S-U-I-C-I-D-E Zone

World wide, almost 5 lakh people die prematurely just as a result of smoking. Smoking is injurious to health. This will be written in better font and better size on the cigarette packs but smokers ignore. There are ways to help you get rid of this dangerous habit. Google out. Find the ways-implement-stop smoking - live long - let others live long.

When ever i see something like SMOKING ZONE in theatre or public malls it  looks like......

                     So, next time when ever you smoke, just ask yourself...

                                  "AM I READY TO DIE? "

Nehru Outer Ring Road - Finally Government Wakes Up

Finally Andhra Pradesh Government woke up reg. the accident prone so called Elevator Express High Way namely Nehru Outer Ring Road(NORR) in Hyderabad! Its a appreciative gesture and everyone welcomes it! Better late than never.

AP's honorable home minister ordered today to control the accidents on NORR:

"Speed limit controllers and monitors to be installed", "Regular patrolling vehicles to be active always", etc etc.... All orders welcomed!

But, why now? All of a sudden. NORR spanning 162KMS has been a death trap for many...many many accidents till now. As per a television news channel on an average around 45 people die on this route monthly. Its been a common news for hyderabadis about some or other accidents ranging from minor to fatal.  In 2010, tollywood actor Kota Srinivasa Rao's son lost his life on the same NORR. Government didn't feel the pinch. Recently, around a month back indian cricketer Mohammed Azahruddin's son Ajmal lost his life while racing on his 1000CC bike on NORR. He lost his life riding a super bike and its reported that the accident was due to loss of control at high speeds. Quiet possible. AP govt. didn't wink at this accident too. Possibly government was quite busy dealing with Sakala Jannula Sammey(All People Agitation), an agitation going for the cause of statehood of Telangana or may be AP govt. was in a possible political nappie. 

Reasons' for the accidents' apart, either it be negligence of the authorities or over speeding - that's a topic for another post. 

Then why now? Yesterday, Ex-MLA Mr. Komati Reddy's son Pratheek lost his life on the same dangerous NORR. Yep, you got it now. AP govt. is jolted now with this accident. If pratheek's son had not been Ex-MLA's son and if he had been some govt. employees son, this wake up would not have happened yet. This accident too would have gone unnoticed with just a small scroll in some news channel. Had it been another accident of the same proportion but not related to some celebrity, would this SHAMELESS govt. of AP reacted? What message does the govt. send to people from this sort of response? Does this mean common people doesn't hold any value? Does this mean common people doesn't hold any stake? Does this mean only celebrities life and their families hold value? WTF.

I wonder when this shameless govt. treats everyone equal. I wonder when this shameless govt. realizes that india is a democratic country. I wonder when our shameless politicians consider people as the assets and not the cadres or their profiles. I wonder when our shameless politicians realizes that people are the donors who gifted them their current position. I wonder when our shameless politician realize that some day there would be a situation when they would be frightened to come to people for vote begging. Shame...shame on the government and shame on these shameless politicians.

Only the politicians & govt. are to be blamed? Aren't we equally responsible for electing a govt. which doesn't know the meaning of administration is just running a drama company in the state assembly? INDIA lost its eligibility to be administered on Democracy. India needs dictatorship to resurrect.

The Little Italy

The Little Italy in Greater Hyderabad. Its a pure vegetarian italian restaurant. You hardly find a pure vegetarian restaurants in Hyderabad. I found another restaurant where i can take my parents along.

I have been hearing about it since long time but never got a chance or rather i say occasion to visit it. Last week i had been there with some of my buddies. The food didn't represent anything desi and so as were in Little Italy, the taste should be italian certainly.
  
The ambience was pleasant and it was located right on the top  floor of a building constructed at the edge of a hill(obviously one among jubilee hills). We were there by 12:30PM and hardly no crowd. We opted for a corner table which gave a nice view of the surroundings and especially the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park in short KBR Park Nature Trail and the most of jubilee hills. The interiors are not so great but nice. The decor is classy and relaxing. The decorator tried to give a contemporary look and was successful to some extent.

We opted for a buffet. The price was Rs.480 for adults and Rs.345 for children. The buffet included unlimited salads & welcome drinks, one starter from the menu, one pizza from the menu, one pasta or rice item from the menu. We were quickly served with the welcome drink. For the salads we have to walk to the counter to choose from the vegetables you want to include in the salad. The salad preparation was quite interesting. You got lot of english vegetable you pick from. Different types of sauces too. I'm quite alergic to olives. But i wanted to taste the green olives. The salad was fantastic with bracoli, corn, green olives, pepper, pickles and sadly no jalapenos :(

It took quite some time to order the starters & pizzas as the menu was completely new to me and my friends as well. We ordered Bruschetta, Choice of garlic bread with cheese with onions. Bruschetta was the star among the starters. The service was decent and prompt. Enough time to hang out and have a nice time.

Garlic bread was too much of crispy. Not even able to bite. Its almost like some cookie.

                   

        Bruschetta was the best among the starters. Its crispy & cheesey.
 

Sicilia was the best among Pizza.Very spicy, spicy than regular andhra food.

                 

Fantacy was really fantastic...cheesey and lot of paneer cubes.

We were almost full with the starters & pizza. But we were to select from a pasta or mexican rice dishes. Both are not worth mentioning. Mexican rice was with brown rice, some sort of rajma and some spices.

My ratings,

Ambience - 9/10
Service - 8/10
Food - 8/10
Dinner for 2 - Rs.1100
Value for money - 8/10

40000Kms and still crunching

Since 2007 she was the one companion which accompanied  me every day in all my lows & highs. She stayed with me in all my sorrows & joys. I was harsh with her when in hurry & in sorrow.....i was smooth with her in times of joy. I ride her high in times of high spirit...i grunted on her in times of low. But she never disappointed me. Never excepted anything back; just some care. Except during my two months US visit and 7 months bangalore visit she was with me every day. She served me so much to my satisfaction.

Its my Splendor+ bike which i bought in 2007 and it crunched around 40000Kms since then and is still counting. My bike never disappointed me for my needs. I'm not on it to race. I use it for my general needs, for general commuting & sometimes purposeless rides.

It do gave me some hiccups when it was down due to some crank shaft sound in enginer. Except regular services it is the only major cost i incurred on it after its purchase. As per the mechanic, this problem would not have occured if i have used proper fuel. He also suggested to never use the petrol sold on road side from petty vendors. I though these petty vendors mix some kerosene to make some quick bucks. But not so. he said , "these vendors mix some thing called thinner which is generally used for carpentary work. The reason is, thinner costs some Rs.25 per liter where as kerosene costs around Rs.40. So thinner is more profittable compared to kerosene. Thinner has no colour and in some weather conditions block the enginer oil passage to the engine and thus the engine problem occurs". So, friends avoid road side fuel and save your vehicles.

Hmmm what else. There is one point that i get to mind.
Sometime back in 2008 i lived with some friends at Lakadikapul. One of my friend Rupesh, owned a Pulsar 150CC(as far as i remember). We used to go out often for lunch...dinner..movies. But the way would always be full of traffic and is always crowded with vehicles. So, generally when two friends start on bike they obviously get into a sort of lets-see-who-reaches-first type of thing. This happens undeclared and go unnoticed. The same thing used to happen between us as well. Some times i used to reach first and some times him. I remember him commenting "You are great yaar. You beat Pulsar with your splendor". I used to say, "Its nothing great. I just know my bike better and know when & how it behaves".

Sometimes i feel like to withheld this bike for ever. But again, nothing is permanent. In the recent past i planned to sell off this bike to get a new bike. But due to some personal reasons i plan to keep this bike for another 1 year or so. Lets see howz things go.

Off due to chicken pox

I'm back to office after 7 days. I was down with chicken pox for the last 7-9 days. I was off from work for a continuous 7 days and thats the first time in the last 3 years.

Chicken pox(CP) is an air borne disease and its absolutely non-seasonal. There are several myths surrouding CP. Traditional myths and regional myths for the attack but the technical reason is a virus named varicella-zoster. I wonder why scientists name viruses or diseases in so tounge twisting way.

CP generally shows up many visible changes in your body for easy identification. Itchy scalp, small insect bite sized blisters growing up to red lesion all over the body. The blisters start generally from scalp, face, trunk and then crawl to lower body gradually if the intensity of CP is more. You will feel a deep urge to scratch the blisters. A big NO to scratching. Scratching leaves you with scars once the lesions are healed after CP. Sometimes these scars may be life time. You may not be able to get rid of these scars at all. So, NO scratching at all. Resist. A logical suggestion is to trim your nails so that the scratching and the impact can be minimal if any. The blisters grow in to lesions and then form up to a crusty layer. Cautious not to prick or remove that crusty layer until it fall off itself after complete healing.

The whole thing may last for 7-20 days depending on the intensity of the attack. The sooner you identify the disease the sooner you can be treated and the sooner you can start healing and the sooner you will be fit again. 

Food: Though there is no restriction on diet but spicy, oily masala foods are better to be avoided. Simple meal will not harm you. Meal with as little salt as possible. Generally spices, salt slows up the healing of blisters.

Medication: No standard medication is mandated for CP, as it will take its course no matter what. But its prefered to take the minimum medication to speed up the healing of the blisters/lesions, avoid any fever, avoid body pains which are quite common problems turning up during CP. Neem leaves or twigs are generally considered as best medicines for CP. I donno the technicalities of it.

Clean & Tidy: Doctors suggest to avoid bath for the first 4-5 days when the seriousity of the disease is at its peak. And even traditionally its suggested to avoid bath for the first 5 days and thats then disease is to expected to take a downtrend after the 5th day and that was true in my case. Just keep yourself clean with fresh clothes, tidy and dry surroundings. Stay at home. Avoid general contact with people as much as possible as CP is highly contagious.

And dats it!!!

I was badly bored though with a TV, laptop, internet, books, lots of movies, ipod. I always thought it was possible to stay at home for long durations provided all the above. But, i was wrong.

Vehicle Insurance

Its peak time 7:30PM. Obviously it is then you get to see some traffic police ACTIVE at the signals. If you have lived in india for a while now, you get what i meant by active. The CI or SI sitting beside on a bike or in a patrol vehicle and some constables trying to catch the terrorists. I mean the two wheelers. This is a regular scene you will get to see at major junctions or traffic points. These extra active constables makes sure to let go the autorickshaws or APSRTC buses, running autos etc leaving out huge cloud of black smoke. Its doesn't look like pollution to them. But they would certainly stop the two wheelers with full gear helmet, registration certificate, pollution check, insurance papers etc. What the f***...you guys? Is that what you are trained for? Is that what you are asked to do?


Last friday, i was on my way to home from work. I stopped at the red signal. I was in the first lane of the crowd. Just a moment and i felt a snatch of my bike keys. It was a traffic constable asking me to come aside. I understood its going to be Rs.100 or so bang to my wallet. I showed him all the required papers except the insurance. I never renewed my bike insurance after its expiry after the first year of purchase. Somehow i didn't see the need of it. I was sure. I thought its just waste of money and its true with most of the people. But a four wheeler should have a insurance. May be i am ignorant.


He insisted on the insurance. I lied. I said that the bike was sent to regular servicing and i missed to place it back in the kit after that. He was still looking at the traffic to see if he can get some more prey.


He: "300 fine"..in a dominant voice
Me: "Sir alaa kaadhu...choodandi plz",
He: "Peddha sir akkadey undu. Velli receipt thecchuko."
Me: "Choodandi sir"
He: "Insurance ledhu ga. Fine 300"


I was quitely looking at him. I know i dont have to plead him further. If something was serious he would have directly took me to the peddha sir. He gave me a glance and signalled me to come aside behind a parked vehicle. It's clear now.


I took out my wallet and pulled a Rs.50 note. He looked at my face, "Fine 300". I kept back the Rs.50 note and pulled out Rs.100 note. He gave back my keys and other paper. Woww!!! now i dont have to pay any fine. Rs.300 fine has vanished with a Rs.100.

Me: "Sir! Fine 300? Not required? :)"

He gave me a wierd shyful smile worth Rs.1000 and asked me to leave immediately.

I googled to see if really an insurance is mandatory and found this.
But, why on this earth motor insurance is mandatory? I dont see any logic behind it. Its my vehicle. I know the risk i am living with. I know the loss i have to bear if something nasty happens. But why do government insist on having an motor insurance? But again,  what is the point of making it mandatory? Can some one explain this please? Indeed the constable was true about the fine too. You can see it here.


What about medical insurance? health insurance? Are all these mandatory in india? I need to hit the google now.

Pega CSA Certification - PRPC 6.1

Ok! Pega CSA is my second certification. One before this was SCJP Certification in 2009, where i excelled with 89%. I know, 89% is bad considering many 90+ & 95+ or even 99+ percentiles you generally hear about. The reason was that i didn't depend on dumps. Infact, i just spared 10-12 hrs going through the dumps. But i'm happy with 89% i scored in SCJP.

Fast forward to 2011 and now its Pega Certification for a Certified System Architect(CSA). I know theres lot many CSAs out there in the Pega community. But its special for me. I was the only one being trained at my companies Hyderabad location. So, the formal class room training went for some 16 odd hours and a bit of bootcamp and a small poc compromising 5 screens and some database interaction was all that i had. Ofcourse some 10-15 days went into preparation for the CSA certification. So, you see, its not a formal training phase by any trainer who is trained to train people. 

I accomplished 91%. I'm really really happy about it.

One point to mention is, there was some parallel formal training happening at my companies bangalore location. It lasted for more many days of class room training followed by a rigorous training & practice schedule on bootcamp etc. and that too by a regular trainer who is trained to train people on PRPC. But as the odds look out as even sometimes, i surpassed all those who had that formal training. Its not hyperbole nor i intend to exaggerate. But, i feel proud to achieve this.

Kudos to my friend cum trainer BhanuPratap for his effort & experienced insights.

Again for CSA too, i didn't depend on any dumps and all that helped me is the training notes, fast track material and more importantly some thing called as bullet points(any one who is preparing or cleared CSA will know about it). So, my bit of advice to future aspirants of CSA in contrast to what many others advice is, don't mislead yourself by concentrating on dumps. Get the concepts right & straight and you can hit it.

Maruti Suzuki is ON by the EON

Have you ever watched an advertisement on tv or paper or somewhere for Maruti Alto in the recent past? I haven't. But, why would they advertise for the best seller of the country? Why would they advertise for the model which sells around 20,000 units per month across the country? Then, Why now? Yep, you guessed it right, competition boss competition.

Maruti woke up from the deep slumber it passed in to after the launch of Hyundai EON. Now India is ON. Well Maruti is the 1st to take the shock on. Now Alto is advertised on blue screen, freebies offered, cash discounts & more importantly Maruti Suzuki introduced the limited edition Alto Xplore, mere hours before the unveiling of the Hyundai Eon. Now, the Xplore gets over 10 new features and now imagine leather Seats in an Alto.

Till yesterday Maruti Suzuki didn't have much of resistance for the Alto. After the Maruti 800 is stopped in Tier 1 cities, Alto took the top seller slot. Most prestigious Tata Nano tried its luck to take on Maruti 800s market, but ended up as a dud due to many reasons.

                                                                      Hyundai EON

The competitive pricing starting at 2.69 lakhs to 3.71 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi) by Hyundai EON
And
The first in segment gadgets like driver airbag, tilt steering, gear indicator
And
The modern fluidic design and very stylish looks
And
Best-in-class interior quality, fit & finish
And
Hyundai's after-sales & resale at par with Maruti....makes it the perfect competitor for Alto.

With this shot, Hyundai EON registered a whooping 6315 bookings in the first month even before the deliveries started. Its no surprise if the EON take the best seller slot very soon.

Its not late before Maruti Suzuki do something before its best seller king is dethroned by EON.

Alto looks Grand ma where as the EON looks stunning Grand child

I sometimes wonder why would still someone choose the outdated looking Maruti Suzuki Alto over Hyundai EON. Now, you all new Alto owners, plz don't bang your heads!!!

Sahib Sindh Sultan..The royal treatment

26 October'2011. It's Diwali & i wasn't home as i have to be at work on the day 'coz as per my office calender the next day was holiday. Yeah yeah thats bad. Smooth traffic & not much of happening at office either as it was an holiday for all the companies. I was out by 5:00PM. Planned for a dinner with some of my friends. Lot of options Paradise, Bassera Inn, GreenPark, Fourseasons, Hotel Daspalla etc etc. Finally landed up at City center for Indijoe. But no buffet and no north indian or south indian food either. So forced to come out and look for an other option. There it was Sahib Sindh Sultan.

Some time back when i had been to Indijoe for a lunch buffet, Sahib Sindh Sultan caught my eye. But heard from one of my friends thats the prices are sort of a bit high & franckly never got a chance to visit either. So, it was the chance.

Being diwali, not much of crowd.The staff was neatly dressed and was quick in reception and led us to a table in no time. The staff was courteous enough to answer all my stupid time pass questions about the reason for naming it Sahib Sindh Sultan. It felt like being on Palace On Wheels sooner i realised i was in the railway compartment theme platform of Sahib Sindh Sultan. It was awesome. The waiters were dressed in royal brigadier style with antique type costumes and tall caps.

Though the platform is dimly lit, the comparment ambience is great, franckly a notch above great.  The plush & antique looking interiors were the things that your mind will last till sometime.

The serving tables in railway compartment like seating area.

Way out to give you more feel with the railway compartment theme.

The huge sized menu was handedover to fish out your order from the long list of dishes offered. The first sentence in the menu says,  "If you want to eat like a king or be treated like a queen, then the right place....", a very nice way to start with.

I felt like the prices are not really high but moderately high than what we get at Paradise or Ohris. The staff was pleasant and was helpful to pick the right choice. We were actually intended to try out some spicy stuff where as most of the dishes served a bit of what you call Gujarathi. Sweet sense in most of the dishes. Quick discussions & assumptions about the ingredients and we finally ordered,

Tandoori Mushroom Shakkhand & Babycorn masala for starter and

Vilayati Subz Panch Mel  & Dal Palak Double Tadka for main course along with Butter Naan

 and ended with Steamed Rice & Tadka Dahi.

The food was very tasty & quite reddiiish suggesting spicy taste. Tandoori Mushroom Shakkhand & Babycorn masala  was a kind OK. But Vilayati Subz Panch Mel  was too good and enough spicy. It was made of english vegetables(i wonder how they are different from regular one's) and spices roasted on coal. Dal Palak Double Tadka was crisp and suplemented the Butter Naan very well. Served in a small size pot is Tadka Dahi is something which i should talk about also. Dahi was fresh & delicious & hard like cake. Little did i expect the Steamed rice made of Basmathi Rice. Supplemented with Fresh Lime Soda Water it was an heavy dinner. Except the late serving time the experience was memorable.

After the sumptuous dinner, we were handover another menu for the Paans being served. Long list of paans but we ordered for Calcutta Sweet Pan for 40 bucks each. Huge but tasty paan it was. I should have ordered an ice cream pan for a change but was not ready for any experiements after the heavy dinner.

Here go the prices & ratings:

Pax - 4
Tandoori Mushroom Shakkhand & Babycorn masala - Rs.230
Vilayati Subz Panch Mel - Rs.230
Steamed Rice - Rs.120
Dal Palak Double Tadka - Rs.180
Tadka Dahi - Rs.135
Butter Naan - Rs.60 (Each)
Fresh Lime Soda Water - Rs. 85(Each)


Total: 1694(inclusive of VAT, ST etc)
It comes to 425 per person.

Ratings:
Ambience: 9/10
Food: 9/10
Service: 7/10
VFM: 9/10

Would certainly recommend this to others and worth for a second visit.

Kukatpally Chutneys!!..No not again please

Two days back i visited new Chutneys restaurant inaugurated right in the building of Kalyana Kanchi Showroom beside viswanath theatre at JNTU X Roads in Kukatpally.

Chutneys is a chain of restaurants in Banajara hills, Himayathnagar, Secunderabad and now in Kukatpally. I personally am a fond of Chutneys for its speciality in varieties of chutneys served and healthy & wide range of menu. Being a Idly fan, i was tempted to visit the new restaurant in view of huge reputation Chutneys gained though its wee bit expensive.

All the previous tastes and reputation Chutneys gained faded away in a flash. The food was crap and also the service was very late. I took my father to Chutneys for the first time giving him an boasted up description of sumptuous meal i had in other branches. But this experience didn't even left a impression, good immpression is far away, for a second visit. Disappointing!
We ordered Mango Uthappam, Guntur Idli, Babai Hotel Idli, Paneer Tikka Dosa. Well idli was at its best. Dosa & Mango Uthappam is just OK as normal as road side stall. Strange things is, generally Chutneys is special for serving different types of finger licking chutneys, but i wondered when just 5 types of chutneys served in this branch. When enquired about other varities of chutneys, the over humbled waiter replied, "Idhar tho bas yeh hi miltha hain", i said "sirf aaaj key liye nahin hain?", "No sir, is branch mein nahin miltha". Crap!

I don't understand why people ruin their own well established reputation gained over years of work with such a careless treatment & decisions. While other branches (though i visited only 2 of them) serves such a delicious food, i wonder for the reason of such a lame service at this branch.

My ratings,

Ambience - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Food - 5/10
Dinner for 3 - Rs.455
Value for money - 4/10

Own your job

At end of the day, every one works for money, its true & correct as well. But, atleast some % of ownership in your job would be appreciated. "Ownership" was the first thing i learnt at my first company Effigent. It seemed like it was an integral part of every employee with whom i worked at Effigent. This indeed reflects in all the work you do & complete. It has lot much to do with all other factors which help you excel your job. It induces you with all the competent features to show case your capabilities.

In my 6 years stint which included around 3 years in team leading position, i came across some team members who never owned their job. They just worked and never loved their job. Just as mechanical robot. Mechanical work output from them will not contribute much to the company or either themself or either the team. This attitude is quite annoying and will not earn them any points anywhere. In most of the cases, it was apparent that their such attitude was the result of either their old team/manager relationship or the employer treatment towards them or can be attributed to their last miniscule appraisal(which they think not enough for their effort they put in).

Before you feel like saying, "Your are mean", i want to put it, "Love your job, not your company". Follow this, its you and only you who profits.

How?

Spend some time. Think, plan it.

• What would be profitable to you? (professionally careerwise)
• What are your shorterm & longterm goals? (professionally careerwise)
• How your company benefits out of what you learn for your benefit?

Learn at the cost of your company. Use them when ever required at work. Then when you move on there is not much the company loses or you either.

I reiterate, "Love your job, not your company".

All peoples' agitation -- Is it volunteered?

For those living in Hyderabad Telangana related agitations are quite common in the past 3-4 years. Its just a matter of excuse the political drama troop need to call for a bandh/strike. Media hypes that the telangana state formation agitations are intensified by showing some footages. Don't know whats the truth.

The currently happening "All peoples' agitation" called for by Joint Action Committee, government employees of the Telangana region have also boycotted duties to press their demand for a separate statehood. But, how many of them volunteered to boycott the duties? Inspite of the government warning for "No work no pay" clause, how many of them would have volunteered?

Transport - APSRTC reports about a loss of 25 crores due to the last 2 days of strike and Hyderabad had lost Rs.250 crores of business due to commercial trading. All this traffic load is being taken over by the railways to commute in & out of hyderabad and telangana districts. Learnt that even the "Train Roko's" will be organized after 2 days. With that the complete transport system will be at halt in Telangana region. I dont think, whether the private operators would dare to operate fearing the damage of properties from the so called "telangana agitators". With already the petrol price hike buring the common man pocket, if the roads are blocked for petrol transportation in lorries, the ppl que up at the petrol stations.

Industries - The small-medium-large scale industries in & around hyderabad are facing the wrath too due to loss of production. With the transporation in & out of hyderabad already at halt, the required materials for production & other things are not supplied on time. With that the production at halt, with that the daily labour living on daily wages have their lives too at halt.

Education - Even this very important matter is being neglected in all this mess around. For almost 10days all the governement cum private schools,colleges are shut down. Volunteered? With this there is lot of back log created in the academics of the students and may even force the teachers later to push hard or even skip some part to reach the exam targets.

I seriously wonder sometimes, why is it so that the so called "telangana agitators" left out the Software industry. Never ever insisted to call for a bandh to any software company. Is something stopping them? Some benefitive motive stopping them to do so? Are they afraid of something or afraid of somebody? Didn't they find any value addition to consider software industry in their circle of influence?

What's in the BRAND?

As Shakespeare quotes: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".  Isn't it true?Good will is the component which builds up the BRAND value of any organization or person. Well, will that count in the day-to-day changing dynamic corporate world?

• Does any HR seriously incline towards the individual from a branded company from a list of prospective candidates(with same level of qualification & same level of education background) for a job?
• Does a job seeker from a branded company has an edge over the other job seekers?

This has always been a point of argument between me and my close friend Jeswani. However, i give a damn to the brand "thing". When you have the required skills & capabilities of executing a role responsibly, why the heck any employer will not hire you? Personally i never faced or came across such second-level treatment or never heard from any of my friends of such instance.

Yeah brand matters in remote possibile case of tie between you and some other job seeker(from a renowed organization) with the exactly 100% same skill levels as you. But again, what is the possibility of this situation? This is why, professinal jobs always demands to keep you updated with the latest updates & technologies in our domain/field. If you maintain yourself up-to-date there is never a case where you look redundant to any employer.

The type of work you do and the learning you gain in small companies is phenomenal compared to branded orgs. So, better be in a small companies at the initial stage of your career....learn....work....earn....make yourself competent and then gradually move up to a branded orgs. Many of my previous company colleagues are in a MNCs now. The comments i get to hear is "Peru goppa vuru dhibbha", "What ever i learn't in effigent & prithvi is all that i have. No new learning". Well that is the truth.

There are some ppl i know who compromise on the quality & job profile just for brand. I know they take such decisions keeping in mind of many personal factors too. But again 'career' is not a point to compromise on.

I strongly believe, "Its the content in the bottle that should matter and not the bottle itself".

Guru Devo Bhava

On every teachers day, i only remember my mathematics teacher Mr. Ramesh Babu of Nalanda High School, where i passed out my 10th class. I owe him my heartful tributes for what ever i am today.

He is the one who inspired me & motivated me. This motivation came out of his sarcastic comments. Though the comment was harsh for me to digest, it generated some +ve energy within me which helped me to clear out my 10th class easily with 86.3% in final public exams. This % may not look superb...outstanding. But how does 86.3% fit for a student who narrowly missed out failing with just pass marks(35%) in the quarterly exams? Yep, i see u raise your eyebrows mumbling "Wow!! Superb". And thats how i feel, successfully standing out with 86.3% in my 10th class final public exams.

Going back in time, probably july or august 1997, on the day of progress card distribution for quarterly exams, Ramesh Babu sir called me out after his class.  He asked, "Yendhuku chadhavatledhu ra nuvvu? Yemaindhi? Neekanna aa Vamsi gaadu nayam. Mee daddy ni theesuku ra. Nenu matladali..blah blah..." ('Vamsi' - a proxy name, i dont want to mention the actual name. But as far as i remember,he is the least scorer in all most all the sujects). This translates to,"Why are you not studying? What happened? Vamsi is better than you. Get your dad. I want to talk to him...blah blah..." Crap!! i was shocked. Its not the way he talked or the words he used that hurt me, but its with whom i was compared to is what hurt me so deep.

"Finally i am compared with Vamsi. chaaa. cheee. worst. what have i become? Parents love me so much...whats the purpose of them spending so much for my education....i used to score somewhere between 8th to 12th rank. But now compared to Vamsi....aaah!!!", the inside-me told me. I don't say that Vamsi is too bad, but i donno why, it pinched me. This was my first conscious introspection in my life. This guilt accompanied with my dads insistence that i should join the hostel after my quarterly exams performance is what turned my life. Once i joined hostel, i studied so hard so hard so hard that i scored 89/100 in my all time threat mathematics which was always a hazardous jantar mantar to me till then.

My success in 10th class adding up to my dads foresight towards my education & career boosted my confidence to stand out in intermediate and then my B.Tech & finally to be what i am today.

Thank you very much Dad.

Thank you very much Ramesh Babu sir.

Tolet : Only for Families --- What a crap!!?!?

For the past one month i have been looking for a house to rent for myself. I engaged 3-4 house rental agencies to find me one good house for rent. I myself searched for many hours together on weekends or whenever i get some time. I find lot of 'Tolet' boards. And lot many such "Tolet" houses match my criteria too. Then whats the problem?!?! 


Here's how it generally goes,


Owners: Bachelor or Family?
Myself:  For some time, i live alone and my parents will visit me now and then.
Owners: Sorry, we only rent it to families.
Myself: See i will be living alone and my Mom will be visiting me every month for 10-15 days. Either i live alone or my mom will stay with me. Then how can you say its not a family.
Owners: The other apartment residents/secretary will not accept if you live alone & this falls into a bachelor category.
Myself: Ok. Thank you.(I mumble, WTF, you idiot!!!!)


I don't understand, whats the problem if you rent the home to a bachelor? This is the very common conversation i had in many cases. Yes, its true, may be that you may have had some bad experience with some bachelors tenants in your past. But, everyone will not be the same. To exercise caution not to commit the mistake, talk to them... inquire about the background...whats their parents...explain your expectations and even after that if you don't feel correct person then reject. Just because of the marital status rejecting a house to rent is absolutely ridiculous & meaning less. So, whats the guarantee that a family will not create any problem or issue in the apartment? I vented out my anger with many house rental guys and even with some owners as well. They don't have any explanation or argument. "We don't give it to bachelors.Period". That's it. Meaningless idiots.


I also heard one more version of story. Some owners(who doesn't live there but have a house to rent) say, "See, i don't have any problem renting to the bachelors. But the apartment secretary or some honcho of the apartment are against renting to bachelors. If they agree we don't have any problems. All that i need is the rent and the neat maintenance of the flat". Most of the apartments have senior citizens or grandpas as secretaries or apartment care takers. This is because, they are the people with no work and ready to torture people with useless rules & pointless gabs whenever you get to cross them. They are the one's who come up with stupid policies as well. And i know that i can't convince those jobless or workless or useless people.


Tolet: Only for Bachelors(2 or 3) ... This is a real loser thing. I initially wondered why these people LOVE bachelors where as other section treat them as untouchables. Later on i realized a pattern matching to all such special LOVE to wards the bachelors. Bachelors are preferred when the flat to rent has one(or many) following features,
1. Flat is in 3rd or 4th floor. And there is no lift available.
2. They have some serious water problem. Logic behind this is, bachelors dont use much of water either for cooking or washing or daily chores or cleaning etc.
3. Has a bad ventilation. Literally a den and no windows at all.
4. Pent houses.
5. It is located in some nook & corner isolated locality.
6. Having the bathrooms outside the house.


So, the demands are less from bachelors though the rent amount doesn't slash so proportionately and so they are preferred in above cases.

One night @ Mumbai Airport

On 3rd June'11 i had been to to Mumbai for one day visit to my client. I had my return journey scheduled for the last flight to Hyderabad on the same day. The Spice Jet flight was scheduled at 9:20PM. I reached Santa Cruz  Domestic Airport by 8:00PM as i couldn't do web check-in. Not much of crowd and my check-in was through in just 15 mins. I grabbed a bite and walked the lounge waiting for my manager.

We passed through the security by 8:30PM to be at the Gate06 by 8:40PM. The terminal was very small and fully crowded already. I hadn't seen much crowd in this terminal in any of my previous visits to Mumbai. It was raining heavily and the delay in all the flight departures was the reason for the sudden crowd in that terminal.

We could find two seats vacated at the far corner and grabbed them at once. Just as we took our seat in the lounge, there was an announcement about a delay of 40 mins of our flight. It was re-scheduled to 10:00PM. It was obvious too as it was heavily raining outside. I thought it was OK and sensible.

By 9:45PM, there came another announcement with the next estimated time of take off as 11:15PM. Crap! the rain has settled down some 15 mins ago and again this postponement? With this, i noticed some ppl walking to the gate to inquire about the reason for further postponement. It seems the executive at desk was well prepared for such counters and so has handled the queries with not much effort. 

This terminal of airport is the oldest terminal probably. It has just 1 book shop, 3 eateries and one bar extension. Not much to do. Not much to go around to kill time. I opened my laptop with my data card. This terminal doesn't have signal either for the internet connectivity. I closed the laptop and made some calls to my home and friends reg. the delay of the flight. I have to go to one corner of the terminal to get the signal working. I guess its problem with signal strength of Tataindicom. My photon+ & tata indicom faced some problem with signal strength. 

With an un-noticed announcement i saw many ppl walking to the one of the gates. I thought its reg. boarding of some flight. But it was actually to collect the food distributed by the airport/airlines authorities. There was pretty long queue at this food counter. I know, i was not patient enough to wait in the long queue. I went to both the eateries to get something to eat.  There nothing other than sandwich/samosa/vadapav. I was really bored of eating those and also i wasn't dat hungry to eat something which i don't like to eat. I went to the book shop if i could find some book with which i can pass on my time. But nothing interesting. I could notice some ppl having a gud time at the bar table. These are ppl who would wait for a chance to drink, and delay of flight is not a chance to forgo...ha ha ha...

My watch showed 10:30PM when the next announcement came. The flight is now postponed to 1:00AM now. I could hear heavy sighs at once. I thought, this going to be long night at airport. 

This announcement irked many ppl who were eagerly waiting for the boarding to start. There were some loud shouts and even some thuds which caused many ppl to just get up from their serious time pass work and peep in to the gate exit. There was some serious arguments happening with the airways executives. The scene has turned quite violent with some ppl forced in to open the gate and start the boarding. The executives argues, when there is no board to flight, what can we do. Just then landed a spice jet flight which was visible in the dark & calm runway. 

The spicejet ppl argued of many other bull shit reasons. Once they said that "the flight has to be re-fuelled", and after an hour "the fight has to be vigil ed for maintenance". The spicejet desk was all surrounded by many angry passengers and they knew that its going to be tough to handle. They immediately called up someone and intimated the passengers that their senior is coming up. This silenced some of the crowd. But someone from the crowd grumbled, "Tumhara senior ho ya tumhara baap ho, yeh batao ki flight kab nikhal raha hain?". This ignited some more passengers & situation was turning out of control. Immediately, one of the executive ran to the security and brought some 2 jawans for protection purpose. Finally, after again explaining the problem to them, it was guranteed by some senior spicejet executive that flight will be boarded at any cost at 1:00AM. Unhappy crowd settled down with no option left.

There are some typical human psychologies to read from this situation. There was young couples trying to grab a nap resting on each other shoulders. There was some ppl trying to console their children who are actually crying due to suffocation. Some old ppl having hard time trying to adjust themselves in the hard iron seats in the terminal. There were some characters who were enjoying the brawl. Some ppl capturing the whole quite-violent situation in cameras & mobile phones. Cracking jokes on the situation....watching movies....reading books etc etc.

I was really damn bored and my ipod also has no latest movies to watch. Took out the laptop and watched a movie. Then went around the inner section of the gate where it was really calm and all the ppl who believed that the flight is not going take off so early was sleeping. Limited number of the reclining chairs were occupied by senior citizens & ppl who are travelling with Kids.

My watch ticked 1:00AM and the announcement started. Who were awake were all ears to the announcement expecting this to be boarding call. But....bull shit! Again a postponement till 4:00AM. This time, they left no option again to the angry passengers other than assault. With in no time  20-25 ppl rushed to the desk. It was more serious this time. The executive was even hit once on the head and shoulder by someone in the crowd. I thought its going to turn into violent counter, the jawans rushed back to the desk. But, this time, passengers were in don't-care temperament. After really serious and loud argument, finally, they started the boarding. We were happy, finally boarding started.

The boarding was done in matter of 30mins and everyone settled down quickly. The flight was not tidy and the least leg room I've ever seen on a flight. It was 2:00AM. Atmosphere in flight calm & serious. The air-hostess's served some drinks. It was 2:45AM. There came another announcement from the cock-pit. It was the pilot this time, announcing some unforseen delay,"I'm captain of your flight no: XXXXX from Mumbai to Hyderabad. Haa..yaah I know it has been long day for us and you ppl to waiting for long hours for the flight. We understand your frustration. But, please understand, we cant fly immediately as i'm waiting for a clearance from the Air traffic clearance to fly at this odd time." Odd time? Who made this situation? There was an uproar of sighs altogether. Some ppl sprung to their feet and rushed towards the cock-pit where they was stopped by air-hostess's trying to please them to take their seats as they have nothing in their hands to do now. Almost mutiny. The voice from the cock-pit, "without air traffic clearance it would be a crime for me to fly and also my job will be at stake and can also be booked under criminal offense. Expecting your co-operation". 

The tittle-tattle settle down slowly with some parties still discussing the reasons for the delay. 

I tried to sleep but with in vain. After around 45 mins, another announcement from the captain

expecting some more delay in getting the clearance. This announcement didn't have many audience to react with some ppl where sleeping in the zero sized seats and some ppl where not having anything to argue. By this time, ppl understood that despite of their uproars, quarrels, arguments there is nothing to happen expect the clearance from air traffic control. I could see my manager sleeping happily beside me. He now-and-then wakes up and asks, "Whats the status? What is going to happen?" and steadily go to sleep without even bothering for my answer.

I don't know when i dropped to sleep, but it was around 5:00AM when i woke up with some loud noise disturbing my sleep. I noticed some 10-15 ppl walking to wards the entrance. I thought there was some more delay announced & that triggered this. The aircraft door was opened and some ppl walked down to the terminal to achieve something. Some ppl even sat down on the ground rite below the aircraft. How much time can u sit in that zero sized seats of flight...aah? This remembered me of our local RTC buses which stop at frequent intervals in a night journey and ppl walk down the bus for a smoke/tea or some break...ha ha haaa :).  I thought, "this is not going to work out. Its dodgy" and came back to my seat to get back to sleep.

Finally at 6:30AM the flight was on the runway for take off. I slept through out the journey. In my all domestic flight journey's i didn't sleep so much. We landed at Hyderabad Shamshabad airport within an hour at 7:30AM some 20 minutes ahead of scheduled arrival time. So, this is my nite @ mumbai airport waiting for Spice-Jet to take-off.

A Piece Of Cake

It was my sister Mrudula's wedding reception on 19March'11. The occasion is itself to create an festive atmosphere among our family members & close circle of relatives. The platform was decorated in grand setting....photo sessions with friends....wishes.....cake cutting....dances...lot of fun. It was 11:00PM and the reception has reached the climax. Shyam, our photographer, was still having his creative juices flowing, trying to get the poses right from my sister and brother-in-law. They looked tired, it was obvious. Infact they were standing the platform since 7:00PM.

My Suresh & Ramesh mama were at the kitchen busy in discussions with the chef for the next days menu. My dad was standing there down the stage talking to the orchestra party and reg. their payment for the services. The orchestra was quite a good hit this time in contrary to my elder sisters marriage reception orchestra(which was dull due to the unfortunate incident of theft of some money). I was standing there at the corner of the stage beside my mom who was talking to my sisters mother-in-law reg. the jewellery's handover& next days post-muhurtham rituals.

Suddenly, i felt a slight tug at the trousers. I frantically looked down with a slight irritation. There stands two small girls with torn off & untidy clothes. Distracted hair and their running nose can get you irritated in a moment. I looked at them with disgust and asked rashly "What?". They both pointed out at something on the stage vaguely. I couldn't figure out what they were exactly asking or pointing out. This time more disgustedly i shouted, "What do you want?". I really donno why i was behaving so rashly to them for no reason. This time, instead of pointing at the object the girls unanimously said "Cake". I immediately rushed to the table on which the cake was kept. I was sure that none of us will eat that cake anymore. It was less than half. It was distributed to whomever after the cake cutting. The remaining cake is left and no one bothered to clean it up or distribute it to the guests.

Some fake snow & some pieces of color papers which are basically busted out from the indoor crackers used for the celebrations are scattered and fell on the remaining cake. With no hesitation i handed it over to the kids. The kids received it with utmost happiness & care as if they were receiving some kind of oscar award. Their eyes sparkled as if some billion rupees were given to them. I thought, "After all its just a piece of cake". I couldn't stop noticing the girls running away from the stage merrily. I could see the joy in their run as well. It made a strong impression on my subconscious mind. I donno why. When ever i think of it, i till now remember the spark i saw in the eyes of those little girls.

Somethings which are not at all important to you may be the most important thing to somebody & vice ver·sa. This episode reminds me of my encounter with one of social welfare organization member. Once, one social welfare organization, a non profit orphans organization member, came to my home for a donation. He was actually doing this for a service. He showed me some pics and paper clippings of events organized by his org. He also shared some moments of success and moments of irritations he face when he goes for asking donations. The point he mentioned, "Atleast 50 - 100 pupil can have one dinner with our one weekend expenses". He was actually pointing to software professionals. He continued, "IT Professionals spend money during the weekends on shoppings, eat-outs etc. If each person donate 25-30% of such luxury expenditure, thousands of orphans, old-age homes will run well & many more pupil will get a living". May be thats true.

Is the problem with Employee or Employer?

"Are you coming from office now?", inquired one of my team member Mr.Krissh(proxy name).

"Yeah", i nodded and continued with my dinner.

"Its 11:00PM yaar. Is there so much of work?", asked Mr.Krissh after a short pause.

I smiled and replied, "You are new to the project, you will come to know after few more days. You will also be late".

"Don't even expect that", said Mr.Krissh.

I looked up at him by the blunt reply, i said, "What??"

"What ever it is, i will never work after 6:00PM. If you need an extra hour i will start an hour early at office. But after 6:00PM, i have my personal life to take care", replied Mr.Krissh without any pause.

"I too wouldn't insist as long as you complete the assigned work on time", i replied.

Infact, the frank and blunt answer put me in into thinking.

Cut.....

I know, Mr.Krissh is true and correct in every sense. Its not Krissh alone who feels so, every body wants to say that. I'm no exception in that every body. I too want to be like that...i too want to say that...i too want to yell "No work after office hours 9 to 6"!!! Analysing the practicality of the concept...

I agree that at the end of the day, everybody is working hard to have a peaceful and pleasant time with family or have some personal life. But before we demand "No work after office hours of 9 to 6", we need to introspect whether are we correct from our side. Question yourselves, Are we correctly utilizing office hours for the work solely without scraps/FBs/chats/browsing etc.? I hope >90% of employees in india answer is "NO". Then in that case, can we argue/complain on the extended hours of work due to lack in productivity? The reasons of this behavior may be the result of many previous bad experiences thus teaching gud lessons. But still, ppl in the top level management call it "ATTITUDE PROBLEM".

Employers or managers also need to put in some thoughts here. An employee who joined the organization with most aspiring thoughts and motive to work has turned out hostile. There is something which is disorienting the employee or something that is breaking the integrity of the employee. If that root cause of the issue is fixed, then no more such problems will crop up in future. Let me remind you of the idiom, "A horse can be taken to the lake, but can't be made to drink water".

Whats the point?!!??

Since ever i'm into BPM domain from Java, i have been travelling like almost like i'm on some roller skates. Never been at hyderabad for more than a month continuously. Before that i was at hyderabad only for 4 years without any relocation/client site work etc. etc.

Now, not to blame anybody, but the work insists me to travel a lot. I had been to bangalore, mumbai multiple iterations for different clients. Though the demand of stay at different locations is for more than a month or so, i manage to close the assignment within a month.

Its knowledge gain, exposure to the quaint clients requirements...seeing different places...meeting different people...different food is all nice. But at eod, my wallet is not weighing more.

Then whats the point!?!?!

Mrudu Parinayam

Its about my sister Mrudula's marriage. Its about the event of bidding my dear lovely sister a happy farewell to her new home.

A telugu idiom says, "Illu katti choodu...pelli chesi choodu". This translates to "Try to build a home or try to organize a marriage". Its basically conveys that the building a home is as leathery & strenuous as organizing a marriage event. Its absolutely true. I have seen my parents working hard to get the marriage done in a smooth manner without any hindrances and to facilitate the guests to the most possible extent.

The actors & crew of this beautiful marriage goes as,

Hero: Raghavender

Heroine: Mrudula

Director: GeerVani

Producer: Lakshmi Narayana

Assistant Director: Anna Purna & Vinutha Aunty

Production Control: Thrinath & Suresh Mama

Creative Team: GeerVani & Vinutha Aunty

Onsite Support: Thrinath, Ramesh Mama, Suresh Mama

Psychological Support: Anna Purna (My eleder sis. She is located in US and was in INDIA just a month before marriage....ha ha haaa)

The journey started out from the task of looking out for a bright bride groom. Once the horoscope matching passes the minimum eligible criteria then they looks out for strong and weak points. If the weightage of +ves & -ves are calculated and balanced, then the scope of growth as a couple financially, socially will be fore casted as per the instrumental mechanisms the family heads & pundit believes.

The auspicious date & time of tying the nuptial knot is calculated by the pundits and published to all the relatives. An official invitation will be sent to the friends, relatives, social acquaintances. With the blessings of all the elderly, beloved ppl the couple took oath to live together in all the crest & trough of life. This act of oath is taken in presence of the fire god which is believed to be sanctity.

We miss you Ranjith!!

5 February'11, a saturday evening. I was at work at my client ESSAR in Mumbai. My phone vibrated with my friends PrakashAV number displayed on it.

I thought, he must be calling to invite me to his marriage which is scheduled in March. I lazily answered his call, still looking at the computer screen busy with work.

He yelled, "Arey Ranjith chanipoyadata ra!!!"..."What? Which Ranjith?? Ranjith Chowdhary??" i said in sudden shock. "Mana Ranjithey raa", he replied. This sent shivers up my spine.

Our talk went on. "This cant be true. He got married just 3 months ago. This is not fair". My eyes filled with tears automatically during the conversation. God! This is not fair on your part. He just started his life. Bought a home in USA, got married with lot of plans in mind about life. Pschh!!

Buts its true. My dear friend Ranjith Chowdhary Kamma is no more.

That night, i couldn't sleep. He came to my mind again n again. I cant digest the fact and it took some hard time to fall into sleep.

Ranjith is infact my senior at college. But he never behaved so. He has always been my friend. He is the one who taught how to behave with people socially, he is the one who changed me from the "Who sits in a corner and does his work isolated" type to what i am now, he is the one who made me realized to the fact that a persons individuality is above anything else, he is one who cared for me so much, he is the one who introduced me to inter net browsing, he is one who walled me many times from ragging in my 1st year of engineering. Since 2000 - 2010 years of my interaction with him he never missed to wish me on my birthday no matter where ever he is and however he is.

Due to some situations, i cant even have a last glance of him. Good that i met him at his marriage in November. Never knew that was the last time i'm seeing him.

When i attended his marriage, he received us with so much of warmth n affection. I didn't expect that from him after so many years of distance relation. The worst part is, he left to USA in november after his marriage and his wife joined him only in the month of January after the visa formalities. They didn't live together at least for a month. God!Whats this now?? Pschh!!

The reason is said to be some health problem related to stomach. How can a stomach pain kill someone who was so healthy that he got married 3 months back in November'10?? The news of his death is published in major news channels and papers. I wonder why would an ordinary death be a news to mention in news papers & channels. Questions still linger in my mind!!

Never felt so bad, never had so much pain for loss of anybody in this world till now.

I miss you Ranjith!! May god rest your soul in peace.