A Transition that was to be...

It was in August, 2004 that I started to get a feel of the Nokia-ISS project. Having worked for the Nokia CX-MMI team till then, I was more involved in GUI based applications which began to feel like a bore after having spent a year in Newgen working on VC++. So with the Nokia-ISS project opportunity coming up, I saw an opportunity to shift to the domain of Linux/Solaris, which is probably the most commonly used domain the Telecom field. But as luck would have it, as soon as I moved out from the CX-MMI team, the team members started getting an opportunity to visit the Nokia-UK setup for 3 months of on-site opportunity.

I had the big plus of working on a more coveted platform and was thus never un-duely depressed that I did not get the opportunity of an on-site visit. Since April, 2005 onwards, I had the full responsibilty of the project on my shoulders. While it meant that I had to look into all the nitty-gritties of the project, it also meant an additional amount of independence for me because I had the liberty to chalk out my work as I wished to. Additionally, Nokia being an excellent customer, providing customer support in the project was never a problem.

By the time it was Sep, 2006, I realized that I should now scout for fresh waters for a new project that would provide some value-addition to my profile. I was looking for VOiP and 3G related projects when the IJPP for the current I-HSPA project came up. In Oct, 2006, I took up the new project assignment and finally left the SS7 products team on the 8th of Dec,2006.

Working with the Products group was a different experience. I had heard earlier that in Products, you have full Masti along with some real good work. True to that image, I found that the SS7 group was a team comprising of a vivacious group of people. Well, one can't deny that the first name that could possibly come to one's mind is Kamal Kishore Pandey - a chap with "No holds barred" attitude. Well there was of-course the other fresher chaps - Prabhakar, Nimish and the oldie-goldie - Ankit Sharma who would always keep the team on the brink of laughter. Then there were the technically serious guys like Swapnil (Swap), Vipul, Nilesh.... Haidar would receive the highest nominations for being the scape-goat guy of the team - if anything has gone wrong - guys would jokingly put it across as Haidar - the Fall guy. Then there was Simon Saha - who never cared whether anyone laughed at his jokes or not - he would be always at the fore-front trying to make people laugh. And people did laugh - not so much at the humour of his jokes rather than the humour that he used to create while trying to tell a joke. His huge under-belly was a cynousre of all eyes in the team. Then comes the likes of Pavan and Arif sir - the Technically sound and with Dedication in their hearts to be darling of the customers of the company - many a times at the expense of their own families. Who can forget the burly - Gaurav Singh - the man with innovative excuses during office hours. Last but not the least, it would be in-appropriate to leave out the name of Manish Sharma - a person who held the team together. While heas around, the size of the group going for lunch would be envy of all eyes in the Presidency building. And of course, the gang for the chai-party in the attrium - Deepak, Swapnil, Nilesh, Mohit and myself - that was mighty enjoyable:-)

So I left all these moments beind and took up a new challenge - a new project involving 3G networks, starting from the 11th of Dec, 2006. I was bid a warm farewell by the SS7 group and the momories of that one year assocaition is going to stay with me forever.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

"Movies, Masti, Magic..."

Three movies in a week!!! That’s something that has never happened with me before. But after loads of work, you seriously feel the need to chill out by the end of the week.
Saw United 93 – last Sunday-17th Sep, Munna Bhai Lage Raho on Tuesday – 19th Sep and Dor – Yesterday – 23rd Sep.

United 93 was based on the Al-Qaida’s attack on US on 9/11 and depicted the bravery of the passengers aboard the plane, United 93 who took up the cudgels to crash the air-liner in no-man’s land rather than allow it to hit Washington DC.
The movie was more on the lines of a documentary showing the element of surprise amongst the Americans where they can scarcely believe that their symbols of prosperity and strength are targeted one-by-one by Al-Qaida terrorists on a suicide mission. It also displayed the lack of preparedness on the front of the American air-force to deal with the emergency. Despite having the information that there were multiple hijacking at the same time and that two of the planes had already hit the twin-towers in New York, little could they do to prevent the third air-liner from crashing into the Pentagon Headquarters. Soon screams from the cock-pit alerted the Air Traffic Controller that another plane – United 93 had also been hijacked. The hijackers on board U-93 had killed the flight captain and his sub-ordinate and had taken control of the plane.
Meanwhile, as the passengers destined to their fate started bidding good-bye to their near and dear ones, they came to know of the attack on the twin-towers and the Pentagon. Soon they realized that the hijackers were on a suicide mission and none of them would be spared for a ransom. With their lives at stake, some of the passengers mustered the guts to use all they had at their disposal and attack the hijackers and retain back the control of the plane. But in the process, the plane crash-landed into no mans land and none survived.
It’s a very serious kind of stuff and not the usual movie with the hero(es) or the heroine(s) hogging the lime-light. It’s a movie completely based on impersonal lines and a movie to watch out only if you have plenty of interest in the nitty-gritty’s of the incident. We came out of the hall somewhat enriched in knowledge regarding the incident but none too refreshed.

Munna Bhai Lage Raho – Many including myself thought that this was a sequel to “Munna Bhai MBBS”. And truly speaking, I haven’t relished too many sequels. So I was a bit circumspect regarding the value for money factor. After all 150 bucks is no small an amount. Incidentally, it so happened that the day we saw U-93, we had actually gone to see MBLR. That being on a week-end, all the shows were booked. Luckily, that very Tuesday, we had a party at office and planned to watch MBLR.
Well, the movie was no sequel to MBMBBS. With most of the core team remaining the same, the movie was however on an entirely different concept. It revolved the concept of applying Gandhi’s principles to take care of real world problems. The message was adequately communicated. The acting of Arshad Warsi aka Sarkeshwar aka Circuit was absolutely superlative. His expressions using his eyes and facial changes along with his accent of a typical Mumbai “Tapori” left everyone bursting into laughter every now and then. However, the scenes of emotion were no less emphatic. Vidya Balan too plays her role to a nicety and shows why she is being rated so high of late. The movie was a classic with “Gandhigiri” being interleaved with comedy throughout the movie. The concept was altogether a new one and the message sent across does leave an impression even after you have left the cinema hall. All-in-all, it’s a must watch movie with great conceptualization and brilliant screenplay.

Dor – I have always loved movies which have a strong story-line. Iqbal was one such film. And with Shreyas Talpade and Girish Karnad involved, Dor promised to be somewhat on similar lines. The 4 stars in its TOI rating further ignited my interest. However, most of my friends usually do not share the same sentiments regarding movies. For them, a light movie is more value for money. So when I asked my room-mate to watch this movie along with me, I just hoped it would have some elements of entertainment for him as well.
Although it was a newly released movie, there weren’t too many takers for the movie in the hall (Perhaps there weren’t too many people who belong to my class:)). The movie is based on the lives of two women, Zeenat and Meera who are newly wed and have to part with their respective grooms who leave for Saudi for better work prospects. Zeenat belongs to a Muslim family based out of Himachal Pradesh, and Meera belongs to a Hindu Family based out of Rajasthan.
The lives of both the ladies change once Shankar, Meera’s husband is reported to be murdered by Amir, who is Zeenat’s spouse. Amir is sentenced to death according to Saudi law and the only thing that can save his life is a signature from Meera on a document forgiving Amir for the crime.
Zeenat is sanguine that the incident was an accident and not a murder. She sets off in search for Meera to obtain her signature on the document. The movie then captures the sentiments of the two women from two different regions and how Zeenat’s zest for life rubs off on the life of Meera who, till then, was leading the life of a desolate widow. Shreyas Talpade provides some light as well emotional moments in the film with equal panache and livens up the movie in the second half. Both, Ayesha Takia (Meera) and Gul Panag (Zeenat) give off strong performances and probably capture the maximum possible attention of the audience. In short, it’s a movie with a strong story line and scores even better in terms of picturisation. What’s noticeable is that both heroines are without make up in the entire film.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Exotic snaps from the trip to Agra and Manali in Aug'06

I am back...

It a'int surprising if somebody wondered whether this guy vanished into thin air, after all!!! No posts for one full month; where did he go?
Well, August for a change, was full of activities.With my mother,brother,mashi n mesho then scheduled to visit Gurgaon around the 2nd week of the month, the early days of August was a wake up call for me to get into the cleaning up act. I am not dirty but you know how a bachelor's room inevitably looks like, don't you - things strewn all over the place, books and computer covered with a layer of dust, smelling bed-sheets, et al... :) But trust me, I was much cleaner on most of those counts. However, a sprucing up act was of-course required.

My family reached Delhi on the 9th of Aug. During their stay, we visited Agra (Mathura & Vrindavan- both en-route to Agra) during the first week-end and then went to visit the Himalayan paradise - Manali, the following week.

Their stay lasted around 10 odd days. On the flip side, the climate at Gurgaon was pathetic during that period - high temperatures coupled with humidity made matters worse. But, thankfully, the trips were pretty successful and they left satisfied at the end . My family departed from Delhi on the 19th of Aug and from then on, I have plunged myself into the the current assignment @office so as to be able to find time for my Puja vacations.
So looking forward to Durga Puja and eager to be back home soon...

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Info corner... July'06

General Tit-Bits:

• Maruti comes out with a new version of Wagon-R with dual fuel injection system. It can operate, both, on petrol as well as LPG.
• Tata Steel Ranked World’s Best Steel Maker for the third time - Study by World Steel Dynamics. The WSD report of February 2006 covers the study of all the leading steel manufacturing companies across the globe including POSCO, Arcelor, Nippon Steel, Bao Steel, Thyssen Krupp on 20 different parameters. Emerging out of the study, Tata Steel has been ranked first with a weighted average score of 8.51 as against a score of 8.11 last year. POSCO of South Korea followed in the second place with 8.41. The production capability of Tata Steel at the end of the Financial Year, 2005-2006 stands at around 5 mn tonnes. NatSteel, acquired by Tata Steel has a capacity of around 2mn tonnes.
• Infosys will be the first Indian company to remotely ring the Monday bell to open trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York - reports CNN-IBN on July, 29, 2006. Infosys was India's first global company, with more than 90 per cent of its US$ 2.1 billion in annual revenues coming from overseas.

National & International News:

• Mumbai rocked by seven serial blasts in local trains on July 11, 2006..
• Israel launches offensives in Gaza and Lebanon over the capture of Israeli soldiers.
• The United States House of Representatives on 27th July, '06 overwhelmingly voted for a legislation providing greater access of sensitive nuclear technology to India after defeating potential deal breaker amendments. The legislation, cleared by the 435-member House by a 359-68 vote nearly four hours after taking it up for debate, must now be approved by the Senate before being signed into law by President George Bush. Besides the Senate, the deal, which was reached during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the U.S. in July 2005, needs the clearance from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an assembly of nations that export nuclear material.
• Srilankan army launches air-offensive against LTTE.
• The Affirmative Action Committee, set up under the chairmanship of J J Irani by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), has given the thumbs down to the government’s suggestion of reservations in the private sector. It has proposed several benefits for disadvantaged groups of society, including SC/STs, but not OBCs. These sops aimed at helping create employment includes help to create 100 SC/ST entrepreneurs by large firms, setting up of coaching centres in 10 universities for 10,000 students belonging to the lower strata of society apart from the setting up of 10 coaching centres that will cater to 5,000 students preparing for professional and technical courses.
• Eminent cardiologist and executive director of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, N Trehan is planning to expand his MediCity project beyond Gurgaon. "Discussions have been initiated to set up MediCity in Kolkata similar to the one coming up in Gurgaon and the proposal is likely to be finalised within the next three-four months," he said.

Economics & Business:

• WTO talks fail in Geneva with US refusing to budge on the issue of Farm-subsidies. EU had agreed to reduce farm subsidies by 75%. Meet attended by G-6: U.S., the EU, Australia, Brazil, Japan and India.
• The RBI raised the reverse repo rate (the rate at which the RBI sucks out liquidity from the system ) from 5.75 per cent to 6 per cent and the repo rate (the rate at which the RBI lends its short term funds or the process of injecting funds into the system) to 7 per cent with immediate effect. Dr. Reddy expressed concern in particular over the fact that the credit growth of banks was much higher than deposit mobilisation. This would also help keep the inflation in check.
• Tatas, Fiat team up to make cars. Tata Motors and Fiat have scaled up their alliance that was forged last year. The two companies will now undertake joint production of passenger cars, engines and transmission systems in India.
• Mittal on 26th July,'06 stated that he had acquired 92% control of Arcelor. Ever since Mittal made the offer to Arcelor, the combined market capitalisation of the two companies has gone up by 8 billion USD. The merged entity, to be christened Arcelor-Mittal, would control 10 per cent of the world's steel making capacity that is currently estimated at 1,000 million tonnes a year.

Telecom Sector:

• In April 2006, the number of mobile subscribers in India reached 96.92mn while fixed line telephone subscribers stood at 47.50mn. Total telephony subscribers in the country crossed 144mn. Gross tele-density reached around 13.16. Total broadband connections in the country in April,'06 stands at 1.4mn. In the last two years, the number of telephone connections have doubled.
• DoT is augmenting the spectrum availability for 3G roll-out in India. A Rs.1000 crore project initiated for release 45MHz from defence.
• After the Alcatel-Lucent mega merger, it was the turn of the the Nokia-Siemens big ticket merger in the Telecom circles. The 50:50 joint venture isvalued @$30bn. It will start with 60K employees with revenue of 15.8bn euros. Siemens has a strong fixed-line network equipment, Nokia specialises in the wireless equipment side. Before the merger, Nokia had sales of 6.56bn euros and operating profit of855mn euros. Siemens had sales of 13.1bn euros and operating profit of 45mn euros.
• Stockholm based Erricson is valued at $61.8bn (last Oct, it acquired fixed line gear maker Marconi Corporation's broadband internet and telecommunication assets for $2.2bn. The Paris based Alcatel-Lucent entity is valued at $36bn and the Nokia(FIN) - Siemens(GER) entity is valued at $30bn. Motorola has been pushed to fourth position among 'Network Equipment Makers'.

Sports:

• Italy wins Football WC'06 by defeating France in the Finals on 9th July,'06. Golden Ball awarded to: Zinedin Zidane(FRA). Golden Boot awarded to Miroslav Klose(GER).
• Roger Federer moves closer to making tennis history by winning the Wimbledon for the fourth time. Andre Agassi also announced his retirement during this year's Wimbledon Championship. Amelie Mauresmo of France became the Ladies' Wimbledon Champion in 2006 following her win at the Australian Open a few months back.
• Abhinav Bindra won the air rifle gold at the World shooting championship, India's first-ever in the sport, on 24th July,'06. He is a 23 year old lad from Delhi.
• Manavjit Singh Sandhu’s explosive performance at the shooting ranges in Zagreb enabled not only got him an individual gold but also helped India clinch the team silver at the ISSF World Championships. Indian team totalled 360/375
• ICC launches 2007 World Cup logo, mascot in India on 27th July, 2006.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Life is boring; "Kuchh naya ho jaye..."

Of-late, life has become very monotonous. Nothing new to look forward to:-(

On professional front, stuck up with the same Nokia project although 'woh din ab dur nahin jab main kisi naye project mein jaaunga', "hopefully". But still some time to go and not too sure what the project will be. So keeping my fingers crossed.

On personal front, I am still a rolling stone, 'which according to the proverb', will gather no moss. The problem is that I come up with some very good plans but over a period of time, it fizzes out because of lack of motivation or lethargy, whatever you might call it. So got to change my mind-set (don't know how many times I have said this to myself). Unless I do so, I will continue to be a perennial under-achiever.
With some friends returning back from abroad next month, August will probably be jam packed with parties. My mother, brother, mashi & mesho are also scheduled to visit my place early August. But that too is short time excitement.
I am thinking about taking up CFA course. At least that will keep me engaged with something more productive. I will get to know more about Finance and it will keep my grey cells ticking.

No major sports tournaments are coming up as well. There is the ICC champions trophy in October though. But who cares about cricket!!! Its the same old story with India performing well in the sub-continent and then flattering to deceive when they are abroad. My school and college mates may be surprised by this statement of mine since I always used to be an eternal optimist on this issue. But, its just that probably with time, I have grown more matured to be able to look through the things.
By the end of September, Durga Puja will be round the corner. Some more fun, some more excitement. Well, by then, it will soon be time for the closing phase of the current project. So, may be I will have something new to look up to.

Shifting back to Kolkata does not seem to be a viable option as of now. But soon, I will be forced to take a call. NCR is getting more and more expensive and room-rents and realty prices are going off the roof. So, may be Kolkata will be a viable option given that I have my own house out there. Even if that means sacrificing a few bucks in the compensation package, I might be game for it.

I have always been an arduous reader and there are lots of interesting facts and figures and little bits of info that keeps coming my way. I have thought up of an idea to keep a month-wise blog maintaining all these pieces of information. Sounds exciting but it needs some meticulous updation every day or at least, every second day. Lets see if I can maintain it.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

"When GOD makes a mistake..."

Its been quite sometime since the Football World Cup 2006 finals but the realization that the GOD of WC'06 made such a disgraceful exit has yet not sunk in. Well, the subject under discussion is pretty unambiguous, I guess!!!

It was an all European final, the first one since 1982, where neither of the Latin-American giants could find a place. Both Italy and France had peaked gradually as the tournament progressed and they out-witted their opponents when it mattered most.

On the 9th of July, the highly charged up finals started with a bang - a 6th minute penalty against the Italians, cheekily converted by Zizou. With Italians better known for their defensive approach, the game was thrown wide open. Italy responded in style though a Materazzi header in the 19th minute, drawing the scores level. From then on, the rejuvenated Italians played some really attractive soccer with substantial ball possession in the mid-field. Pirlo's accuracy in dead ball situations and the height of the tall Materazzi and Luca Toni posed a substantial threat to their opponents. However, at the end of the first-half, the score line remained unchanged.

The second-half saw the French displaying some of the tricks in their bag and the entire half was by-and-large dominated by them. Despite the skills of Riberi, Henry and Zidane, they failed to bulge the net a second time. Buffon made some excellent saves as well to keep Italy in the race. Meanwhile, the second half saw Henry and Riberi being replaced in the latter stages. With the game still level at the end of 90 minutes, it went on to extra time to find a decider to the World Cup.

In the extra time, the French pushed harder but the un-flinching defence of the Italians, with Cannavaro at the helm of affairs, left little room for the Frenchmen to drive the ball home. As the game dragged on, penalties seemed inevitable. And, as per records, Italians had never won a match that went on to be decided through penalties. But in Buffon, Italians had a superior goal-keeper than the French who had to rely on the services of the cranky Barthez.

While the spectators all over the world were speculating whether the odds were stacked against the Italians, suddenly something strange happened - 10 minutes from the end of extra-time, the referee blew the whistle in the middle of the game, indicating a foul. The Italians had a player down and they were vehemently drawing the referee's attention towards Materazzi. Replays told a shocking story. Right in the middle of the game, Zidane had lost his cool in response to some instigation by Materazzi and he head-butted Materazzi on the chest. And with that, probably, the French had lost their chances of winning the World Cup. Zidane was shown a RED CARD. That meant an ignominious end to a magnificent career.

The game eventually went to penalties and the Italians won the shoot out by meticulously converting all their 5 shots at goal. The Italians had won the World Cup for a fourth time, next only to the 5 time world champions, Brazil. The French had not only lost the World Cup final but the Zidane incident had left a bad taste at the end of the high-profile final. Perhaps their only solace was that despite the incident, Zidane went on to win the Golden Ball award tipping Cannavaro and Pirlo who finished second and third respectively in the race.

The FIFA disciplinary committee announced match suspensions to Zidane for his un-ruly act. However, since Zidane had already announced his retirement, the gentle-man as he is, he has himself volunteered for some community service as penitence towards that act. Zidane, however, made himself clear that given Materazzi's instigations, he provided an appropriate response to his adversary. Well!!!, if the Frenchmen have forgiven Zidane, what has the world got to rue for?

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Surprise!!! Surprise!!! Its FRA vs ITA

In my previous post, I had stated that probably its a GER vs BRA final in the offing. But the campaigns of both teams came to a pre-mature end and we now have a FRA vs ITA final this coming Sunday. What a surprise!!!

After GER had beaten ARG, it seemed pretty much a GER participation in the finals. But ITA played out of their skin to win the semis. It was a wonderful match and the standout player of the day was un-doubtedly Cannavaro.

Brazil had a poor game against the French and with Zidane finally displaying his fangs, Brazil soon found themselves kicked out of the tournament, failing to reach even the semi-final stage.

However, the French had a pretty ordinary performance against the Portuguese and beat them by a solitary goal scored of a controversial penalty. The second half of the match saw as high as 70% ball possession by the Portuguese who had their chances but could not convert in the end.

Going by the performances of late, I would say that ITA start favourites in the final. But one who discounts Zidane can do so at his own peril!!!.

So lets wait and hope to witness some attacking football in this final.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

On the expected lines - "Pekerman quits after Argentina's exit"

Extracts of his statements:

"I think the cycle is over. I'm sure I'm not going to continue (as coach)," Pekerman told the post-match news conference at the Olympiastadion.
"I always believed in this team, these players, this squad and they did not let me down" Pekerman

Goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri had to come off with a rib injury and was replaced by his deputy Leo Franco, but Pekerman also brought off playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme and sent on defensive midfielder Esteban Cambiasso.
"Riquelme looked a bit tired," Pekerman said.

Asked why he had opted minutes later to replace Hernan Crespo with Julio Cruz instead of sending on teenage ball wizard Lionel Messi, Pekerman said: "We always had that option in mind...but it wasn't the right moment."

And thus ends Pekerman's story....

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Argentina have themselves to blame!!!

Pooooh!!!

What a game and what a shame. It was an excellent game of football of the highest standards. The ARG-GER quarter-final stretched to the penalty-kicks and finally the Argentines did not have the nerves to clear the last hurdle. And I really cannot understand what the Argentine coach Jose Pekerman did!!! In such a high profile play-off, there was no Lionel Messi, no Saviola. It was a real shocker and the Argentines had to pay for it in the end.
1 goal up in the second half, with 60-40% ball possession in favour of Argentina, what was the coach afraid of? He adopted a defensive approach; replaced a striker for a mid-fielder and in the end, he was left with no alternatives by the time the game moved into the closing stages. Things came to such a pass that during the penalties, they did not have their front-line strikers for penalties.
Neither of the teams had lost till date in the WC on penalty shoot-out. And today it had to be Argentina's black day.
Anyways, it was wasted talent and I see a Germany-Brazil final in the offing. Wouldn't it have been great if the two Latin-American giants had met in the finals. But that was not to be:-(
Adios Argentina...

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

A welcome change in the catering service @office

I dare say that the anti-reservation issue may not have had a direct impact on the lives of the people as yet but its side-effects are showing.

The caterer in our office cafetaria had almost made a mockery of the whole system. When they started catering about a year back, the initial stuffs that they dished out was pretty palatable. But as time passed, they started changing colours. The food quality went from bad to worse while the coupon rates had either remained same or even increased. During their initial days, they started off with Rs.15 coupons. But the quantity of the food was very in-adequate. With the employees raising their voice, they found a convinient option out by changing the coupon rate from Rs.15 to Rs.20 in return for an increased quantity. People still did not have much of a problem with that but as days passed by, things really started going out of hand. The food quality had deteriorated like anything and any amount of complaints with the Admin people would fall on deaf ears.

At times, people found to their dismay that the food was half cooked, while at other occassions, even insects were found to make an appearance. The quality of service was also bad. A lot had been written about it on Junk and a link for feedback towards the cafetaria services were also provided. But nothing could change the status quo.

Fed up with all other means, one of the employees proposed boycott of the cafetaria services and the boycott date was fixed to be the 22nd of june (Thursday). People responded positively in large numbers and the Admin was forced to come up with an immediate action plan to change the caterer. While the Admin had earlier stated that the caterers would be changed by the 30th of June, but the success of the boycott seemed to have hastened the things and finally we had a new caterer in place from today itself.

All I can say is "Kudos to this sense of belief that one should always stand up for their rights". May good sense prevail!!!

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

How stock market behaves - 1 pic that says it all:-)

Click on the picture above to get the full view

Found it to be very humourous as well as appropriate:)

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Its "Samba" time...

This month, its the football fever that has gripped almost everybody. With the top 32 teams vying for the world cup, the tournament has been a big draw as it always has been in the past. I have been closely watching the World Cup since 1990.

1986 saw the brilliamce of Maradona help the Argentines win the WC. Visuals of that individual brilliance captured my imagination and since then I grew to be an ardent Argentine fan. In the 90's, the Argentines play some decent soccer. However, the level of their game was nothing compared to the brilliance that they displayed in 1986. Maradona was a shadow of himself in the 90 WC. Burruchaga and Claudio Cannigia had a pretty good WC. But their real hero was thier goalkeeper (forgot his name) who used to see the Argentines through in every match that were decided through penalty shoot-outs. However, irony of ironies, the Argentines lost to Germany in the final courtsey of a single penalty that was awarded to the Germans. The Argentines were finally left high and dry and had to be satisfied having come second best in the competition.

1994 saw the infamous exit of Maradona when he failed the doping test. His departure gave a big mental blow to the Argentines who never seemed to recover from it, since then. Their prospects finally came to an end when the Romanians beat them 3-2 in the second-round qualifiers. The world cup in '94, as such, was not too exciting. The teams displayed a very defensive approach and even the Finals between Brazil and Italy did not produce the fire expected in a WC final.

1998 witnessed much better performance from the Argentinian side with Gabriel Batistuta being a star performer in the league matches. Their second round match saw them taking on the Englishmen. The Michael Owen goal is still etched in my memory. However, David Beckham got marching orders for an un-necessary act of aggression. And a clever set-piece, converted by Zanetti saw the Argentinians conquer the Englishmen. However, a Dennis Bergkamp master-piece in the quarter finals spelled the exit of the Argentinians from the WC. The '98 WC marked the first time a host nation, France in this case, had lifted the world cup. The finals saw an un-remarkably poor performance by the Brazilians (with an unfit Ronaldo). Zinedine Zidane headers marked the final nails in the Brazilian coffin.

The 2002 world cup is probably one which the Argentine fans would like to forget at the earliest. Pitted in the "group of death" involving Nigeria, England and Sweden, the Argentines had a real hard time. After having somehow snatched a victory against Nigeria, the Argentines lost to the Englishmen and were subsequently held by Swedes. They finally could not make it to the next round and faced an ignominious exit. Another team to bite the dust were the defending champions France who too could not clear the group stage. The same tournament also saw the Brazilians go from strength to strength before they finally went on to win the World Cup. And who can perhaps forget the stellar performance by Ronaldhino in the tournament!!!

The 2006 WC started with a bang with the Germans winning the match with a 4-2 margin over the Costa-Ricans. Never has the first match of a World Cup witnessed so many goals. And that has probably set the tempo for the entire tournament. We have witnessed some exciting soccer from the Germans, the Englishmen, the Spaniards, the Brazilians and off course, not too forget the effervescent Argentines (thier 6-Nil thrasing of the Serbs was pure magic). The African nations have not disgraced themselves. Although its only Ghana which has made ot to the 2nd round, Ivory Coast too did play some excellent soccer. The Asians have failed to make a mark this time unlike the 2002 WC where the Koreans went up to the Semi-Final stage.

All eyes are now on the 2nd round matches. The Germans have already routed the Swedes with a double strike in the first 12 minutes while the Argentines have moved on to the Quarter Final stage after beating a rather reusrgent Mexican side. However, the decisive Argentine goal against Mexico by Maxi Rodriguez was a sure winner.

Its now time to wait and watch what the WC unfolds in the remaining few matches. Its exhilarating stuff and I will sign off now to catch up with the England-Ecuador match.
So long till then!!!

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

"Ajeeb Dastan Hai Ye"

Life is full of surprises, isn't it!!!
Some sweet, some sour but everything in hindsight is so exciting nevertheless. Here I share a recent experience which will be etched in my memory for a long, long time.

My home-town is Kolkata and I work in Gurgaon - more than a thousand kilometers apart. I often fret for my home and wish I could be with my family. However, I consider myself real lucky that right now, I am in the company of friends which makes me forget about my home at times. Thats one of the plusses of staying put in the same company for some time. You make lots of friends.

Right from my joining in Flextronics(then Hughes), I had a steady friend circle comprising of my colleagues and a few bongs. With a vibrant "Goodmorning" and a firm shake of the hands, everyday used to mark a new begining. The day would normally end with the snacks in the cafetaria and some gossip for around an hour or so. But, in March 2006, I was shifted out of my previous premises (in Plot 7) and re-located to the Presidency building, which was almost totally cut-off from the main office. Initial few days were really bad. Being located far-off from the main campus, I did not have the luxury of meeting my friends even occassionally. With new people around, it takes some time to build a rapport as well. So things were not really looking up for me.

But soon things changed with the anti-reservation issue coming to the fore. The whole SS7 team at Presidency seemed to be the epicenter of the corporate employee's battle agaist the reservation issue. Help poured in from several un-known quarters as well. And before I could realise, I had made lots of friends out there. This continued for almost 3 weeks until the corporate rally was forced to be aborted last monday. Things have gone quiet since then.

But as I look back, I realise that I have learnt a whole lot of things from this experience - dealt with people from all walks of life -medicos, engineering students, students from DU and not to forget my tryst with the journalists; the night out at the AIIMS lawn, the collection of money for the YFE, attending the rallies, organising buses to take people to attend the rallies, motivating people every now-and-then, meeting people with vested interests of their own, trying to organise a rally on our own and also basking in some fame. Foooo!!! thats some experience in 3 weeks time.

And, in the midst of all this hectic activities came a surprise package. I really can't state it down in my post right now but it had something to do with a sweet little phone-call arnd 9:00pm on the 3rd of June (saturday before last). Does this mark another new begining? Only time will tell. But if it does, i'll let everybody know about its connection with my lucky 13 again.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Article in "The Tribune" ...

Corporates to join anti-quota stir
Smriti Kak Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 23
After the medicos it is the corporates who have joined the anti-quota juggernaut. Faced with the possibility of having to provide reservation, corporates have begun hectic parleys to draw up their blueprint for protest.

While the corporates had come out in support of the agitating doctors, they have now resolved to “take on” the issue of reservation in a more “organised way”.

Opposed to “any kind of reservation”, the corporates have criticised the government for contemplating “a legislation to bring in reservation”.

Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar yesterday warned the private sector that the Centre would be forced to bring in a legislation if they fail to provide voluntary reservation.

Reacting to the statement, Saikat who works for a multinational company said, ‘we have supported the medicos, but now we are in the process of streamlining our protest. We have begun meetings to draw up plans for what our future course of action will be”.

An employee of another private concern, Sandipan, pointed out that if reservations are forced on the private sector, “it will have an adverse affect on the prospects of the candidates from the reserved categories. Companies will discriminate against them because they may not have the required merit”.

Cautioning that if the government does not alter its stance on reservation in the academic as well as private sectors, the corporates said they “ will take to the streets in far greater numbers than the medicos”.

Indicating that they too might take the resort to hunger strike, the corporates said they are mobilising support from their counterparts across the country.

Meanwhile, having refused to call off their stir despite the Prime Minister’s repeated assurances, medical students’ who continue their hunger strike, accept they have reached “a deadlock”, but are quick to add that this has not “demoralised” them.

On hunger strike for the last 10 days, protesting medicos acknowledge that their demand for a review of the existing reservation policy is not “an easy one”, they are, however, insistent that the review “is overdue and that reservation of up to 50 percent is unacceptable”.

“We have sought a review of the policy and neither the government nor the political parties have extended their support to us. But we remain committed to our struggle,” said Dr Vinod of the Youth for Equality.

While support from seniors in the profession and their faculty has been trickling in, the medicos are now banking heavily on the support from corporates and other professionals, who are also facing the possibility of having to provide reservation.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

The country is going to the Dogs...

The country is embroiled in one of the hottest debates on the issue of caste-based reservation. SC has now sent out an order stating any protests, statements or agitation as contempt of court since PILs have already been filed in court and the matter is now sub-judicial.
To go back shortly in time, the Maha-Rally on 27th May, 2006 was a grand success. Things were looking up with rallies being taken out in Mumbai and Bangalore as well, on the 28th May, 2006. With all these rallies witnessing participation of substatially large numbers of public, even the political parties like BJP were showing signs of aligning themselves with the general public by demanding a white paper on the outcome of reservation that has been in place for the last 55 years. On the 29th of May, 2006, in response to a PIL, the SC asked the governement to spell out the basis for the 27% reservation for the OBCs. Just when things looked rosy, SC fired off a statement on 30th of May, 2006 declaring all forms of agitation against reservation as tantamounting to contempt of court. The medicos were the first to be targeted and they were directed to get back to work or face court proceedings. The medicos finally wilted on the 31st of May, 2006 when they called off their strike and returned back to medical services. Since then, the reservation issue has not found a place on the front page of the newspapers.
We, the corporates have also joined the movement and were a part of the rally on the 27th of May, 2006. We thought about carrying the movement forward by taking out a rally in Gurgaon organised by the "Pukar" (A Corporate Initiative...). The rally is scheduled for the 5th of June, 2006 and the logistics are still not completely in place. It remains to be seen whether we can make it a success or we falter at the hurdle.
The groups like "Youth For Equality" have also toned down their demands. Probably, the 27% reservation is now a destiny and a scar that we will have to live with. It troubles us now and will continue to trouble us in future as well till the reins are in the hands of such un-scrupulous politicans.
The caste based has not helped the deprived and the down-trodden. It has always been hijacked by the "creamy layer" amongst the backward classes. While they have already cornered the benefits of reservation, they do not want the benefits to be diluted.
The question that comes to my mind right now is where is the end to this caste-based system? will an independent country, considered to be a knowledge powerhouse, with a booming economy, ultimately go to the dogs!!!
With the current reports coming in, the government is considering further tightening of screws on this issue. They want to have a say in the fee structure, number of seats, examination.. What next? Prescribe books and class schedules?

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind...."

Day after the Anti-Reservation rally...

The 20th Day of May, 2006 was planned to be marked as solidarity day with protesters against the governments reservation policy supposed to carry out a massive rally in the capital and also in other parts of the country.
All geared up, we waited for the Saturday morning to make a historic trip to Jantar-Mantar and be a part of this rally. The day's temperature was pretty cool and probably supportive of our noble cause. Puneet Poddar ( a new found friend/ally in this drive) and myself reached CP at 9:10a.m. We were soon joined by another guy from Flextronics. Within the next 10-15 minutes, Ramesh, Prabhakar and Swapnil along with some of his other friends had arrived. By 9:25a.m. or thereabouts, we started towards Jantar-Mantar (very near to CP). There, Kaushik was waiting along with his friends & room-mates (after having watched Rang-de-Basanti the night before). Soon more and more people started pouring in, not only from our company but from various organisations like TCS, CSC, Siemens and many others.
The atmosphere was charging up. With more people came the banners as well, written - "Pukar - A corporate initiative". That was our corporate banner to show that the corporates were not be left behind. A cop came over to give us a few guidelines and also instructed us not to get provoked by the pro-reservationists.
The gathering got into shape around 10:00a.m. with the banners flying high and the protesters getting into a queue. The media people were there to cover the issue. The students from the DU, CAs, Lawyers and various people from other professions were also there. There was some in-decision as to whether we should march towards MAMC to meet the other rally (which had started from MAMC) and then march back along with them to Jantar-Mantar. However, we finally decided to stay put and wait for the other group to join us.
The protests started off with the singing of the National-Anthem, followed by chanting of various slogans against the governemnt policy, in general and Arjun Singh, in particular. Pamphlets were also distributed to the passengers of the vehicles passing by.
While these continued, the media got active to get a word or two about the agenda of the various groups that had assembled out there. So I was called upon by the CNN-IBN team, A BBC journalist and the ETV to speak on this issue on behalf of the corporates joining this protest. Questions ranged from why do you want to join, to whether this is going to be a one-off incident and even asking as to whether the violent means applied by some pro-reservationists in Patna and JNU, a day earlier, was justified.
Soon after, we were joined by the other rally that had started from MAMC. From Jantar-Mantar, we proceeded towards Parliament Street. A podium was set up a few 100 meters from Jantar-Mantar. With the members from the other rally joining in, the numbers soon swelled to a few thousands.
Immediately afterwards, we saw Navjot Singh Sidhu (in his conventional style) and Shiv Khera walking towards the podium. Sidhu started off with his big booming pledges in his own inimitable style with the crowd liking every bit of it. Once he stopped after about half-an-hour of speech, the podium was taken over by Shiv Khera.
Around 12:30p.m., the rally got over with the observation of a minute silence to mark this protest.
The whole thing went of peacefully. A Pan-Indian face was visible in this agitation with people from different professions and also from different parts of the country chipping in, in their own capacity. We left with a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment to have been a part of this drive. A special mention for Amit Jain from our HR dept. who was an active supporter and handled the media issues very adeptly. We have to continue with our fight from hereon, to show further solidarity with the protesters, if required, and in our own endeavour to create a new awakening in this nation.

"....The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering
his attitudes of mind...."

CNN-IBN on corporate participation in Anti-Reservation...

Corporates fear quota will sting them

Shreya Dhoundial

CNN-IBN

Posted Saturday , May 20, 2006 at 23:27

New Delhi: Thousands of anti-reservation protesters marched down the Parliament Street in the Capital on Saturday.

One of them - Saikat Chaudhary, an IT professional - is angry. Almost as angry as the medical students, he's supporting.

He fears after the 27 per cent quota is implemented in educational insitutions, the private sector will be next be on the government's hit list.

"Today, if it happens in the education sector, it may spill over to the corporate sector tomorrow. There will be a depletion of knowledge and no industry will come here," says Saikat.

Another demonstrator, Vivek Singh, a Banker says, "Politicians are doing nothing for the country, but they are dividing it on the basis of caste."

Saikat and Vivek are not lone voices. Almost 100 IT professionals from Wipro, TCS and Freescale have joined the anti quota stir.

Corporates feel strongly against the issue as reservations in the private sector are on the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA governement.

"Because of this, the MNCs are moving out. MNCs are only here because of our talent and if you ruin our talent, no MNCs would be here," says Sajwal Mathur, an IT Professional, Semiens.

The decibel levels are rising. But is emotion rather than understanding fuelling these raised voices? Ater all, the 27 per cent education quota is still not final, nor are reservations in the private sector.

As the corporates join the reservation debate the question that need's to be asked is are rallies like these moving away from reality and spiralling towards rhetoric?

Are the pro reservation voices fuelling a paranoia of things that might not happen?

It's probably now time for people on both side's of the reserrvation debate to pause for a moment, look at existing realities ane then work out a middle path - Buddha didn't preach it for nothing.

The night before the Anti-Reservation rally...

Perhaps this episode marks a new chapter in my life. I have always believed that once i set on a goal whole-heartedly, i will achieve it 99/100 times. While there have been several such mile-stones in my career in the past, but probably, all that will fade in the face of what I had set to achieve as being part of this Anti-Reservation campaign and what I have actually achieved till date.
The country is on tenter-hooks on this issue of almost 50% reservation for the minorities. It will spell doom for the brains in India and also for the Industry, over a period of time. And moreover, the moot question is where are we heading to? A 69% quota in a state like Tamil-Nadu is already in place and who knows that this might be the case for the central universities also, infuture!!!. We got to stop this governtment on their tracks. And for that, if we can make a small contribution towards that end, it will be a huge plus.
Keeping this motive in mind, we(the people from the corporate sector) joined in so as to make an impact in our own way. Probably hundreds of mails were exchanged to encourage people to be a part of the rally on Saturday. With two different rallies slated, it added to the confusion. Finally we settled for the one @10am @Jantar Mantar on 20th May,2006(tomorrow). We held meetings for half an hour with the other interested colleagues in our company. Although the number wasn't huge, it was significant and those who participated, did it with their whole heart and sole.

Its 11:15pm and I just got a call from Ritu stating that there has been some commotion @JNU. So got to check the News. Will update after the march tomorrow.

More about me....

I always felt that I should keep a note of my happenings in life. U know, its a great feeling to read about your past life as they have passed by. So here I go...

Since this is my first post, I would like to make a brief introduction to my past.
Born in Kolkata, I was brought up in Jamshedpur. Father used to work with TISCO. And wasn't it a great pleasure to have spent my childhood in the Steel City!!! Did my schooling from Loyola, Jamshedpur - More than my schooling, it is my association with the Institution that I cherish the most. After having passed out in 1997, joined Presidency, Kolkata to further my graduation. Post graduation, MBA was a dream for me but I always wanted to have some work-ex before going for MBA. And so I started my MCA preparations, in parallel with my graduation. After graduation, got through MCA after clearing UPMCAT. Took up MCA in HBTI, Kanpur - passed out in 2003. Years 2001-2002 were the dark years for the industry with slow-down setting in. It was by sheer God's grace that I was amongst the chosen few who grabbed a campus placement, inspite of the Industrial downturn. And, by jove!, I was placed on the 13th of August, 2002 - Lucky 13???

Took up my first job with Newgen Software Systems, New Delhi. Joined co-incidentally on the 13th of Jan, 2003 - 13 Again????

The first few months in my job was a mix of ecstacy and tension. Still remember the first stipend that I received (Jan - Jun, 2003 was my training period). However, there were days when I used to tirelessly work for long hours, apprehensive of what would happen if I were to miss out on the committed deadlines. And in the process, I took up some very stiff deadlines as well. In parallel, I started my MBA preparations after borrowing some amount from my senior. But preparing for MBA in parallel with the tremendous work-load in office was a very demanding task indeed. Somehow, prepared for the exams and appeared for the same. But by the time I was home from the exam center, I got to know that the paper got leaked and exams were to conducted afresh. And wasn't I crestfallen!!! During the period of my preps, I had a one point agenda to study for MBA while many of my colleagues left my company for greener pastures. I grew envious of them but never had the bandwidth to prepare for an of-campus placement. But after the cancelled exams in Nov, 2003, I got a lucky break with an interview call in Hughes Software Systems (currently Flextronics Software Systems), Gurgaon. Converted it impromptu. And guess what was my interview date - 13th of Jan, 2004 - i need not point out anything this time. So I left my previous company and joined Hughes on 27th of Jan, 2004. Hughes was a much bigger and better company than Newgen. It had a corporate look and feel and I felt privileged to be a part of this organisation.

But soon things would not be the same for me anymore. On the fateful day - 9th of Feb, 2004, I was in the midst of a project meeting when I received a call on my mobile. I rejected the call, not to be disturbed in between the meeting. But the cell phone rang again and when I picked it up, I got the shock of my life.... My uncle (mamu - maternal uncle) had rung up with an urgent tone asking me to take a flight for home asap since my father was very ill. The scenario was not alien to me since I had heard of some of my class-mates getting similar calls from home, only to find out later that one of their near and dear ones had passed away.

Somehow managed to take a Jet back home. Reached home at around 8p.m. in the evening only to face the inevitable. Held back my tears so as to lend moral strength to my grieving mother and brother. My heart cried but I did not let my tears come out. Soon left for the crematorium to perform the last-rites. It is there that I wept my heart out. One of the important chapters in my life had come to an end.

However, life had to go on and it was definitely going to be very different for me from then on. During my stay, I had to go through all the documents in the house, separate the important ones from the others. And then I realised how helpful were my father's meticuluous ways of maintaining all records. The Herculean task was made lot easier for me.

I departed for my work place on the 23rd of Feb, 2004, leaving my mother and brother behind with my relatives to look after them.

It has been a long and eventful journey since then. I had missed out on my MBA re-exams that were scheduled in Feb, 2004 because of this mis-hap. So I started all over again for my preparations. Work at Hughes was not as hectic as in Newgen. I found a new way of life at Hughes and made some very close friends as well. The company changed hands in May, 2004 and soon it became Flextronics Software Systems.

Another good thing that happened with me at Flextronics was that I found quite a few Bengali friends of round about similar age-group. We formed a small bong group in FSS. And how did we come together is 'Junk' - which probably a fellow FSS'ian can only understand. Its been a real pleasure to have spent time with them and have enjoyed every outing in their company - The trip to Manali is still fresh in my memory.

Meanwhile, my MBA preps continued until it was exam time again. The CAT had a surprise in store and the unsuspecting mouse(myself) fell for it - scored 92 percentile - looks good on paper but not enough to give you a place in the top notch colleges. I had serious thoughts about further attempts but (may be its just an excuse) I always felt that for such preparations, you always need a calm n quiet atmosphere around you. That was just not possible staying in a shared accomodatio0n with collegues. Plan to do an 'Executive MBA' but that too is on hold because I am not sure where I will be for the next 3 years. Would have preferred to go back to Kolkata but that is only possible when more companies come up and the job situation stabilises out there.

With the Left scoring an out-right victory in the current assembly ellections and with the reformist 'Buddha" @ the helm of affairs, I have plenty of expectations for the state of WB.

In the last couple of years, I feel that I have matured a lot with more responsibilities on my shoulders. I have had to curtail my ambitions to a certain extent but I have no regrets. After all the fruits of your labour is directly proportional to the happiness that you give to your family. And to keep my family happy, that's a small sacrifice from my side.

Thats quite a big summary, I guess. So thats it for this psoting. More to come on specific events later on.

So long till then....

A brief intro...

Name: Saikat Chaudhuri
Age: 32 years
Location: New Delhi
Permanent Address: HB-230, Saltlake, Kolkata-106
Profession:Software Engineer
Comapny: Tata Consultancy Services
Worked with:
Alcatel-Lucent
Aricent (Formerly Hughes)
Newgen


Photo Location: Mt. Abu, Rajasthan (Nakki Lake)