Best wishes to you Kothi.....

It was just about 7-8 months, I started my career with my first company. Those were the days, when staying late in office was fun. I was then assigned to a new project. Due to some reasons, one of the senior member of the team resigned, even before the work kicked off. It was then that a girl who had the same experience as myn joined our team.

When my manager introduced me to this damsel, the look on her face was like, how dare this guy teach me about the project? May be, my thoughts were wrong. But she did have this attitude. As days progressed, the real face of each individual started showing up. She, was this gal, who was full of enthu only when the surround was known.

As the project paced on, we got to know each other. Well, actually not. It was actually as though we wanted to fight with each other every day at office. But when at work, it was two professionals who carried out their work with utmost passion. Result of which, the team was awarded twice within a span of a year.

Since we worked on a typical onsite-offshore model project, we used to have a weekly status Con call. This was a meeting where we had to be “PRESENT”, Yep just say “Yes, we are here” when our name was uttered. But, the naughty people we were, we used to keep the phone “muted”, played games to glory in the conference room. Late in the night, if one used to feel sleepy, one of us would go back to their cubicle and sleep to glory, while the other had to police the call. Unluckily, it was me who always did that.

Fortunately, we got our first onsite exposure to US. Buoy o buoy, wasn’t that fun!! Sometimes seriously wonder if my first onsite trip wouldnt have be the same, if not for a friend like you. Now, when you have a client, who is not that adamant of work (well, after all we were professionals, so no hara-kiri) combined with two individuals who just wanted to make use of the trip to the max, that’s when the photo album gets updated every weekend.

The innumerable games of fooseball, unending fist-fights, hair-pulling in office cubicles, umpteen experiments in kitchen, funtime at Hollywood, long walks along the US beaches, analyzing the photo of your groom prospects. Buoy, wasn’t that an experience. How often as a guy, do you get that oppurtunity to ridicule a groom prospect, being a part of bride family. When people around started calling us “Hum-Tum”, the extra effort we took, to make them feel we were seriously “that” kinds.

Due to my career-oriented goals, I had to call it quits from my dear company. But, still you were the same person, whom I would call any time. And after the call, come out with utmost enthu. I went globe-trotting and due to unavoidable reasons, I could not attend your wedding also. Yeah, as my curse(blessing) would yield it, you married a mangalorean at last. I am still the same careless, don’t-care guy, but you have transformed so much. The ugly cook(?) you were in our onsite trip, have catapulted yourself to wonderful cook and a responsible wife. Huh.. marriage can catalyse a wave of change. I should admire a female in that perspective atleast.

Yesterday, when you forwarded me the “adieu” mail from my dear company, I could not stop reminisce the good times we shared in that company. Now that you have joined my dream company(one of them), that too in the beautiful locales of Mysore, as promised, we shall surely work again together. Hopefully in their mangalore campus. But, pakku is not that easily accessible. You need to wait for 3-4 more years, let me finish my globe-trotting. Hehehehe

Lavanya, wishing you a wonderful fruitful future in your new company and lots of dear wishes to you and Prasad(KP). Hope, KP tolerates your food for a lifetime :-)

Oopss.. how can I call you Lavanya, it should be as always synonyms of “kothi”(monkey). Yet, you will always be the smart-colleague yet a dear friend at heart.

Have fun kothi and keep smiling….
pakku

ps: Coincientally, my 100th post dedicated to the wonderful friendship we share. Hats off to you (and me too) !!!

Let me break the jinx!!

Typical startup lines - after a long hiatus back in this space. This time neither was I lazy nor was holidaying. It was totally to do with my work. Well, they say, never bring work into your personal life. Albeit, when my timesheet reflects a mammoth 60 hrs/week, I am afraid the last thing I can do is lodge a complaint with Ministry of Manpower here.

Ok, let me stop cribbing, before I tag myself a cribboo. Frankly speaking, I never had a second thought working late nights or over the weekend. Well, not everyday, but atleast when the company needs you. It is just the challenge which makes you come out in a more accomplished manner.

For the second week of November, I was totally out of sorts due to high fever. And just when you come out of your illness, you find yourself sitting in a freezing environment (server rooms) for extra long hours. And when you reach home in unearthly hours, you don’t find mother's food to attack in a firangland. Neither do I have the enthu to prepare food nor to sleep with empty tummy. So, late in the midnight, you only grep for the big Mac to quench your hunger. And he delivers it on time with utmost precision. But after 5-6 dinner meals at McDeezz, I aint loving it. Seriously!!

With all the above cribs, I am elated to see our applications being used by Singaporeans. Hope it doesn’t crash big time *evilish grin*

Yeah, I finished 6 months in Singapore. Yippie!! This calls for a booze party funded by P3A. Aint it guys, for you have really missed me. Rightfully so!! Few major things shaping up on personal front. I shall surely update it here, once it is finalized.

And yeah, after fiddling with my cell to convey “Not Reachable” to callers, got to watch Casino Royale. Yep, the movie is good. And it is a must watch for all the Bond(lady) lovers.

Accidentally, bought “Guru” music album. It may not be as good as RDB(Rang de Basanthi), but still ARR is ARR. Check more about the GREAT here

enjoy your life!!!!
adios & cheerios

Failed testrun

Finally… finally the wait has ended. No I did not meet Trisha. How I wish!! The wait I am talking about is my rendezvous with New Asia Bar

Yep.. spent the entire Saturday evening(only evening.. the pervert P3A please read it correctly) at the highest vantage point in Singapore located on Level 71 and 72 of Swissotel, foreseeing the (almost) entire Signapore. Woww..watta view!!! And when you have your friends accompanying you over a Margarita, the ecstasy is two-fold. Somehow pakku was not in a mood to hit the dancefloor and had to don the cap of a spoilsport. Sorry guys, some other time. More on this, in coming days.

Reality shows in TV, blockbuster movies, hit-songs, cooking, technical articles, old syrupy mail-threads fail to enthrall you on few sultry days. That’s when you think of talking to your family, friends in des. First thing you think of is, trying internet telephony. Trying to find your friends over that right rectangular space of yahoo messenger over a weekend is a herculean task. Even if you find them online, some will be in deep slumber and others would be trying to woo the gal/guy who scraped a “Hi-How-are-you-bye” in Orkut. The previous sarcastic phrase is because I am not in orkut anymore :-). Me thinks, I should again join orkut and start a community ‘delete your orkut account NOW’. Phunny!!

So fed up of waiting for their reply, immediately realize how great an individual, Alexander Graham Bell was. So straight away start testing his invention. Hoping for a successful test run, you set the source test environment appropriately. TV volume is muted, 24/7 service of winamp is paused(on weekends), yahoo messenger status is changed to avoid audibles, roomie is formally asked not to disturb by banging the door. So all set for calling, expecting a nice smooth chat to glory.

Just to make things smoother, you contemplate if the timing would be proper for the other person. Now, if you are really enthu to speak to the individual, you assume it as ‘Passed’. Finally, the environment is set. The test trigger invoked. There goes the ‘Tring-Tring’ or whatever caller tune they would have.

Repolishing your voice to bring-in the enthu mood over the OFC, wait for the call to be picked up. Two – three- four rings and finally an elegant(not always) voice pops out from the other side. After those ‘Hi –hows work- watssup’ conversation, you finally hear the most irritating words you could imagine over an ISD call ‘pakku.. swalpa busy kano… amele mathadana aaita’ bit busy mann..lets talk later

*pakku fuming yet cannot display his furore* ‘ok no issues.. enjoy maadi .. bye’ with a 'smiling voice' which is so artificial yet unavoidable.

Post-Test: Test environment destroyed.
Test result: Test run successful-yet-failed with showstoppers as target environment not responding.

cheers...