1st International Maitree Photography Contest 2008

The Fly in (to B.I.A)

As promised, the arrival experience to Bangalore International Airport is as follows.


This was the day when I was flying into the Bangalore International Airport (from Delhi). Had read reviews and had also being told that the departure was always good but the arrivals does bring in bad experiences. Well, this was my first arrival at the Bangalore International Airport (after the old H.A.L Airport was decommissioned).

Had an early morning flight out of Delhi (6:45 AM Indigo, from Delhi to Bangalore). Being a Sunday there was not much of traffic congestion in Delhi, so the flight did take off on time (for a change else there is usually a waiting list of 8-10 aircraft's waiting for takeoff from the Delhi Airport). The flight was uneventful and landed at Bangalore 5 min(s) ahead of schedule. The arrival time was 9:35 AM and it actually landed and we were off-board by 9:30 AM.


The Pilot himself announced that with the new Bangalore International Airport coming up, the arrivals are always on time - with no need to circle the city (Bangalore) for the Air Traffic Controller to provide the clear passage when an available slot would be available in the old H.A.L Airport and the flight could land. Well, that does not ATC are out of job - they did give the clearance and it came without any delay.

Thus the flight landed. Unfortunately the aero-bridges were already full. So the Indigo flight taxied to a place on the tarmac where the Indigo attendants were waiting for the flight. The arrival lounge is large (really large as compared to the old H.A.L Airport). One thing that provides a bit of an hindrance is that the arrivals of all the flights finally channelizes to a corridor. Becomes a bit of packed when many passengers have arrived and as usual they are rushing for the Baggage claims. Else, it is superbly designed.

The conveyor belts are in total 7 (compared to the H.A.L Airport that had only 3 conveyor belts). The rumour (as heard) was sometimes passengers had to wait 30-40 mins for the baggage's to arrive. The arrival/baggage claim lounge is so large that while we waited for the baggage - wondering when it would turn up - the silence was stunning !

But, call it luck (or what!), the baggage conveyor belt started off in 10 Min's..and the baggage's started rolling. I took a time stock - it was ~9:45 AM. Was relieved to see the bag roll out after five more minutes. It was 9:50 AM (not much of a rush - as it was a Sunday morning, so probably not much of incoming traffic into the Bangalore International Airport). Off-course, after the Baggage claim the Red-Channel and Green-Channel greets you - well, but were flying domestic. A lot of hawk-eyed cops and Customs officials (I suppose - as they were in dark suits) screened the outgoing passengers - for possible victims for Red-Channel.


Had seen earlier that the B.I.A.L - a/c VOLVO's departed on the hour, so when the baggage was collected and I exited the Airport - had around 5 min(s) to catch the a/c Volvo. Off-course, you will be met with free-lance Taxi drivers looking for a ride - if not walk on. The Pre-Paid taxi stand will be at your Left and the a/c Volvo Bus stand will be at your Right. They are both equidistant...must say, a nicely thought design. The best part is you can take the trolley all the way till the bus-boarding. No need to drag/pull/carry the luggage's if one is planning to take the Volvo.

The good thing is even the BMTC folks (dressed in White) - the official Volvo dress code, will be standing and directing the passengers to the awaiting Volvo's. Thus boarded the Volvo (BIAL-3, International Airport to Jeevanbhima Nagar) and started off at exactly 10:00 AM. Not bad, not bad at all. The journey was a 1:30 hr ride (as mentioned in the bmtc charts) and thus arrived at Jeevanbhima Nagar at 11:30 AM. Not to be forgotten, the Volvo conductor was quite courteous and helped out the passengers with the baggage's storage's, and coordinated dropping the passengers near auto-stops for easier next level transit.

Luckily, the auto driver did not charge much to travel to Vinayaka Nagar - very short distance !! - and was thus home by 11:45 AM. Over review of the arrival at B.I.A and the connecting transportation - will give a 8/10.

However, with rising prices of Aviation Fuel, B.I.A planning to add on an additional passenger tax (on top of what is already available) for all domestic/international to recover the new Airport usage, the rising cost of inflation - the Flight ticket prices are sky-rocketing.

Thinking of trying out the good old Rajdhani next time !! :-)

workexp.com

Found this blog site which searching. It says Applaud.Appreciate.Complain, but truly there are some good blogs on intra-company as well as inter-company happenings.

Memoirs of ONMS Saga (Part 3)

Well, then all good things come to an end. The time came for me to return offshore too. The last men standing (well before that) moved on to a Paying Guest apartment near the Holmdel Office.

It was like walking distance from the Office. This paying guest apartment (owned by a Chinese named Joy !!) was then host to self (for a few weeks), Anjan, Gopi, Suyog. We can say that Gopi took the full advantage of staying Paying Guest apartment, and Joy's favourite was Gopi !! Aaah..The Gopi-Joy saga is a different story altogether. This was to be followed by the arrival of Murali Malepati, Prasad Pillai and Abinesh Raghavan - and the return to the once beloved locality 'Eatoncrest Apartments, Eatontown'.

Well, returned to Offshore and met all the folks/pillars who had started the Project. Additionally Client employees were also induced, and the TCS and Alcatel-Lucent (then it was called Lucent) folks - all used to operate from ITPL. Still remember the day when, 50 Dell Latitude D610 laptops arrived from Singapore and were dumped on our floor (it said To: Partha !!) for follow-up allocation to the OMS team at ITPL.

That was one heck of an allocation, ensuring that all the folks who were supposed to get the laptops were assigned one, doing a stock inventory and off-course marking the laptop Tag IDs assigned to the folks. Then to have a Lucent employee sign-off on the allocation...cause at the end of the day, we are still Contractors. Huh !

Then came the expected news....we (some part of ONMS was OMS team) were moving to wilderness. The wilderness (well this was the year 2003) was Bannerghatta Road (very close to Bannerghatta National Park known for its elephant, gaur, leopard, jackal, fox, wild pig, sloth bear, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, common langur, bonnet macaque, porcupine and the hare !!). The Office was nicknamed - LBC - Lucent Bannerghatta Campus. So the move did happen.....and then started the cross-country travel from as far as K.R. Puram (we were lucky..we were near Kemp Fort, Airport Rd) to Bannerghatta Road.

Travel was treacherous...there were Taxi shuttles that one person used to initiate and pick up folks en route. On our route the starter was KNP. He would start from Ulsoor, and on way pick up self, Rammohan (from Kemp Fort, Airport Road) and Barnali (from BTM).

That reminds me...one of the female associates in our project was then code-named 'Mafia' - know why ? The female associate was well know in arranging parties and ensuring sponsors were enrolled and more in extracting the funds/contribution for the party. Parties were never a problem when our 'Mafia' was around.

Then came a project called - Migration. It started as a two page concept of migrating a Legacy system to a new product and became a huge beast that will go on for the years to come (actually still going on !!) involving at least "n"-folks [Self, Gopi, Suyog, Bharat, Sushma, Kishore, Srabani, Supriya, Divya, KB Siva, Rohit, Hugar, Tarun, Vishal ...too name a few]. Had to travel again for Migration support.Well, to keep it short lets say Migration support from Onsite was a test of patience - as Offshore migration folks kept dropping off the radar (business calls it attrition) or were moved to support other projects.

Finally, returned back to home sweet home and met a 'almost' completely new team. Many of the start-up "pillars" had fallen to the word attrition/transfer etc. etc. and only a few remained. It was like me being a new joiner walking into the ITPL floor :-) Met new folks of the current ONMS team.

Saw that the PP (Party primes) had gone into hibernation ! It was work-work-and-work all day.

Thus started (actually re-initiated) the Project Parties, Account Potluck, Project Outings and off course the on-floor celebrations/fun. Not to miss, taking over the reins of the ONMS project too. All that next time.

To be continued.....

Memoirs of ONMS Saga (Part 2)

Errata to Part 1: (Thanks to Prasad G) - Coke Car belonged to Prasad, Partha, Surya, Gopi and Praveen. The Pepsi Car belonged to Rammohan, Badami, Murali and Yugandar. Such is the Pepsi-Coke tale..

Clarification to Part 1: (Query from Sushma) - Oh ! the 'badami' story - the 'badami' turned out to be a 'he'. Well - that was my first contact to Nagaraj Badami. Luck or Karma :-(

Those were the times when induction training was in full flow. Moreover, we did not have laptops. Returns from office used to be quite late and we used to envy anyone who used to say 'See You tomorrow' by 6-7 in the evening.

Even in the mornings there used to frequent trips to office - as telecons were placed quite early in the morning (7am) with teams from Japan/India. But then Red Hill, Lucent office was only 20 min(s) away - not like the current Murray Hill office which is around 1.30 hr(s) away from Eatontown.

From our perch at the Eatontown apartment (25B), we once saw - across the parking lot - one of Group 4 climb into their 1st floor (indian : ground floor) apartment through their open Kitchen window. Seems they had locked themselves out of their apartment. Not to be outdone, later we heard rumours - that another of our colleagues, who had locked themselves out, do a repeat performance to their 2nd Floor apartment (indian: first floor).

Guess what - one of the adventurous types seems to have climbed the pipe, entered through the open Rest Room window and unlocked the apartment ! Hmm...so much for community security....

Off course, weekends were for what they were. Usually a three car caravan will be doing a tail-gating around - travelling places. Then again - there was a protocol...the cars used to follow each other. In case any other car got in between (in the high-way), our (one of three) car used to de-accelerate so that this other car would change lanes and pass. So much for the car following protocol. Remember the time, when we (Thanks to Gopi - our lead car Navigator) took a wrong turn into 'Middletown' !!

Later that 'Middletown' (well, there was an equivalent place close to our house also) - happened to be ~100 miles away from home. After taking the wrong turn, we parked on the kerb to ask directions from a 911 car already parked - with flashing lights. Guess Three cars suddenly parking around the 911 car must have done something - as suddenly the flashing lights were switched off. God ! we did not know what to do...so we risked it and decided to enquire somewhere else...

Then started the competition for the Best Navigator Award. The cause was championed by the Group 4 basically and then seconded by Group 8. Finally after a lot of group discussion, secret ballots, campaign and what not - we choose Praveen (a.k.a KNP) as the Best Navigator. But, KNP still will surely say that he is not the 'best' navigator.

By the way (for your information), KNP also became famous for his 'Yellow Dal' (thanks to Badami) which almost everybody in Eatontown has devoured. Well, let us say - there were no options !!

More folks joined in. Which off course meant more celebrations, parties and entertainment at Onsite.

The more the better. By this time, the Offshore team had also got created. New people joined the team, new folks came to Onsite. More folks came on board (onsite) - Subhojit Dasgupta, Ramasame K, Bhavana Adhiyal, Mehaboob, Giri, Roshen, Santosh, Abhay, Suyog, Prasad, Abhinesh. Offshore team also started growing - Anamika, Dharma, Sripradha, Navin etc.

And then there was the cost-cutting and the Offshore-Onsite and vice-versa rotations. Some of the folks choose a different county for taking new apartments..we still remember real-estate agents gullible words..."we have the Beach"...

As more and more folks shifted to Offshore, there were lease breakages/re-shuffling of folks and furniture [:-)] ....as we consolidated the heads and the apartments....and finally 25B, Eatoncrest Dr.,Eatontown became the ONMS HQ.

To be continued....

Memoirs of ONMS Saga (Part 1)

It was a late chilly night of Mumbai weather that the phone started ringing. Was just out of the Nortel Labs and was with our beloved Manpower Allocation Task Committee for a new project. Well - late nights was never a problem those days. The call was from NJ from the Onsite Project Leader. They were looking for folks and it seemed that the profile matched. Thus came through the opportunity to join ONMS. The folks making the call were Venkatesh and Vandana....call it coincidence or karma ...both were ex-Nortel blood :-)

The instruction were handed over to touch base with one 'Badami' to get the induction documents for ONMS project. Now, being a northy (north indian), it was very very difficult to make out if Badami was a he or she. Initial requests for the induction documents were replied as 'could not be send as they were confidential'. What - are we into rocket science project ?

Thus was the first introduction to Group-4 (no no ..not the Security company) ... these were the Group-4 of ONMS - Rammohan Mylavaram, Badami Nagaraj, Murali Malepati and Yugandhar Sarraju. The Group-4 was the first team to reach ONMS Onsite after the 2V's (Venkatesh and Vandana). Rumour has it that a caravan of Tata Sumo's (heard it from Group 4) had come to the Airport to drop of Murali. Hey ! but the weight limits is only 32+32+12 Kgs of baggage !

Then more instructions came through....another team of ONMS folks were to fly out via Mumbai (then it was called Bombay). I was to meet then and fly out with them. This team was flying in from Bangalore and Hyderabad. Well, had not met any of them - the only details I had was 'names' - that's all !

Thus started the process of visa processing, travel formalities with daily trips to Nariman Point - Air India Building, where our HQ of Visa and Travel are located. Finally on the day, when I was collected my Ticket and Passport - overheard another person enquiring about Lucent ONMS. Hmmm...introduced myself and the other person turned out to be Rajeshwar Boinapally (flying in from Hyderabad for ONMS). Hence, met the first ONMS member F2F. It was the year 2001. The Partha-Rajeshwar saga will go on for the next 8 yr(s) in ONMS......

On the day of departure, my Mumbai roomies saw me off at the Airport. There the plan was to see if I could meet any of the other ONMS folks before checking in. Had met only Rajeshwar till them....The lo-and-behold, saw a big fella tugging at equally bulky suitcases. Had a look at the address sticker on his suitcases....and thus met Prasad Govenkar. The others came too...Gopi Manginani, Ramana Kotapalli, Rajeshwar, Praveen KN. Rumour has it that Praveen (heard it from Group 4) that was garlanded at Bangalore Airport and had even given a 'speech' at the Airport. Now that's we call a grand send-off.

We did reach JFK on time ...and the grand limo's picked us up at the Airport. Rajeshwar showed us the Twin Tower's (from the Limo, as we drove across to NJ from NY) - and we planned to visit it some day. Unfortunately, 48 hrs after that the Twin Towers were no more.We checked into the hotel - Extended Stay America, Red Bank on Saturday, Sep-9-2001. The next day (Sunday), more ONMS Members came through - Surya Kodukulla (intra-USA relocation) and Bhavana Shinde (from Bangalore). Thus the Group-8 was formed :-)

Thus started the ONMS core project ...and our relationship with ONMS (an equivalent Offshore team was also formed, but a few months from now). Not to mention the mark of Lucent Technologies (and Bell Lab Innovations) that greeted us at the Holmdel Office at NJ (we were operating for some months from Red Hill, NJ). The First Transistor was made by Lucent Technologies....and thus it stood a reminder for generations to come on the company that triggered the Electronics revolution.

Thus started the Office work, the late nights (we did not have laptops that time), the training, the induction and the package of challenges that comes when a new product/project is outsourced. Some of the Group 4,8 - we assigned to core development, some to testing and some as System Engineers. The initial days were tough....but there are always 'the' weekends to wind down.

I remember (watching from our kitchen window)Group-4 marching out of their apartment with 4-extra large Tiffin carriers for Lunch. The Enterprise - Coke (red) and Pespi (blue) Ford Escort's parked next to each other in the parking lot - the Coke Escort belonged to Ram, Murali, Bandami and Yugandhar. The Pepsi Escort belongedto Prasad Govenkar, Surya (had a US license but never drove a car - I wonder !!), Partha, Gopi and Praveen.

Also remember, the days when we used to wait in the Parking lot for Praveen and Gopi to meet us for the car pool. Praveen (and mind it...it was repeated every day morning) would step out of the apartment - with a coffee mug in hand, show us his other hand - in other words telling us to wait, and disappear back into the Apartment.

And later will come Gopi - running with a pan/saucepan in his hand and having his breakfast in the car as we drove to Office. Many a times ...there was also a pressure cooker (nope...no thoughts...this is a actual pressure cooker folks !! No guesses !! ) in the car trunk. This started the Eatontown saga....was to go on for another 5-6 yr(s) on rotation as ONMS folks took turns in renewing the Eatontown lease albeit for different apartments....

To be continued.......

Encounter of the Third kind - B.I.A - the Flyout

Well ! For folks who are just wondering what is B.I.A - it would be Bengaluru International Airport, Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bangalore, India. The Bengaluru International Airport project build at an estimated 25.3 Billion Rupees (USD 6.33 Billion) was inaugurated on Friday, May 23, 2008for all domestic and International travellers. The following is my first-hand experience of a domestic flight out of the new Airport (B.I.A)....

Thus the day arrived when the I had to taken the first flight via the new B.I.A (remembering the good old days where it used to be 5-Min's walk to the old H.A.L Airport). Off-course the homework had being done - news paper reviews were read, feedback from friends (and foes) were taken, time estimations were done and last but not the least - the complete plan was divided into Phases. Here goes the Phases.

Phase 1: The Planning

Since I was travelling light, the Volvo Shuttle (operated by B.M.T.C) was the best bet. There are two kinds the non-A/C and the A/C ones. The frequency of the non-A/C ones is every 1/2 hrs ...while the frequency of the A/C ones are every 1 hour. Since I was starting off from Vinayaka Nagar (near Rajeshwari Theatre/SNS Arcade, Airport Road) - the HAL Departure stop was the best place, but it did not have a waiting area (shaded spaced). So I choose the JeevanBhimaNagar Bus Terminus to catch my bus to B.I.A. The exactly timings of the Volvo departures can be got online at: http://www.viaworld.in/bdo?action1=BSRC

The ticket price of the A/C Volvo from JeevanBhimaNagar to B.I.A is Rs 150.00. You can book online or take the ticket in the bus. Since the flight was at 17:55 hrs (Indigo to Delhi 6E 122), and not quite approximating the Bangalore Traffic - i chose the 1300 hrs (1:00 noon) Volvo to B.I.A.

At the JeevanBhimaNagar Bus Terminal there is a B.I.A liaison officer who helps with the queries from the passengers and providing requested details etc. The Bus (they keep shuttling) started on time. The Volvo's (only the A/C ones) have a luggage rack inside the Bus (woh ! Even the luggage gets to travel in A/C !!). It is good if folks are travelling with light luggage's...heavy suitcases/packages may cause problems in loading/unloading and storage. Well, was all settled in and the Volvo started...it was 1:00 noon...and by the time we started there were only 4-5 seats available (not sure if standing is allowed !!). Phase 1 completed.

Phase 2: F1 in the Volvo
The Volvo negotiated all the travel route quite comfortably and picking up passengers from the scheduled stops (only for B.I.A drop-off) enroute. The Volvo was completely full by the time we crossed CMH Road. A few of the passengers had online tickets - which proved that the online booking systems was secure too (for folks who like to do pre-planning). The Volvo raced the last 23 Kms (you can see no concrete jungle around..it is all greenery !) to reach B.I.A in exactly 1hr.30Min's (as mentioned in the BMTC schedule).

However, I would recommend for folks who are travelling in the peak-traffic hours to keep some time - as buffer - as one should know the Bangalore traffic bottle-necks and these Volvo's (at least the JeevanBheemaNagar to B.I.A) passes through many of them. Phase 2 completed.

Phase 3: The grand entrance to B.I.A
Reached B.I.A. The Volvo parking bay is bang in front of the new Airport. You just need to stroll down the area into the Airport. Nicely planned. As soon you see the Bengaluru International Airport, you will feel the essence of it. It is majestic, way beyond and better than the old H.A.L Airport (well the distance of the latter will always stay as a plus factor). Its looks and feels truly international.

And yes - the grand giant Louis Vuitton (LV) 'suitcase' prop (to denote an international/domestic frequent flyer) that welcomes all...you can never miss it !! Once there do keep a lookout on the LCD Display to see which counter (there are 50+ domestic check-in counters) is assigned for your flight/Airlines. Phase 3 completed.

Phase 4: Check-in

Entered "The" Airport. The immense size of the airport and its grandeur will surely take you by surprise. Unlike the old H.A.L airport - there is not x-ray screening of your baggage prior to entering the airport. You can just stroll with you luggage showing you Ticket/E-Ticket and Photo-ID card. Do locate your Check-in counter and proceed with the check-in.

Off-course you can choose to go to Coffee Cafe Day prior-to or after the check-in. With the Boarding pass in-hand, one is all free to roam and explore the new Airport. Security checking and boarding is from First floor.

Would have surely liked a bit more of seating areas for passengers waiting for check-in. The single line (pair) of the comfortable seating area falls short when there is huge crowd (many of then had come before time - factoring in the distant airport) of awaiting passengers. Phase 4 completed.

Phase 5: The Departure lounge

This where the 'international' standards come into play. After the Security check-in at first floor, you are greeted with a chain of shops that can surely make your purse lighter.

For Domestic Departure, you have - Shoppers Stop, La Moda (houses apparels and accessories of popular domestic and international brands), Crossword, Mithaas (serves local and regional sweets along with international chocolate brands and confectioneries), Taste of India (multi-cuisine restaurant serves a variety of cuisines from all over the world to suit any palate).

Off-course the Barista Bar (for the coffee connoisseur) and Time-Out Bar (for a quick drink before you fly) are add-ons for the thirsty passengers. Thus while away your time waiting for the boarding to start. The International departure lounge has a additional attraction ...the Kingfisher Bar. Well, maybe next time. Phase 5 completed.

Phase 6: The Flight out....

The time of the flight came through. Was expecting the aero-bridges to be used (there are only 6 of them), but well they were all full. There were Buses waiting to take us to the awaiting Airbus. With all passengers boarded the flight was all set to go. The Airport did have a huge expanse and multiple run-ways.

The old H.A.L Airport had 1 runway (I guess), but for the B.I.A, i counted at least 3 parallel run-ways (leaving aside the taxi-way for incoming/outgoing aircraft's). Well All set...The pilot commanded...'Flight Decks secure, Lock Doors..we are ready for Take Off'. Bon Voyage !

And finally - a spectacular shot, that I captured from the airbus window. See the shape and the finishing of the image. Guess it's NOT an UFO !

Three Cheers for the Bengaluru International Airport...

Cheers !!!!!

Whose Bucket is it anyway ?

A plan had being budding for a long time to try out the KFC Bucket. But then the KFC Bucket is a big one...i mean really big - there are 12 Chicken Pieces...Who can think of one person eating all those 12 pieces and not to forget the 1 Lt of complimentary (promotional) Pepsi that comes with the Bucket.....

So started a plan and a search for finding Volunteers (did I say volunteers !!) for sharing the KFC Bucket. Ahh...did I hear someone say that was easy (Staples marketing dialogue). It was like running a complete project from end-to-end. One had to finalize the requirements (what to order in KFC), find the matching skill-set resources (non-veg eaters, off-course there were cases of some folks who were swinging between being a veg-and-a-non-veg !!), ensuring that after delivery support was effective (you cannot waste KFC food...That's a sin !!) and off-course ensure there is some 'story' to remember the adventure through....

Then the day arrived...but behold some of the Volunteers decided to un-volunteer when they heard the magic work 'dutch' (pay-for-your-own) and made a 100 mt dash the other way (we will again refer to her later...lets for placeholder call her - K3) ! One volunteer decided to turn in a Veggie-eater exactly at 1300 hrs on that day ! Just say it was luck or Karma..we had gone down to KFC at ~1315 hrs....So up went the plan of a KFC Bucket in smoke....

But, when there is a WILL....there is a WAY. Thus started another round of talking to stakeholders to scope out possible volunteers for the KFC Bucket. The date was set...and the plan was this time taken up on a war-footing. Marketing strategy was chalked out to trigger the taste buds of tentative volunteers. We even heard the rumour that K3 was found nibbling at an earlier KFC Bill(there were eye-witnesses who had seen this wonder of the World !!). There were folks who were taken in for business discussions to see if they could be switched from Veggie to Non Veggie (beware of PETA ...folks !!).

Thus the D-Day arrived (Believe IT or not !! it was June-06-2008 ...call it coincidence !). In marched the group of KFC Bucket volunteers to KFC...the order was places...6 Chicken Snackers, 1 KFC Bucket (with the 1 Lt promotional Pepsi), 1 Zinger Chicken Burger, 5 Fries ....the goodies arrived in 2-3 Trays !! We had to keep a hold on K3 who was almost going to jump over the counter to start devouring the Bucket...finally after all the persuasion we could get the folks to grab a table and start the crunchy, yummy mouth-watering feast !!

The feast went on and on... The KFC bucket kept on throwing (!!) out Fried Chicken after chicken, till every one had their fill. There was one last piece ...which...guess what...three adventurous folks decided to share...and share they did ! Each caught one tentative corner of the piece and did a tug-of-war !! Finally, we finished off ...with a 'catch-22' Q/A session.

There were two snackers still there...and one of out folks (lets call him Mr. A. D) was asked "whom do you want to carry upstairs ? " And imagine our surprise when Mr. A. D says he wants to carry K1 upstairs !!! Strange is the language - English...you drop a word here and drop an word there and behold...a story evolves !!!

Well ! That was it ...the end of KFC Bucket.

But hold on...is that all !!!

On the project floor, around noon, we starting getting the aroma of Fried chicken ! We started wondering if we had so much of chicken that it was now chicken-chicken all around. But then no...we spotted a KFC Bucket on K3's table...having more of Fried Chicken all by herself (nibbling and muching away happily) !!! WOW !! That's what we call appetite....Off-course that calls for Tehelka shots !! Cheers...

PS: Now folks I have given enough hints on who was seen munching/nibbling away at the KFC Bucket ....(hint-1) K3 (hint-2) the above photo (hint-3) colour-blind ! (does not know the difference between green and aquamarine-blue).

If you want to meet K3 - advertise a promotional KFC Bucket...and K3 will be at your doorstep/cubicle.

Else, keep a watchout for K3 who may come to Office in the attached attire in the next Fun Day celebrations !!!

Cheers !!

Holi 2008 - Manjulika !

The day Mar-20-2008. Just a normal day, Office was open as usual, though there were lots of offices that were closed or gave an optional holiday. The usual traffic problem was not seen..as they surfed their route to Office. Just the same routine...but then lets not forget that tomorrow (Mar-21) is Holi. There were rumours that there could be some surprises on the floor. Some already, equivalent of a AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) had decided to work from home or take the day off to escape the "surprises".

Well, the day started off work as usual. Though some folks were spotted carrying into the offshore Development Centre (ODC) some shady packages. Who knew what they had inside them ! Some more were spotted wearing quite old shirts/T-shirts and coming to office. Now the inquisitive human mind was already curious....what was going on ? Some came up to ask, when were the 'surprises' planned - so that they could pack up and start an early long-weekend !

The morning passed on, the lunch time came an went....no surprises. Folks started wondering if the surprises were just a rumour ! But was it ...then it happened ! At ~3:30 noon, suddenly on the centre-table packets of colour (gulal) started appearing. There was quite a lot...and it came from all corners. Now we knew, what were those 'shady' packets that were smuggled into the ODC. Thus the Holi celebrations started ...with the formal 'Happly Holi' celebrations. And then it picked up intensity !!!

But did we have all participating ? News came that some of the project folks were hiding in the Conference room and 'seemingly' having a meeting on migration. But..unfortunately they were on the same floor, so it was not much, to get them into the 'holi' mood.

Another project (on the same floor) made a hundred metre dash and all of them could be seen hiding in their Project Lab. They were spotted hiding behind their CA/Sierra boxes. Another, project had also brought the 'shady' packets, but after seeing the intensity of the Holi celebrations :-) made a dash out of the ODC...and ran helter-shelter. And last of the lot, the 'it-u-can't-beat-them-join-them' - were the most silent lot. They seemed busy doing the office work, but once they had gulal on their face - they joined whole-heartily into the Holi celebrations.

Thus the celebrations went on for the next one-hour, gulal was sprayed, re-sprayed and re-applied yet again. Washing the colourful mug did not help- as it more gulal would be applied. Thus after ~1 hrs of fervent Holi celebration - by which time-it was ensured that everybody was at least 90% unrecognizable, the Holi celeb came to a closure. It was a gulal-gulal every where, but no where else to apply.

Folks could be seeing making a run for the rest-room (well, off-course don't look at the once white marble floor tiles) to retrieve back their original mug-shots and get the United Colours of Benetton off their faces. Off course the best mug-shot of the Holi celebrations went to .....Manjulika (of Bhool Bhulaiya fame).

Quoting comments received from (as far as) Canada (!!) after looking at this mug-shot -"Wow nice pics, specially the Manjulika one, if I see in the night it will scare the hell out of me".

:-)
:-)

:-)

:-)
Hah ! So much for Holi celebrations.... Word was send out to the folks hiding in the Lab, Rest room (!!!) to come out of hiding.....

Wishing you a Happy Holi 2008 !

Time does Fly

It was a normal Saturday. Everything was a at ease, when I alighted from the train at Trivandrum. Had a suitcase at one hand and a letter in the other. The letter said that I was to report to Hotel Philips International, near Medical College. Well luggage in tow and spirits high, I set for 'Philips International'...I was to check into an international hotel ...expected at least 4-5 star ! Took an auto and asking folks along the way finally found my way to the Hotel. But, wait must be some mistake - from outside the Hotel did not look of International standard at all ! It was a *3-star !! Well, welcome to Trivandrum.

Well, such was the case...went in and checked in at the counter. A choice was given on whether I wanted a road-facing room (lots of sunlight and fresh air) or an inside room (no pollution). Well..i took the more brighter room. Lo and behold..the sun was beaming into the room ! All the other rooms in the aisle were closed and Not a living soul around on the top two floors ! Well, refreshed, made the call home, had a lunch and had an afternoon siesta.

Evening, still all the rooms on the floor were not occupied ! Did I arrive at the correct place ? Stood at the balcony watching the lazing Saturday crowd stroll by (I was on the third floor). Then saw a living soul from the lookout. Was in a typical lungi (at half-waist) standing near the Hotel entrance. Looked a typical mallu thinking what to do next, but wait I looked closer. There on the T-Shirt was printer "IIT-Chennai". Thus I met Bala - the first person of my batch. Then in the late evening 3-4 more trickled in. We had dinner together and shared who's who late into the night.

Sunday...well, nothing much to do. We lazed out way into the restaurant opposite to the Hotel Philip's International. It was called - Chincoo's...we sat down to have a late brunch of appam-egg curry and a tall glass of team. Ahh...From that perch we say, more folks arriving in auto's. Some had the same surprised look on looking the Philip's International. We had to hide our grin's later in the day when we introduced ourselves...1 day seniors to the Hotel. Sunday noon, my hotel rommie arrived...with the opening intro "My name is Munaff, Abdul Munaff" :-) By Sunday night, the Hotel was full...we had folks from all part of India, an eager and excited lot.

Monday, we dressed to our very best - formal was a must. Certificates and the joining letter in hand we took the shuttle to the Training camp. We were duly showed the way to the Training/Induction hall. The clock stroked 9:00 AM. Col. Nair walked in, looked at the eager crowd and gave a huge grin, and said "Welcome to TCS". That day was March-22-1999.

Time does fly. Project came and project went. Got to know people, new experiences, new friends were made, old friends were lost (though the search is always on). This week, we the batch of T-75 complete 9 year(s) on Mar-22-2008.

Three cheers to that ! Time does fly....

Any one can cook....

So said Auguste Gusteau, author of "Anyone Can Cook." and owner of a small time bistro at Paris.

Come to think about it..how was your first cooking adventure ? Did one start with the teasers,like tea/coffee and then jump in hard-core cooking or was it the other way round:-) The first full time meal...did one not wonder, if the salt was bit less/more, or some spices had being missed out which can alter the taste of the dish itself.

Have we not experimented (well when the time permits) and you have many mouths to feed (mostly when staying with room-mates) with an extra-here and an extra-there to alter the taste and try out the various combination. Woh - I am sure most of you have had this adventure at least once. Where else when staying with roomies can one get so many bakras !!

So as the great author says...Anyone can cook...and a great cook can come from anywhere.

Thus is the story of Ratatouille - a rat (yes you did read it correct!!) - a rat decides to cook and starts on an odessy to interface with the human race to cook in a bistro. And cook he does ...even the critics are astounded by the same and as a finale, the Rat - Remy prepares "The Ratatouille" (pronounced /raeta'tu:i/, /-twi:/; French pronunciation).

PS: Ratatouille - The word Ratatouille comes from "touiller," which means to toss food. Ratatouille originated in the area around present day Nice. It was originally a poor farmer's dish, prepared in the summer with fresh summer vegetables. The original Ratatouille Niçoise used only courgettes (zucchini), tomatoes, green and red peppers (bell peppers), onion, and garlic.

The saying goes: Anyone cannot become a great cook, but a great Cook can come from anywhere.

Destiny....

Ten spectacular short stories on totally separated threads provides a in-depth (or at least invokes thoughts) on life - as we know it. Some call it Destiny, some call it Karma - but can the same be quantified, measured and finally even given a name ?

[01] Matrimony: Is everything good in paradise? Does love make fool of us all?
[02] High on the Highway: Does freedom has its boundaries? Recklessness of life has an end?
[03] Puranmaashi: Will an impulsive act about to lead the current life into drastic consequences ?
[04] Strangers in the Night: Are all secrets meant to be shared?
[05] Zahir: Is everything always as it seems? Does mystery lie under the surface of life?
[06] Lovedale: Fate, destiny, and about one moment that changes a life forever !
[07] Sex on the Beach: Does every dream have a price? Are dreams meant to be broken ?
[08] Rice Plate: Can you defy your beliefs? What if staunch beliefs are broken one day !
[09] Gubbarre: Love stays in your hearts forever - in this life and the after-life !
[10] Rise and Fall: Friendship united as brothers but divided by power !

There are always a few Questions unanswered ? Some hints that goes unnoticed, some signs that would have provided a different direction of the path one chooses to take...a retrospective always being in these thoughts. Were they (the hints, the people we meet, the places we visit, the things we do) not of any importance ? were they not meant to take us on a definitive path ... but who chose the path - was it is Destiny/fate or You ?



Many a times it often comes to mind - Why am I doing the things I am doing now ? Is this the way it is supposed to happen ? Did someone tell me to do it ? Do we have to do this ? What if I don't ?

Well, of course there are Research Papers, Religious Leaders and off-course a generous dose of free-advise that will come if one goes looking for it, but does the inquisitive brain of the Homo-Sapiens species stop at that ? Is the search for more not an ever-ending process.... Relationships, emotions, love, hatred the list goes on...does one have an bearing on the same.


C'est La Viva - That's life/Such is life.........

Yet to enjoy a Cup of Coffee ?

Yes. Yes....the New year came through, the New Year wishes were distributed and partying is over (and so is the hangover if any). New year resolutions are taken...and then comes the most important part !!

Keeping the New year resolutions...

Here goes: There was once Mr. X who had an habit of usually gulping/sipping off at least 10-15 cups of coffee while at office. The canteen even dished out 'strong' coffee based on request of Mr. X. Ahh.. that strong cup of coffee was a big boost for his office work. It was like '10-15 cups of Coffee (at office) a day, keeps the doctor away'. Who ever though of that !!

Every round that the waiter would make on the floor, there was always an assured cup of strong coffee for Mr. X. The waiter would find a way by-passing the other folks requesting for coffee and come over the Mr. X to hand over the much deserved coffee cup. Sometimes, there was an array of coffee cups - empty of course - that would sometimes get lined up on Mr. X cubicle..waiting to be cleared off. The waiter knew there was always an assured customer for his coffee (but it had to be real strong !!). The waiter knew, for Mr. X ... tea (1 coupon) will not do, boost (2 coupons) will not sell, normal coffee (1 coupon) will not do ...Only strong Coffee (1 coupon) will have to be brought.

Then arrives the New Year 2008.... Mr. X makes a new year resolution.No more coffee/tea/boost at office. WOW !

The waiter was surprised ! So were a lot of other folks who now used to get supply of coffee since the higher priority interrupt of Mr. X did not exist.It is tough to bring down the count of 10-15 cups of strong coffee to Nil in a day and more so when the same has being taken as a New Year resolution.Moreover, did we not hear that New year resolution are meant to be broken :-)

Well, Not yet ... the resolution still stands ! 8 days and counting !

Mr. X keep up the good work..Hail the New Year resolution "No Coffee at Office".