expected things were panning out the 'Gen Past' way..!! Traditional!!.. Pretty much used to the setup, I was watchin the proceedings. A 4 yr old kid suddenly moved up to the couple in spotlight n asked "Grandma. Wherez the party?? ".. -(English pesunada paathu yaarum tension aga venam!.. Hez the son of a typical NRI(Never returning Indian.. to borrow the swades jargon!! ))
Hey kutti.. Party thane da.. Inum konja nerathul elathukum saapadu vandudum da.. was the granny's unassuming reply.. The kid rebuked.. Thats the marriage party.. I asked bout the kissing party..!!.. Quite a few were shocked.. some shell shocked.. I could very well see the vambu paati's doin a round of whispering.. Podi payyanuku pecha paru..!!.. Well.. hold on oldies.. Gen next has arrived!!..:)

Pretty simple to point the point accross..ain't it.. I was immersed in a thought.. where does that leave me.. Even I was equally shocked by d kid's remark.. Shall I jump into the kid's bandwagon n claim Yo man.. Gen next for u!!.. or sit back n ponder.. Nothings like it used to be..!!

Infact it's a tad difficult to associate oneself with the way things taking shape now.Riding back a few years, of all the childhood memories I have, I for one was a sports freak.Sweating it out in the ground. Cricket the eternal fantasy, topping it all.Those mighty sixers which broke window panes and subsequent rush to abscond from the place were all too jolly to forget. From the dungeons playing TT, to the basketball courts, n playing galleries and badminton under flood lights.. fun needed no explaining.. Speak of fun to a few kids now. Al that they wud have on offer might be unlimited gyan on some goddamn computer games..

A 3 yr old cousin of mine walks upto me n asked.. unga kita AOE 3 CD iruka?.. It took me time to realise that he meant Age of Empires.. I thought.. Dai!.. Age of empires ku spelling theriyuma da unaku!!.. Ni elam pesra!!.. Lets face it guys.. Gen next rite!!.. :)

By cornering people to the computer screen the chip revolution has succeded in killing creativity. SO obsessed are kids with technologies that the day is not far off when they'd need a calculator to muster what a 25+47 might add upto.. Speak of technology feeding ur bodies.. Nobody cares if it starves ur souls..

Lifez moving on an all too fast lane..No wonder people say u need to keep running to stay at the same place.. No wonder if a husband and wife stay together its a joint family now..No wonder Pepsi says Sachin is too old for its commercials.. No wonder neighbours, upon seeing us have started sayin "Hey mama paru.. while fondling their babies!!.. A far cry from the Anna Paru terminology used not mush before!!".. No wonder i'm struggling hard to finish off this blog now!! :)

Food for thought : In the same vein I do wonder, when Gen next calls all the shots, why is India's youth minister 72??!!
Well.. I still can't claim its "Youngisthan meri jaan"..
But it certainly is "Hindusthan meri Jaan"..!!

The Goan Sojourn..

Well.. U might have guessed after such a lull, this homepage of mine wud hav turned dormant.Buck up Guys..!! The Volcano is ready to erupt n brings with it the lava that flowed the past few days, as I sit here n pen down the memories that linger from the Goan Sojourn..

It was about a month back when one of my friends rang me up and said 'Get ready mate.We'l b hittin the roads n a few days'. I quipped - where the hell...Was so stupid of me to even blur something out like that.The answer dint stump me. ,Dil Chahta hai.. Masti mein rahe dooba dooba hamesha samah'.. That killed the conversation but rejuvenated my mind. Goa was going to be a better place in a few days time.Coz we will b ther..

Goa... It wud b cynical if I don't spare a few words for it.Immortalised by Farhan Akhtar's DCH and so synonymous with youthful spirit. And Yeah.. Therz as much beer as water that flows into its seas n with buddies around therz as much warmth as u'd cuddle up in ur mom's lap.

The journey started from B'lore.All landed up in full josh n after the initial hugs n hurrays we got started in a mini bus.That we'd b coverin 2000 odd kms over the next few days was never reason enof to cull our mood.The bus moved on.. The Speakers sprang to life.. ,Dosth bada dosth' went the lyrics....
"nanba vaa naam appavum ippavum eppavum twin-dhaan
oh namellam yaar ondrukkul ondrana oru peg drink-dhaan".. Cha.. naane feelings poda aramichten.. Whatever it may be !! :)

@ Goa...

After a typical lazy start n munching Pav Bhaji's for breakfast we set upon our trail..Where else.. But the Golden Beaches.. Never mind the sun was Blazing down. The Beer chilled us out.Then.. Splash.. splash.. splash.. There we went.. Swinging each other onto the water,rolling onto the sand,playin beach volleyball..!!. Man.. Freakin out had found its meaning today.. Add to it the exotic sceneries !!.. :)..
Shifting gears we got on with the funniest part. The Monkey game,.. played out during PT periods of primaries..The one who gets caught in the centre gets hit by d bal passing around.. Truly.. Therz no point in being grown up when u cant be childish sometimes.. :)

The Cruise followed @ dusk. The excitement was hard to sink in.. Yipee guys!!.. Its finally happenin.. We're in Goa!!!!!.. Aptly Aamir's 'Pehla Nasha, was played. In the "NAsha" that we were in.. the setup was really awesum!!.. :).. A few dance steps here n ther n we vacated the stage. I climbed up the cruise.. Stopped.. Felt the breeze.. Lived the moment.. Man.. Goa is beautiful.. Life is Beautiful..!!

Night time now.."Spirits" brightened up the mood.Reeling under a trance we pulled ourselves out.The clock read 01:00 am.. The beach was 2 kms away.. The moon sparkled up the sky.There we lay on the seashore in a dilapidated boat.. Speechless..
2 rounds Vodka - 1000 bucks
Mustering up side dishes - 500 bucks
Lying down intoxicated - Priceless..
There are certain things money can't buy !!.. :)
A round of icecream @ 2 am.. Puff!!..

Time for adventure...Well ya.. We did decide to go scuba diving and also explore an uninhabited island off the Goan cost.I had my own apprehensions. One.. I can't swim for nuts.. And two.. The awful thought of me struggling to keep afloat made me gasp for air.. The motorboat stopped enroute.. A dozen guyz jumped off before I cud wink.. Man.. If only I knew swimming.. Warding off battered thoughts I decided.. "Kuthichiruda kaipulla!!.. " :).. Splash.. blup.. blup.. Eternal bliss to say the least.. !!

Further down lay the island... Unexplored... Venturing thru the greenery we reached the top. The scenery was breathtaking.The silence of the seas were undisturbed. Moments froze in time.. We hit away a few snaps.. Life really is a never ending celebration..

Turning back.. one finds it hard to pick the most definitive moment.. Whatever it may be!!.. :)..
Rock on..!!
Hai yeh waqt ka ishara..
Zindagi milegi na dobara..!!..
!!..Cheers..!!

Look World !!! ..... We 've won Gold !!!!

It was one of those horrible weekday mornings @ office. There I was.. all bugged up, in my cubicle, cursing the computer for not compiling a Goddamn code that I'd cooked up somehow. My mobile beamed suddenly. Expecting a mindless forward, I just browsed through. "Bindhra wins Gold @ Olympics" read the message. I glanced towards my calender, Thank Heavens it wasn't April 1!!. And doubly reassuring was the fact that the Olympics were really happening! Stupified with amazement I wished to scream out load "Look World !!! ..... We 've won Gold !!!!"

Hard to contemplate if that gives us a reason to rejoice or ponder. Perhaps the most coveted moment of Indian Sporting History, the INDIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM being played, for an individual acheivement, for the first time since 112 years of the Games' inception. Never argue it came so late. Just celebrate.. After all it has come.

Candidly put, that was perhaps the best result we could have expected, pessimistic though it may seem. But even the hardcore optimist would agree, I bet. There is always a readymade answer for people who debate the crust of the problem - Blame the System. They do forget the fact that, we the people are very much part of the System, let alone part of the problem.

It's impossible to sideline the fact that our mindsets are so deeply entrenched in traditional studious endeavours that we term it utmost devilish to pursue sport in the right earnest, beyond a certain limit. It wouldn't take a poll pundit to predict the fact that this is not gonna change in the near future atleast.

The Govt on its part can't escape the blamegame though. Athletes, nurtured on alarmingly poor facilities, stand testimony to not even handful reaching the medals table rounds. Picture this - We've won 9 Golds in the Games' history (Thanks to our erstwhile elite Hockey team that provided 8 of it). It pales in comparison to a single individual.... Micheal Phelps - winning 14!. Pathetic to say the least and horrendous, that it comes from a nation of 1 billion. It might be an oft repeated filmy dialog, but why not even 10 Bindhras from such a crowd. Hard to digest, but the bitter pill is when the chinese have risen to epic proportions, we've fallen flat, celebrating a single Gold satisfying a billion dreams.

Never awake a sleeping tiger for it may pounce anytime. Here the Tiger is extinct, at best we may be termed a domesticated Cat, rejoicing momentuos glories. The million dollar question. Where lies the solution?
The answer doesn't lie in the lack of ability, it lies in the lack of resolve.

My Trysts with Cooking !!

"I dont even butter my bread, I consider that cooking !!"

First of all let me make one thing clear..Am a staunch follower of d above statement.Atleast I was. Then..... I started cooking !! :)

Cooking... Well.. sounds outright Greek and Latin to me.The only memories of my involvement with cooking that lingers on, is me helping out my mother in cutting some veggies,which in turn she'd prohibit me from doing, lest I should make a mockery out of it.I for one, can always draw parallels between wartime situations and the subject of discussion.All geared up, ammunitions in place, U start proceeding. One wrong step, and u are doomed.(doomed with a capital D)

Thought of putting this blog across in a conversation mode.. Let me introduce the characters,My first roomie Rafi, who I swear is the best cook I've known(Atleast after my mom!!) and Karthik,who atleast is prudent in technical aspects of the art and ofcourse theres this good for nothing me.....Wait.. Make that good for something..(Eating what they cook provides the transformation here !! :))Lets get started..

Rafi : What do we make blokes??
Me : Anything edible would do !! :)
Karks: We'l try out sambar today...
Rafi :(Sheepishly).. Well guys.. I don't have a damn idea how thats made.
karks : What, I thought u'd be adept at that.
Then.. the attention turned towards me..
Me: Hey... Y do u guys even bother to look at me??.. I can always eat whwtevr u can make.
Rafi : No probs guys... Lets give it a shot.. I've got a vague picture of how it can be done..
Here.. we were all set..
Rafi : De adi, anda thovaram parupa edu da..
Me : Now, for me.. locatin this goddamn thing was more difficult than sniffing out osama from his den. (Defeatedly..) Machi.. Neeye vandu edu da... Edhunu therla..
Rafi : Periya parupu mari pona??... (Now that was a comment!).. Moves menacingly towards the cupboard.. stops... gapes.. Dei.. Enada rendu parupu dabba iruku!!.. Idhula edhu da thovaram parupu??
Me : (With a downright irked up look).. Dei.. Idhuku than ivlo effecta potiya da... Atleast I accepted my ignorance..
Rafi : Vidra maapi.. Ariyamaiya enikume velipadutha koodadu!!..
Karks : To hell with u guys!!..(Picks up a box and hands over).. Idhu thanda thovaram parupu..
Me : Now that the identification part of the target is over, we can proceed with our execution.!!
Karks : Vetti scene ku onum korachal ila..

And then after following some preliminary steps, we proceeded in our amateurish way..
Karks : Do keep track of the cooker whistles.. We need to stop as and when it sounds five..

Cooking I believe is an art thats innate to certain folks. If at all I can proclaim myself to be a pro after a couple of decent cooking outings, I'd be commiting heresy.But in all eventuality I may call myself a pro,in cooking up this blog atleast..:)

To ward off time till that happened, we positioned ourselves before the TV. To our joy, we found Shah Rukh Khan,lighting up the stage with a thundering performance, at a filmfare awards ceremony.. As was expected we were heavily engrossed in the proceedings and inevitably, lost track of our cooking expedition. By the time we could realize, it was already half an hr since we set up the sambar!! Suddenly Rafi cried out in dismay "Our sambar!!"..We all barged into the kitchen striking up a frenetic pace.

We couldnt believe what we saw. Crestfallen, we picked up the overcooked sambar and started pondering patchup works."An artist's briliance, I'd say, lies in his ability to coverup his shortcomings!".. In the same vein,we proceeded..Adding a pinch of salt,then some masala powder,water and literaly whatever we could lay our hands upon..After finishing up, I took the plunge and tasted it.. Hey. tastes great guys!!.. And I bet the other blokes seconded my opinion that my tastebuds were in place atleast!!.

Just as we prepared to eat up, the doorbell rang.. Here, I guess is space enough to introduce one more character.. Bhai!!

Bhai : Ena machi.. Enada samayal iniku??..
Me : Hey.. welcome... Join us..
Bhai : (Tasting our sambar).. Machi !!.. Rasam super!!....
All three of us gave that baffling look..All our attempts of making sambar had gone down the drain with that comment. Atleast he din't know the truth!!
Me : Dei.. Enadu.. Rasama!!.. (Then I held myself back).. Ama machi.. That was indeed rasam... Nala iruku ila.. We dont take much pains cooking it up.. adhan.

Sometimes.. The best compliments are received when u least expect them !! :)

End of story !!

King of Good Times

Probably one might think this is one of those fascinating interludes with Kingfisher, but lo behold!!
This is an ode to the impeccable experiences that I have derived during the journey of my college life...A rolercoaster ride i'd love to live back anyday, of course interspersed with many kingfisher interludes !! :)

I've always fathomed how unpredictable destiny's plot is, leading people of varied culture and ambitions, of distinct backgrounds, into a pool of common thought, giving them an opportunity to explore a mystique environment, full of unadulterated fun, a paradise called college. "CIT" , for those blokes who've logged in accidentally n dont know me !!.. Sometimes it makes me wonder whether the lyrics of the legendary song "Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan, Iske siva jaana kahan" are tailor made for such instances. Pardon me for turning poetic but could'nt hold myself back at the stark coincidence.To all those buddies who dont understand hindi it roughly translates to something like this "Vaalvum Inge, Saavum Inge, Idhai vital engu povadhu !! ".. Know it sounds extremely comical when bluntly put down, but the hindi lyrics are pretty intense.. Believe me !! :)

Quite bizzare it is indeed, how a "Machi" or a "Maplai" could for the basis for any individual's recognition transcending his status. The demons of segregation arising out of caste based reservations are rendered so much infinitesimal , when pitched against the larger picture. The metamorphosis from being a lanky nerd to an all encompassing adult is replete with experiences drawn with time.

The quartet of years makes one undergo a full cycle. The bottled up attitude of the fresher, possessing a purity waitng to be exploited by his seniors, the hegemonistic sophomore yearning to stamp his authority, the high flying third years who need to be reminded that their feet are still grounded and the sagacity of the final years are all testimony to the game.

Now speaking of the interludes that I mentioned in the beginning, I bet any hostel tale, however fantasised it may be, will never achieve satiation without the inclusion of a drunken tale. Being witness to innumerable such instances its a safe bet to derive the fact that, many a man whose gotten drunk would profess, in all his honesty, things that could have caused a huge furore if not for the intoxicated state of being. All said and done, one cant help but admire the fact that innumerable quarrels however frenzied or whipped up it may be, can always be settled with a bottle of spirit. :)
And that remains an unsaid secret.

From the dungeons of Tv rooms watching cricket to the never ending night studies for semesters abundantly replete with "vetti pongals" life could never have been so upbeat. If at all life is all about those Q moments with buddies, those chito chats shared,those scrambling for food in a single plate,those uncanny quarrels and subsequent reunions or those unrelenting rapport which never needed an expression, then its definately worth living... A hundred times !!..

During my formative years, during a casual talk one of my friends asked me " What's real friendship?? ". I pondered for a while and said " A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest. A real friend opens the fridge and helps himself! ", which I swear is something I took out of a forward that I received that day.And I chided myself at saying that ! :).. Couple of years went by and it dawned upon us that we needed to bid farewell to each other. I still remember those last moments that had an everlasting silence and the occasional rolldown of a tear drop. My mind raced back in time. Atleast I wasn't looking for an answer now. I knew, silence had spoken more than words....

Dedicated : To all my buddies..