Quick update…

It has been a long time since I have typed in anything. I alone know how much I have missed blogging. But I have not been able to do so. One of the reason for this was that the last few days have been extremely eventful for me. Now that its 12:34 AM on a monday morning and I have time,tranquility of the night and Insomnia on my side I thought it would be a great idea to just key in whatever happened to me in the last few days.

I got the Idea of doing this after reading a wonderful blog that I nowadays visit almost on a daily basis http://nrsl.wordpress.com/

 

• I came back from Nepal to India. (In a strange way I am missing Nepal).
• Visited my brother who was in Hospital due to acute Jaundice (By God’s grace, he is now fine).
• Had a memorable stay in Bangalore (only one night). Met all my old roommates and chatted away the entire night. It will remain as one of the most memorable night of mine.
• Stayed in Hyderabad over a weekend. Met all the old colleagues, friends and roommates. The get together in Ameerpet with all my “Gang” really charged up my batteries.
• I FINALLY found a room near my office in Gurgaon. Gosh!!!!! I had been wanting to change my old room so badly that now I wonder how I did not so earlier.
• After finding the room, I was pissed off. The room was simply too costly for me. I cursed myself for convincing myself to move into such a costly room. But, out of the blue, I found two people who were willing to share my room. So, end of the day, I got my room and I got it for cheap. (God!!! I love you).
• I got a promotion at work. I am now a so called “Team Lead”. This is a new challenge for me, I hope and pray that I respond well to this challenge as well. 
• I finished reading the Alchemist. I must admit it is one of the most wonderful book I have read in a long long time.
• Started reading “Icon”. I have finished almost 25% of the book. As of now this book has portrayed Steve jobs as an “Anti hero”. I don’t like this, cause Steve Jobs is one of my heros. I will still go ahead and complete the book.
• I am now Chandigarh on official work. It is a wonderful place and I like the climate here. I now know first hand why bachelor like this place. Here I saw some of the most beautiful girls of India. Gosh!!! this place is heaven.

I am sure whoever reads this might give a damn about what I did all these days. I understand you. But after many many days, when I read this blog, I am sure I will be glad I wrote this

 

My first North Indian marriage…

Soul mates, it is said, are decided in heaven. The celebration of this heavenly match on earth is – marriage. Recently I had the good luck of attending the first north Indian marriage of my life. On 20th January, 2007 Nitin, a close friend of mine wed Adithi. No doubt it was once in a life time day for Nitin – it was an extremely good day for me as well.

What amazes me the most is the diversity that India has. Though we are from the same country and have common beliefs regarding marriage, the way it is conducted in North and south part of India is breathtakingly different and wonderful thing to experience. The basic difference is that in South India marriage start early in the morning (about 4:00 am) and ends in the evening (about 6:00 pm). In north India marriages begin in the evening (about 6:00 pm) and end in the morning (4:00 am). This is as far as the timing is concerned. This is also the tip of an Iceberg.

Once more very big difference was the “Nach Gana” (singing and dancing) part North Indian marriage. The atmosphere is very lively and fun filled. There is a lot of music and people dancing all around. I could see an old man with all his hairs white and hardly able to walk giving his best shot at dancing. Now that’s what I call participation. The marriage atmosphere in south India is much sober. It is also conducted in a very orthodox way. Dancing is less and limited only to the younger lot.

Another difference is the verity of food available. Everything from milk, tea, coffee, Horlicks, Roti, Kulcha, Raita, fried brinjal, Jalebi, rasgula, Ice cream, Rice, bhaji was available for the taking. North Indians seem to just love food. This is one more common thing that I share with north Indians.

There were some funny traditions that I happened to see. One such tradition is called as “Jaymala”. Here the bride and the bridegroom are supposed to exchange garlands. The fun part is that when the bride is trying garland the groom, the groom’s friend make a lot of fuss over it. They act as if they do not want the groom to get married away and a lot of fun and frolic happens. Ultimately the groom and his friends relent and the bride put garland over the groom. The same refusal game is played by the bride’s friends when the groom tries to garland the bride. It’s an extremely funny thing to watch – I loved seeing it.

Another such thing is when the couple starts to have food. The bride’s friends and sisters literally surround the groom. They have some fun with the groom by giving “sweet dishes”. The funny part is that the so called sweet dishes have salt in them instead of sugar!!!! It is not done is a dry and customary way, but it done in a very lively way with a lot of fun and enthusiasm. You must see it to know what I am telling.

One more funny tradition is that the bride sister’s try to steal the groom’s shoes. The groom along with his friends keeps a close watch on his shoes. They try their level best to “protect” it from the bride’s sisters. In case the bride’s sisters are successful in stealing the shoes, the groom will have to “pay” to get bay his own shoes from them. Funny – right??

The way that North Indians conduct marriages might be vastly different from that of south India. But, the common this is the good will everyone has for the newly weds. By following different traditions and ways the only thing they wish is that the couples live happily ever after. I too wish the same…:-)

 

New place, new dreams and new challenges – Now in Delhi!!

So – I have left Hyderabad. It feels good to know that I am moving ahead with life. It feels good to know that I can accept challenges. It feels good to know that I am growing up – at last. Any new place offers soo much. It offers you an opportunity to earn new friends, face new challenges, test yourself, make new mistakes, learn about different people, learn about different culture and broaden your knowledge. In more ways then one, I am happy that I took the decision to try luck in a new place.

Many of my friends were shocked to know that I am moving towers Northern India. After all, Susheel is a typical south Indian boy who loves to stay nearer to home – is what they thought. Hmm, frankly speaking – even I am shocked that I took the decision to move so far away from my Home town. Maybe – just maybe, it was because I studied in this place during my childhood. I have some found memories from Delhi. Whatever the reason, I am now in Guargaon and glad that I am still alive to write about it.

After a very hectic first month, in which I was forced to retune myself to the climate and people of this place, I am slowly settling down. The climate in this place (at this time of the year) is much cooler then in south India. The people here are very bold, confident and outgoing as compared to south Indians. And the best part is they simply love to talk – a trait that is common between us.

I have a big wish list now. To mention a few – I want to see snow fall, I want to ride in a desert (both a rarity in south India), I want to see the Taj mahal, I want to see the beautiful hill stations of North India (shimla, Kasar devi.. etc) and last but not the least – I want to make as many new friends as possible.

I understand it’s less then a month since I came to this place. I understand that my stay here might be bumpy. I understand that I might face a lot of problems initially – but all this excites me and makes me happy to have the courage enough to come to this place. Let’s see how my stay here turns out to be

 

My greatest gift from Hyderabad

While I was leaving Hyderabad, someone had the guts to point out that I am too much glued to the present. He told that I need to forget things and move on. Let me tell as candidly as I can – I think you are wrong. I can never forget Hyderabad. I have earned something more then money here. I have earned friends. Each of my friends is worth more than a Billion dollar in cash. In the next few lines I attempt to describe a few of my dearest friends. These friends have had a tremendous impact on me as a person.

Amol is the nearest person I have seen to a perfect person. He has so much patience that I would be a hundred times better person even if I had a quarter of his patience. He dribbles very easily between a Project engineer par excellence, a hard nosed professional and a great friend. He is also the most frequent visitor to my Blog. His encouragement and support is something I will not trade for a bank full of money. Words are not sufficient to describe a friend like him.

Bhavnesh is a person I can go to ask for advices. He has seen the ugliest face of life and emerged victorious. He is less of a friend and more like a big brother for me. Nobody can match his Will power, tenacity and straight forwardness. I have immense respect for him as a person. I sometimes feel lucky to have found a friend like Bhavnesh.

Basava is the Tiger of my group. Always enthusiastic and passionate in what ever he does. His fighting spirit and never say die attitude catches up with you like an epidemic. If at any point of time you are low, sad or need a kick – meet Basava. Simple, your problem is resolved. I would not have come out of a very tragic phase of my life if it were not for Basava.

Feras is the Einstein among our friends. It has been more then a year since he left Nokia Hyderabad. Till today people swear by his name. He is a through gentleman who also knows how to have fun. A full page would be insufficient if I start writing about things I have learnt from Feras.

Nikhil is the person with the softest of hears and the best of manners. HE connects with people so well that I sometimes feel he is either a magician or a charmer. A very tough minded professional – He is the most brilliant transmission engineer I have come across. He is such a good listener that I sometimes pity him. He had the bad luck of listening to my non stop talk marathons, without even complaining once. A lot of credit for my professional success goes to Nikhil.

I can go on and on. But the friendship that I have shared with these few peoples is so deep that I am at loss of words. These people have had tremendous impact on me as a person as well as on my character. Their friendship is the greatest gift I take from Hyderabad.

 

Cherished moments…

After my first day in Hyderabad on 1st April, 2005 (a detailed account of which I have given in my previous post) I was convinced that my stay in Hyderabad will be adventurous. For once, I was correct. Can you see the happy face of the pig in dirty mud in the attached picture? I have been happier then that pig

Someone has said that your entire life can be broken down into few moments of joy, happiness, sadness and grief. These moments define the essence of your life. I agree with it. In this post of mine, I have made a feeble attempt to capture some of the interesting/happy moments I have had in Hyderabad. I am sure these moments will stay on with me long after I have left Hyderabad. These moments will always make me laugh, cry, sad and happy.

The most cherished moments that I take from Hyderabad are the small get together I used to have with my friends. These evenings spent with Feras, Nikhil, Amol, Bhavnesh and praveen are no less then a treasure. We used to talk about Life, Girls, latest movies, songs, food, Einstein, office politics, plans to screw our bosses, Newton’s laws, past adventures, latest weight reduction techniques, Ram leela etc. In short we used to talk about anything and everything on the face of this earth. Of course I was the one who always talked the most. Friends – I will miss you and also miss our small get togethers.

There is one particular Black dog in our colony that seems to simply love me (I am sure Amol will be laughing even as he reads these lines). This black shows me soo much affection that I have now become a laughing stock among friends. Whenever this dog sees me, it will not miss an opportunity to run as fast as it can and collide with me. It takes particular care that I will not notice it coming. I still remember the night it sneaked up into my compound and was sleeping. It being a black dog, I could not even see it in the dark. I closed the gate behind me. When the black dog smelled me, it came running at full speed to collide with me. The only problem is that in the dark, it found the gate instead of me. The dog fell unconscious in front of me!!!!!!! Later it limped away. Black dog – I will miss your collision and theatrics.

I generally am not very good at dressing up. Not to mention I am very passable guy when it comes to looks. This have very often put me in funny/embarrassing situation. I remember once going to Hyderabad central and glancing over Nike shoes. A smartly dressed guy came walking to me and asked – “What’s the rate of this shoe”!!! How very silly of him. Then there was a situation where I was waiting for my friends with tickets in my hands in front of a theater. One moron came to me and asked – “Bahiya, balcony ticket kitne mein diya?” Dude, does a genius like me look like a black ticket seller to you? My friends and I have always had good laugh over these situations. Fellow Hyderabadies – I will miss the misjudgment that you did going by my looks.

I particularly liked the time that I have spent with Amol in Pizza hut. Those visits use to be extremely philosophical and fun. A lot of my major decisions I have made in office life have been taken over a slice of pizza with Amol. Those days I have not eaten a pizza, I have savored slices of happiness. Amol – I will miss the time spent with you in Pizza hut.

Officially I have seen a lot of success in Hyderabad. I have made quick and efficient progress from a fresher to a back bone resource in Nokia – Hyderabad. I have won various accolades and appreciation from various people. But, all these things simply pale in comparison to the affection of my my friends. The support, joy, fun and understanding they have given to an eccentric guy like me are unbelievable. Not to mention the patience they have to listen to my endless gibberish.

For me these are not just cherished moments of Hyderabad – these are my little drops of Joy.

 

Money

It’s so very strange – how a single conversation can make you think deeply. Today, a very old friend of mine called me. It’s been months since we had spoken with each other. We spoke about everything under the son. Slowly the topic turned over the topic of money. My friend is of the opinion that I don’t understand the value of money. This got me thinking.

I have never been a very shrewd person when it comes to money matters. I am very simple and have pretty simple needs. And do not attach much importance to money. I do not invest much nor do I spend much. When I see people accumulating money, adopting unethical means to get a few extra bucks I have fell its rubbish.

Very soon my good old friend and I got into a friendly argument. He was of the opinion that today I do not realize the importance of money. But, tomorrow when I get married and have kids to take care of, I will repent for not having invested wisely now. He was of the opinion that I should not keep the money in my account, but, I should make it work for me, by investing in business, shares etc. Only money begets money. He was also of the opinion that we should not work “hard”. We should work smart (what ever that means). Also using a little unethical means (like producing wrong pay slips in interviews) is OK if it fetches you some additional money. I dismissed all his arguments as being too much inclined towards greed. He was adamant that if not today, I will definitely understand that he is right and I am wrong.

I thought over it hard. I do not think Money begets money. I think Money is just a byproduct of hard work and sincerity. I also believe that unethical means of earning money will not take you too far. I don’t know how, but I think being unethical will not do well for you in the long run. And I also “feel” that God, in his very own way takes care of every need of a human in a very unique way. He opens he right doors at the right time. When I get married and have kids, I am sure I will be able to do my best even if I am not greedy or unethical today.

These are my beliefs. I do not know how correct they are in today’s Kalyug. Yes, my Good old friend might be correct. Yes, I might realize that I was not right. But till then I am happy I stick to my beliefs

 

Productivity…

I had a very good day today. No office, no calls, no mad rush, no quarrel with collogues and/or boss. I have taken leave from office and devoted the entire day to studying. It was a wonderful feeling – felt like a student again (I have always loved being a student).

I almost finished the entire book on “Introduction to management” but for the last chapter. Today I learnt about different control techniques in management. I also learnt about Operational research (OR). OR caught my imagination almost at once. OR is the field of management that uses mathematical modeling to solve the various management related issues (like human resource calculation, inventory ordering, risk analysis etc). It helps managers to make optimal and most logical decisions under uncertainty. Hmm…interesting. Math has a say in management as well, felt good to know that.

After the entire day was over, one of my very good friends – Amol – called me. We chatted routinely and he asked me how much hours I have put in to study and what all I have learnt. The discussion went back to our engineering days and he was surprised to know I used to study for almost 12 hours a day during our preparation holidays. He was of the opinion that studying that much did not actually give good “productivity“. This got me thinking.

I felt that whatever he was telling was very reasonable. It also made me think more about the concept of productivity itself. The most commonly used interpretation of productivity is Productivity = (output/input). It is the output that we generate per unit of input. If this ratio is more, the productivity is considered to be more. This is correct when we are talking about machines and other non living things. But, I feel, this definition is not correct when human beings are involved.

When humans are involved, productivity is so much more then the ratio of input to output. Let me try and clarify. A student may study for 12 hours and yet not get good scores, in general terms you may say that his/her productivity is low. But, this teaches the student the importance of tenacity, never say die attitude and a passion for striving hard to get results. A fresh graduate may give interviews in about 10 companies before getting a final job. In general terms you may say that the productivity of the person in 10 previous attempts was zero. But it is this zero productivity activity that gave him much needed experience so that he can clear on the 11th attempt. Are you getting what I am trying to say??

Life for many of us is so much like a tennis game. You can have control over the ball only when it is in your court. Once you have hit that ball across to the other court, you do not have control over the ball or what your opponent does with it. Productivity for me is doing your best when the ball is in your court. It does not matter if you miss the ball, so long as you have stretched to your maximum extent possible. Your productivity should be measured by the amount of effort you are putting in when the ball is in you court. You are ultra productive if you are doing best in your court. You are unproductive if you are not playing up to your best of abilities.

Thank you Amol for your chat with me today

 

Friends..

I have always believed that God loves me. One of the best examples for this is the friends he has given me. I have been blessed with some Great friends who have touched every part of my life. I Thank God a Million times for giving me such great friends.

I traveled down my memory lane to find out what would have happened if I had no friends? What would have happened if God did not send friends to me in difficult time?

Whom would I play with in my childhood? How would I derive a sense of belongingness during my young days? How would it be if I were alone without friends when I first arrived in Delhi at the age of 13? How would I have made my first year in college enjoyable if I were alone? Who would I have talked to about my first love in engineering college days? Who would I turn to when I went to Bangalore with nothing more then dreams in my eyes? Where would I look for help when I was stolen off my money and left penniless on the streets of Hyderabad – on my first day of arrival? Who would have helped me when I was cheated by a person promising me that he will find a room for me to stay in Hyderabad? Who would have helped me when I first walked into a hostile and competitive company as a fresher? Who would have listened to me when I needed a shoulder to cry upon? Who would have calmed me when I am angry about someone/something? …

The list seems endless. It humbles me when I think how many wonderful friends God has given me. When ever I have been in trouble (and I am in that zone very often), God has always sent me a friend to help me solve my problems. I would not have been what I am today if it were not for a bunch of friends who held me in my difficult times.

A million thanks to God!!!!

 

One more Wicket falls in NSN – Vikas resigns

The bunch of happy faces you see has been taken in front of Hyderabad Airport (Don’t worry!!!!! I am not there in the snap), when we had gone to send off Vikas. Vikas has now resigned from NSN and moves abroad to chase his dreams and look for a better future, I am sure all the people in this snap are wishing him the very best from the deepest of their hearts.

Vikas has been less of a co worker and more of a friend from almost a year. It feels strange and odd – cause with passage of time you tend to get used to some faces when you spend time with them – and suddenly to know that from tomorrow you will not be seeing them in their seats, that you wont be able to see their faces as frequently as you have got used to – it feels odd and strange. But the only thing that makes me feel good is the fact people always leave for their own betterment and personal improvement.

I am slowly getting used to this slow march of friends/collogue from my company. But each and every friend who has left the company have thought me some pretty good and lasting lessons.

Feras has thought me how important it is to be Silent. He thought me how speaking a few words could mean a thousand sentances. He truly thought me – Speech in silver and silence is Golden.

Nikhil (Fifth person from Left) has thought me the importance Deep friendship. Nikhil thought me how to truly connect with other people. He thought how to be soft and still be strong. He truly thought me – A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Bhavnesh (Third person from left) has thought me the importance of being Practical. He thought me that the word is not really as rosy as it seems. He thought me that the best from of help is self help. He truly thought me – How to have a body of thorns and a heart of rose, and still be a good human being.

Vikas (Fourth person from left) thought me the importance of being Professional. He thought me how silly and foolish it is to mix personal life with Professional life. He thought me how important it is to be confident in what you believe, no matter what others think. In his very own way he perhaps thought me the 10 most wonderful letters I have known – “IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME”.

But the fun part is that when these guys were with me, I did not learn the lessons. I took too much for granted. But today when and sit and reflect on what each of these wonderful people who have been with me have thought me, the lesson’s become more evident.

For Now – So long Vikas here’s wishing you all the very best CHEERS!!!!!!!!