Shashank's Musings

Destiny

2007-02-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I have last posted. Kind of lost track of blog, orkut and all the other stuff.

Time is moving pretty fast and the challenges many, speeding up to you more faster than ever before. Yeah have some challenging times ahead, so hopefully things will all be good.

I will blog a lot more when targets are met. Perhaps then I can be out this shadow I have been living.

The journey has begun.

To have some freinds...

2006-09-18T03:34:00.000-07:00

Today I miss my freinds a lot- actually been missing them like crazy since yesterday. All of them are either very far away from ; most in India and a few in UK, but away nonetheless.

I miss them a lot, and then this old song came up in my head and i just feel like putting it up:

Tere jaisa yaar kahan
Kahan aisa yaarana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana

Tere jaisa yaar kahan
Kahan aisa yaarana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana

Meri zindagi sawaari
Mujhko gale lagake
Baitha diya falak pe
Mujhe khaat se oothake

Meri zindagi sawaari
Mujhko gale lagake
Baitha diya falak pe
Mujhe khaat se oothake
Yaara teri yaari ko
Maine to khuda mana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana

Mere dil ki yeh dua hai
Kabhi door tu na jaaye
Tere bina ho jeena
Woh din kabhi na aaye

Mere dil ki yeh dua hai
Kabhi door tu na jaaye
Tere bina ho jeena
Woh din kabhi na aaye
Tere sung jeena yahan
Tere sung mar jaana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana

Tere jaisa yaar kahan
Kahan aisa yaarana
Yaad karegi duniya
Tera mera afsana

..I have been humming this song all yesterday and pretty much seem to continue for the rest of today. Well hope all the clowns are doing great.

A comedy of errors

2006-08-31T02:20:00.000-07:00

hey alll...or perhaps just me again sometime in the future...

i have had so many embarrassing moments, i got into so many ridiculous situations, so many things i wish i had done differently- perhaps at that moment but not now, but yes so many errors that i just got to put it down- lest they be forgotten like the strangers face in daily tube !!

Well let me see, oh it began with the time i started in Indai for the UK and was at the airport. Now I never thought big me would feel anything, any emotions cause I dont feel much, sometimes i think i am too cold for my own good health but shit -thats just me and gotta get on with the show- bu anyways there was me getting all nervy and successfully manged to get all my luggage checked in properly without any issues..i was like this is nice...this is good shit..and so i am sitting in lounge with like 1 hout to go, it wass 9:30 and the flight was lie at 10:30..so me took my cell and started calling people, everybody in Hyderabad, all i can think, all in chennai, all in india, all i know!!! It felt nice, speak to all honchos . It was a sereis of good conversation till this guys comes up asks me whre r u goin- now i was in middle of a good conversation- a really good one,not the shitty be good there& tc nonsense eh? a good conversation and i was like ruddyl hell..me going to bluddy London via even bluddier sri lanka..so whatch prablum..its still 10:15..an =d then the blokes like sir evbudy has boarded...we have been looking fur u for past 10min..i thought he may be jokin..but hhe ruddy wasnt..i was centre star ther..well i thought i am going out in style...

allright i managed to get throug the rest of journey wihtout shitting in my pant s again.Well i got here and in a few weeks i gave the guys at this place i was put up a big scare and while i was at it, well my style managed to land up with the pie in my face before my TM. Hell i started a FIRE ....!!!

I had gone to see my TM, poor bloke was suffereing from fever and since in the few days i been here i got to know himw well i went to say how de to the guy. While i chatting up with him the fire alarm went offf. Now when u been in wipro and seen the number of times the fire alram goes fo no purpose, u learn if not a bit foolishly to ignore them.So i was like, some poor fool probably was smoking and the fire alarma caught him..Well i soon went to my room and lo...well thre was a lot of soke from it....and it hit me..shit the Pizza ..i had put the pizza in the micowave..but why ??well apparantly as i found out from the hotel bloke trying his best to keep his composure..u dont try to microwave it for 25 min, 5 min will do ..well i just begun with cooking..so how do i know? ..well schuks..and my TM couldnt stop laughing....well what can i say ..all in a days work..;-)..

and as i started off workign...well we had some training ans they reckoned I was ready for some action..u know ...as for me ..when was i lacking in confidence..lets go..i am ready..for the first time.,..the guys said ..easy does it..i mean its ur first time..it will be a bit awkward..but you will get better as it goes...so i got ready ..i was goin to be a performer the first time..i am the star...yeah thats me..well i got my stuff ready..and then i made my first call...her name was Xanthe..yeah baby..and well i started off nicely....they wan it slow..they wan it fast..they wan it I am the man..and then she was like NO..i dont see it..what??..okiee i try again ...NO.I dont see it..what?? she cant see both my TRADES..the shits hit the floor with this...well they were worth like some couple of millions..we taking trades yo..yu all get no ideas..and then me ralize that I was looking..they concluded i wasnt looking..but i was looking at BNP Paribas trades ..adn talking to CitiGroup..holy cow...the shits on fire now...well ..i was officially branded the second worst debutant..there was this bum a while before who took the cream...as me always says..if you aint making a statement, u aint there at all... and i have gotten better.. well it takes some time...

that me ..folks...i like actions..i made a few mistakes ..well atleast it shows I am alive to somethin...if a bit tuned out..now and again.. hell life like that ..and these are the best moments..things get dreary sometime ..these moments lighten it up..even if u r the joke...!!

At the Oasis in the desert?

2006-07-31T04:29:00.000-07:00

Hey I am leaving Hyderabad soon. Time will stand testimony to the fact whether I will be back here or not. I remember as it were yesterday, the day I came to Hyd to start my Wipro sojourn, and here I stand at middle ground, leaving for something truly unknown. Life's funny, it’s sad, its beautiful, its whimsical, its wicked, its like a very pretty child dancing in the rain muddying herself. I wonder why I said that- look at life as feminine- but it seems apt, so why bother.

Exactly a year back i left Chennai, and when I did, I knew, don’t know how, that my time in Chennai was coming to an end, It was weird, but it was a feeling, when i came to Hyderabad, I felt like I had come home, this is my state, these are my people, this is my culture and therein lay the greatest happiness, I felt like a prodigal son coming home, returning to his origins, I felt glad to be returning to Andhra. Kind of weird isn’t it- 21 years in Chennai and I still never felt like it was my city. I never did watch Tamil movies or channels, never felt comfortable with the language, never could get myself to like the people, never felt like it was home. I never did watch Telugu movies or channels for that matter. It always bothered me that no matter how much I wandered into English language and explored it environs, the feeling of being like a ship soaring the high seas without a port to call home. Well a year back i found here and I felt happy. I have had fun in Hyderabad. I have explored his city, I have made many good friends, I have read a lot of good stuff, I have liked my time in this city.

And now as the end of days here draws closer, I am looking back and taking stock. I have felt an unusual restlessness within me in the past few days, conflicting emotions, distant thoughts, I have felt an invisible hand telling my heart a new journey is about to begin. I guess to people who know me not the most will find this in the least whimsical. I guess I see myself like the alchemist, who is in a desert seeking his treasure, listening to his heart, and trying to always stay true to it. Life's a wonderful journey, in this I have learnt so much. People find me to be unusual and crazy, but I think I have tried to live my life by following my heart and I think as long as I follow my heart I wont stray of my path. The heart is always in touch with what the alchemist says the soul of the world. I think so. Maybe its just a fools belief and how the beliefs assume strength with time and power of the belief.

I think I will be back here one day, my heart tells me so, and maybe it’s like in the Alchemist, a Fatima waiting. Maybe it’s like the bakers daughter. ‘Maybe’:a word which imbibes the uncertainty of the world in it. This uncertainly that governs men’s life.

As i look back, It slowly dawns on, the old guruji's sayings, it seems to have been a long time since I have met guruji, but i remember what he told me, dream and believe and those dreams will unfold before your eyes. I dream, I don’t sit back on words, I work, I seek knowledge, I strive to make my own destiny the way my nature will it. I have met many people, people i have liked like James, people like my Fatima of spice,(spice- the land of dune), people to be wary of, people to look up to and envisage. I think my heart is still trying to figure out the nature of men. It’s still a very young heart.

I look at my life and I once again see a young child, a very pretty thin, dressed in white dress with laces, dancing, a slow graceful dance, she's lovely, the sun's out and its a very warm beautiful day. Life's delicious.

And again Emerson invades my thought's with his words,

"Thou art not gone being gone, where'er thou art,
Thou leav'st in her thy watchful eyes, in her thy
loving heart."

Time out from life .. .

2006-05-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

The Goa Trip begins ... .... .

All the jokers in the auto -on way from WTO-1 to Gachibowli

We are all estatic - finally we r on our way .... yupiiiieeee......

We on Cloud 9 .... . .

Kamlesh,Kranthi ,Nish ,Naveen & me.
Waiting for the bus to come ... at Gachibowli.

Paulo travels delayed us by quite a bit .Bought us down to earth .. shit happens sometimes !

Finally we are here in GOA .. ready to hit the sights .... bring it on .

LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED...

But before that some morsels of food for the starved journeymen.... 'Kebabs 'n Curries' obliges , Autie is a pain though.

wWE hit the beaches at calankut . Above :Chilling out at the beach shack with a drink

Left : Me and naveen watch as the other guys head for the dive.

Below: The boys having a good time .

Below: "YO ! Who wants get clobbered ? " - my gait seems to suggest that.

Below :The boys ... having a blast

Beautiful... . .

WE get adventurous : below : Water surfing

Left : Sunday - we are at Anjuna Beach.We hired a couple of bikes and headed out there. Naveen and Nish shopped there a bit .

Below: CHapora Fort

Left : All of us on the rampants of Chapora fort - more popularly known as DCH fort.

Below : Dil chahta HAI ......

left : Outside the fort .Against the backwaters, It was breathtaking.

Below : The best part of the entire trip ---PARA GLIDING

All around: The other guys were put off by the price - 700 bucks. But for me it was worth each paisa. Up there it was pure exultion...

Below: Touch down!! The Smile never left me for the entire duration of the flight.

I loved every minute of it.... ..

Sunday Night: We went to the best eatout in the entire GOA - Britto's .

The guys later headed out to TITO's , to get a taste of the famous Gos nightlife

Below: Monday mornin' catching the sunrise at Calankut beach.

Left : The fisherman at work .WE actually saw a snake, still alive in their nets - Ughh - makes u wonder what else is out there in the sea.

Below : we Later went and got a tatoo each.Mine shown below was a scorpion.

A riposte to CFC criticism

2006-04-03T00:12:00.000-07:00

Chelsea FC- 0:0 -Birmingham City FC
following this score this past weekend, a wave of flak has been directed at he Club and Management. In my riposte here , I talk-back on a few arguments and also remind a few hometruths

Why is that that every time somebody raises a finger at us (us meaning -CFC & the fans ) a selection of us (us refering to 'The boo boo boys' - B2 Boys) always seem to find some merit in what we are being accused.There seems to be a perrinial problem among this selection to wail everytime we have a hick-up.This is the sign of a fan yet to mature.

Now if this were a Birmingham or a sunderland fan cursing their players, abusing their managers and speculating about who is going to lead them the next season -well i can accpet that.But i find that hard to comprehend when we are champions of last season, Champions in waiting for this season and still in the FA cup -in semifinals. Now when we are all that - I am talking about what we are rather than what we have been - then i find some of the criticism coming our way especially from the B2 Boys baffling.If somebody actually asked Fergie, if he would like to exchange places with us - I am sure he would promptly say "Yes". Now with that in mind why is the wailing so vitriolic and always directed at few individuals who have contributed more than everybody else to making the club the success story it is today. JM,Lamps,Gudjohnson etc - these guys are the reason Chelsea Football Club are the envy of the Football world and the most 'hated' club in the England.Now what you have to understand is that beings successful goes in hand with the envy and kvetching of the following pack-the MANYOO's and the Gooners : our most vociferous opponents.

Now when you are like constanlty talked about , written of , incessantly debated upon in like a seamless circle then after sometime people do get sick of it .I think people are tired about talking about Chelsea in the glowing terms that they had to -just had to - cause we have been awesome. In such an atmosphere all it needs for the Journos to turn sour is a hick-up here, a stumble there. And yes we like any normal club have had our share of run-ins and the press has gleefully pounced on that and built it up .

From the Columnist's mouth to the people's mind - the campaign has been well orchestrated. They first said we were 'boring' .When that vein was beginning to wear thin they pounced on the man who symbolizes this very club -Jose Mourinho . Its like this -Roman doesnt say much , Kenyon's too smart but hey -Jose is here.The guy wears his pride on his sleeve , talks straight and is an epitome of confidence. And they can't stand it. So that charade went on and now its like Chelsea's having a blip - are they raving mad? . Its more like hoping , wanting something so bad that at every faint sign they seems to be standing on their toes all tensed eagerly waiting . They are beggining to beleive their own lies and trying to convince anybody and everybody that there some credibility in their hogwash.

But the worst part is they are succeding -arent they ? No i dont think so . The true fan always knows that things arent always beautiful .Its when the times aren't particularly honky and dory that you need the fans behind the team . Its the bad times that determine which side of the fence you sit - the true fans or those there for the right to gloat as a fan of the champions and there only as the goings good. Crticism is healthy , its is welcome but not raving . Certainly not raving on basis of balderdash the press thinks up.

Now some of you think JM needs to go.Well all the top clubs in the world will snap him up in no time.Real Madrid will pounce. They are a fine example of having tons of money,spending loads of it , having a collage of good managers and still ending up with baloney.A very likely situation we could have been if JM hadnt transformed this club. Make no mistake -JM has transformed this club from one of the premiership yoo-yoo clubs(sometimes Europe sometimes not-much) to a clb of immense standing.Other clubs fear us now and they certainly respect us as a champion. I think we owe a lot to this man and given time he will lead us to many more credits.

Chelsea is living a dream that many conjure but few realise. We are a club on the top and going on to greater things .We should not doubt ourself ourselves so much. We are special and we have a very 'special' man leading us to better things, to greater things.

The thin red line

2006-03-27T03:25:00.000-08:00

the fourth estate

The fouth estate playes an important part in the way the free society functions. Its responsible for the dissemination of information from the far corners to the farthest corners .It helps bridge the gap between the vast millions of a nation and indeed in todays world the global humanity . Despite the advent of different portals of propagation of news ,it has held its forte remarkably probably owing to the fondness with which its held by a vast majority who while accepting the new means still find justification to conserve and persist with the old ways.

I remember when i was in 6th grade and my father would encourage me to read the paper . Initially it was a bit daunting but my own natural curiosity and my father constant encouragement to read drove me into the habit of reading The Hindu . I have grown up with the paper becoming a part of my life. It had a very rigid and concise format. The news was always presented in a very precise manner which made reading for a beginner like me easy to start with . You always knew where to find your news; the front page carried the national news , the 2nd to 4th carried the local state news followed by other state's news , the international news and then opinions and finally the sports news .

Things always seemed simple back then .News was conveyed as it happened .It was an account of what happened rather than an account of what was perceived as to have happened. Journalists restricted their reports to relating the events and consigning their opionions to special write-ups which were published in the opinions section . People enjoyed their news reading and it was an important part of people's business.People were serious about the news and editors who managed these papers knew their responsibility was primarily to their readers; to present the happenings of the day in a succinct and honest manner above all else.

As all things in the course of time even the press has had to change , more papers are in circulation now alluding to wide variety of sections of public, they cove a wider range of issues and offer a wider repository of opinion. But along with changing times there has also been a sea change in the atitude . The empasis of the Editor has shifted from responsibility to the reader to responsibility to the shareholder. The paramount aim is to push up the circulation numbers and do all and everything to acheive the same . See , the focus has shifted . When you have an aim you work with that in mind ,towards it and for it . SO when the only aim is to push up the numbers, bring in the money your sensibilities change along with your targets.

So how do you acheive that ?

Well its easy to notice when you have a exclusive information regarding a burning issue of the day -that tends to push up your circulation.So exclusivity pays .So get exclusive , a dubious line added here , a rumour there , a punch line in between and well you have spiced the boring news everybody has - you've created a sensation- you are exclusive; oh you can give them the impression -create a facade u like, for sometime . Not too long though ,you have to replenesh it as people get bored of an issue after a certain time.

Cynicism and satire have taken the front seat . Everybody like the smart alec ;so give the people what they want .Who wants news as it is , give them as they will like it - racy ,paunchy and bitchy. Indeed this has a new term , tabloidism . Tabloidism where the lines between the occurence of events and the opinions of events gets blurred.A journalist's views , his private beleifs previously separate from his job of reporting increasingly creeping into his assesment of a event and the worst part such a style being accepted as the way forward.Infact give the guy a mass of baloney and if he's worth his tabloid salt he will turn it into an incredible yet credible story . The use of the ancient principles of rhetoric which Aristotle advocated have never been in such vast acceptance and application. The distortion of the thin red line between narration of an occurence and an assesment is now complete.A specail mention should be made of the western medai particularly the British and their American Media who must be credited for this discolourment- the indian media in past few years have been only too happy to follow.

Entertainment and Mass Media , today the latter has more and more assumed the role of the former also . Perhaps therein lies its greatest folly -purpose redefined , focus blurred , direction lost but then profits gained . Everybody happy ? I doubt it.

Shashank

Independence lost

2006-03-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

Independence - a dream to be free of all external influences ,of all unjust enforcements,of an unclouded mind ;a desire of the soul to act in accordance with its own wishes and to be in the truest sense a master of your own judgement. When i think of independence i always recall with a certain fondness and respect what a generation went through so that the future may have something they so lacked and yet so innately craved.Its perhaps the best to come of the human spirit to want something so passioantely that you would go to great lengths to secure that for your fellows even at the sake of your own self. When i think of Independence and the cost of its accruement i value it above all else.

A society, a colony say as it stands today stands today smacks of collectivism ;the bane of all free thought.If Independence stands for an individual to be free to make up his or her mind upon judgment of the arguments of an issue then it equally follows that one respects the right of his fellows to be the masters of their own stand. Liberty follows in the shadow of Independence . Tolereance is a embedded therein . One cannot run from his own shadow and so it follows that one cannot seek Independence ,liberty without recognizing it as an equally innate right of the other.We must cultivate within ourself above all , tolerance . Tolerance is the composure needed to stand in the same room as an another person, who is standing in the middle advocating at the top of his voice something, that you would spend a lifetime opposing.Show me you can do that ,cherish that ,celebrate that and then you know what tolerance is .

In this day perhaps the greatest threat is not the possibility of occupation but that facing us on a larger scale in our minds ;the strenth and depth of our views ,our beleifs. Today more than ever before a generation , a society on the large faces a lack of clarity , what we beleive,what we potray as we beleive and what we do when called into action. Hypocrisy is the major concern.I see people changing their views at he drop of hat literally .Its distressing that people no longer beleive in having an opinion based on facts and standing by their opinion when called on to do in public.Its revolting how a person can advocate a certain view of things one morning and then defend something absolutely the opposite the very next day-its obnoxious. I find this lack of probity especially in public life appalling.A person can certainly have a change of mind and heart ,but it usually doent happen overnight and it certainly cant happen so very often as our so-called-leaders profess to do .

Even the common man is not entirely without fault. We are too easily persuaded .Too easily are we found to change our minds . The fourth estate had become a monster ;its fasination for sensanitionalism and its viscious bark for those not falling in line with what it propagates bodes ill for the all.

Independence is freedom .Freedom is the soul of our life .I conclude by quoting Twain - The more often a man feels without acting , the less he's able to act .And in the long run , the less he will be able to feel.

Shashank

Journeyman's Kall

2006-03-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

taking stock

Hey i am in middle of projects.

So i am downloading lots of really good songs- found this amazing site where you get all the great music and that too at great speeds. So after quite some time i am again lisening to some amazing music. Discovered some amazingly good music like this group 3 doors down , ashlee simpson, REM etc.Besides i really like Black eyed peas.They are probably one the top 3 bands in the world right now.They are contempory rock along with a good amount oh Hip-hop/rap - maybe the other way around is a better description.

James blunt , natasha beginfeild ..etc.

Coming back to my first project its been a real expereince . I have learnt ,or rather been exposed to the whole gambit of net technologies connected with VStudio . I have like worked around in ASP.Net and ADO.Net. Further i dwelled in client side languages like Javascript , CSS , XML and XSL. Quite a nice package . The project has been good to me.I have had some tough times and i have had some relatively easy days.Its been nice .

The next step ofcourse is to kind of mop up all i have learnt thus far.This is important. I think however i will be back in project before long.So using this time judiciously is a priority.

On the activities front, I have been doing a lot of organizing.I have co-ordianted the outdoor games event for Embedded group in our company.We organized a criket tourney - all night at the sport coaching foundation near Masab tank.That went of really well.It was my responsibility to coordinate with about a 100 people - get the 8 teams participlating to get there,answer their queries , what they get , what the rules are - work out things so all goes smoothly. Everybody had amazing fun- we really had a good time.I had a ball doing it.

I also learnt how to handle contingencies and step in to solve them, work with people -reassure them , cajole them when needed , delegate when necessary.Authority i conclude comes to those who step up to take it and weild it. We had four matches so as to involve all 8 teams. Matches supposed to start at 7 got delayed to 9.30 PM.And after draws and after match started an entire team left.I had to muster an entire team to ensure we kept to the plan- disruption would have meant somebody couldnt play and thats not fair.

Well suff to say it got over to everybody's content at 2:30 AM . I also organized food and water for the evening.

On sunday, criket happened on friday night - we organized tennis, caroms and table tennis. That concluded well - i say that only in the backdrop of smashing success criket was - participation wise.But that was understandable considering it was sunday morning - a very lazy morning.

Now i am the head volunteer - main contact point for all : for the coming finale on 10th at taramati baradari - the annual get together of all embedded group , about 800 people.So now thats gonna rock.

In retrospect i think more people know my name - Shashank - they know this guy exists and he is an active bee.In a huge company like this thats a good step forward - in the right direction! So its going good.

A season of discontent

2006-03-06T03:26:00.000-08:00

.. A season of discontent .

Seasons come, seasons go.

Has anything changed or is anything unchanged.Where do we stand - this side or the farther side of the border.Is change ,the constant cousin of time to the best of us or does it steer us in ways we rather not have traversed on . Why does melancholy spite dread in the hearts of men , why does the fear of age frighten the spirit . Where does the journey of a man in the sveltering heat called life stop or indeed begin . How does any man young or old , rich or poor begin to comprehend the trials and tribulations of the path of life.Where do we begin and where indeed , whether indeed does it end.

When we are young our parents shelter us.They give us warmth , feed us to make us strong , look out for us when we sway . The child observes, it absorbs and realizes .The senses awake , for pleasure , for pain ..for all things that are the opposite sides of a coin . And like a coin they spin between the two faces shaping their minds , blending their souls into comprehension , taking in knowledge which education seeks to imbide with relative measure of success . When we have reached sufficeint heights it moves into a different atmosphere. A different atomosphere, 'cause like all things natural or mundane purposes change , intentions blur confusing our senses .

Why does the thought always haunt us , hunt us if u must through our lives , the insignificance of life in the colloseum of eternity.Shall our name be spoken past our grandchildren , will we become lost in the vast vacuum of time.Very few names survive that journey . Very few reach very many after so long. And we again come back like as in a ellipse like an iteration back to the question , whose own relative significance shall hurt , cause exultion but will be answered by the actions of very few. These actions affecting the lives of all. Man , in his most primitive moment shall always be persued by his own haunting questions of that primadorial desire to learn of his path , his base of origin.

The most quenching in hindsight and most searching in its existence is this season , the season of reason , a quest to find purpose - a purpose for existence and indeed of excistence.

Seasons come , seasons flow , some blossom , some whither but all seasons end .They may revive but they will never return. But that season of discontent will haunt us for our best end.

Shashank
5:37 Monday
March 6th in the year of our lord 2006

The other side of the river

2006-01-30T02:23:00.000-08:00

The team i would hate the most facing - it goes like his.I dont like these individauls much.

Manager - Alex Furgeson.

TEam:

Rio Ferdinad(Man U )
Sol Campbell(Arsenal)

Gabreil Heinze(Man U )
Roberto Carlos(Real Madrid)

David Beckham(Real Madrid)
Ronaldinho(Barcelon FC)
Deco(Barcelona FC)
Xavi(Barcelona FC)

Sameul Eto ( Barcelona FC)
Ronaldo(Real Madrid)

An ode to my dream team

2006-01-30T01:10:00.000-08:00

Why i choose those who i did

I prefer the 4-3-3 formation . The 4-4-2 formation is pretty useful but when you have the best in the world at your disposal you got to use them in most effective manner that you could.The 4-3-3 affords me to do just that.The 4-5-1 is as boring as it is stiffling , it would indeed constitute a great wastage if such a combination were deployed . The 4-3-3 provides me ample oppurtunity to unleash im my view one of the most potent attacks ever consitituting the best in terms of both offensive and defensive forces i have witnesses in my time.

My defence - the rock on which my team is built holds a remarkable blend of both youth and expereince.In Jaap Stam and John Terry who give me 100% commitment when they step out on to the feild - i can ask no more.Further Terry is good in the air and his penchant for getting those crucial goals is a blessing.Stam gives me a physical presence , a tall imposing gaint his presence is immense. Ferreira and Maldini - once again a good blend of old and young.They give me solid defending .I dont really require them to be to inventive on the ball- I got more than enough of that in the rest of the team.What i do require is to keeping the flanks tight and these gentleman are more than adequate at keeping them flanks calm.

My midfeild- oh boy - my midfeild - well that gentleman is the stuff that dreams are made of.To have Zidane - the great Zidane in the centre doing what he does best . He's my playmaker- there can be no other for none are better.Lampard and Gerrard complete my trio in the park.They give me aggression , sublime passing and both are very good at getting back to help the defence out if needed and also adept on the break.Not to forget the intensity and work ethis they bring to the team .I will never forget the 2005 champions league - what gerrard did . That moment - that remarkable comeback will forever be etched in memory of football lovers as perhaps one of the greatest footballing moments of all time.And lastly my favourite -Lampard.Mourinho described him as a great player who plays performs exceptionally every week-week in week out- as opposed to those who turn up once in a while.He epitomises the quality i want this team perhaps more than anyboby else- a determination to win.

I love playing out wide and then bringing it in.I think Joe Cole and Robben are the perfect ploy.Those tricks,those neat side-stepping -they give me more,so much more oppurtunities down the flank.And when it comes down to putting the finishng touches-there is no one more sublime,more graceful than Theiry Henry.He posses so much pace and such wondeful deft passing.He is such a threat.He is just very exciting-in my view perhaps the most exciting striker ever.
I avoided the question of who is to be captian . There are like 5 captains here.But i prefer my captain to be in midfeild or my defence - preferable the latter.Though Maldini is truly a legend i prefer it to be one of my centrehalfs and in that there are not too many contenders - JT is the man.
Petr Cech - tall and athletic is the man i trust to be my goalie.Iker Casillas is a fine player but Cech edges him out on the having the pleasure for playing for my favoutite team - Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho for the same reason and more is my gaffer-why - because the guys brings incredible self-belief,great work ethic to my team.He is my Manager-no apologies.Never.

Football - The dream team

2006-01-30T00:50:00.000-08:00

i love football.

So i must have done this a lot earlier.But,here we go....

Formation: 4-3-3

Centre-half:

John Terry(Chelsea FC)
Jaap Stam (AC Milan)

Full-Back:
Paulo Ferreira ( Chelsea FC)
Paulo Maldini (AC Milan)

Midfeild:

Frank Lampard(Chelsea FC)
Zenedine Zidane(Real Madrid)
Steven Gerrard ( Liverpool FC)

Centre-Forwards:
Arjen Robben(Chelsea FC)
Theiry Henry ( Arsenal FC)
Joe Cole(Chelsea FC)

Goalkeeper:
Peter Cech(Chelsea FC)

Subsitutes:
Claude Makalale(Chelsea FC)
Ronaldinho(Barcelona FC)
Micheal Owen ( Newcastle United)
Luis Garcia (Liverpool FC)
Iker Casillas(Real Madrid)

Manager:
Jose Mourinho ( Chelsea FC)

Journeyman's Kall - Reflections

2006-01-19T04:47:00.000-08:00

taking stock

I joined on August 29th , 2005.

That is already last year , wow how time has moved on . But i would be wrong in saying while looking back on the past few months that its gone by so fast that i hardly realized it. Actually its rather the opposite. The past few months have been a time to observe ,reflect and absorb.

Coming here to hyderabad, to Wipro itself has been a unique venture - labeling it as expereince would be a tad hard to justify, yet. So what did i observe since i been here. I guess pretty much the mannerisms of people seem the most obvious thing.Things are more formal here. Coming from college where you might be required to show some deffrence to your professors and lecturers but besides them you dont ascribe to any formality in your dealing with others - be it your peers or your seniors.Things are more relaxed.Here while people are freindly , relaxed there is an undercurrent of formality which everybody adheres to and there are some lines which you do not cross with anybody irrespective of the fact you are having a very jovial conversation with them.

If you been in a project grappling with the knowledge upload taking place personally and comprehending with tasks required of you -the latest adidas legend assumes a whole new perspective to me - "imposible is nothing" . A task sometimes seems imposible but all you got to do put your head down and work and a lot of hours later you get it -theres no feeling to top that moment of exultation. It always reminds me of this saying - the effort on the journey is the real delight of the any destination- or something to that effect.

Past few months also had me dealing away with the fact that you gotta make the best of your situation . As vivekananda said -" god didnt give me what i wanted - he gave me all i needed " . I like to think the same.But he also said " We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.".

Only your soul can teach you he said and perhaps there is no greater truth.

More Later.....

A google way

2006-01-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

When one thinks of the web, the most common picture that props up in our minds is that of a vast mirthless ocean, of a dense tropical forest in some part of south america .If we were in the middle of those scenarios what would probably top our wish list is something to give us a sense of whats going on - an overview if u would like.Well the web is pretty much the same as that ocean or forest or whatever else your imagination can conjour up and google is very much the paraih which helps you sense out this maze of information that is the world wide web. Google in a way helps you truly appreciate the amount of information that is available in the world but it sheilds you from grasping (and grappling) the sheer enormity of this mire of information.

The very beauty of the web has always been its ability to enable us to put up any information that we wish to and have it at once accessible to anyboby who seeks it irrespective,wheather that person is in the same country as yours or maybe even an entirely different continent !! But as in many cases what seems to be our greatest strength can also prove to be our unsuspecting achilees heel. What perhaps few anticipated with any measure of accuracy was how vast the www was gonna get and few realized the potential that this problem offers to those alert enough to gauge the dilemma that millions of people will face - where to find the information ? which are the sites to go to ? In this mire how do we realize without wasting a considerable time which caters to our needs?

Well my fellow net users quite a few did, a many few explored the quandry with considerable success , but only a select few actually mastered the it with smashing success. Google did and did so with some aplomb, and thus the reason for its success and rise to emerge as a $176 billion company!!! Phew ..the power of imagination...!

"To organize the world's information and make it accessible and useful " - If that cant get your imagination then precious little else will. Thats like the intergalactic mission statement you hear on Star trek - " To boldly go where no one has gone before" . The journey , the statement and the very name have always embodoied the pathos that the statement holds, and along the way make money - the radio way. The coming togehter of two different media's separated by a few deacades!!

The strength's og google are what i call the " 3K's " .( i like abbreviating and i do it a lot) . Here it goes

Keep it simple

Keep it free

Keep it honest

Clutter - the very word kind of conjoures up images of a messy room( like mine) but having a cluttred website where you have to search for something (especially on a search website !!!!) is extremely annoying . SO i like google - straight and simple - clean and nice.

Now pay-per-search - u gotta be kidding . So i got to think- frame questions and then enter a question - hold ON !! that's NOT ON . But as Bill said,(The redmond guy) some of the best commercial things require some money to be made and so you have to pay. Well sure - get the advertisers to pay - the soap opera way when radios started.

And last but not certainly not the last in any measure - keep it honest . It brings people back to you.Its the most primitive of human ethos but even more significant for a faceless internet company.Do not try to become too curious about people who come to you. You certainly wouldnt trust a doctor who orders a foot scan when you go for a tummy ache ! or would you?

These are grains which any company can use to get to top - but very few did . Google did and the rest as they say is a journey in progress.

To have some freinds.....

2006-01-15T21:31:00.000-08:00

<>
hi kiri,

i dont know when will we will meet again -how long it will be.
I just didnt feel like speaking much when i called yesterday and u were in the airport filling up some form.
Both Ravi and me were feeling like really bad yesterday(and i am sure mithi did too) - things hvae changed so permanantely and my mind jus seems to be going back to the scene in Dil chahta Hai - the one i told u about - (all those 3 jokers are sittin in Goa-(where we planned to go but never did)- at some castle and starring out at the vast sea and its infinite horizons )Akshaye khanna says- " We are like that ship ,soon we will be setting out in search of our destiny and we will disapear over the horizon.Forget coming to goa every 6 months ,meeting even once in 6 years is gonna be hard ".

Well our own lives have reached that point - i and ravi have moved out here - u r leaving and dissapearing over the horizons and mithi is alone in chennai. Its i guess inevitable but its very hard when u get all nostalgic like i think all of us are feeling this week - even that rascal ravi !!!!

We - u , me , ravi and mithi have shared some great moments over the past few years - u guys beeing there have made them special (This is a bit melodramatic but i want to say it - hey ravi dont smirk) . I guess i am really glad we had the times we did with each other.I am also glad we caught up on monday - i think we spoke for an hour . i spoke with mithi too on tuesday and it felt good.

A few words to sum up all u guys individually:

kiran : Late , always late , a horrid 'fashion' sense, exteremely nice , 'me want more mass' , always rushing to buy coffee powder and chilli packet, affable and one of my greatest freinds and has a great laugh -Haaaheah ? ravi can do it better - love u brother

Mithi: wild , wild and wilder , "i wore a jean for a few months non-stop" , a wild beard , lately deep in philosophy - we have hade some interesting discussions , Qwiky's - thou my world, a very diffreent approach to life , a bit lost of late but will find his destiny
- love u brother .

Ravi : "all girls are looking at and r in love with me"- only confirmed mental case-a certain 'aruna' , skumole shack , where r the drinks , mad dog, good freind - love u brother <>

ShaNK: U all shoud tell me - ravi dont blow ur head.......

get back with ur comments....please

I told ravi about the above scene in 'dil chahta hai'- and he reminded me that in the end all the freinds do finally get togehter .
I like that - and i hope we also do ,somewhere down the line. dude kiran - i am joining ORKUT because i dont wanna lose touch with u - so do join up and keep in touch.

I wish all of u guys the very best

ur brother ,

Shashank

<>

Well… to add to the whole lot of tear dripping “yaadon kee baaraat….” stuff below…
All I can say is tat some of the best moments I’ve had in my life were during the 4 years spent in SVCE, in Chennai….seriously..
F**k it!! I was still a kid before tat!
Right frm the first year when we were still feeling each other out..(puhleese not phantom style) I meant mentally, intellectually.. to the second year when the group actually got together in the corner class room in Marine block.. beating the sh*t out of Messer/s. Shankar, Muthuraman and sailaja and last but not the fking least Mari, the runt with a book! The nogood data entry operator!!!
And one of our (now) crazy brainchilds(ren) was “Distortion” a.k.a. Wildthings… the name for our group and for which mithi had lot of plans like givin out Id cards etc…
The only wildthings among us were P.S Sandeep and Aneesh… who were the real rebels. It was a great one to watch the PS vs Mari &Co and Mr.Aneesh vs Shankar events..
At this juncture it is a lil too early to give credit to the deeds of the Great Mithi – Sohail duo which single handedly saw to the downfall and defamation of MOFO Mari.. but still…
And the brave Pink Panther style adventure of UK-The-KK which resulted in no DSP classes for two weeks… yeah.. I’m talking abt the Case Of the Missing Notebook..
And special thanks to kiran and shanky for giving their active support and cooperation in the 4C case….
And comin to the third year , the year of the Blore - Ooty I.V. .. it was a trip of ‘firsts’ for many of us.. it was totally awesome!
And final year…. As u all know was by far the best and wildest of all.
We had a lot of fun and kicked some serious butt!!
S-101 was the place to be… call it wat u want.. skumole shack wateve…
From our so called Proj Meetings to the daily night parties… wat am I talking… wat night?? F**K it!! We didn’t give a damn if it was night or day!
The 40km route from Anna ngr to Qwikys me and mithi discovered.. (beat tat)!
The preachings and teachings of the Master UK shall prove to us in good stead!
Finally one thing we’ve learnt is tat “I can be a Superman…. Saturday to Sunday Monday..Monday to Sunday YO!!!!”

And comin to the personal and individual abuse… here we go!

kiran :
Wat can I say abt u..
Ur pants are always loose…
the worst pervert in the world… anime, animal, sushi u name it!
terrible at rap battles!
To all the insults we threw at each other.. to all the coding we did together… I ‘ll miss you…

Mithi:
Gimme a sec..lemme copy paste the stuff frm ur orkut testimonial…

1. He is the flattest flatfoot to be ever born.. even in computer games... bigtime sucker in GTA-VC2. The worst biker on the planet.3. Trust me, with him around u can never get "high" on booze.. he is one crazy armchair lecturer shithead u can ever find!4. Reads all lame ass shit like hadley chase and mary clark higgins and yeah wats tat dicks name?? some mentor my foot!5. Can very well be the author of Beginners Guide to Insanity!6. Die hard fan of Bob dylan, ray charles and cos of my influence and insistence and persistence - HipHOpAfter all this ranting and raving... All i can say is..Through thick and thin... through scrapes and blood.. through bikes and beaches...through bitches and booze we've seen it.. we've done it!and we shall keep doin it! we're CHAIN SMOKERS mamu!!!

Shank:
Well…. This is the best part…. YeeHAAAW!!!!
It was a big pain hauling ur big fat ass frm all over Chennai back to Kodambakkam… but being the true friend that I am… I did it with a “song in my heart and a smile on my lips”…
and right now I don’t need to cry abt not meeting you and all that….
to many more movies at skyline!!
actually I cant think of anything much… too much of any literary effort has a big effect on my nerves… so shall post more in the near future..

<>

hey

well well well...old rough and tough shashank is nothin more than an ol softy eh? and ravi well what can we say...i can only dare to imagine what he would say to his children when they bring him their report cards....god forbid. i have arrived in one peice just..pretty cold over here guys...but at home the T1 net lines and BIG ASS widescreen TV(with no channels) makes up for it. yeh yeh...i'll be honest..i started to miss india and chennai half way through the trip...and after i got here i see "shawshank;s" mail...got me all teary(HEEEEHEEEEEEHAAAAAHAAAAWWWW). but yes your commnets about me are justified..i have always been late to most of our meetings if not all....and about ravi;s letter....no comment. But yes...one thing is true...mithi, ravi and shank...you guys are the best. and ravi is right..the b'glore trip was a first in a lot of senses....the list is...
1) give us a stick in each hand and we can survive in the deepest of the amazon jungles..i mean we survived tigers and leapords in ooty right?
2) we had our little fights and it showed tht none of us are perfect.....

coffee shops in hyderabad or US...it can't replace the joy of meeting in qwiky's (and have shank curse me for showing up late). the antics of the so called "telugu gang". but the heros of the college i must say are mithilesh, sohail and UK the KK( tried calling him before leavin...no use) who brought about the total destruction of a sadist bastard known as mariappan. also i must thank you guys for helping me out with nanditha(YOU MORONS...you call yourselves friends?????)!!!!! and ofcourse....ravi...you really are the man with the finger in every pie....you attract members of both sexes..a rare trait indeed...(Aka bhupi, phantom and who knows who else you haven't told us about).

It was great to have mithilesh, abdul and ganesh see me off....with mithilesh coming to the airport.....i never wanted this to end..i always hoped we would all end up together even after college but it wasn't so...yeh would have been nice if you guys came to chennai before i left...but work is work....as far as giving opinion is considered...can't do...
what can i say...ravi,shank and me...the TE-WIMAX team and mithilesh the prospective traffic engineer..we are "unique"...one of a kind specimens.....illict engineers who coded a project without even touching the keyboard...(atleast we know how to make a good PPT and fooling an entire group of first years...remeber the presentation?). this ain't the end guys..no way..not gonna end like this....as far as mithilesh is concerned...shank..knock some sense into him...

that's that...no more from me for now atleast...i'll keep in touch...same go's for you characters. ravi in your case i'll make an exception. keep in touch fellow traffic engineers and members of the IETF.
adios

kiran

Gauging a nation's Ideas

2005-12-07T02:21:00.000-08:00

by its advertisement's

If there's something you can always be sure of , for tomorrow its change- u can be assured that all things as we know today will change . Maybe a change is so gradual and continous that you may fail to identify it for its true nature but it happens . A nation is charecterised by the changes that it undergoes and for the ideas that inspire it . The advertisement that prevail in a nation at a particular time are a kind of a snapshot of these ideas - the social and economical pulse of the nation. Most advertisement capture the mood of a nation very accurately.

The origins of advertisement trace back to the time egytians discovered papyrus and started using it.So they are as old as paper itself !! Advertisements and commerce have gone hand in hand since those bygone ages uptill now and will continue far beyond our times.They like all institutions have undergone various change both in content to expanding to different mediums . Starting from paper handouts, wall painting , T-shirts , Hoardings to mini-films in television to pop-up's , slides and various other forms all over the net . Advertisements infact have come to define the commerce on the net with companies such as Google , Yahoo or MSN etc depending on revenues from ads on the internet .Advertisements have spanned an entire industry with agencies all over the world which do everything from designing creative ads to finding appropritate spaces in different mediums to showcase them to deciding how much advertising need to be done to reach a target audience.

Advertisements have also underwent a major charecteristic change . In the inception advertisements were used to essentially promote and increase the visibility of a particular product.Nowadays in addition to that line , ads are used to position a brand of a company as representing a particular concept in minds of people.The idea is while a company might have many products which are in circulation , creating a brand will be interests of the company's long term. Apple Computers ads with the caption " The power to be at your best" was refreshing and focussed on the its new line of products which gave user great opputtunity to express himself like never before and helped resurrect a failing company. Pepsi " Generation Next" during late 1990's captured the imagination of the entire indian sub continent whose burgeoning young were just realizing the effects of liberalization of the early 1990's.It was a stupendous campaign and captured the spirit of a new indian who was emerging to take on a world of oppurtunity- A gaint was waking up .

Those ads became a legend as they captured the spirit of their times and of the nation's ilk. Recently the Ford josh campaign for their Icon was a one such ad which managed to arrest a viewer's attention. What u need to remember is that most cars in that segments pretty much have same features - interiors , performance etc ..all.What the ad did was to position the car as this incredible powerhorse which can boost u up like u do while having a Red Bull or a shot of vodka . It made the car sysnonamous with a feeling , a thought if u would like and thus each time u thought of the car the feeling swelled up. Awesome!!

The ads thus were able to effectively capture the mood of the common man and thus reflect an image of the nation. An ad which holds revelance in a particular environment might not offer much sight in a different setting or even in the same environment in a different time period.Advertisements are a kind of postcard of the prevailing tenor in a country.However one does have to gaurd against getting carried away by an advertisement . An ad after all will be hyped !

An advertisment is like a postcard of the atmosphere in a nation , its people , their hopes and above all its ideas.

Of politicians and the ilk

2005-12-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

India - a country young in democratic terms yet rich in heritage due to glorious past.A country which for a majority of its long existence been a feif-minded in governance.54 years of democracy havent exactly been able to wipe out what hunderds years of ignorance and slavery drilled into the general physic.Indeed democracy itself seems to be adapting to feif-physic of the country and the current politics is spawning a new class of nobles.A class which is aiming to govern with the legitimacy of the constitution of Indian Republic.

Across the landscape the sons and daughters of a generation of politicians are seeking the indian voter's approval to follow their parent's as next successor as if a constituency is their parents to give and theirs to seek. Its disturbing to see the trend emerge accross the corners of the country - this is not something restricted to some pockets - but accross all land , as if an offspring has a divine right or duty to takeover from his siers. Most certainly this disturbing trend attributes its origin to the most esteemed " Gandhi-Nehru" family. Great though has been their contribution to the country's independence , the way their offsprings have run the INC ( Indian National Congrees) and through it held dominion over the country is disdainful.The seeds of succession and feif mentality cropped up by Nehru and nurtured by his various decendants have now found their way to the common neta mentality.A generation of neta's are now rearing their desendants to take on a political role.The little netas bred on an often fawning public , a lord-like reverence and pampered by vast corruption spread have found themself intoxocated by the the political melodrama.Though better educated than their parents these people have begun to assume that its their divine right to follow their parents and retain "whats theirs" ! Power is more or just as dangerous as lust. The power weilded by the politicians has inadvertantly seduced their sons and daughters leading to a dangerous jucture.

The common man has just as much responsibility for this mess.But decades of ignorance and servitude and continuing hardship to earn a living or to just get by have bent and humbed him.The tragic side is the papa neta and little neta are hardly pressed to do anything about it other than stuff their bellies as much as they possible can accomodate .

Ignorance-particularly the lack of education has severely hampered the development of the ordinary man's mind beyond a certain level.Spread of basic education will to large extent dispel the near -idolistic regard some members of some ' dynasties ' are held in people esteem .If only people memory wasn't so short ,they might remember the promises - broken promises . Promise a desperate man in a desert water and he will follow you as he has no alternative.Such is the state of the below poverty indian.He has no choice but to again and again trust those who have betrayed them so many times.

For true democracy envisioned by the many who fathered the independence of this new country we have to remember Frost -

" .....The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep....... . .. . "

To merge or not to..

2005-12-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today morning while looking up the morning news i found an atricle about a proposed merger between Virgin Mobile and NTL or something like it.It kind of set me of thinking that there's a lot of mergers happening in the world-kind of wondering why people want to do it -financial and also other reasons to go for it.

SO i went fishing and discovered some inteesting reasons for it ..... . .

One of the foremost and primary (what they all say...maybe true or maybe not...)is that mergers , people beleive will lead to appreciation of shareholder value thus enormously benifitting shareholder by unlocking true worth of their investments . A Larger corporation which results as synergy between smaller companies is usually worth a lot more .This also a echo of the current belief among top corporate gaints that 'size matters' and will do so infinetly more in the new century .The bigger they are, the better they can position themself to face competition in a global market and take full benefit of it.This attitude account part for the large no of mergers and aquistions happening or being proposed accross the financial world in all industries .
Further mergers also allow companies to cut down overlapping areas , strenthen where required and concentrate on what 's inline with its vision and goals.Cutting down on overlapping areas means firing a lot of people ,so you tend to save a lot in severed salaries.
Companies also argue that this strenthen's unions making them more dynamic and in sync with today's economics.U could also argue on other hand that mergers also strengthen the top corporate's luxurious pay packets and incentives,bonuses .... the works .
Mergers and Aquistions (M&A)have today emerged as a way to grow for company in alternative of doing so through sound strategic positioning and planning. In an environment where top corporates are in pressure to show growth -fast growth ,every quarter and faster growth every other quarter M & A offers a way to show quick growth maybe atleast for a few quarters.M&A have become a stategic fallback in absense of intelligent choice of strategy and thinking.

A very possible halo..

Even a good deed done with wrong intentions or here,not done rightly is wrong or here,can have catastrophic consequences for a corporation.

Edward De Bono,the renowned management guru says 30% of all megers fail-collapse shareholders value,20% do so to a lesser extent, 37% appreciate value to fraction of what was initially proposed and only 17% hit the jackpot.Yes only that much .... actually work.

One of the reasons attributed to this is that culture contrasts can paralyze a deal even before fruition.A traditional no-risk company going on to gobble a free wheeling creative enterprise and expecting things to be gory just by saddling each with the other partner is a marriage doomed to failure.Corporate culture is an expression of values,beliefs and patterns ,unique to each organization.Its a way of doing things deeply ingrained into each organization and people who compose it.To change it or even adapt it reqiures a process of educating and takes time and if not handled properly sights a merger considerably.

Mergers also should gaurd against reduced management focus on significant tasks or against burdening management with more than humanly possible , leading to neglect of some tasks.

Despite these concerns Mergers and aquistions look set to the trend which will shape the future of the finance world across all industrail segments.As corporate culture world over looks to bet on getting bigger and meaner, mergers and aquistions seem destined to alter the landscape inevitably.The Godzilla movie's legend "Size Matters" never seemed more prominant than it does today.

Chelsea football club

2005-11-10T03:03:00.000-08:00

Chelsea Swan Song Tribute

Captain Fantastic -John Terry with the FA Community Sheild

Irish Wizard Damien Duff exults after scoring

Joe Cole - hammering away .....

Frank Lampard - leaving the masses speechless.......

way to go .........frank...............
Left :The boss -Jose Mourinho and the Dynamic Duo (bellow -right) : terry and Lampard

Above : Asier Del Herno Below : The boys celebrate bottom : Hernan Crepo exults

The greatest game ever

2005-11-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

I am an indian bread on cricket all my life,but it took me just a few matches during the 2002 Fifa world cup to fall in love with football and our romance has been on a high ever since.
There was a vibrancy and vicissitude to the game which simply mesimerized me.There is never a moment where the game drifts like it happens sometimes in cricket , the game here is racy . There is no set order on how things are to be done ,here constant change is the very nature of the game.Every minute of the game there are a eleven men battling another eleven with some sublime passing of the ball polished off with some lucious finishing and on the other hand u have some staunh and resolute defending .In an instant u can go from being on the attack to being forced on the defencive and lo u have conceded and reverse is true too.There are no set way how to do it , each player is is his own man.Its the same game where u have a dennis bergkamp who can kill a defence with his passing , a drogba who can hold his own against the entire defence and a Henry or Ronaldo who can just in a flash of an instant can produce moments of sheer magic to find the net. Defence is no poor cousin here because games are won or lost depending on how u defend.Seeing a Terry in a knifecut or a Makalele sitting like a rock in front of the defence or a warrior like Maldini galvanizing his forces time after time to do battle ,to stand up like gaints against the ravaging hordes is a sheer delight for a connoisiuer.

People have for centuries played ball in their own ways to perhaps lead up to this game . Centuries of evolution to culminate into this 90 minutes of pure sporting estacasy.

At the beginning

2005-11-09T04:05:00.000-08:00

I have been here -"here" being 'W'<> ,Hyderabad- till date for a little more than two months thus far.
The first month i spent in training at a facility at Begumpet - Lal Bangla.I would like to think i learnt some really interesting stuff there only to be told at the end of that one month that from thereon i would be into something entirely different.I was under training, into Telecom and Internet field .At the end of that we also had to create an FTP client implementation which confirmed to RFC standards.It was really exciting but at the sametime we had one "hell" of a time.The "hell" being as in hellfire and brimstone.we were taught basics,given a task ,set a deadline and asked to figure out a solution.It was a pressure cooker situation and it like a lot of stuff u heard about before perhaps, it involved a lot of late nights and a lot LOT of tea . It worked ..we worked and it felt wonderful.

A few days later i was informed along with the rest of my batch that we were being shafted into Product Engineering Solutions which includes embedded systems among other things.
Given a new direction and marching orders to diff facilities across the city we have all gone our separate ways.
I am at Madhapur Facility .In the past one month ,i been here haven't done much.Its taxing to sit idle but people tell me to enjoy while i can as once it starts ,they say it pours.
so as the old adage goes -make hay while the sun shines - i been keeping myself engaged with watching movies,browsing....etc.....