I swear!

Just one last time?

2008-07-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

And she walks up to me, stares into my eyes and says, "I need closure. We need to end all this in a better way"

And I say .... "But you look wonderful tonight baby"

And the rest as they say, is HIS story and not history, my friend!

:D :D :D :D :D

To all the Metal Fans!!

2008-05-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

What an insult to all the metal fans!! ... its really funny though :P

Zest like that!

2008-05-12T05:52:00.000-07:00

Till date its been 10 years I have driven two-wheelers of all sorts.
What started as a mere curiosity turned into a passion over a period of time.
I drove almost ALL the two wheelers on the Indian roads and also some beasts like the Yamaha R1 .... But, I never had a drivers license!

So today I finally went to a broker who apparently gets you a license 'just-like-that'!

It was somewhat impressive, funny and finally sad to see how the tasks were done.

Impressed by the way the agent does things by waving his hand and saluting to people, whom you wouldn't even spot. The documents verification, computerized photo session, and the fee payment was all done in just 5 vanishing minutes!

After that I was escorted into a room which had some black color HCL desktops, black from all the dirt, where the 20 questions computer based test is to be taken. The broker gave me instructions, before entering the room, to just sit infront of the desktop, hold the mouse ... and not do ANYTHING. Literally!

Well, then I sat infront of the desktop, when a junior police officer (or whatever designation he holds in the hierarchy) came to my desk, logged into the test and then gave me instructions.
This is where it got real funny. The officer held the mouse and said, "This is how you hold a mouse" and then, clicking on the right answer for the 1st question, he continued, " ... and this is how you click the mouse to select the correct answer". He then went on with 'how-to-click & use-the-mouse' class by answering the next 13 questions. And then said, "Ok, now you can continue with the test". At this point I thought, he might have played around with some sample questions, considering the speed at which he clicked. But then I noticed that he answered the first 14 questions of the ACTUAL test and left the next 6 for me. I browsed back and saw that he answered 10 of them right and 4 (intentionally) wrong, which incidentally is the cut-off to pass the test. Then it made sense, why I had to 'just hold the mouse and not do ANYTHING'. I couldn't help laughing at the way the officer took the class of 'Mouse basics 101' ... And after 10 minutes, another officer 'congratulated' me for having cleared the test (phew, I was tired!;) and handed me a print out.

... and this is how I got my learner's license JUST-LIKE-THAT!

P.S. - I noticed the broker feeding the officer with half the amount I paid him. I wonder what the actual fee is?!
It is really sad that it had be done this way. I mean, to answer mere common traffic sense questions (that too you have to get only half of them right!), you have to bribe your way through so many people.

Hyd, Watering hole & the African humping bird

2008-05-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

The day was no-fuckin-where remotely close to being occupied, forget about being busy/productive. My client's bible of hierarchy needs that some 4 people put their autograph on a small paper before I even get access to their stupid network on my laptop. I just spent the whole day flipping through some magazines & open/close some excel files.

I had to hit some watering hole by evening - Thanks to my colleague who flew down from Mumbai for some work with the same client. After a lot of discussion (we should have first figured that this is Hyd and we are a bunch of stags, so we don't have much of a choice, duh!), we hit a place called Serengeti - It is actually a National park in Africa, the actual Serengeti, I mean. - This pub also tried to get the same theme in here. And actually it was well done to look like a forest, though there were definitely some irritating things, of course! Like, the music, which sort of sounded like ghazals. I never knew that African forests have ghazals playing in the background. Duh!
And there was some stupid bird which, time-to-time, keeps humping a tree for some 30 seconds straight making not-so-lustful sounds! I would have surely killed it, if only it was alive!

The service sucked, as is expected - We are talking about Hyderabad and hospitality!
The orders came in late. The waiters were not accomodating. And let's not even talk about the bill - 8000 bucks for 4 people and that too for staying sober??!! For that big a hole in the pocket, I would have got pissed drunk and roamed around on the streets of Bangalore.

Miles to go before Hyd catches up ...

P.S. - It was a different experience watching the IPL match in a forest-like place, though!

Quoted in the wrong job?

2008-04-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

Couple of days back I got an e-mail for some job opportunity. And the mail was signed off by someone from Quadrangle. I got curious and checked out about Quadrangle.

Quadrangle - an associate company of India's No.1 job site-naukri.com I couldn't help but get irritated and probably even sympathize at the end of it. I mean how much is naukri.com experimenting or more like trying real hard! Naukri.com has lost its charm like ... i-don't-even-remember-when!

And also, they seem to be experimenting with something called brijj.com - It is in the BETA version, of course. But they sure can come up with something better - I mean let's be honest here: The tagline of brijj.com says "Brijjing people" with the dots above the i - j - j connected. I mean what the fuck is THAT?! Also when you search with some keyword(s), the results page says, "To Brijj with these profiles, Register here" ... anyway, thanks to their good sense of humor, browse around the site for more jokes! It is way too demeaning to even scribble so many lines about Bridge.com ... Err, I mean Brijj.com!

I wonder when will naukri.com ever learn from their mistakes and unanimous failures. They have lost to monster and now they are trying to compete with Linked In ? ... Seriously, the people at naukri.com ARE in the wrong jobs. They need to get their resumes up and running @ Monster!

Umerkot

2008-04-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

I have checked out this restaurant couple of days back - Umerkot

The first thing to notice when you walk in is a home-converted-into-restaurant ambiance. A traditional, elite looking place with light music in the background and with lots of corporate people from the nearby MNCs.

The prices on the menu are a bit on the higher side, though when at the first look you would notice that you don't see any sight of prices printed on the menu ... they have it written in words: good strategy in avoiding the pricey bold numbers!

They apparently have a lunch buffet on weekdays priced at Rs. 185/-, though it looks like they conveniently erased that from their memory and no one cared to even talk about it when I walked in.

The only thing which put me off is that the waiter keeps reminding you what drinks, desserts etc mean! When I said NO to drinks, he again asked me if I was sure. I again said a NO with a smile! But, he again asked saying, "Not even lime soda, lassi, jaljeera Sir?" ... the act being repeated for the desserts ... "We even have Mango with icecream Sir". At that point I was almost about to say "Get the f***ing cheque, will you. I know what a dessert means!"... with a smile, ofcourse!

Ratings
Ambiance: Good
Food: Above average
Price: Higher
Hospitality: Above average

It probably is a good place for a corporate team party or if you are having a fix up with your future fiance and would like to have a 'traditional' first impression ... and if you are in a hurry, then you may choose some other place - The dishes come in their own sweet time and so does the cheque.

Location:
No. 30, 80 Ft Road, 4th Block
Koramangala, Bangalore - 560034
Phone: +91-80-25500426

Surprisingly, the restaurant has its footprint on the web: http://www.umerkot.in

I kill you ... by Jeff Dunham!

2008-04-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

This one is real hilarious ...

=))

Courtesy: ZANX92

Don't fret about getting lost in your neighborhood anymore ...

2008-04-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

The recent reports say that the GPS market in India is poised to grow at a rapid pace. Particularly the GPS Vehicle Tracking segment is expected to reach around 140 crore ($35 million) in the next one year!

Major logistics companies (VRL Logistics, GATI, AFL) are planning to ramp up on GPS Vehicle Tracking system bigtime and are planning to make it a part of their supply chain network.

Good jargon. And trust me, all this is very tickling to hear, atleast to my ears!

Taking a leap in the mobile market, lots of mobiles are coming up with a GPS facility in their mobiles - either pre-installed or supporting the facility etc and aiming the mobile using customers.

Nokia N series not so long back launched Assisted GPS (A-GPS), which is an 'enhanced' version of GPS. A-GPS retrieves assistance data over a data connection (like GPRS or 3G), which helps your device calculate the coordinates of your current location when receiving signals from satellites

A-GPS is designed to get a fix on satellites faster and more reliably, meaning you get a smoother GPS experience. It reduces the time a GPS enabled device requires to find its current position.

Again, very very tickling!

But ...

In a country like India, how many mobile using customers would actually use GPS?
You first need to have a flashy mobile which supports GPS,GPRS and a whole loads of crap.
And then you pay your service provider for data transferred over the cellular network(GPRS/3G etc). Also keep in mind that the charges would be higher while roaming.

Assuming that you are a moron and actually get lost in your own neighborhood - you have a price to pay now for taking assistance from the GPS, which only increases if you are 'roaming'. Ha ha!

In a place like India, if you are lost or need directions, all you need to do is run over to the nearest chai-wala or pan-wala and ask them!!
Bingo!

P.S. For the uninitiated, GPS = Global Positioning System.

Different approaches to software products!

2008-04-09T05:54:00.000-07:00

Hilarious. But, so true!

Courtesy: Bits & Pieces

Save the Inhabitants

2008-04-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

Quite an addictive one!


Canyon DefenseBuild a defense system and save the inhabitants.

Play this free game now!!

Ruined half my day at work!

'R'

2008-03-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

A very good friend of mine (and who off-late calls herself a 'Social Butterfly') said this after reading the below post!

"Retrospection comes in with success, do you know that my successful friend?"

Hmmm. Any thoughts on that?

P.S. I just noticed the time stamp for this post. What timezone is blogger in? :-O ... 3 days difference?

A finger is the answer to everything!

2008-03-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

Its been a roller-coaster of an year, 2007 that is.
The last post was on July 06, 2007?! What have I been doing man?

Timeline ...

Jul - Aug 07: I was all thrilled about the management education I was going to pursue in the 'land of opportunities'. Checking mails & groups for any news from the university, calling up the travel agent to see if every thing is on track and no last minute adjustments in the flight tickets. Catching up with friends, whom I might not meet again, or atleast I thought! Shopping within the weight limits! It was all fun and tiring. I finally flew off to the United States on Aug 8th. The first entry at JFK airport and being stranded for 9 hours was a good enough vibe that I wouldn't stick here for long!

Sep 07: New place, new life, new friends(well, not really!), running around etc etc ... Basically a whole new load of crap! Well, after a lots of analysis I figured it is not really worth my time, money and health. So I dropped out of college by the month end!!! Yes, I did it! And ya, looking back, I didn't really had to do 'lots of analysis' - It was just a plain common sense decision!

Oct - Nov 07: October 8th I am back to Bangalore! Ofcourse, the journey back home was filled with frustrations, doubts, decision analysis, nail biting moments and much more. But in the end I just had to show a finger to the past and relax. Peace out!
But ... I think I landed at the wrong time, considering it was not really a good time for the job-scenario, but its not like I had choices and I picked the wrong one!

Dec 07: Almost two months of job search and not getting any (Ofcourse there were lots of saaftwere jaabs ... but this time I wanted a career, not a job!), I re-joined my ex-employer on Dec 20th. Looking back, I am glad that I still had my super resume on the top job-sites.

Jan 08: By mid-Jan I got a call, an interview call from this start-up by IIT-IIM alumnus. And its a Management Consulting firm. This was something I always wanted. A MC firm and a start-up.
Interview done, job got, career made, finger shown to my ex-employer again :D ... Btw, totally slipped my mind. HAPPY NEW YEAR ;)

Mar 08: New employer, New job title - 'Consultant', New place, New work, New people, New business cards ... in no particular order ... and same ole Bangalore.
So far so good ... For the time being, I bury myself!

Special thanks to: Duke University, Monster.com, linkedin.com and most definitely my ex-organization.

Isys

2007-07-06T07:58:00.001-07:00

Have been to this restaurant today: Isys

Located in Jayanagar, Isys is a pricey restaurant!
That's not a bad note to start off with! Because the first thing you would notice when you enter this place is the ambience and an energizing one at that! The place has a kind of blue tinge. The floor has blue light underneath making it look more like a party dance floor. And the glasses too have a faint shade of blue in them, which made me wonder whether it is the effect of the blue ambience or the make of the glass! While I was at it, I felt that one should visit this place in the night for a dinner with drinks. The lighting and the ambience would have kicked in some trippy effect!

The liquor menu was good to look at, but the cocktails came with a bit of a disappointment. Atleast so I felt, probably because, I had to go back to work and wasn't enjoying it enough. I had 'Sex on the beach' - a combination of Vodka and Peach Schnapps, which is infact one of my favorite drinks, but this one somehow let me down, with more of a 'fruit' taste and less of the tipsy kick.

We had a buffet lunch, which I wouldn't rate as 'awesome' or 'mind-blowing', but it was slightly more than okish. I guess, you can't expect more for a fixed-priced buffet. This buffet kind of limited my choice for tasting different cuisines. One pretty much has the normal stuff which is served in a lunch buffet. One interesting thing I saw in the deserts section is the 'chikoo halwa', it tasted real good, though I was very apprehensive about trying such alien stuff.

All in all this is perfect place for a date, for throwing a treat, or meeting someone over couple of drinks. Go ahead and have that perfect dinner experience, painting it blue!!

Isys
Location:
79/8, Diagonal Road, Jayanagar, 3rd Block, Bangalore- 560011
Jayanagar, Bangalore - 560011
Phone::41808777

Life is calling. Are you hiding? Ah!

2007-07-05T03:51:00.000-07:00

Stay happy, you are still alive!

One never knows who is going to be next!!

Or do YOU?!

Vigor!

2007-04-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

With all my Vigor back, I wanto shoot this one.
But darn, I dont really have that much time on hand!

Btw, this new song by Pentagram sure pumps up all your dead nerves with pure insane rush!

YouTube Video:

Some FM site:

Velachery Lady

2005-03-03T09:02:00.001-08:00

Im just reproducing some anecdotes which i found on the "IIT Madras Alumni Association" website.

Velachery Lady and other anecdotes

This is a very old IIT song, called 'Velachery Lady'. It was extremely popular, but becoming obsolete when the contributor joined IIT in 1970. Historically, it may be important - IIT was built on a place from which a large number of families were displaced to Velacheri and Taramani.

The buses also were named in Sanskrit for the mountains, until one not-so-bright individual started "Everest." They carried the warning behind - lower right - "Overtakers beware of undertakers" It was famous enough to be quoted in Shankar's Weekly.

Workshop Sign: If you have nothing to do, don't do it here.

The Velachery Lady
==================

Aah, Velachery Lady,
Enakku vendam podi
Only for my sidey,
Yeh Chhada hua gaadi

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

The Velachery Lady,
She wore a mini saadi,
And sold Paani Poodi,
(I forget the next line)

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

As she used to gloat,
Her sari used to float,
She wore no petticoat,
T.N.Raman make a note.
(T.N. Raman = A Tamil Pondi writer.)

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

There was an I.I.T. lad,
He fell for her bad,
Romba romba sad,
(This line too is too foggy)

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

The night was getting cold,
The lad was getting bold,
With money in his fold,
(fold = Long sleeve rolled up, used as a pocket.)
He walked along the road.

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

He said, "Hullo, Honey,
(honey, money, bunny - Tamil pronunciation, rhymes with Thanni.)
I want koncham thanni,
I have romba money,
Oh, come and give it Bunny".

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

The dame was full of lust,
As she rolled into the dust,
She thought it was a must,
That the man should begin first.

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

At this hot stage,
We turn over a page,
The boy was under-age,
He lost all courage.

Aah, Velachery Lady ....

He was afraid of VD,
Came back with Paani Poodi,
It was a K.L.P.D.
(not to be explained in decent company -ask some
Hindi speaker - referred to in Campustimes as
kappa lambda pi delta).
For the Velachery Lady.

Aah, Velachery Lady ....