It is that part of the year when one is feed up with the burning summer and desperately want some rain so that it not only bring the mercury down but also make the surrounding bit greener.
Those who are Hyderabad will probably agree that this is one of the hottest summers we had this year with temperature reaming above 40 degree for most part of April and May. Coming from a coastal belt, i was quite acquainted not only with the heat but also the humidity that comes with every summer. But since last 8 years i am out of my lovely little city Cuttack and moved from one place to other. I have seen the scorching summer of Delhi and also the humid summer of Chennai. Even my favorite city Bangalore was hotter in 2006 when left it to pursue my new job in Hyderabad.
Last month i was desperately following the news from the metrological department of India on the arrival of monsoon. It was really refreshing when i got the first information on early arrival of monsoon and it could hit AP as early as 1st week of June. It is now end of 2nd week of June and only decent rain we had is last Sunday for over an hour. To have a good cool climate on a Sunday evening is as good as it gets and if it is a first rain of the season it make you happier. I tried my best to get wet in the rain by doing things that i could have otherwise avoided or wait until the rain stop which was anyway not a huge one.
Seeing the good cool climate that evening i change my plan and decided to cook something at home instead of getting outside food. But before i could decide on the menu the inevitable strikes and the power went off, beautiful song 'sawan barshe tarse dil...' on you tube comes to a halt as i start searching for a candle. Thousand ugly thought cross my head and i was cursing all and everyone but all in vain cause this is not new. Yes, not new because this thing happen every year and it is more 30 yrs i have been born and i have moved across so many big cities but everywhere the problem remain the same year after year.
It's not that we didn't had power cut before, starting from March there was a scheduled power cut of 2 hours which then changed to an unscheduled cut of god knows how many hours but why the hell is that whenever the rain start, the power has to go. It make sense if the there a strong wind going but when there is only a moderate rainfall why in the hell one would think of a power cut.
So with no power i had to drop my dinner plan preparing at home, it was almost an hour and i was convinced that the power is not going to come unless the rain stops. I decided to go out and get something for dinner as i can hear the rain slowing down. I came out of my room and there was another obvious thing waiting for me, what the hell how can i forget this, the entire street was flooded with water. I mean street is quite good and there seems to be proper drainage system until now and with this one rain everything seems so useless. This is not very surprising as ever year in every big city whenever there is a rain the traffic comes to halt.
By the time i return to home having my dinner the current was back and little river created outside my gate seems to draining down the gutter. I switched on my laptop to watch a Guru Dutta’s 'Kagaz ke phool' as decided but couldn't enjoy the movie fully as these 2 basic question kept me haunting.
Why is it so in every big city we have this problem and it seems these things are now taken for granted whenever there is a rain the power has to go and we have to swim our way through the newly created river to get out. Everybody says India is shinning, growing and what not...quite right though but still people living in cities are deprived of these basic necessities. People who are paying their tax properly in addition to whatever water/electricity bill they are using (even not using….) and doing whatever they can within their capacity to help the society grow but there were kept away from this basic facility. It will not be absolute incorrect to say that the government present and past have done little to make life better.
The monsoon is here and it will come every year like it has being doing in the past so can we can not expect a better infrastructure in terms of better drainage system, good power supply if not uninterrupted these are some of the basic things and if we can't do things to improve or make available these basic things to everybody then there is seriously some problem with the entire system. I know these can't be done overnight but then i have seeing these things happening since last 30 years and i don't know if i could see the change in near future........!!!!!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
I am going to vote......!
On a lazy Sunday morning after having a cup of self made special tea I was going through the Sunday times when I saw in the corner of the front page that the collapse of decade old coalition between BJD and BJP.I switched on the laptop to check more and all the major online news channel has put of the whys and how the coalition broke.Never before Orissa had captured the headlines so prominently, thanks to the election fever the country is going through. Though I was not shocked by the news considering that in the recent civic polls both party fought on their own giving an indication on things to come. But I was hoping that the coalition should have continued simply because the only party who is going to benefit most out of all this is congress and that is pathetic for the state and I am not sure how good it will be for nation.
Now with the BJD proving the majority in the assembly and able to save the government going into polls in just over month’s time, things have been pretty much clear. While BJP is still trying to cope with the blow, BJD has made it clear that they are not in any front (UPA, NDA or the so called third front) hence making it clear that they are looking into post poll alliance rather than any major pre poll alliance. Few seat sharing with smaller parties is inevitable and it make sense as BJD on its own can't win every single seat be it assembly or LS.But by large BJD will have to fight this election on its own and hoping to get the majority in assembly and win more than 15 LS seats, i hope that this is not overconfidence.
Without going into the details on whether BJD betrayed BJP or BJP failed to realize the ground reality, the next question that comes to my mind is who to vote for. It’s needless to write whether I should vote for not, to me its at least the one thing as of now I can do to help myself to be part of a solution rather than just sit and complain. I have already plan my trip during the election week and eagerly waiting to vote probably for the first time in both assembly and lok sabha election without any family pressure. Though I don't have an in-depth knowledge of the ground reality based on which I can vote but I have kept myself updated on the things happening in Orissa through online news portal.
I have a little idea which party i am going to vote for and I will vote the same party for both my assembly and LS seats but what is important why I will vote for them. Lets first take the LS polls, it is pretty much clear that no party or alliance is going to get a clear cut majority to form a government at the centre so they will have to look for smaller regional parties to make up for the magic number so that's where parties like BJD will play a major role. It’s pretty much clear now why BJD has distanced itself from any alliance and I will not be surprised if BJD supports UPA (which is most likely to be the number 1 alliance) post polls. Why shouldn't it support the UPA, it's time for us to realize that we have to move away from traditional politics of untouchables to achieve whatever is required for the state and it's people. In today’s world there is no permanent enemy or friend, nothing is static and considering the fact that Orissa have been getting very raw deal from the centre simply because we are in the opposite side of the fence. Why there is a need of a bullet train from Patna when we are demanding for improving the infrastructure both in terms of rail and road so that it helps the industrialisation process. Why the polavaram project in AP has been given clearance when it shouldn't be as it affects people across the border.These are few things which clearly distinguish between Orissa and other states where congress or its partner are ruling. Therefore it is not a surprise why Orissa is a second poorest state when it is the number one destination for the investor, when the state GDP is more then the nation GDP etc etc....
When the party objective is clear on the goals then it become easier for a voter to decide to whom and why he should vote after all that’s the ultimate thing that matters. With BJD most likely putting candidates in at least 17/18 LS seat it will be next to impossible to win all the seats though I wish they make a 100% sweep but I think we should help and cast our votes in favor of BJD so that they can at least they win in more than 15 LS seats. This will have a major effect when the next government is formed at the centre not only we will have better say in the decision making process but we can hope for some good minister berth. But that’s quite a few distance now what we should concentrate is on casting our vote and what the party should concentrate is fielding the right candidate in the constituency, this is very much important because we don't want to repeat the mistake as in the past we have done, failed to speak and bargain what we deserve for and this has happened irrespective of which party is ruling.
Coming back to the assembly polls that the state is having simultaneously with the LS polls, here it is quite easy to decide. The ruling party has been there for last 10 years and has been making good progress and it's time for this government to implement the things that till now is only in paper. The government should take care of the people who will be displaced due to the industrialization and emphasis should be more on these people rather than the big industrialist interest. Another thing the government should take into consideration is the environment we shouldn't take the state into a situation where our next generation has to face unbearable situation. By having the best R&R policy and environment policy will not work, government should look into haw effectively it is implemented. This will become possible if we vote not only for the party but an accountable leader who is answerable. By all means BJD should win easily the assembly election on its own and hence it's become more important for the state government to make sure that there is no repeat of Kandhamal like situation. Also government has to handle the naxalite problem and remove it from its base this will not only help industralization but also help the tribal people who have been made scapegoat.
With the battle lines clearly drawn and state is going to see a 3 way contest rather than the traditional 2 way contest it's important for us to vote in a large number and not just vote but vote for the right person and party cause when we vote we don't vote a particular person or party but for the state and the nation also. It’s the one thing that all of us can do if we want our future to be safe and secure and in the right person hand. In Naveen Pattnaik we not only have a strong leadership but we can identify with him , here is a person who have hardly stayed in Orissa before he joins politics so when he is outside he might have gone through all those rubbish talk about his state that we all have face at some point of time.So when he has opportunity to change things i sincerely believe he is trying his best whether he will be successful or not only time will tell. So I am going to vote for him and I am sure all of you will try your best to go and cast your vote as it matters........!
Now with the BJD proving the majority in the assembly and able to save the government going into polls in just over month’s time, things have been pretty much clear. While BJP is still trying to cope with the blow, BJD has made it clear that they are not in any front (UPA, NDA or the so called third front) hence making it clear that they are looking into post poll alliance rather than any major pre poll alliance. Few seat sharing with smaller parties is inevitable and it make sense as BJD on its own can't win every single seat be it assembly or LS.But by large BJD will have to fight this election on its own and hoping to get the majority in assembly and win more than 15 LS seats, i hope that this is not overconfidence.
Without going into the details on whether BJD betrayed BJP or BJP failed to realize the ground reality, the next question that comes to my mind is who to vote for. It’s needless to write whether I should vote for not, to me its at least the one thing as of now I can do to help myself to be part of a solution rather than just sit and complain. I have already plan my trip during the election week and eagerly waiting to vote probably for the first time in both assembly and lok sabha election without any family pressure. Though I don't have an in-depth knowledge of the ground reality based on which I can vote but I have kept myself updated on the things happening in Orissa through online news portal.
I have a little idea which party i am going to vote for and I will vote the same party for both my assembly and LS seats but what is important why I will vote for them. Lets first take the LS polls, it is pretty much clear that no party or alliance is going to get a clear cut majority to form a government at the centre so they will have to look for smaller regional parties to make up for the magic number so that's where parties like BJD will play a major role. It’s pretty much clear now why BJD has distanced itself from any alliance and I will not be surprised if BJD supports UPA (which is most likely to be the number 1 alliance) post polls. Why shouldn't it support the UPA, it's time for us to realize that we have to move away from traditional politics of untouchables to achieve whatever is required for the state and it's people. In today’s world there is no permanent enemy or friend, nothing is static and considering the fact that Orissa have been getting very raw deal from the centre simply because we are in the opposite side of the fence. Why there is a need of a bullet train from Patna when we are demanding for improving the infrastructure both in terms of rail and road so that it helps the industrialisation process. Why the polavaram project in AP has been given clearance when it shouldn't be as it affects people across the border.These are few things which clearly distinguish between Orissa and other states where congress or its partner are ruling. Therefore it is not a surprise why Orissa is a second poorest state when it is the number one destination for the investor, when the state GDP is more then the nation GDP etc etc....
When the party objective is clear on the goals then it become easier for a voter to decide to whom and why he should vote after all that’s the ultimate thing that matters. With BJD most likely putting candidates in at least 17/18 LS seat it will be next to impossible to win all the seats though I wish they make a 100% sweep but I think we should help and cast our votes in favor of BJD so that they can at least they win in more than 15 LS seats. This will have a major effect when the next government is formed at the centre not only we will have better say in the decision making process but we can hope for some good minister berth. But that’s quite a few distance now what we should concentrate is on casting our vote and what the party should concentrate is fielding the right candidate in the constituency, this is very much important because we don't want to repeat the mistake as in the past we have done, failed to speak and bargain what we deserve for and this has happened irrespective of which party is ruling.
Coming back to the assembly polls that the state is having simultaneously with the LS polls, here it is quite easy to decide. The ruling party has been there for last 10 years and has been making good progress and it's time for this government to implement the things that till now is only in paper. The government should take care of the people who will be displaced due to the industrialization and emphasis should be more on these people rather than the big industrialist interest. Another thing the government should take into consideration is the environment we shouldn't take the state into a situation where our next generation has to face unbearable situation. By having the best R&R policy and environment policy will not work, government should look into haw effectively it is implemented. This will become possible if we vote not only for the party but an accountable leader who is answerable. By all means BJD should win easily the assembly election on its own and hence it's become more important for the state government to make sure that there is no repeat of Kandhamal like situation. Also government has to handle the naxalite problem and remove it from its base this will not only help industralization but also help the tribal people who have been made scapegoat.
With the battle lines clearly drawn and state is going to see a 3 way contest rather than the traditional 2 way contest it's important for us to vote in a large number and not just vote but vote for the right person and party cause when we vote we don't vote a particular person or party but for the state and the nation also. It’s the one thing that all of us can do if we want our future to be safe and secure and in the right person hand. In Naveen Pattnaik we not only have a strong leadership but we can identify with him , here is a person who have hardly stayed in Orissa before he joins politics so when he is outside he might have gone through all those rubbish talk about his state that we all have face at some point of time.So when he has opportunity to change things i sincerely believe he is trying his best whether he will be successful or not only time will tell. So I am going to vote for him and I am sure all of you will try your best to go and cast your vote as it matters........!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Jai Ho....!
It was quite expected the 'Slumdog Millionaire' will win few awards at the Oscar given that it has won awards in all the major international award show but winning 8 out of 10 nominations is quite phenomenal. As people debate over whether it's an Indian movie or foreign film, to me it doesn't matter. It's an entertaining movie that has a simple message and a mass appeal but what I like most in the film is the way the story is told. I have seen almost all the big releases after i return from London and i can see the change in the way the film is being presented these days be it contemporary Devdas or the classic Dilli 6 and i am sure we are going to see more of this in the coming days. Whether the film is an Indian film or a foreign film there are multiple reason to celebrate the success at Oscar. 1) Celebrate for A R Rahman for becoming the first Indian to win 2 Oscar, tough the music of SM is good but not the best from Rahman till date, we have heard much better music in the form of Roza, Taal or the latest Dilli 6, also the international audience has heard him before and acknowledge his potential on different forums but getting an Oscar is the ultimate thing to happen. People like A R Rahman, Lata Mangeskar, Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar are genius and we should be proud of them and celebrate their success. 2) Same goes for Resul Pookutty, he himself admitted that his work in 'Gandhi My Father' is better than Slumdog. We should celebrate for these people because they have made us proud. I personally think we have to keep on doing the good work getting recognition is not on your hand, it's all about timing and who are judging you. But if you are continuously delivering then sooner or later that is going to be recognized. From the day the film start getting recognition in form of international awards we the people in India started to say ugly things about it, starting from the movie title to the content and now when it has reached where it truly belongs we are still debating whether is it a Indian or foreign film. All this things have only helped the film get more publicity which is ultimately good for the film.I have seen the movie when it released in India and again after it won the Oscar and both the time i thoroughly enjoyed it. May be an Indian director might have made a much better film, with a better title and beautiful location which might have become a block buster in India but have we not seen all those things in every other bollywood movie.Why we always want to see our main actor coming in bmw/merc and having a big bungalow dancing around the tree with the leading lady and finally beating more than dozen anti social element and taking away the heroine.Though the number of such movies made in India has reduced over the period of time and now we are getting to see some quality movies but criticizing SM is just stupid. To me a good movie is one that entertains me for length of the movie with some good message with it. Slumdog is not only a good entertainer but also shows how we can win against all odds.My best movie till date is 'Cast Away' and i can relate SM to it, it's about hope and being optimistic. There are few scenes which even made me feel bad about but then that is the truth and it's not artificial There are still quite a good number of people living in slums and fighting everyday to get their meals, we still fight in the name of god. So instead of criticizing the movie we should do whatever we can to remove these things from society, what baffles me more is that some very senior personality from the film fraternity have criticised the movie what i think only because somebody from outside was able to achieve what we have not and that that in our country. I have no doubt that if a similar movie is being made by an Indian director and a India producer the film might not have achieved half of what it SM has achieved but then that's how it is. Instead of complaining about it we should look at the positive side, it has opened a whole new world of opportunity for Indian artist and technicians and we should look it as a bridge between Hollywood and bollywood and try to make maximum benefit out of it rather being judgemental.When the whole world is going through a recession we are still growing and are least effected by it and i don't think any of us have any doubt that we are going to be more stronger in every aspect we just have to make that little effort to accept few things and do whatever we can to eliminate it and make India more stronger so that next time an Indian director or a an Indian production house get us an Oscar. India is at the center of the world...Jai ho..
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Two reason to smile
It’s been long that I have written anything but now that I have multiple reasons to share or feel good about so thought of sharing this with you all. But before I share my happiness with you all, I must say that it’s not a very good time for our country as we are again facing a really a bad situation with bomb blast happening in almost every part of the country and it’s a real challenge for not only the government but for all us as a responsible citizen to be more alert and do whatever we can to help each other. Also it’s a not so good time for my state Orissa and the people of Orissa. It’s sad to see the violence in Kandhmal where many were killed and there is huge loss to the property. Though the government has maintained that this is an ethnic class but I think a proper investigation needs to be done to reach any conclusion. Moreover since the Orissa government has failed to restore peace in more than 40 days is also a matter of concern. To add the misery the state was also hit by one of the biggest flood ever where again many people died and there is a heavy loss to the property. No wonder why my state is counted as one of the poorest where every year we have a calamity hitting us badly. I think it’s high time for the ruling government to raise above all this and have some mechanism so that people are better place to handle such disaster. There is no point blaming each other and waiting for the central government help. I hope and pray that everything fall in place and we move to been a state that attract the most investment to state that implement all those investment into reality. But as I write this there are couple of things that cross my mind one is certainly the global meltdown and the crisis we are all in and it has hit every individual directly or indirectly. In this scenario the development work is certainly going to take a back seat and we have to wait for this period to just pass through and hope to see good time greets us. The second off course the pull out of TATA from singur is not very good sign for us where we are already facing similar situation but since both the industry are different I think it will least effect us. The good news for all us is the nuclear deal finally been signed. We have all read/heard a lot about it and now we have to see how it benefits each individual. One final thing that I want to mention here is the announcement of retirement from international cricket by DADA. I am just one among millions of great fan of dada not just because of his cricketing skills but more because of this aggressiveness on the field. I doubt if anybody is going to match it or shall I say we have to just wait and see…………
Coming back to my personal life, the first thing that I want to share with you all is that I have achieved a little milestone as I completed 5 yrs in IT industry. If I close my eyes and think it seems like a sweet dream. I have lot of people to thank because of whom only I have achieved this milestone which I think a major landmark in my journey of life.
First the almighty GOD for all his blessings and kindness shown to me and my family in those difficult days. I just pray to god to continue keeping his kind blessings. My family off course the greatest source of motivation and the continued love and support, special thanks to my elder brother Asit Pasayat for believing in me and sending me those Rs.5000.00 without which I don’t know what might have happen to me and more than money it was those words of assurance that helped me keep going and achieve what I am now. It is very difficult when you are without a job after being a B.E pass out 3 yrs back and in addition to that you have failed once and if you fail this time there is nowhere to go. I don’t have many friends but few very good friends and it is worth mentioning there name (in chronological order…) Abinash Das, Ashutos Rath, Debadutta Bhadra, Gopal Prusty, M.Venugopal,P.Kiran Kumar, Rupash Rath and Satya Naryana Mohapatra. I had never stayed in hostel during my schooling/college time and now I was in between 8 individual who were much better than me in most of the area. We had more good times than bad times and probably that is the reason why we are so closely bonded. These are the people whom I can rely upon and come back to them whenever I need them. I have learnt a lot from all of these people and I am looking forward to their continuous help and support.
There are threeperson whom I owe a lot and will never forgot in my life - Satya Prakash Das (Bhaina..as i call him) is the first person by whom i am hugely inspired he is one of my role model and has a great impact on me and what i am today. I think it's his guidance that not only helped me but all of us who stayed in #496, BTM Layout and achieve what we all aspire for, starting from the summer training days he has been very supportive to all of us.
Sambit Tripathy, I knew this guy during my graduation but we came very close when I was struggling to get a job in Bangalore on my second outing. Saying just he helped me a lot will be a understatement, if my 7 friends give me all support, Sambit is the one who give me the direction and probably what I was looking for at that point of time. I can still remember my first day when I joined TCS, Delhi as a contractor and I was taken straight to the client (Agilent Technologies) location at Gurgoan. A very nervous and very low in confidence not knowing how he is going to handle the situation. I had more than couple of weeks of sleepless night until I met Biswajit Das whatever may be the reason for his presence I think God had sent him to help me out. I can safely say that if I had not met Biswajit at that point then I don’t how would have I handle my professional career. For the next 10 months I worked with him he helped me not only learning a new skill but also helped me in every aspect of life during those hard time.
I am happy to see all my friends are doing good in their respective fields and achieving what they had aspire for. My good wishes are always with them and pray to god that achieve new milestone in their life.
The second good news to share is that I am going back to India on Nov 7 and will be in Orissa for few days. My stay here was really good and achieved more than what I had expected out of me, it’s totally different than my first visit where I came for knowledge transfer but this time I had work with the clients, understanding their problem and helping them achieving what they want by writing some meaningful codes..:-)
My trip to Switzerland was great and hope you might have seen the photos and videos and if you not then you are missing something, though I missed the dusherra celebration here in London but already have plans to celebrate Diwali here and with lot of party and get together on the cards I hope the next couple of weeks will just flew by…….
Coming back to my personal life, the first thing that I want to share with you all is that I have achieved a little milestone as I completed 5 yrs in IT industry. If I close my eyes and think it seems like a sweet dream. I have lot of people to thank because of whom only I have achieved this milestone which I think a major landmark in my journey of life.
First the almighty GOD for all his blessings and kindness shown to me and my family in those difficult days. I just pray to god to continue keeping his kind blessings. My family off course the greatest source of motivation and the continued love and support, special thanks to my elder brother Asit Pasayat for believing in me and sending me those Rs.5000.00 without which I don’t know what might have happen to me and more than money it was those words of assurance that helped me keep going and achieve what I am now. It is very difficult when you are without a job after being a B.E pass out 3 yrs back and in addition to that you have failed once and if you fail this time there is nowhere to go. I don’t have many friends but few very good friends and it is worth mentioning there name (in chronological order…) Abinash Das, Ashutos Rath, Debadutta Bhadra, Gopal Prusty, M.Venugopal,P.Kiran Kumar, Rupash Rath and Satya Naryana Mohapatra. I had never stayed in hostel during my schooling/college time and now I was in between 8 individual who were much better than me in most of the area. We had more good times than bad times and probably that is the reason why we are so closely bonded. These are the people whom I can rely upon and come back to them whenever I need them. I have learnt a lot from all of these people and I am looking forward to their continuous help and support.
There are threeperson whom I owe a lot and will never forgot in my life - Satya Prakash Das (Bhaina..as i call him) is the first person by whom i am hugely inspired he is one of my role model and has a great impact on me and what i am today. I think it's his guidance that not only helped me but all of us who stayed in #496, BTM Layout and achieve what we all aspire for, starting from the summer training days he has been very supportive to all of us.
Sambit Tripathy, I knew this guy during my graduation but we came very close when I was struggling to get a job in Bangalore on my second outing. Saying just he helped me a lot will be a understatement, if my 7 friends give me all support, Sambit is the one who give me the direction and probably what I was looking for at that point of time. I can still remember my first day when I joined TCS, Delhi as a contractor and I was taken straight to the client (Agilent Technologies) location at Gurgoan. A very nervous and very low in confidence not knowing how he is going to handle the situation. I had more than couple of weeks of sleepless night until I met Biswajit Das whatever may be the reason for his presence I think God had sent him to help me out. I can safely say that if I had not met Biswajit at that point then I don’t how would have I handle my professional career. For the next 10 months I worked with him he helped me not only learning a new skill but also helped me in every aspect of life during those hard time.
I am happy to see all my friends are doing good in their respective fields and achieving what they had aspire for. My good wishes are always with them and pray to god that achieve new milestone in their life.
The second good news to share is that I am going back to India on Nov 7 and will be in Orissa for few days. My stay here was really good and achieved more than what I had expected out of me, it’s totally different than my first visit where I came for knowledge transfer but this time I had work with the clients, understanding their problem and helping them achieving what they want by writing some meaningful codes..:-)
My trip to Switzerland was great and hope you might have seen the photos and videos and if you not then you are missing something, though I missed the dusherra celebration here in London but already have plans to celebrate Diwali here and with lot of party and get together on the cards I hope the next couple of weeks will just flew by…….
Thursday, July 17, 2008
100 Days in London
First of all I would like to thanks to all of you for all the feedbacks on my last article that has motivated me to write this one. I would have loved to have my next article much earlier but days are getting more hectic than ever. To be very honest I am writing this because I have just crossed a landmark and wanted to share few moments with you guys. I have just completed 100 days in London surpassing my previous record of 92 days which also means I have spend more time in London and I have fewer days to spend here before I am back to my country.
London is a nice place to be especially in the summers and I have always loved to be here and this time also I had pretty good trip so far. This could have been a great trip if I had a better company but still I would say it is not so bad after all it's a great learning curve. If I break this trip into two equal halves then I can say the first half was ok and second half was pretty good, if this upward trend continues then by the time I return back to India then I can say the trip was successful.
If I have to pick the most important thing I have done (apart from my work) in this trip till now then it is easily the 'RATH YATRA' of lord Jagannath. I had privilege and blessing of the lord to witness it outside the country of its origin and believe me it was a mind blowing experience. Though I missed the initial part of pulling the cart from Hyde Park to Trafalgar square but still it was a dream come true watching the 3 chariots in front of national museum at Trafalgar sqaure.Traflagar square is my favorite hang out place in London so watching the large Indian crowd there who were all there to witness the great event.
There are few other memorable things that are worth mentioning, like watching live T20 match at LORDS the home of cricket. Though it was a county match between Essex v Middlesex and it was no contest with Middlesex winning the match comfortably but still the fact that I was watching a match live and that too at lords is just fantastic. I also covered all the left out places from my last trip during these last 100 days, had the privilege of playing cricket in
London with few localites and so on.....
Also there are few things that I have been following lately and the recent one is the debate on the nuclear deal, though I don't understand it completely but still I feel it is good for India so I am expecting the government will survive the trust vote. The bull is still ruling the stock market and I think it will be volatile at least till this year end there is also not many good news from my state where policeman were again attacked by the Maoist and as many as 17 feared killed. Indian cricket captain M.S.Dhoni opting out of srilankan test series is a brave decision and it make sense rather than complain about tight schedule.Didn'nt got chance to watch the mens single Wimbledon finale but the scorecard says it all and I am very happy that finally Nadal beat Roger on a grass court.
Finally the annual appraisals are out and it was no different from the current industry standard. Though I am not very happy with the end result but considering the current market situation it was pretty good and I think I am in a pretty good organization at this point of time. I have always competed with myself and tried to improve on myself rather than competing with others and I think now I am better resource than what I was 3 months back. For the time being I just want to enjoy what I am doing and stop bothering about things that are not under my control.
London is a nice place to be especially in the summers and I have always loved to be here and this time also I had pretty good trip so far. This could have been a great trip if I had a better company but still I would say it is not so bad after all it's a great learning curve. If I break this trip into two equal halves then I can say the first half was ok and second half was pretty good, if this upward trend continues then by the time I return back to India then I can say the trip was successful.
If I have to pick the most important thing I have done (apart from my work) in this trip till now then it is easily the 'RATH YATRA' of lord Jagannath. I had privilege and blessing of the lord to witness it outside the country of its origin and believe me it was a mind blowing experience. Though I missed the initial part of pulling the cart from Hyde Park to Trafalgar square but still it was a dream come true watching the 3 chariots in front of national museum at Trafalgar sqaure.Traflagar square is my favorite hang out place in London so watching the large Indian crowd there who were all there to witness the great event.
There are few other memorable things that are worth mentioning, like watching live T20 match at LORDS the home of cricket. Though it was a county match between Essex v Middlesex and it was no contest with Middlesex winning the match comfortably but still the fact that I was watching a match live and that too at lords is just fantastic. I also covered all the left out places from my last trip during these last 100 days, had the privilege of playing cricket in
London with few localites and so on.....
Also there are few things that I have been following lately and the recent one is the debate on the nuclear deal, though I don't understand it completely but still I feel it is good for India so I am expecting the government will survive the trust vote. The bull is still ruling the stock market and I think it will be volatile at least till this year end there is also not many good news from my state where policeman were again attacked by the Maoist and as many as 17 feared killed. Indian cricket captain M.S.Dhoni opting out of srilankan test series is a brave decision and it make sense rather than complain about tight schedule.Didn'nt got chance to watch the mens single Wimbledon finale but the scorecard says it all and I am very happy that finally Nadal beat Roger on a grass court.
Finally the annual appraisals are out and it was no different from the current industry standard. Though I am not very happy with the end result but considering the current market situation it was pretty good and I think I am in a pretty good organization at this point of time. I have always competed with myself and tried to improve on myself rather than competing with others and I think now I am better resource than what I was 3 months back. For the time being I just want to enjoy what I am doing and stop bothering about things that are not under my control.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Namaste London
Exactly after 3 yrs i have to travel to London from my current organization on a short term assisgnment. The enthu this time around is not that much to see a new place/country but i have to travel for multiple personal and professional reason but the biggest motivation is offcourse earn few extra money.
It's first week of April so the summer has just began in India and my flight was at 4:00 AM in the early morning.I decided to start at midnight as it will take almost 1 hr to reach the new international airport in hyderabad.There were few ppl on the road as i started my journey to airport, few still waiting to reach there home and few not knowing where they are going. I think i belong to the second one, i thought abt it sitting in the new Mahindra Renult LOGAN taxi i had lot of time to do that.I thought abt many things in that 45 min drive to RGIA and each of my monologue ends in one thing i.e, MONEY.
I reached the airport as the cab driver handed me Rs.700 bill, i headed staright to the checkin counter and it didn't took much in the entire process to complete.I had to spend 2 hrs in the shinning lounge waiting for my flight, to spend time i went around the duty free shop just to check if anything is intresting.I checked the liquor shop there was hard rock cafe and few other shop but i spend most of my time in one of the book store.Infact i bought my first non academic book, it was Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone.Well the choice of the book was very obivious a) i like reading b) since it's going to be a major movie and i am a movie buff (IDIOT is the name i guess starring Aamir Khan and directed by Raj Kumar Hirani) and
c) it's abt friends&friendship.........!
FRIENDS, so important in everybody's life i said to myself as i browse through the pages of my new book.I completed few chapters as ppl started to fill the lounge, ppl in all shape and sizes from different part of the world making the 34A checkin counter a global village.The flight got filled up and i prefer to catch some sleep as there were nothing interesting around me to keep me awake.I was still optimistic abt my chances as it was a break journey and i have to take my london flight from dubai.
Dubai International Airport truly a global village, heard of it here is my chance to see it and feel it.It was 7:00 AM in the morning and the airport was filled with thousands of intransit passengers.The most attarcting part is the duty free shops, i checked few of them but decided to postpone my spending till my return journey.It wasn't a long wait before i borded my next emirates flight to heathrow, again unlucky to have asomebody interesting next to me on the flight.
London, last time when i left heathrow i had said to myself one more time i will have to come here on work permit so that i can enjoy more and here i am minutes away from landing and i am not kicked off not sure of the answer i jsut decided to enjoy my stay as much as possible as i said NAMASTE LONDON.........................!
NOTE:This is first blog in the series of namaste london to follow, so expecting feedback for improvement.
It's first week of April so the summer has just began in India and my flight was at 4:00 AM in the early morning.I decided to start at midnight as it will take almost 1 hr to reach the new international airport in hyderabad.There were few ppl on the road as i started my journey to airport, few still waiting to reach there home and few not knowing where they are going. I think i belong to the second one, i thought abt it sitting in the new Mahindra Renult LOGAN taxi i had lot of time to do that.I thought abt many things in that 45 min drive to RGIA and each of my monologue ends in one thing i.e, MONEY.
I reached the airport as the cab driver handed me Rs.700 bill, i headed staright to the checkin counter and it didn't took much in the entire process to complete.I had to spend 2 hrs in the shinning lounge waiting for my flight, to spend time i went around the duty free shop just to check if anything is intresting.I checked the liquor shop there was hard rock cafe and few other shop but i spend most of my time in one of the book store.Infact i bought my first non academic book, it was Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone.Well the choice of the book was very obivious a) i like reading b) since it's going to be a major movie and i am a movie buff (IDIOT is the name i guess starring Aamir Khan and directed by Raj Kumar Hirani) and
c) it's abt friends&friendship.........!
FRIENDS, so important in everybody's life i said to myself as i browse through the pages of my new book.I completed few chapters as ppl started to fill the lounge, ppl in all shape and sizes from different part of the world making the 34A checkin counter a global village.The flight got filled up and i prefer to catch some sleep as there were nothing interesting around me to keep me awake.I was still optimistic abt my chances as it was a break journey and i have to take my london flight from dubai.
Dubai International Airport truly a global village, heard of it here is my chance to see it and feel it.It was 7:00 AM in the morning and the airport was filled with thousands of intransit passengers.The most attarcting part is the duty free shops, i checked few of them but decided to postpone my spending till my return journey.It wasn't a long wait before i borded my next emirates flight to heathrow, again unlucky to have asomebody interesting next to me on the flight.
London, last time when i left heathrow i had said to myself one more time i will have to come here on work permit so that i can enjoy more and here i am minutes away from landing and i am not kicked off not sure of the answer i jsut decided to enjoy my stay as much as possible as i said NAMASTE LONDON.........................!
NOTE:This is first blog in the series of namaste london to follow, so expecting feedback for improvement.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Life of a Software Engineer
I am waiting for my new project to be kicked off; it’s been quite a while I am without any active work and people around me keep asking me one question has your project started and I keep answering them not yet. People outside the Information Technology (IT) keep asking me what you people in software do day in and day out apart from sitting in front of boring computer.
As I got enough time to hone my skills during this period, I also got some time to think about this question that is put on me every now and then and some time personally also I feel guilty of getting good paycheck for doing nothing important. Some people ask me this question due to their lack of knowledge in information technology while others ask me due to sheer jealousy as IT has made all their work easier. I tried to take into account as many profession as I could think of and tried to compare it to the job in software but I could only think of one thing that best matches or I should say overtake the IT profession. I could see my self as a soldier preparing himself for the most important battle of his life.
I have always had a very high respect for the people in defense for all the obvious reasons. If I get to live another life then I will try my best to be in defense. But for the present life I compare myself with a similar mindset though in a different profession.
Software Engineers (People in IT) can be very much compared to the soldiers (People in Defense). Like the soldier wait for that one important battle to prove himself similarly the software engineer wait for the one project where he can prove himself. When the battle starts the soldier forgets everything (day/night) and remembers only one thing he has to win this battle and make his country safe and proud. Similarly when project in IT is kicked off the team members forget everything (flexi timing) and concentrate on the completion of the project by which he can make himself and his company proud. It is the soldiers who provides the security to the nation by fighting the internal and external enemy and take the nation to higher altitudes same with the software engineers, they have taken India to different level by successfully completing one project after another and taking giant steps everyday in the field of IT. India has the second largest army in the world with more and more people willing to join everyday comparing this to IT at the current stages no other country can match the IT work force that of India. Teamwork is another important similarity between the two, though teamwork is key to any organization in any field but it might not be the most important factor as in this these two professions. Another similarity that comes to mind is that of a personal life. Like a soldier away from his family safeguarding the nation waiting for that one letter from his parents and loved ones after waiting for the enemy for the entire day/night at the borders, ditto with software engineer waiting for that one call or making calls to his parents or loved ones after coming from a grueling session in the office where he have attended client meeting/team meeting, writing complex code or brainstorming for a simple customization that his client is asking for. To end this article I will like to draw another similarity between a soldier and a software engineer that will justify my writing this article. Like a software engineer seldom learn anything when he is in a critical project but that is the best time for him to utilize the experience he has and how effectively he has used his time when in waiting for some work to be assigned to him. How about comparing this with the soldier who waits for the war to begin and in anticipation he prepare his body, mind and his artilleries that are most important to him.
So in my view it is not a matter of shame or feeling guilty been out of work for some time rather I would suggest everyone in IT should be out of active work for some time so that he can sharpen his axe and prepare himself for the next big. Opportunity.
But one should remember that client is no enemy.
No one can stop India to be a super power we are brave (soldiers) and very much capable of providing security to our nation. We have the Brain (Software Engineers) that no other country can match. I am proud not only to be an Indian but also to be part of the IT work force when our country is on the verge of becoming a developed nation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)