Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tunga village v/s ISB
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Tunga Village, Powai aka Ibiza. This little MHADA colony of 5 buildings boasts of an ethnic mix of people which could rival any cosmopolitan Indian city. Over the last 2 years, I have been privileged to witness this first hand and now that I am leaving, I think I will miss this neighborhood after all.
Tunga village celebrates all festivals. Given the fact none of the songs played quite give you any hints as to which festival it is, it does tell you to quickly check the Accenture Holiday Calendar to check if there is a floating holiday that day. As a matter of fact, today I heard “dard-e-disco” and some “dope bhajan”, back to back and ….bang on!!! Mahashivarathri was a floating holiday on the calendar.
I have also seen political rallies (Raj Thackeray was here on the weekend), marriages, cricket celebrations, “I have speakers and want to celebrate” celebrations, “a few of us are drunk and want to celebrate” celebrations and many more. These “parties” happen on the ground, on a stage, roof tops, inside homes, on the road leading to Tunga Village and anywhere and everywhere there is place to setup a bunch of speakers and have a group of drunk hooligans matching every beat. The genre of music is even more diverse. From Ricky Martin to Jagjeet Singh, from the marathi komdi song to Bhojpuri pop, from Himesh Bhai to Madonna, and on certain occasions even Paul Oakenfold and Paul Van Dykes have followers here.
Every night, all one needs to do is climb to the terrace and you will see atleast one building with the shamiyanas on them. And if you’re really lucky, 2 buildings each playing their own music in full blast with no care of this world. Talk about peaceful co-existence!
Tunga Village, I'll sure miss you - Play on!!! :D
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
so much for being resourceful...
So I was using pirated software and it was doing a brilliant job… pdf to .xls converter
My manager came to me asking for something similar
I give it to him
Manager is happy, I am happy (good deed of the day kinds)
He sends mail to client ...."Eureka, we have the software. Send us the rest of the data"
CC's it to senior manager
Senior manager gets a heart attack
Calls manager and asks him…."wtf"
So manager point towards my cube
SM calls me and politely asks me what I am up to....
So I ...PROUDLY .tell him my discovery and how I helped my Manager
SM panics
Asks me if I passed the training on ethics when I joined.
I still don’t get it
I say yes.... y do u ask.
SM is now sweating
Gives me a smile
And say... Nitin....please note..."I am not screwing u, yet "… only asking..."what the F*%K is wrong with u ..
Now the bolt of lightening hits me....aaahhhaaa….So my firm has a problem when if I find an easy non-complicated way to getting a fob done.
All three people then comment..."excuse us while we save our jobs and promptly begin uninstalling the software and make an emergency call to the client to "explain" what just happened"
Well, they asked for it.
Even M was proud of me
Till that SM came in the way!!!!
So much for being resourceful!!!!!
In this firm……no "kadar"...in L&T, this very jugaad attitude made me a hero. If you wanna trouble shoot…dial “NITIN”…he will find a way…by hook or by crook.
Dumb rules and policies
Saala SM even went on to say... “when policies are etched in stone, y do u want to challenge them”
I started to giggle
Not the best thing to do
But couldn’t help it
My head was bringing back images from 10 commandments
U know Moses with 2 stone tablets
In this case, SM=Moses.
My manager is probably now scared to approach me for any help. In a way good :)
I think I may just go back to an Industry after all... Life is honestly so much simpler!!!
Friday, January 23, 2009
as useless as it gets...
Got up late 9am (office starts at 9am)... bad hangover.... had been to Firangi Paani yesterday...yes it was a weekday...so what ...drank like a fish anyways....
Junked breakfast and chai...too bored...had a litre of water... told myself...no more drinking :P well, its a ritual I follow post any heavy drinking session...y change now???
Decided to "work" from home again...boss made a few nasty comments and sounds on the phone...negotiated on half day working. The #%$^&%* doesn't mind the fact that I play games in office but has a problem if I do that at home...weirdo!!!
Decided to pay a visit to my ex-CEO...horrid market + carnage on campus this year@ISB= time for desperate measures, backups and solid networking.
Horrified to hear, that my Mumbai office (ex company) is shutting down...gossiped with ex-colleagues about transfers and screwed-up suppliers and absence of orders...aaaahhhh....I like the industry, way better than consulting!!!
Took a rickshaw to work...reached the south entrance of my office only to realise that the shuttle had stopped fr the day. North entrance was an additional 60 bucks. aaaagggggghhhh!!! Finally reached office @ 2pm. That was 2 hrs later than ...well...late. Was greeted to a sickening smile from my boss...preped myself up fr a gyan session...did not get it...guess the @#%$$## no more cares since I have resigned.
scratched my bald head for some time...yes, that's an "event" in my work-life lately...had a cup of coffee, then a cup of chai, then played games on wellbored.com (a fine site I must say), and now blissfully blogging.
yukkkk!!! WHEN WILL SCHOOL START????
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
2009 starts with a bang!!!
I couldn't think of a better followup post. My group met at Chor bazaar last weekend. There I came across this shop selling old Hindi movie posters. As I spent a few minutes looking at those posters, I saw this one kid come up to pull out one of them for a customers. The writing on the poster was "sabse bada sukh" ("the greatest pleasure"). Being short he didn't get it in the first attempt. Seeing the kid reach out for those words, the pervert in me couldn't help but smile .That's when this pic happened. Even Sharmila Tagore's eyes (poster below) seemed to line up just right :)
Monday, January 05, 2009
The perfect picture
Monday, December 22, 2008
Disturbed
Infact the only time I do get "deep sleep" is just after a sumptuous breakfast...tsk tsk...a sad thing when u spend 5 days a week in office!!!
So on the advise of a friend, I decided to prepare a list, of "disturbing" sounds which have been successful in making my sleep life.. a living hell!!! aka it was her way of telling me .... ur "disturbed" :P
1. Anything beyond a whisper in my room qualifies for noise.
2. TV in any room of the house. This includes the light from the tv, if it enters my room.
3. The dastardly door bell.
4. Any alarm (including my roomies). On numerous occasions, it requires me to wake the intended person up in the other room.(i like to use leg :P )
5. Kitchen utensils have wreaked a havoc in my sleep life.
6. Walking in my room, is sufficient!!!
7. Shower/flush/tap
8. Plastic packet not kept inside and hence flying about because of the fan in my room.
9. laptop being closed (not shutdown)
10. Mobile ringtones being played anywhere in the house.
11. Dog bark...but doggys r ok. Kinda used to it after Snubby :)
12. Constant staring into my face while I sleep. Again, thats Snubby, 5.30 in the morning begging fr a walk :P
13. Sunlight, moonlight, tube light, mobile light, bulb.
And whats most disturbing lately is snoring, yes, my own snoring and the occasional mumbling in my sleep!!! Well, I wake up when I do that as well :)
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The 2nd Degree :)
To the point that, I enjoy the slight twang in my style of talking, I smiled endlessly when I first listened to the ISRO scientists doing a countdown to the Chandrayaan, I cant do without rice, I absolutely cant live without Idly and Dosa and very recently completed my last "South Indian Brahmanical" duty by securing admission towards a 2nd educational degree.
But I realised the symbolic importance of this 2nd degree even before I completed my 1st. I was sitting on my usual spot in the kitchen eating dosas when I asked my mother, "what if I don't want to study anymore. I think I have had it with engineering". Almost immediately I heard, "are you crazy Raghu. Don't talk stupidly. You have to study. You need the 2nd degree". And that when I started to wonder, "why?". I then realised that like all mothers, amma was specially worried about the bride hunt, lest I don't find one myself. As an above middle class South Indian brahmin, that was almost a prerequisite (in many cases)...the 2nd degree.
She even went to the extent to asking the astrologer about my further studies, and guess what he said, "no"... blasphemy!!!
So what if I love meat, not got the sacred thread ceremony done or for the fact that I am an atheist (some say agnostic...who cares!!!). Nothing can be more radical than not getting that PG degree.
Well, it took me 2 jobs and over 3 years of corporate life to realize its importance. Now that I have secured admission into the 2010 MBA batch of Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, I cant stop smiling at the relief I have probably given amma :)
P.S: She still insists its not true :)
another day for the tiger !!!
Manager1, 2 and 3: Good evening
Me: Good morning
Manager1: So I remembered you this morning …hahaha …..it was snowing.
Me: Hahaha, I hate that weather…. Is it snowing bad?
Manager1: Yes a little … it snowed 2 inches in front of my house
Manager2: 3 here
Manager3: Likewise
Me: Darn… just because my calendar says so., I know its winter.
Manager1, 2 and 3: Hahaha
Manager1: My shoulder hurts after all the snow I removed last night, I think I’ll use the snow blower today.
Manager2: I haven’t use one for the last 1 year…my son does it now-a-days.
Me: Hahaha
Manager1: Nitin I don’t think I have anything to discuss today.
Manager2: Hey note that u’ll need to start working on the numbers on XXX supplier as well, I have told him to send u the data.
Me: Will do. Thanks.
Manager3: As for me, I had a chat with you yesterday….guess its status quo as of now.
Me: Hmmm…so should we wrap it up for now
Manager1, 2 and 3: Yes yes…
Manager1: Go grab a beer. Let’s touch base next week.
Me: You too guys. Have a great day.
Total duration 4 mins :-) . And I stayed back for this call!!!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
alone...
Now after more than two year, he has found it. It was Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. He puts the song on repeat and puts on his headphone. He has already heard it more than 9 times now and with every passing minute, its like sinking into an endless bean bag under a moonlit night, every note sucking him deeper, calming him. Its like life in slow motion. He want to scream it out to someone...he finds no one...
Monday, October 20, 2008
Meet no 2 - Flickr Group 11-10-08
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Flickr Group
We met up at 11am and started from the CCD near Sterling. With no definite route, we moved around town through crazy unknown roads (we actually were zigzagging the route...because i remember being in Ballad Estate, Dalal Street, Asiatic Library, Mehta road, etc etc etc.)
We were attacked my dogs on 2 occasions :P (poor mutts got pissed when a few of us sat down to take a pics in the middle of "their" road)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Discovering photoshop!!!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Aimlessly walking around on the weekend, 30-08-08
the song in my head, "I walk the lonely streets on the boulevard of "Mumbai" dreams..."
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I luv this day!!!
celebrating with a couple of shots of glenfiddich in my system and I have reached my "happy place" ........one of the best days in a while....
an awesome performance appraisal, rated among the top of the group, amma finally agreeing to letting me buy a car (hopeful still), entering the top 10 list in Accenture F1 teams, India winning the Asia cup (Affy later corrected me... so it was the Idea cup...who really cares... :) :) hic), I planning to join a gym... anymore of "wow" situations I just might aswell start believing in god... :) :)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Manor, 09-08-08
Travelling to Manor ("ma","noar"), might have been the worst journeys I have been on over the last 2 year. The potholed NH8 highway kept bringing back the disgusting question "Is this why I paid an additional 50K tax this year???."
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Old Mumbai, 04-08-08
Saturday, August 02, 2008
a window in the fort
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Pen,Raigad 20-08-08
Pen is famous for its intricately carved Ganesh idols and with the festival approaching near, my friend and I, armed with our cameras, decided to take this trip and see the charged atmosphere for ourselves.
A few other pic I took there before heading out...The one with the kid is by far my favourite :) Just luv the twinkle in his mischievous eyes.
Our way back... my friend was doing over a 100kmph, and the second I got a straight road, I asked him to slow down a little and not overtake for a while...the idea was to capture the speed...
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Mahalakshmi, Mumbai 05-07-08
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Lonavala 29-06-08
Too exhausted to walk downhill, I managed to hitch a ride back on a Tata 407 tempo. It was filled with labourers from Assam and West Bengal. After scaring them with my broken Bengali, I got a few pics :D
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Fat Snubby!!!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Marine Drive 14-06-08
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Finger :) :) :)
I was moving into my new pad @ Mumbai....the unpacking was getting tiring and I was beginning to sweat real bad....so me went to take off me shirt and ...........bang....... me hand hit the fan.....which needless to say was on full speed :) :)
Now Mumbai has one problem.....yes, just one.....the ceilings are too god damn low....and to top it, when one puts a false ceiling, it gets even lower......so, as I was saying.....the blow created a cut....deep enough for two stitches.
.....now for the cool thing ..... I find it much easier to show some one my finger and get away...... with a sympathy, of all the things.... :) :)