Deepavali break !

There are no classes for the next 3 days at the institute for Deepavali and this was quite welcomed by many.An absolute relief for me.Some are going home while the rest like me are staying back. I didn't want to get myself tired in making a short trip to home. Also I want to pity myself and make myself happy that..aah here is a guy who is staying back (not sure if I am staying focussed) and not distracted by the celeberating frenzy :))Its the second straight year that am missing being at home for Deepavali.Let me see how it is to be in Delhi for this festival of lights. Might go to Faridabad to visit a friend of mine.

For now,I think God should really help the families of all the victims of the Delhi blasts and the Andhra rail derailment owing to the floods.

Testing patience with ringtones....

Air Deccan today really tested my patience and anxiety so much.I was trying to reach their Delhi Customer Service right from yesterday evening,to reschedule my Delhi-to-chennai ticket to Dec 30th , which was actually scheduled for 6pm today.I have tried their number about 20 times yesterday evening and every time I was promptly made to hear their crappy ring tone by the end of which no one picks up and eventually the call gets disconnected.Consoling myself that I have the whole of morning tomorrow to reschedule the ticket, I gave up calling them that night.

To my desperation, I couldn't reach them again in the morning.After about 10 times,I lost hope in Delhi and tried their Chennai Customer service number.Even Chennai was testing me by playing the same crappy ring tone every time without any answer at the end.This rescheduling thing which I thought was going to be just another call, was now proving to be more than a concern.I then called up a friend in Delhi if he knows any other number in Delhi or if they have changed their number.He too came up with the same number and suggested me that I try it over the net.

It was 12:15 by then and I have the class 2'O clock, so I rushed to the nearby net centre and pulled up the Air Deccan site.To my dismay,whatever date I was trying to reschedule to, it came up with the message that the seats were full for that date.Goodness..it was 1 'O clock by then,I must say that I really got pissed off here.Rescheduling is possible only before 4 hours prior to flight departure and it was like almost all the options were exhausted and cancelling now would lead to losing 70% of fare. Then I hastily rushed home and thought that I would try calling their offices elsewhere in India.

Having already got fed up in trying Chennai other than Delhi,I tried reaching their offices in Gujarat,Hyderabad and Bombay.Again the same crappy ring tone without any answer at the end.It was 1:30 and there is only about 30 mins left for the class to start and also for the rescheduling.Without knowing what to do next I was trying the number which I haven't tried so far - that was for Karnataka.For the first time I didn't hear that stupid ring tone and adding to my surprise after few rings there was an answer from the other end. OMG...I really couldn't suppress the huge sigh of relief.I was literally shouting and hurrying up from this end as I was quite impatient. Who knows the call might get dc in the midway.Finally after just a couple of mins, I got it all done from that saviour from Karnataka. Yes, at that moment he was really the sole saviour for me.God knows whether he was the only guy who was not busy or rather the only soul who was working.

I still had 15 mins for the class and didn't want to miss it anyway.Get,set, Go and I was running to the class.Such a small activity, which I thought it would be, finally proved to be a test to my temper.Think going forward, I better do all these rescheduling stuff 2 days before, that I give ample time for hearing all those lousy ring tones across the subcontinent!

Ah this weather...

The stepping in of the cold weather coupled with the fatigue out of the marathon classes has taken its toll on me. Was not feeling well and hence I have started to bunk classes for the second straight day! Never thought I'll start missing classes so soon.Hopefully should be in a good shape tomorrow !

Iqbal

I was desperately looking for a change from the monotony of attending classes and Sunday was the best choice as luckily there wasn't a class in the morning.So after the afternoon session we thought we would go for a movie and we zeroed in on 'Iqbal' at Chanakya in Chanakyapuri where all the embassies are located.

It was a quite a chill evening, looks like the winter in Delhi has come in earlier than last year.The movie which has already recieved rave reviews was quite good and if one wants something different than the usual run-of-the-mill stories , then 'Iqbal' is a better bet. It is about this dumb youngster from a village in Andhra who has a great liking for Cricket,who finally realizes his dream of bowling for India.Its kind of inspiring to see how he overcomes all his hardships both inherent and external to realise his dream.

Nagesh Kukunoor is once again is at his best with a very neat and tidy script which is very fresh and natural.Though there are not any unexpected twists or turns as in a commercial subject, the narration is quite smooth without any slackness and it does hold our interest till the end.The back ground score, for which there is a great scope as the lead himself is dumb,has been rendered quite well which is very soothing at many instancesand it did gel well with the narration.No one would actually miss to appreciate the acting prowess of the girl who comes as the lively sister of Iqbal and it seems she is the leading child artiste in the country.She is so expressive and fluent that whenever she appears in a frame, she adds life to it. No surprise,as to why she is the numero uno child artiste.

Though cricket is not my favourite sport, as a movie it kind of appealed to me much and I was pleased that I had a good break from the classes. Anyway can't escape from them the next day...all not so good things never come to an end soon it seems !

Karva Chauth

Have seen Karva Chauth being celeberated in many Hindi films usually followed by a Senti song.Today being the festival of Karva Chauth, I was kind of curious to see how the rituals are done in real life.So Just about 8:15 pm went to the terrace and started gazing around.On many of the nearby terraces,I could see women weilding the sieve,watching the moon and offering prayers for their spouse. After the prayer they see their husband through the sieve. Wielding the sieve,they also offer milk and rice to the moon. After offering the Arathi to both the moon and their husband, they get the husband's blessing by bowing to his feet.They then take off the sieve and break their day-long fast either with milk or some sweets.On some terraces, the husbands helped the women in breaking the fast by hand-feeding the sweet,milk or water, while many women helped on their own.Some husbands were even video reording the whole stuff.After breaking the fast, the holy glittering diyas facing the moon were placed on the terraces. I could also see few women offering prayers to the moon without their husband present next to them.May be he is away or out of station..not sure.

I was wondering, if I could see women celeberating in groups but didn't get a chance.Heard that they used to gather and pray in groups during the day. Unlike in films, there were no dances or songs.However it was a nice sight.

Even yesterday night, while strolling alongside the stalls, I could see many girls and women waiting in queues and getting the Henna(Mehendi) designs beautifully and patiently done on their palms and hands.The whole stretch was full of women folks.I was wondering if there is an equivalent festival in south India.Will definitely be there but am not sure as to what exactly it is.Btw...is there any festival wherein the husband prays for his wife...again not sure!

Bengal's Ghajini

Ganguly: En paer Saurav, muzhu paer Saurav Ganguly.
Saurav's Doctor: Ivarala 15 nimisathaku maela entha pitchlayum batting panna mudiyathu.
Saurav's Doctor:Yarro ivar thalaila vegama ball pottu thakiyirukaanga.

Saurav's Doctor:Ivar oru SHORT TERM BATTING LOSS patient.

Main Meri Patni Aur Woh!

With a schedule for all the 7 days a week these days, guess there is nothing called weekend for me.However just to have a difference on a Sunday, managed to watch 'Main Meri Patni Aur Woh!' at PVR Naraina - my first at a PVR theatre.I have heard that the PVR theatres maintain a very good standard and found for myself that it is true.Every person is frisked by the security personnel at the entrance - have not seen this before in any cinema hall,and the theatre was having quite a posh and clean look.All these standards and everything anyway comes at a cost - ticket and all the eatables are pretty dearer in comparison to other theatres. In our case the ticket was Rs.125.

Anyways, as far as the movie - MMPAW is concerned, I must say it wasn't boring and it wasn't a great fun either.The comedian Rajpal Yadhav is in the lead for the first time, for it seems the story is his own real life, wherein his wife is quite taller and prettier than him.He has done his part very well - can't think of any improvisation for his role.Rituparna Sengupta as his wife was quite brilliant in her role and she sparkles with her pleasant naturalness.The story however is not that brand new. Its all about a college Librarian who marries late owing to his family commitments.Though he is not interested in marriage, his mom compels him to consider certain alliances.He hesitatingly accepts and goes to Bareilly for seeing the first bride on the list. Like our hero the girl was also nearing 30 and she has also avoided marriage for some time.Though he is quite shy and not keen about the alliance,on seeing the girl, he gets clean bowled by her looks & exuberance. Her charm and friendly nature enslaves him during their first private talk and he couldn't do anything but happily accept for the marriage.

Post marriage, he develops certain doubts and apprehensions about his wife,as a close male-friend of hers who visits her often and who in Rajpal's eyes is quite smart as he is an UK return and he happens to be close to his boss at the University.Rajpal's doubts get bigger and serious and he even starts following her wife closely without her knowledge. When things reach a peak, he reveals his concerns to his wife during a dinner and suggests that she can divorce him if need be.As she only had a good friendship with that guy from UK, she couldn't digest his concerns and goes back to her home in Bareily.Rajpal later realises that his fears were unreal and so after a moving confession to his wife about his mistake, convinces her which is obviously brings us to the end of the movie.

The first half was quite good and refreshing but the second half was kind of hollow and looks to be over-stretched.Overall it was okay. A good break to remind me that was Sunday !

Am OK with IOKK

Among the many things I miss now at Delhi is the Teleserial 'Idhu Oru Kaadhal Kathai' (IOKK).I have not been watching it for more than a week now and will not be getting a chance to follow that atleast for the next 5 months.Gosh! Why is it that the things that we like most in life do not last longer and most often slips from our hand. I never thought that I would one day become glued to a TV serial like this and the reasons are many. Above all it cannot be dismissed like just another serial for it is quite different and quite well written and scripted particularly when it comes to handling of relationships. I am still an anti-teleserial guy when it comes to all those so called soga sagas.

I never believed that sometimes even I would call up and ask someone so desperately as to what had happened just in case I miss an episode or even a small part of it which anyway rarely happens whenever I have the most unfortunate day at ofice.Whatever it is I mostly pack up around 8'o clock from office so that (after a rash ride most often) I won't end up missing the episode.

Once there was this bad day when, though I reached home well in time - 10 mins before 8:30, the house was locked and I realised that I didn't have the key.Most oftenwhoever goes out last would keep the key on the inside rail of the front window, but that day it wasn't done.I desperately called up almost all of my junta, so as to see if someone is on their way to home soon. To my desperationand frustration, the earliest I would be getting the key is only at 9 pm for that guy was coming in a bus and traffic wasplaying havoc with my urgency.I just kept desperately waiting outside and as expected the first guy came in only by 9 pm which in anycase was absolutely unnecessary for me as the episode was already over. I couldn't help being furiousand all I could do is only yell like hell. This only proves my refrain that the things that we like most in life do not last longer and most often slips from our hand - am not that pessimistic but sometimes I have to respect and believe in what statistics says.

There were days when I am sure that I can't leave the office around 8 so as to reach home in time, I call up someone at home on his mobile so that he would keep the mobile next to the TV so that I would atleast listento the serial and see to that I get the hang of it. The dialogue-less frames will be supplemented my running commentary from one of my mates.I really felt kind of happy and had a feeling of togetherness, when I came to know that many youngsters were actually folowing it and they liked it much. This serial has also got a TRP rating of more than 10 and as a matter of difference it seems a larger percentage of this high viewership rating is attributed by many youths following it.

Unlike all those tearsome soaps which revolve around the in-laws and the whole gamut of relatives, this soap is all about an imbalanced quadrangular love. The characters are very less in number with only youngsters in the lead roles.Most often these characters speak through eyes especially Janaki and Sudha.God I can't help without appreciating Janaki (Sruthi) - she has got such powerful eyes andshe is quite refreshing always lending everlasting grace and life to each and every frame.It is better that she speaks for otherwise her wonderful powerful eyes would speak a million words in a second - quite tough to handle and comprehend.Hats off to the team which roped in her.The director should be appreciated for lending a good analytical side to the dialogues which interestingly deal with various angles of relationships.Simple yet so refreshing and appealing.Certain dialogues used in describing and explaining the root causes of misunderstanding and practical steps to get across it are kind of convincing and quite different from the stereotypical scripts.

I think now I should call up someone back in chennai to know what had happened to Janaki -:)

Those years...

It has been now 5 days in Delhi after a good 5 years stint in the IT industry back in Chennai. Yes, it was a very tough decision to give up the software profession and to come to this northernmost metro from the southernmost one. I actually resigned on this 7th Oct and moved to Delhi on the 10th. Over the last two days at office, there have been these unexpected wishes and feedback from the unexpected quarters, those flurry of expected comments and wishes from the expected quarters and also the unexpected silence from the most expected section of people. It was all but a bit emotional but for the last category mentioned above, which was nothing short of an emotional quake. Nevermind !

I still remember the very first day of joining office in Chennai. There were 50 odd new faces gathered in a room and wondering as to what was in store for us. The HR representative welcomed us, everyone was excited and we were not very sure as to what the next few years would be like. The HR person told us that we have taken a very good step in joining the organization and wished us a fantastic career ahead. We all took a deep breath and from the next day onwards it was like another college life after graduation. But this time around we were paid rather than being asked to pay.

Having stepped into the one of the most happening industry, it was all absolute colourful fun for the first few months during the training period. Fun, frolic, gossips and cherishable friendships! If at all possible, we also managed to glance at something to do with software development. But to be honest, we really struck a balance between fun and the fundas of s/w. There were many who acknowledged that they sometimes did enjoy well during those few months than they really did at their college. It was quite true indeed.

After the training, inevitably we were all split and thrown into different offices and projects. It was quite heavy for us at that time, but we couldn’t really help it, though we would anyway be in the same city. From then on, everyone knowingly or unknowingly had to take different paths and everyone was busy or made busy in one way or the other. It was all those wonderful b’day bashes, small trips, hang outs and sibling’s marriages which gave us those lovely opportunities to meet and mock at each other. This trend again couldn’t last long as responsibilities and challenges were presented to us which took their own sweet time and unconsciously time was distancing us apart. Though it only affected the frequency at which we would interact, it never dampened the eagerness that we had for getting together. Again as time flew - marriages, onsite travel, resignations and relocations have to happen cause of which we were all quite scattered though mostly across the developed side of the globe.

Now when I look back after 5 years, I see that every one of us, who started the software corporate life together, had taken a challenging path and they did make a mark in their own way both within and outside the software industry. There were fast track promotions both in the personal and professional lives of many. There were of course many highs and lows which I guess were responsible for many transformations within us, which made many of us tough, seasoned and interesting in their own way. We all wished and congratulated each other over mails, for completing 5 successful years of association.

Taking a break after these 5 years at this juncture was quite tough and confusing as well, as it has led to a state where one doesn’t really know as to what would be the most appropriate and rewarding path from here on. As they say, going in a wrong direction is better than inaction, hence it had to be a break from the cushion which I was in. As my friend from Hyderabad puts it, hopefully it should be for good and it is worth experimenting!