We are back after a great tour of Italy. 6 fun filled days from 25 Dec to 30th and revival of some old memories of Italy. I will keep it short with just some highlights!
Day-1 (PISA)
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The leaning tower is still leaning as it has been since the 11th century. We also climbed it to the top and found that one really looses balance while climbing while climbing the 1st and 2nd floors!! What appalled me the most was the lack of security for a wonder of the world. Me and A had the fortune to see the tower at late night while it was raining and from a distance of just about 10 feet and not a single soul was around for miles probably. Quite romatic. Its like seeing Taj Mahal all alone on a moonlit night. But a thought struck me that in this world full of zealots isnt Italy too lax about safety of a monument so important both historically and for its tourism? Same goes with Colloseum in Rome, we saw that too from close quarters late into night with secirity almost non existent!
Day-2 (FLORENCE)
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This city is meant for people with an artistic bent of mind. Paitings and sculptures by the likes of Michaelangelo,Botticelli and Leonardo Da Vinci galore city's every nook and corner . But Michaelangelo's world famous "David" (of the David and Goliath fame) stands apart. This sculpture invokes a dumb awe. Its gracious to the core and personifies the perfection in the art of stone sculpting ever done by man. While in Florence I could not help but compare the artwork of Mughals which we see in our own country in places like Taj Mahal, Various Moghul palaces or the Dilwara temple in Rajasthan with the Roman architecture. To my un-trained eye, the biggest difference is that Romans believed in size, each and every Roman monument is huge,enormous and grand, whereas Moghul architecture is about fine art of extremely intricate stone work.
Day-3 & 4 (Rome)
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"Rome was not built in a day". You need to see Rome to believe this adage. The bloody history of Collosseum, the magnificient Palazzo Victoria Emanuelle-2, the trevi fountain and of course the St Peters Basilica of Vatican are all things worth seeing at least once in lifetime. The grand squares of Rome and ruined palaces scattered all over take you back in time when Roman empire was at its peak. On the flip side, Rome is very much like Delhi. Its full of pick pockets and Mafia. We had a incident of A's rucksack being probed by some pick pocket girl in a subway. Fortunately nothing was lost.
Day 5 & 6 (VENICE)
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I believe that Venice is also a wonder of the world and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is ranked as the worlds second most romantic place after Paris. I celebrated dear "A's" birthday there on 29th Dec! Venice is known for its opulent palaces of 17th century and the opera's. And also for the most romatic "Gondolas", the beautiful San Marco described as worlds best drawing room by Napolean and the Rialto bridge which gives a great view of the Grand Canal. We also visited one of the glass factories of the famed Murano glass works and saw first hand the process of glass artifact making. The Murano glass is damn expensive and meant probably only for the rich and famous.
The trip was one of the best I ever had and we both will cherish its memories for many years to come!
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Million Dollar Page
This idea beats all dot.com ideas. Envy is the only emotion it invokes. Alex Tew, a 21 year old student from England came up with this bright idea just to sponsor his university education and today he posesses a cool one million dollar booty. All he does is to sell a 10X10 pixel area on his website, aptly named http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ to anyone who wants to advertise their enterprise with a logo! The result is a unreadable collage of logos which looks more like modern art. This sheer stupid idea has earned him millions. Sigh...I will try not to env him. You have a look at it.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
In Quest of Zero !
Yesterday on the train to Amsterdam (before it was cancelled..uggghhh...cant get over it yet) me and A happenned to meet a Portuguese gentleman on the train. He is a professor in Hamburg university and naturally knew a lot more about Goa, India and indian IT success story than a average German. While chatting he "demonstrated" his knowledge about Indian culture by telling me that Sanskrit was the first known langugae in world with advanced structured grammer and he also had read about ancient Indian literary great- Panini. To add to his knowledge and maybe little gloated with his flattery I boasted that Panini gave the world the numeral Zero. I was not sure if Panini or Arybhatta invented it, but knew that he would lap it up as a fact:-) I know Panini had something to do with sanskrit grammer and not math, but its such a old story..who cares...I was not even born then! But today I wanted to really check with Dr Google about invetor of zero and I was amazed to read that it is a debated issue amongst scholars and its NOT conclusive that India gave this world nothing - the zero! Zero was invented independetly thrice, the third time in India, which is debated. After reading many websites, I reached this website and found it really interesting. Read - http://www.mediatinker.com/blog/archives/008821.html I am still trying to search more on Google and will try to post when I find out the real history of Zero. Let me know if you do!
Not been there and not done that!
There's some cross between me and Amsterdam. Thrice in last 4 years I went almost through that city but for some or other reason could not see it. This time me and A were prepared, with tickets, hotel reservation, backpacks and we also embarked on the trip but...as fate would have it, could not reach Amsterdam. The first snow of the season here was so heavy and un-expected that it put the entire Deustche Bahn(DB) railyway system out of gear. It was a crazy blizzard going all over north Germany yesteday night and our train got cancelled in Osnabruck. The service point redirected us to Munster and the service point their adviced us to go back home as there was no way rails would run and so we reached a city called Hamm. But their, I was really impressed with DB serivce, they not only arranged a 3 start hotel for our overnight stay and arranged for a return train back home today morning but they also refunded the entire journey tickets !!! Now Laloo, Indian Railways and even the airlines have a long way to go before they catch up with this kind of service...anyway, we returned back safe and sound today afternoon, it was nice free trip to 3 bundesland cities and a free overnight stay at cost of DB:-) "A" was also very happy since this was her first experience of a snowfall and that too so heavy! She is always lucky...I remember my first experience of snowfall in Italy 4 years back was quite a damp squib as compared to this.
But I have not given away the hopes, will keep a watch on weather and will catch the next possible train to visit Amsterdam, the happenning place know for its nightlife (probably next only to Vegas). Could not go there as a bachelor, but so be it:-)
But I have not given away the hopes, will keep a watch on weather and will catch the next possible train to visit Amsterdam, the happenning place know for its nightlife (probably next only to Vegas). Could not go there as a bachelor, but so be it:-)
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Life in Deutschland
For those who do not know, I am in Deutschland/Germany these days along with dear A. Contrary to my expectations,settling down here was not too difficult, thanks to my earlier visit to this same place. Some stark differences as compared to settling here and in US or India are worth noting. Things are REALLY very expensive in Europe, be it clothes, furniture, electronics et all. Only daily and basic needs are maybe affordable. This observation quickly brings my train of thoughts to halt at a discussion which I had with a friend few days back and a article which our sales lead in Europe forwarded to me recently. "Socialist Capitalism" of Germany as I call it, is the exxagerated form of democracy and symbol of protectionist government of this country. In a developed nation with 11% un-employment it is really difficult to belive that people work only for 7 to 8 hours and practically the whole nation is holidaying on Sundays. Its mandated by law. I am sometimes at loggerheads with a German colleague (who works for same company as mine but being German has to work for just 8 hours and has almost 45 paid casual leaves!!) who keeps asking me why I work so hard and for such long hours (10 hours min which btw, is below average by Indian IT standards:-) ) I always end up explaning him that it is competition (read china) and inherently hard working (ass like) attitude of Indians which drives me, but I also do not fail to point out that working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week is a luxury which this country cannot afford for long. Everything here is govt controlled, house rents, working hours, minimum wages and unions meddling with company affairs is very normal. No wonder German workers are known to be most expensive.Slowly but steadily jobs are shifting to cheapers destinations. The US like anti-outsourcing backlash across Europe is just waiting to happen...the only way out for Europeans is to rise and face the realities and work harder, 10 hours minimum and OPEN all shops on Sundays too(thats a personal request)!
Btw, amongst all this talk of capitalism I saw a very cute and appreciable gesture which argues in favour of protectionism. While standing in a queue at the bank I saw a very young kid (hardly 10 yrs old) holding his piggy bank (so small that it cannot hold more than 10 Euro) and bank pass book!! He promptly gave them to the cashier who counted the coins and deposited to his account! Dont know what really drived that kid to save his pocket money in Bank instead of spending it on candy, did he foresee capitalism over shadowing his future?
~Amit
Btw, amongst all this talk of capitalism I saw a very cute and appreciable gesture which argues in favour of protectionism. While standing in a queue at the bank I saw a very young kid (hardly 10 yrs old) holding his piggy bank (so small that it cannot hold more than 10 Euro) and bank pass book!! He promptly gave them to the cashier who counted the coins and deposited to his account! Dont know what really drived that kid to save his pocket money in Bank instead of spending it on candy, did he foresee capitalism over shadowing his future?
~Amit
Friday, October 28, 2005
Monday, July 18, 2005
The Red Belt !
(17 July 2000 - 17th July 2005)
Yesterday marked a milestone for me. I completed 5 Yrs of service in my company and my first job!! The emotions are mixed: sense of satisfaction and achievement and also of having missed some opportunities:-)
At my company symbolically this milestone means, changing the color of my ID card belt from blue to red and hypothetically it heralds my entry into the trusted and priviliged echelons of old-timers which is an un-written (and hopefully true) rule. Getting red belt is the time to reap fruits of 5 years of toil at this software warehouse. However this red belt has also got other practical significance, we are told that US consulate recognizes significance of my companies' red belt tag, which makes getting those oh-so-hard-to-get US visas a little more simpler. Then you also stand apart amongst the zillions and ever increasing population here. I also get a Long Service Award which means 3 nights and 2 days free stay for me and my wife at one of the 4/5 star resorts in exoctic locations like Kerala, Goa, Ooty, Kodai, Manali etc. I might settle with Ooty. We also get appreciation certificate and a written feedback (which is obviously sugar laced) from peers and seniors...
These 5 years have given me an opportunity to travel across the globe: Italy, Spain, Germany, France, US and ofcourse within India. It has made a professional automotive embedded system 'expert' out of the naive and unpolished fresh-out-of college graduate. I learnt the bits and bytes of micro controllers and micro processors, the design patterns of OO programming, Seeing the subtleties of C, the threads and processes of RTOS internals, the highs and lows of analog and digital systems, and ofcourse the inside out of body electronics and the cutting edge (literally) future of vehicles- Telematics. And the financial independence brought by the job after the poverty stricken student life also deserves a passing mention...
On the flip side, the project pressures, impossible deadlines and sedentry desk job have taken its toll on the health and relations. Hair lines are receding and other lines are bulging. Some Ol' friends were lost on the way and new ones were made...But thats what life of a s/w pro is made of. No regrets.
Now that first milestone is reached, I am free to set my eyes on the next one. I am not sure if it will be in the same company! Lets see what life has in store!
Peace and Content
~Amit
Yesterday marked a milestone for me. I completed 5 Yrs of service in my company and my first job!! The emotions are mixed: sense of satisfaction and achievement and also of having missed some opportunities:-)
At my company symbolically this milestone means, changing the color of my ID card belt from blue to red and hypothetically it heralds my entry into the trusted and priviliged echelons of old-timers which is an un-written (and hopefully true) rule. Getting red belt is the time to reap fruits of 5 years of toil at this software warehouse. However this red belt has also got other practical significance, we are told that US consulate recognizes significance of my companies' red belt tag, which makes getting those oh-so-hard-to-get US visas a little more simpler. Then you also stand apart amongst the zillions and ever increasing population here. I also get a Long Service Award which means 3 nights and 2 days free stay for me and my wife at one of the 4/5 star resorts in exoctic locations like Kerala, Goa, Ooty, Kodai, Manali etc. I might settle with Ooty. We also get appreciation certificate and a written feedback (which is obviously sugar laced) from peers and seniors...
These 5 years have given me an opportunity to travel across the globe: Italy, Spain, Germany, France, US and ofcourse within India. It has made a professional automotive embedded system 'expert' out of the naive and unpolished fresh-out-of college graduate. I learnt the bits and bytes of micro controllers and micro processors, the design patterns of OO programming, Seeing the subtleties of C, the threads and processes of RTOS internals, the highs and lows of analog and digital systems, and ofcourse the inside out of body electronics and the cutting edge (literally) future of vehicles- Telematics. And the financial independence brought by the job after the poverty stricken student life also deserves a passing mention...
On the flip side, the project pressures, impossible deadlines and sedentry desk job have taken its toll on the health and relations. Hair lines are receding and other lines are bulging. Some Ol' friends were lost on the way and new ones were made...But thats what life of a s/w pro is made of. No regrets.
Now that first milestone is reached, I am free to set my eyes on the next one. I am not sure if it will be in the same company! Lets see what life has in store!
Peace and Content
~Amit
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
What Braveheart ?
Its a long time since I have bitched about social issues and its impact on me:-) A few days back TOIlet paper (Times Of India) carried a front page news of a 7 year young Delhi kid driving his injured 5 year young Bro to a hospital for emergency treament in guess what - a car!! The news bite was titled 'Braveheart' and was laced with accolades and praise for the young kid. I have been reading readers-letters in response to that for quite some days after that. Here's my take on it:
The boy does not deserve any accolades, instead he should be placed in juvenile remand home and his parents in Jail. What was ToI journo thinking when he praised the kid? Does he want to project the kid as a role model for other kids? Does he want more 7 year olds to learn car driving and run amock on the roads? Does he want parents to teach driving to their wards and make them wonder kids, for all to admire ? Well, if I had read this news about 15 years back, I would have run with it to my dad and demanded an explanation for not allowing me also to drive the car or even the scooter for that matter. I remember I knew the son of one of dads filthy rich family friend (a marwadi) who used to drive car at age of about 13. He was same age as mine then. And not just that he used to haul cash and made business deals for his dad at that age! His father used to tell stories of his prodigal son to my dad with pride, and I used to hear it sulking all the time. Well we were quite the salaried class for making the business deals but we did have a car and I could have defintely driven it if allowed! And I did defy the rule once and took dads scooter to school while my parents were away, and I still remeber dads stony silence towards me after that for about 2 days!He never scolded but the message was driven home. Well, looking back now, I feel how right he was. I was too young and naive, could have easily harmed anyone including me with reckless driving! Even today I drive reckless sometimes, though I am trying to be a more responsible driver. I never thought I would start thinking like a stereotyped grown up, but I too have grown wisdom teeth, and they are not for nothing. I am determined to be a righteous parent whenever that happens!! I think thats a natural progression in homo sapien growth!
The boy does not deserve any accolades, instead he should be placed in juvenile remand home and his parents in Jail. What was ToI journo thinking when he praised the kid? Does he want to project the kid as a role model for other kids? Does he want more 7 year olds to learn car driving and run amock on the roads? Does he want parents to teach driving to their wards and make them wonder kids, for all to admire ? Well, if I had read this news about 15 years back, I would have run with it to my dad and demanded an explanation for not allowing me also to drive the car or even the scooter for that matter. I remember I knew the son of one of dads filthy rich family friend (a marwadi) who used to drive car at age of about 13. He was same age as mine then. And not just that he used to haul cash and made business deals for his dad at that age! His father used to tell stories of his prodigal son to my dad with pride, and I used to hear it sulking all the time. Well we were quite the salaried class for making the business deals but we did have a car and I could have defintely driven it if allowed! And I did defy the rule once and took dads scooter to school while my parents were away, and I still remeber dads stony silence towards me after that for about 2 days!He never scolded but the message was driven home. Well, looking back now, I feel how right he was. I was too young and naive, could have easily harmed anyone including me with reckless driving! Even today I drive reckless sometimes, though I am trying to be a more responsible driver. I never thought I would start thinking like a stereotyped grown up, but I too have grown wisdom teeth, and they are not for nothing. I am determined to be a righteous parent whenever that happens!! I think thats a natural progression in homo sapien growth!
Friday, July 08, 2005
The best day!
8th July, 2005, 12.35 AM
This day heralds advent of a new and close relative to my life. I am very happy today.
Infact this calls for a off day at work. I mean I would be physically present but mind would be on a holiday:-)
This day heralds advent of a new and close relative to my life. I am very happy today.
Infact this calls for a off day at work. I mean I would be physically present but mind would be on a holiday:-)
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Nothing !
Nothing much happenning in life. Like Garfield's owner John, I am waiting for something to happen. Something exciting, new and a turning point.
Last couple of weeks were spent watching movies. Paheli is good. Worth seeing at least once. Its slow but OK. Nothing more to write...
Last couple of weeks were spent watching movies. Paheli is good. Worth seeing at least once. Its slow but OK. Nothing more to write...
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
The final top 10+1 :)
1. Patrice - Soulstorm / Nile / www.patriceonline.de
2. Switch - Will Smith
3. Boro Boro - Arash
4. Sunset Strippers-American Idiot
5. Signs - Snoopy dog feat featuring Justin Timberlake
6. ich ich - Du erinnerst mich an Liebeich
7. Shut Up - Simple Plan
8. Mockingbird - Eminem
9. Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
10. Emanuella - ??
11.Akon - Lonely
There are many more "I too ran" in the race for my top 10, but I finally chose the above.
Enjoy and Plz share the mp3s if you find them:) Hsshhhh...
2. Switch - Will Smith
3. Boro Boro - Arash
4. Sunset Strippers-American Idiot
5. Signs - Snoopy dog feat featuring Justin Timberlake
6. ich ich - Du erinnerst mich an Liebeich
7. Shut Up - Simple Plan
8. Mockingbird - Eminem
9. Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
10. Emanuella - ??
11.Akon - Lonely
There are many more "I too ran" in the race for my top 10, but I finally chose the above.
Enjoy and Plz share the mp3s if you find them:) Hsshhhh...
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Time To Go Home!!!
Yeah! I am alomost nearing the end of my short stint here and looking, no bending forward to return to dearest A! It was a nice stay though without A. Its a satisfying feeling to work on the bleeding edge tech, especially automotive domain where you know that your creations will be used by the masses,though you are behind the screens. And I was working for a very popular vehicle! Though it was tough to do it in such a short time, I dont think I am the one to shy away from challenges:) And the fact that it has greyed few more hairs and added some kilos to my already decent resume is what makes me happy and content. There will be tough decisions to make soon and god willing everything will go fine..Now will wrap up my nomadic life here and will return on 10th. Got to do lot of things before leaving...these last minute blues never fail to give me butterflies! And yeah for my own sake I will post my final songs countdown soon. Thats was another thing which I enjoyed here. Ciao Tutti...Tschus...
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Top Of My Charts!
One thing I like best about Europe is the non stop supply of brand new and cool songs on Mtv Europe and Viva channels! Here is a list of top ten songs on my chart. I forget some of the artists' names. Their names are quite a mouthful! Now I have the tedious task of searching for these Mp3. I did buz couple of albums here, but they are damn expensive:-( I paid almost 36 Euro for just two songs!!!!
1. Isyankar - mustafa sandal
2. Kavrulduk - mustafa sandal
3. Gel askim - mustafa sandal
4. ich ich "Du erinnerst mich an Liebeich (I dedicate this song to Jijo!)
5. Switch - Will Smith
6. Bora Bora
7. Emanuella
8. Patrice - Soulstorm (Nile)
9. Mockingbird - Eminem
10. Signs - Snoopy dog feat featuring Justin Timberlake
Some more noteworthy are Ghetto Gospel, Give a little bit love ....Will post more later !
1. Isyankar - mustafa sandal
2. Kavrulduk - mustafa sandal
3. Gel askim - mustafa sandal
4. ich ich "Du erinnerst mich an Liebeich (I dedicate this song to Jijo!)
5. Switch - Will Smith
6. Bora Bora
7. Emanuella
8. Patrice - Soulstorm (Nile)
9. Mockingbird - Eminem
10. Signs - Snoopy dog feat featuring Justin Timberlake
Some more noteworthy are Ghetto Gospel, Give a little bit love ....Will post more later !
Friday, May 20, 2005
Youth N Berlin !!
This is a small travelogue! Last weekend I had been to Berlin.My first impression was that its not a very great city. Definitely not in league of Paris or Rome. Maybe one reason which is very obvious is that the city has not yet recovered from after effects of WW2 bombings and division of east and west germany. The damage is still evident as you can see construction going all around. Anyway towards the end of first day, in fact as night peaked, I realised that the city is not so bad afterall. The nighlife rocks. The sony centre at potsdaimer platz is fabulous and lively. The erstwhile west Germany downtown is much better than the east. We had a nice time in a happening pub and also watched shark 3D in IMAX! this is my second IMAX movie and the experience nevers fails to awe me.
However my most memorable memory of the trip will be the AO youth hostel where we stayed. A damn cheap place for budget conscious people, but also attracts.. ahem..rich Indian s/w folks like us since it is right in city centre. The place is simply full of life and energy, just young people around, a nice pub cum recpetion area, huge dormitories and independant rooms, a cafeteria for breakfast which doubles up as internet, booze,smoke, cycles, backpacks, lockers, WCs, and constant chit chat and laughter of students from all all races and countries! The dorm where we stayed accomodates about 50 people in one big room whcih just has mattresses on the floors with comfy blankets and you can see both boys and girls, couples, young single mothers with kids all sharing the room without any consicousness! I must accept that for a while it was a culture shock to see girls freely sleeping in their nighties with room full of boys, but no one bothers to look or ogle :-) Hope my wife doesnt mind when she sees the snaps. But I really went back in time when I was a teenager, I shud have coem to this place when I was in my teens, I did feel old and out of place to see so many young men and women even though I am myself in my twenties!! There is nothing like youth and thats the point the youth hostel brought home !
However my most memorable memory of the trip will be the AO youth hostel where we stayed. A damn cheap place for budget conscious people, but also attracts.. ahem..rich Indian s/w folks like us since it is right in city centre. The place is simply full of life and energy, just young people around, a nice pub cum recpetion area, huge dormitories and independant rooms, a cafeteria for breakfast which doubles up as internet, booze,smoke, cycles, backpacks, lockers, WCs, and constant chit chat and laughter of students from all all races and countries! The dorm where we stayed accomodates about 50 people in one big room whcih just has mattresses on the floors with comfy blankets and you can see both boys and girls, couples, young single mothers with kids all sharing the room without any consicousness! I must accept that for a while it was a culture shock to see girls freely sleeping in their nighties with room full of boys, but no one bothers to look or ogle :-) Hope my wife doesnt mind when she sees the snaps. But I really went back in time when I was a teenager, I shud have coem to this place when I was in my teens, I did feel old and out of place to see so many young men and women even though I am myself in my twenties!! There is nothing like youth and thats the point the youth hostel brought home !
Monday, May 09, 2005
The Hot Zone
I am still not out of the hangover of 'Shantaram' yet I have already started reading a new book. I picked up two news books from flea market yesterday. The one I am reading now is called 'The Hot Zone(THZ)' and the other one in the pipeline is 'Hannibal'. After reading such profound books like Shantaram for couple of weeks, the character and the story gets under your skin and its difficult to shrug it off. However THZ is already creeping under me. THZ is a true research novel written by an author of MIT leneage and is based on true life accounts of researchers and victims of the deadly Ebola variety of filo-virus. Its sporadic outbreaks were seen between 1965 to 1980. These virus originate in the rain forests of Africa and it is our great great greatest grandfather virus - the single strand RNA molecule, which is as old as the primordial oceanic ancestors of ours and is the basic buidling block of earth life. AIDS, Rabies, yellow fever and even common cold virus etc are its siblings and derivates in some form. And this virus seems to have deadly combination of all other lethal viruses known. What the AIDS virus can do to humans in 10 years this virus does it in 10 days and that to with such viciousness that organs within a persons body simply melts within and victim bleeds to death from all orifices like an exploding bomb when the desease is at its peak!! Mortality rate is 9 out of 10. But only solace is that unlike AIDS this virus has not yet learnt how to survive longer in its host i.e. humans. It kills the victim in 10 days and then dies itself unless it jumps to some other body. That is why there have been only sporadic outburst in Africa and the first one in Germany between 60s and 80s. It is highly contagious and even spreads through air unlike AIDS.So it is just a matter of time before it learns to survive longer. Scientists predict that it is probably practicing its survical skills on monkeys in the forests. It obviously has no cure and is currently dormant in the forests and in some US army labs frozen at minus 130 celcius. Amongst all doomsdaz theories for earth like asteroid strike, global warming, burning out of sun, nuclear winter, I believe that the probability of this virus killing the human race is the highest. All I can do is hope that it does not happen in my lifetime!!
Software Engineering-The KS Paradigm
I came across this today. Its quite apt and cool :-)
"Progress in software design is like progress in the Kama Sutra: we've tried all of the positions, some more than once, some we enjoy and some hurt because we aren't flexible enough, and yet we keep the book open next to the night light!!"
"Progress in software design is like progress in the Kama Sutra: we've tried all of the positions, some more than once, some we enjoy and some hurt because we aren't flexible enough, and yet we keep the book open next to the night light!!"
Friday, May 06, 2005
Assasin Grief
Today is one of the saddest days of my life. I learned today that Jijo died about one and half years ago.Ever since I heard this pangs of grief and his memories haunt me every now and then as - Assasin Grief. A term I read in 'Shantaram'. Jijo was separated from me due to some reasons...He was my best friend ever and more than my younger brother. No one has given me so much un-conditional love and support during some of the tough and loner days of my life. Sorry bro I left you midway, I owe you one..in next life. Forgive me if you can and I pray that your soul rests in eternal peace. You were the best dog in the world. Period.
Jijo (1994 ~ 2003) : RIP
Jijo (1994 ~ 2003) : RIP
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Shantaram!
I am reading this true life autobiography called Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts which I picked up in a bookstall in Hannover. What an extraordinary adventorous life this man lead and definitely an awesome book it is! I must say it is one of the best novel I read in a long time.
This man was a drug junkie and fugitive on the run who escaped from maximum secuirty prison in Australia (on a 20 year sentence) in late 70s and reached India on illegal passport. Then his adventure began which took him to a life in Mumbai slum,6 months in a remote village in Maharashtra and a short but violent stint in Arthur Road Prison and also made him right hand man of underworld don of those days in Mumbai. He learnt Hindi, Marathi Urdu languages! He did charity work in the slums and also dealt in smuggling, passport forgery, black money, drugs, murders and also went on to Afghanistan as a Mujaheedin fighter and also acted as a extra in bollywood movies!!! He lived in India for 8 years without getting cought. Later he was caught in Germany and served remaining yrs of sentence in Australia..He wrote this mammoth 1000 page books 3 times since prison guards destroyed earlier two versions! He is now a free man and runs his multi media company and is a full time writer...and he writes like a pro!
Hats off to this man and his spirit of freedom (though it was for wrong reasons) ! Do read the book. Its a must have in your bookshelf!
This man was a drug junkie and fugitive on the run who escaped from maximum secuirty prison in Australia (on a 20 year sentence) in late 70s and reached India on illegal passport. Then his adventure began which took him to a life in Mumbai slum,6 months in a remote village in Maharashtra and a short but violent stint in Arthur Road Prison and also made him right hand man of underworld don of those days in Mumbai. He learnt Hindi, Marathi Urdu languages! He did charity work in the slums and also dealt in smuggling, passport forgery, black money, drugs, murders and also went on to Afghanistan as a Mujaheedin fighter and also acted as a extra in bollywood movies!!! He lived in India for 8 years without getting cought. Later he was caught in Germany and served remaining yrs of sentence in Australia..He wrote this mammoth 1000 page books 3 times since prison guards destroyed earlier two versions! He is now a free man and runs his multi media company and is a full time writer...and he writes like a pro!
Hats off to this man and his spirit of freedom (though it was for wrong reasons) ! Do read the book. Its a must have in your bookshelf!
Friday, April 29, 2005
Bad Salzdetfurth
Picture this. A village of 3000 houses. Houses 120 yrs old. Lush green and serene surroundings. A flowing river through the village. Straberry and other assorted cereal farms, orchards, ranches. A tiny 800 mts long city centre with few shops. Two small but decent hotels, few pizzerias and chinese restaurants to boast of. Preferred mode of transport of the masses: Bicycle. Good weather, rains, cold, sunshine all in right mix and amounts. Everyone knows everyone. Majority oldies, tiny kiddos, occasional beauties and stud atheletic cyclists. Couple of typical european road side cafes.
And picture this: A bunch of apartments, village outskirts, view of lush green and dense forest, pin drop silence, occasional sound of rubbber grinding the asphalt, 2 adjacent hospitals, negligible human presence. Apartment number 3, house number 28. A married yet single man. Longing. And thats me, thats my apartment and thats the village where I am located now. I have tried to paint a very +ve picture, but true to its name the place is really Bad! I mean, if you are a loner and love peaceful life without any worldly disturbaces then this place is for you. But its not my type of place. Too dull for me, yet I am enjoying this change for a change! I have a rented bicycle and doing loads of necessary excercise. I was done exploring the place on the very first day! Now trying out some nearby cities. But most of the time I am counting days...want to be back with dear 'A' as soon as possible !
And picture this: A bunch of apartments, village outskirts, view of lush green and dense forest, pin drop silence, occasional sound of rubbber grinding the asphalt, 2 adjacent hospitals, negligible human presence. Apartment number 3, house number 28. A married yet single man. Longing. And thats me, thats my apartment and thats the village where I am located now. I have tried to paint a very +ve picture, but true to its name the place is really Bad! I mean, if you are a loner and love peaceful life without any worldly disturbaces then this place is for you. But its not my type of place. Too dull for me, yet I am enjoying this change for a change! I have a rented bicycle and doing loads of necessary excercise. I was done exploring the place on the very first day! Now trying out some nearby cities. But most of the time I am counting days...want to be back with dear 'A' as soon as possible !
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Europe Calling
Its time to pack bags again. I am off to Europe for a while, and will be busy with work. So I guess this blog may go silent again:-(
The place where I will be travelling is pretty remote, a small but picturesque town of just 5000 inhabitants. I need to catch 3 different trains to reach the place after I land!! And with language problem its going to be even greater fun. So adios friends. But I hope to keep the blog alive n kicking every now and then.
The place where I will be travelling is pretty remote, a small but picturesque town of just 5000 inhabitants. I need to catch 3 different trains to reach the place after I land!! And with language problem its going to be even greater fun. So adios friends. But I hope to keep the blog alive n kicking every now and then.
IT Woes-5 (Semi Final)
Finally, it was (almost) done. But not yet. I had been to IT office on Tuesday with a determined mind to put an end to this story.Anyway I had lost my last bit of patience. I fought like a wounded tiger and blasted everone in sight. Luckily the trick worked. Apparently they are not used to hearing someone who is desparately waiting for his money shout at the ITO !! So it was a case of shock and awe which won me the battel without any bloodshed. I got my cheque and the battle was own. However war is not yet over. The lazy bas***** have still not sent the advice for my cheque to RBI, so I have to wait for somemore time before encashing the cheque. There is every chance that the cheque may bounce! I'm hoping for the best.
May my soul rest in peace.
May my soul rest in peace.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Real Politik
Politiks is real especially at work places. You need cunning of a fox and meanness of the Jackal to first understand the plot and then counterbalance it :-)A lot can happen over a cup of tea. Quite literally. Someone tried to play games with me today. I was outnumbered but still managed to stand my ground and took he easiest way out of crisis situations- I bought time. I believe the balance is tilted slightly in my favor, but now I need to bargain, and that too wisely....
Thursday, March 31, 2005
IT-Woes-4
Its time to crib. kindly excuse my swear words. But they give this post a very natural touch. My IT story seems to have become a regular column on this blog. The latest update is that the laziest and most in-competant ITO in Bangalore(Vasanthi Ashokan) has come up with a rule up her sleeve that cheques of bigger amounts need to be re-printed and sent only by post!! She cannot sign and re-validate it over the counter! I'm sure it is not a rule and is just another sample of her adept and infinite red tapism tricks. Gawd, f**k her wide a**. So now I am really back to pole position. I have submitted the cheque and am waiting for those lazy, corrupt pests to crawl and send me my much deserved cheque. I wish it were not a big amount, otherwise I would have just went and told her to keep the change...that bitch...
Monday, March 28, 2005
Human Brain & Cognition
I had received this email on cognition capability of human brain many moons ago. Today I got it again and it still amazes me! I hope somewhere, someone is working on applying this discovery in research on artificial intelligence in computers. If we can have a digital model of how human brain can read and interpret this, I am sure it will take cognitive capabilities of a super-computer to un-precedented levels ! How? because we would have found a algorithm for making sense out of given gibberish. Many contemporary AI softwares rely on parsing vocabulary for natural languages, this algorithm may reduce the search involved!
"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? "
"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? "
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Bangalore-A Maze Game!!
Roads in Bangalore resemble a snake N ladder board game. There are so many worthless flyovers (ladders) which taper into narrow bottleneck roads (snakes)!!! And add to it the fact that almost 50% of the arterial roads are one-ways.And what you get at every junction is a feeling of being on number 98 on the board game facing the prospect of dicing that dreaded digit '1' per chance and slide along the snake waiting on number 99...back to square one (btw, is that the origin of this quote??).
To cut the story short, if anyone of you have seen the kader khan movie in which someone asks him for directions, and he says: "Go straight, take left, then again left, then one more left and again a left. Then ask someone else standing here for directions" :-) Well, today more or less same thing happened with me. I was coming back from railway station side and reached an unknown one-way. I asked someone directions for MG Road, and then followed a series of 4 one ways and came back to same spot!!
Maybe I took a wrong one-way somewhere. I could not help but smile:-) God bless this wretched city.
To cut the story short, if anyone of you have seen the kader khan movie in which someone asks him for directions, and he says: "Go straight, take left, then again left, then one more left and again a left. Then ask someone else standing here for directions" :-) Well, today more or less same thing happened with me. I was coming back from railway station side and reached an unknown one-way. I asked someone directions for MG Road, and then followed a series of 4 one ways and came back to same spot!!
Maybe I took a wrong one-way somewhere. I could not help but smile:-) God bless this wretched city.
IT Woes-3
Yes, I visited The Hell again. No, the job is not yet done. Period.
Ok, here's the scene: The secretary, abbreviated AH (as* h***) is lazying around in front of his PC. Her Almighty, the income tax officer(I will also give her name- Vasanthi Ashokan) abbreviated ITO is missing from Her chair.How natural !! The victim, abbreviated ME, is impatiently strolling outside the room with a big Q-mark on his face for last 10 minutes. he has aksed every passerby about Her whereabouts and got a sympathetic nod and advice to wait for a "while". The victim looses patience after a wait of half hour and decided to take charge of things and decides to enter the room and ask the secretary about Her schedule.
ME: Excuse me sir, can you tell me when is madam going to come?
AH: (mutters under breath without looking up) I dont know where she is.
ME: (After a pause to control temper) Ok, today is working day and these are meeting hours right?
AH: (looks up with incredulous look in his eyes) Yes
ME: So, when is she going to come?
AH: She will be back only after 5.30 (thats after meeting hours are over..)
ME: But just now you said you dont know where she is!
AH: (with a mock on his face) She is gone on "official duty" you know...whats the work?
ME: I have blah blah....
AH: Oh, you can leave a application at the counter it will come to your residence..
ME: No sir, I dont want to lose the cheque once again, I will get it done personally.
AH: (again without looking up)I told you she is on official duty elsewhere and will come late today, no point in waiting...come later...
Then I gave up and got out of the room, and tried to ask the maid-peon who I had be-friended before entering the room. She tells assuringly with gestures and sly smile, that madam is upstairs and will come back after meeting hours are over, you just have patience !!!!!
Then I realized that during public meeting hours the ITO disappears on "official duty" to avoid doing work and meeting people!! And if public knocks during non-meeting hours they are asked to come during meeting hours! How ingenious and simple way of avoiding work. I wish I could do that to my customers! Anyway I decided not to give up and waited for about one more hour after that, only to find that the Almighty had not turned up yet. Finally I entered the room again:
ME:(sarcastically) So, madam is still on official duty? I have been waiting for over 2 hours!
AH: (smile, probably to see me still waiting) I told you she wont come today. Either leave your application here or send someone else with authority letter..there is no point in waiting.
ME: (well, you cant bear torture beyond a certain limit) OK,are you sure job will be done with authority letter? Will I be required in person.
AH: (assuringly, with a hint of mock) Yes sir, it will be done.
ME: Ok, I will send someone tomorrow, I cannot come during working days everyday. Will madam be here tomorrow or will she be on official duty again?
AH: (with a sad look, probably for me)I think she will be here...
I just turned around and left the premises coz I knew that one more smart answer from him and I would have wrenched his b***s and ruined my case. I have asked my consultant to try his luck today. I just hope its done now, I have lost patience. next year I have decided not to pay taxes for my extra income, if any. Either way you get harassed, so instead dont pay taxes and then get harassed! Take my advice...
Ok, here's the scene: The secretary, abbreviated AH (as* h***) is lazying around in front of his PC. Her Almighty, the income tax officer(I will also give her name- Vasanthi Ashokan) abbreviated ITO is missing from Her chair.How natural !! The victim, abbreviated ME, is impatiently strolling outside the room with a big Q-mark on his face for last 10 minutes. he has aksed every passerby about Her whereabouts and got a sympathetic nod and advice to wait for a "while". The victim looses patience after a wait of half hour and decided to take charge of things and decides to enter the room and ask the secretary about Her schedule.
ME: Excuse me sir, can you tell me when is madam going to come?
AH: (mutters under breath without looking up) I dont know where she is.
ME: (After a pause to control temper) Ok, today is working day and these are meeting hours right?
AH: (looks up with incredulous look in his eyes) Yes
ME: So, when is she going to come?
AH: She will be back only after 5.30 (thats after meeting hours are over..)
ME: But just now you said you dont know where she is!
AH: (with a mock on his face) She is gone on "official duty" you know...whats the work?
ME: I have blah blah....
AH: Oh, you can leave a application at the counter it will come to your residence..
ME: No sir, I dont want to lose the cheque once again, I will get it done personally.
AH: (again without looking up)I told you she is on official duty elsewhere and will come late today, no point in waiting...come later...
Then I gave up and got out of the room, and tried to ask the maid-peon who I had be-friended before entering the room. She tells assuringly with gestures and sly smile, that madam is upstairs and will come back after meeting hours are over, you just have patience !!!!!
Then I realized that during public meeting hours the ITO disappears on "official duty" to avoid doing work and meeting people!! And if public knocks during non-meeting hours they are asked to come during meeting hours! How ingenious and simple way of avoiding work. I wish I could do that to my customers! Anyway I decided not to give up and waited for about one more hour after that, only to find that the Almighty had not turned up yet. Finally I entered the room again:
ME:(sarcastically) So, madam is still on official duty? I have been waiting for over 2 hours!
AH: (smile, probably to see me still waiting) I told you she wont come today. Either leave your application here or send someone else with authority letter..there is no point in waiting.
ME: (well, you cant bear torture beyond a certain limit) OK,are you sure job will be done with authority letter? Will I be required in person.
AH: (assuringly, with a hint of mock) Yes sir, it will be done.
ME: Ok, I will send someone tomorrow, I cannot come during working days everyday. Will madam be here tomorrow or will she be on official duty again?
AH: (with a sad look, probably for me)I think she will be here...
I just turned around and left the premises coz I knew that one more smart answer from him and I would have wrenched his b***s and ruined my case. I have asked my consultant to try his luck today. I just hope its done now, I have lost patience. next year I have decided not to pay taxes for my extra income, if any. Either way you get harassed, so instead dont pay taxes and then get harassed! Take my advice...
Friday, March 18, 2005
From Fascism to Secularism!
Yesterday I saw Karan Thapars talk show with ex-shiv sena MP, Sanjay Nirupam. It was a pleasure seeing it! For once I saw a politician putting foot in mouth and also chewing it! This firebrand ex-shiv sainik recently quit shiv sena and is actually in search of a job. His plight while answering extremely pointed questions by karan was pitiable:-) here are samples of some of the killer questions posed by KT and Sanjay Nirupams pathetic and desparate replies:
KT:You have changed from hindutva to secularism overnight? You are planning to join a secular party now. Are you opportunist or is it genuine change of mind?
SN: Well, their is nothing like secularism, I like secularism, but you see I am a young man of 40 years, I cannot sit idle, I have to make my career somewhere! So have transformed my heart and become secular now
KT: You called Sonia a Liar and a threat to the nation sometime back.(KT also shows some proofs) Do you still think she is a threat.
SN: (After a long long sigh and with a sheepish grin) No, I dont think so now.
There were many more gems like these but the the above were my favourites. In my hostel days I was staying with my good friends who were stauch shiv sainiks. I remember I used to have nice spats since I was a so called pseudo secular. I wonder if this interview would have helped in registering a thumping win in many of my arguments then :)
I am waiting to see SN blasting BJP and SS in the parliament. I wish to see how a person who has lost all credibility stands his grounds.
~Amit
KT:You have changed from hindutva to secularism overnight? You are planning to join a secular party now. Are you opportunist or is it genuine change of mind?
SN: Well, their is nothing like secularism, I like secularism, but you see I am a young man of 40 years, I cannot sit idle, I have to make my career somewhere! So have transformed my heart and become secular now
KT: You called Sonia a Liar and a threat to the nation sometime back.(KT also shows some proofs) Do you still think she is a threat.
SN: (After a long long sigh and with a sheepish grin) No, I dont think so now.
There were many more gems like these but the the above were my favourites. In my hostel days I was staying with my good friends who were stauch shiv sainiks. I remember I used to have nice spats since I was a so called pseudo secular. I wonder if this interview would have helped in registering a thumping win in many of my arguments then :)
I am waiting to see SN blasting BJP and SS in the parliament. I wish to see how a person who has lost all credibility stands his grounds.
~Amit
Friday, March 11, 2005
IT Woes-2
I have to write this. Reading is ofcourse your privilege. Or prerogative, if it pleases you:-) A short essay on "2 hours at income tax office". Read at leisure, if you wish!
As it was destined on that fateful day, I visited Bangalore IT office with my auditor to trace the missing cheque of my IT refund on 10 March'05. This was my maiden visit to income tax office and it was an eye opening experience. Nothing beats the thrill, excitement, agony, despair and helplessness that you experience in a Indian govt office. This blog stems from first had experience and every word is authentic. So here it goes. We had to wait outside the IT officers (ITO) cabin for half hour watching with growing impatience, while she fussed on absolutely un-important things and disappeared frequently. She looked bored to her bones and was giving everyone a pitiful look. The secretary was running the whole show in her absence. He looked street-smart. Know what I mean? In Hindi its called 'Shyana'.
We got an audience with Her almighty eventually, and waited with baited breath for Her to look up from the important looking papers and glance at us. Finally she did and with a disdainful look asked with eyes "What?" My auditor, being experienced, forwards her my request papers without a word. She looks at it and asks "Who is Mr Amit?" I say meekly, Ma'm its me. Then she asks whats the problem! Thats when my tempers started simmering. After reading my application she asks whats the problem? Then some small talk went on where I pleaded and explained my case that I have not received my cheque and I wish to trace if it has come back or can they issue me a new one as I was submitting an indemnity bond. She keeps cross questioning all the while. Then she starts arguing her case with so many classic babu type comments that I hardly remember since I was too shocked to hear them. At one point of the time she made a statement " People wait for years for their refund cheques, and you are tired in just six months!" My jaw dropped at this! I was spellbound, tempers were at boiling point, but I controlled, I realized just in time that just one counter argument from me on this and she would raise her hands and show me the door! In fact she did ask me to go and complain elsewhere and not trouble her. Then I literally begged and pleaded at her to at least search her records.
She finally pitied and tried searching her records in a software which seemed to crash every now and then. She hardly knew how the software worked, and her secretary kept coaching her. She was taking his opinion on what to do on my case!!! She also rejected my indemnity bond saying such legal papers have no sanctity now a days and also lectured me on how Indian mentality is. We are all thieves she said!! She also refused to accept that my PAN number was not issued in Bangalore!! She had never seen of that series of numbers! Then after lot of persuasion and pleading she agreed to search through their paper records and after much haggling, coffee and disappearances she managed to trace the bar code of the speed post by which the cheque was sent to me. I then told her that my auditor has already done that search and we know the cheque was sent but it has never reached me! Then she shouted saying if you know it was sent, then why are u complaining!! We were back to square one after 1.5 hours of haggling!! I again explained her the problem and believe me then she understood my case, and her simple solution was " Go to a net cafe, find Indian postal dept website, then find their customer care number, give them this bar code, try to trace what happened to that post, if required go to postal dept office, talk to postal manager and then come back with the result Its my responsibility to trace that cheque, they cannot keep trace for so many cases!! Then only she can take further action!! "
I was about to cry, but controlled my emotions. Tears were was not due to dejection of not getting the cheque. I was way beyond that state. I simply wanted to f**k her hard and kick her wide a**, but knew that I just could not do it! Sheer helplessness!
Then she got a phone call, and someone with same case as mine was enquiring. She told the guy on phone that they send the refund cheques on whatever address is associated with the PAN number and not the one which you file in your returns, because they want to avoid extra work of typing addresses written on return forms!! Then it struck to me like gravity struck Newton! I knew that the address associated with my pan number was my old and outdated address of my earlier office. The moment it dawned, I quickly wound up and told her that I would take her advice and try to trace the post with the postal dept and come back with results! I went to my old office and found the cheque lying innocently in a carton containing hundreds of old mails! I simply smiled with a tear trickling down (I guess, but am not sure). The dispatch guy looked at me with utter amazement! I just said "Thanks" to him and opened the envelop, only to find that the cheque had already crossed the validity period of three months and it took only nano-seconds to realize that I will have to visit that hell of a IT office once again in front of that Almighty goddess and once again plead her that I was guilty and she was righteous and her good self should pity and give me a boon and re-validate the cheque! I am trying to gather courage before I go there again next week. Wish me good luck.
p.s: Though it was partially my mistake of not updating address on my PAN card, I still dread what must be happening to genuine cases and people whose cheques are really misplaced! The register with about 5000 names of such pending cases stood silent testimony to this fact!
As it was destined on that fateful day, I visited Bangalore IT office with my auditor to trace the missing cheque of my IT refund on 10 March'05. This was my maiden visit to income tax office and it was an eye opening experience. Nothing beats the thrill, excitement, agony, despair and helplessness that you experience in a Indian govt office. This blog stems from first had experience and every word is authentic. So here it goes. We had to wait outside the IT officers (ITO) cabin for half hour watching with growing impatience, while she fussed on absolutely un-important things and disappeared frequently. She looked bored to her bones and was giving everyone a pitiful look. The secretary was running the whole show in her absence. He looked street-smart. Know what I mean? In Hindi its called 'Shyana'.
We got an audience with Her almighty eventually, and waited with baited breath for Her to look up from the important looking papers and glance at us. Finally she did and with a disdainful look asked with eyes "What?" My auditor, being experienced, forwards her my request papers without a word. She looks at it and asks "Who is Mr Amit?" I say meekly, Ma'm its me. Then she asks whats the problem! Thats when my tempers started simmering. After reading my application she asks whats the problem? Then some small talk went on where I pleaded and explained my case that I have not received my cheque and I wish to trace if it has come back or can they issue me a new one as I was submitting an indemnity bond. She keeps cross questioning all the while. Then she starts arguing her case with so many classic babu type comments that I hardly remember since I was too shocked to hear them. At one point of the time she made a statement " People wait for years for their refund cheques, and you are tired in just six months!" My jaw dropped at this! I was spellbound, tempers were at boiling point, but I controlled, I realized just in time that just one counter argument from me on this and she would raise her hands and show me the door! In fact she did ask me to go and complain elsewhere and not trouble her. Then I literally begged and pleaded at her to at least search her records.
She finally pitied and tried searching her records in a software which seemed to crash every now and then. She hardly knew how the software worked, and her secretary kept coaching her. She was taking his opinion on what to do on my case!!! She also rejected my indemnity bond saying such legal papers have no sanctity now a days and also lectured me on how Indian mentality is. We are all thieves she said!! She also refused to accept that my PAN number was not issued in Bangalore!! She had never seen of that series of numbers! Then after lot of persuasion and pleading she agreed to search through their paper records and after much haggling, coffee and disappearances she managed to trace the bar code of the speed post by which the cheque was sent to me. I then told her that my auditor has already done that search and we know the cheque was sent but it has never reached me! Then she shouted saying if you know it was sent, then why are u complaining!! We were back to square one after 1.5 hours of haggling!! I again explained her the problem and believe me then she understood my case, and her simple solution was " Go to a net cafe, find Indian postal dept website, then find their customer care number, give them this bar code, try to trace what happened to that post, if required go to postal dept office, talk to postal manager and then come back with the result Its my responsibility to trace that cheque, they cannot keep trace for so many cases!! Then only she can take further action!! "
I was about to cry, but controlled my emotions. Tears were was not due to dejection of not getting the cheque. I was way beyond that state. I simply wanted to f**k her hard and kick her wide a**, but knew that I just could not do it! Sheer helplessness!
Then she got a phone call, and someone with same case as mine was enquiring. She told the guy on phone that they send the refund cheques on whatever address is associated with the PAN number and not the one which you file in your returns, because they want to avoid extra work of typing addresses written on return forms!! Then it struck to me like gravity struck Newton! I knew that the address associated with my pan number was my old and outdated address of my earlier office. The moment it dawned, I quickly wound up and told her that I would take her advice and try to trace the post with the postal dept and come back with results! I went to my old office and found the cheque lying innocently in a carton containing hundreds of old mails! I simply smiled with a tear trickling down (I guess, but am not sure). The dispatch guy looked at me with utter amazement! I just said "Thanks" to him and opened the envelop, only to find that the cheque had already crossed the validity period of three months and it took only nano-seconds to realize that I will have to visit that hell of a IT office once again in front of that Almighty goddess and once again plead her that I was guilty and she was righteous and her good self should pity and give me a boon and re-validate the cheque! I am trying to gather courage before I go there again next week. Wish me good luck.
p.s: Though it was partially my mistake of not updating address on my PAN card, I still dread what must be happening to genuine cases and people whose cheques are really misplaced! The register with about 5000 names of such pending cases stood silent testimony to this fact!
Thursday, March 10, 2005
IT woes ;-(
First things first. I DONT like paying taxes. Yet, being a salaried employee of a filthy rich IT firm compels me to pay the taxes against my better judgement. So being the good citizen that I'm, I paid up a little extra to the IT dept last year. Now in this land and era of Gandhis (remember? they are still ruling!!) IT dept has no intentions of refunding me my hard earned Gandhijis (rupee notes!). I tried every trick in the bag, hired a tax consultant to do the job (its like hiring a contract killer for someone else who in turn kills U instead!!), Phone calls to the public relations officer, all possible emails that I found on the IT dept websites and ofcourse yes the inevitebale Bribe! But nothing works. Not a fu***ng hair on their eyelashes blinked!
But now I have decided to take the legal course, I am going to send out some stinker letters to the commissioner. If that doesnt work then I am going to march into the IT office and kick some asses..and I can kick real hard...I mean it. I am a angry young man.
Wish me good luck ohh Gandhiji !
But now I have decided to take the legal course, I am going to send out some stinker letters to the commissioner. If that doesnt work then I am going to march into the IT office and kick some asses..and I can kick real hard...I mean it. I am a angry young man.
Wish me good luck ohh Gandhiji !
Friday, March 04, 2005
The Law Paradox - My Analysis:-)
The paradox given below is probably one of the greatest paradoxes, but I feel it has obvious flaws when seen in the light of real world. I know it is not meant to be taken seriously, but if ever such paradox occurs in real world it will not stand in any court of law!! My argument is given below the paradox:-)
A Law teacher once came across a student who was willing to learn but was unable to pay the fee. The student struck a deal saying, "I would pay your fee the day I win my first case in the court". Teacher agreed and proceeded with the law course. When the course wasfinished and the teacher started pestering the student to pay up the fee, the student reminded the deal and pushed forward the days. Fed up with this, the teacher decided to sue the student in the court of law and both of them decided to argue for themselves.
The teacher put forward his argument saying: "If I win this case, as per the court of law, the student has to pay me. And if I lose the case, the student will still have to pay me because he would have won his first case. So either way I will have to get the money." Equally brilliant, the student argued back saying: "If I win the case, as per the court of law, I don't have to pay anything to the teacher. And if I lose the case, I don't have to pay him because I haven't won my first case yet. So either way, I am not going to pay the teacher anything."
My arguments as a "public proescuter" are:
-------------------------------------------
There is a solution to this case. The argument of the student in court is proof enough that he acknowledges existence of the promise that he would pay up if he wins the case (which would be his first one). Now, as per law of any land justice is based on validity of facts (which the student has already accepted) and if prima facie the mutually agreed understanding between sparring parties are violated by one of the plaintiffs. In this case fact and the judge can give a decision in favor of the teacher provided the teacher manages to loose the case somehow. No matter if the student wins judge can always justify his decision due to the fact that the student has promised to pay of he wins. The student has a chance of winning only if he denies making such a promise to the teacher, however in that case the teacher only has to prove that he taught the student and so deserves compensation..
A Law teacher once came across a student who was willing to learn but was unable to pay the fee. The student struck a deal saying, "I would pay your fee the day I win my first case in the court". Teacher agreed and proceeded with the law course. When the course wasfinished and the teacher started pestering the student to pay up the fee, the student reminded the deal and pushed forward the days. Fed up with this, the teacher decided to sue the student in the court of law and both of them decided to argue for themselves.
The teacher put forward his argument saying: "If I win this case, as per the court of law, the student has to pay me. And if I lose the case, the student will still have to pay me because he would have won his first case. So either way I will have to get the money." Equally brilliant, the student argued back saying: "If I win the case, as per the court of law, I don't have to pay anything to the teacher. And if I lose the case, I don't have to pay him because I haven't won my first case yet. So either way, I am not going to pay the teacher anything."
My arguments as a "public proescuter" are:
-------------------------------------------
There is a solution to this case. The argument of the student in court is proof enough that he acknowledges existence of the promise that he would pay up if he wins the case (which would be his first one). Now, as per law of any land justice is based on validity of facts (which the student has already accepted) and if prima facie the mutually agreed understanding between sparring parties are violated by one of the plaintiffs. In this case fact and the judge can give a decision in favor of the teacher provided the teacher manages to loose the case somehow. No matter if the student wins judge can always justify his decision due to the fact that the student has promised to pay of he wins. The student has a chance of winning only if he denies making such a promise to the teacher, however in that case the teacher only has to prove that he taught the student and so deserves compensation..
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Avatars!!
After Yahoo Messenger Avatar, here is another kind of Avatar for identifying your weblogs its called "Globally Recognized Avatar" (gravatar). Visit http://www.gravatar.com/
I am trying to get one for myself..go fetch yours!
~Amit
I am trying to get one for myself..go fetch yours!
~Amit
Organization & Employee Growth at Cross Roads: Anti-Analysis
This blog of mine got posted on my companys' intranet website!!!
Disclaimer: Dear Reader, this blog is philosophical and in a lighter vein and not be taken literally!
Recently I came across a thought provoking quote, the essence of which was: "Every employee in a organization eventually rises to his or her level of incompetancy". It supposedly means that people keep rising in an organization until it is found that they are incompetent to rise any further. In other words, every growing individual rises to his/her peak potential which is nothing but his/her minimum in-competancy level. From there onwards the road goes only downhill. Followers of Murphy's law of negative thinking will readily lap up the quote as a fact. But for the positive and rational ones,a second and a deeper thought provokes an philosophical and also at times curious analysis. The point of contention is whether "Peak performance amounts to minimum in-competancy and can address the resulting problem". Let's try to prove and address some solution for the contention:
In the rat race for growth, it is making the right choices on the part of employees and creating right choices on the part of the organizations which ultimately differentiates winners from losers. Employees confront the if-else dilemma quite often in the course of their careers, and those who make the right choices too often will reach their peak performance too soon. While the organizations which generate enough choices or opportunities for their employees are only speeding the onset of peak performance of their employees. This should be generally considered true because every individual practically has some or other limitation, whereby he/she will reach potential peak someday. One more understood fact is that not every employee can reach the top simultaneously. Some room is needed at the top for vertical movement. So employees who reach their potential peak positions in the organization are at the cross roads of their career and usually do not know where to proceed for further growth. Eventually the smart ones quit and look for greener pastures and start it all over again and the tired ones stay put and continue to stagnate and reach their saturation point which can also be termed as in-competancy in today's cut throat competitive world. So it does prove that peak performance may amount to in-competancy in many if not all the cases.
Now, the compassionate ones may counter-argue that it is fault of the organization if it does not generate further growth opportunity for their already peaked employees. But then haven't we all heard that "Its employees which maketh and grow an organization"?
The above discussion in turn means that employees should make wrong choices to "avoid" reaching their peak performance (minimum in-competancy) and also organizations must do everything possible to stunt growth opportunities of their employees to avoid them from reaching their peak (minimum in-competancy). Now, this is a rhetoric statement which is as absurd as it is in-correct. So then what is the right thing? Should or shouldn't the employees peak? Should or shouldn't the organization encourage employee growth? The answer,dear reader, lies in collective growth and not individual growth!! Few peaking employees can never grow an organization (since they will eventually reach their in-competancy level !!). Leaders cannot lead dumb followers, they need an intelligent herd to follow them. So it is the collective and relative growth of all employees which can build successful organizations and address the problem of career peaking. And yes,by the way, the quote also stands proved!!
Disclaimer: Dear Reader, this blog is philosophical and in a lighter vein and not be taken literally!
Recently I came across a thought provoking quote, the essence of which was: "Every employee in a organization eventually rises to his or her level of incompetancy". It supposedly means that people keep rising in an organization until it is found that they are incompetent to rise any further. In other words, every growing individual rises to his/her peak potential which is nothing but his/her minimum in-competancy level. From there onwards the road goes only downhill. Followers of Murphy's law of negative thinking will readily lap up the quote as a fact. But for the positive and rational ones,a second and a deeper thought provokes an philosophical and also at times curious analysis. The point of contention is whether "Peak performance amounts to minimum in-competancy and can address the resulting problem". Let's try to prove and address some solution for the contention:
In the rat race for growth, it is making the right choices on the part of employees and creating right choices on the part of the organizations which ultimately differentiates winners from losers. Employees confront the if-else dilemma quite often in the course of their careers, and those who make the right choices too often will reach their peak performance too soon. While the organizations which generate enough choices or opportunities for their employees are only speeding the onset of peak performance of their employees. This should be generally considered true because every individual practically has some or other limitation, whereby he/she will reach potential peak someday. One more understood fact is that not every employee can reach the top simultaneously. Some room is needed at the top for vertical movement. So employees who reach their potential peak positions in the organization are at the cross roads of their career and usually do not know where to proceed for further growth. Eventually the smart ones quit and look for greener pastures and start it all over again and the tired ones stay put and continue to stagnate and reach their saturation point which can also be termed as in-competancy in today's cut throat competitive world. So it does prove that peak performance may amount to in-competancy in many if not all the cases.
Now, the compassionate ones may counter-argue that it is fault of the organization if it does not generate further growth opportunity for their already peaked employees. But then haven't we all heard that "Its employees which maketh and grow an organization"?
The above discussion in turn means that employees should make wrong choices to "avoid" reaching their peak performance (minimum in-competancy) and also organizations must do everything possible to stunt growth opportunities of their employees to avoid them from reaching their peak (minimum in-competancy). Now, this is a rhetoric statement which is as absurd as it is in-correct. So then what is the right thing? Should or shouldn't the employees peak? Should or shouldn't the organization encourage employee growth? The answer,dear reader, lies in collective growth and not individual growth!! Few peaking employees can never grow an organization (since they will eventually reach their in-competancy level !!). Leaders cannot lead dumb followers, they need an intelligent herd to follow them. So it is the collective and relative growth of all employees which can build successful organizations and address the problem of career peaking. And yes,by the way, the quote also stands proved!!
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Anniversary !!
Yeah! Its exactly 1 year since I started blogging and also first month anniversary since I got married :-)
It has been good going. Lot of water has flown under the bridge! Quite literally! I am not a bachelor any more! Thats the big Before & After difference. Here are the indicative accounts on the first anniversay of blogging and marrying:
Profits:
Good food, Peaceful life, Someone to talk to 24 hrs a day, Free early bird a/c on gmail, and many more...
Losses:
"Wise men say, that losses are what you count on an ongoing basis after marriage"
But I feel:
"Wise men say only fools rush in (to marriage).. but I can't help falling in love with my wife" !
But the losing fact is that my wifey doesn't read my blogs as yet ;-(
p.s: Those who have heard this UB40 song will appreciate the above remix....
:-)
~Amit
It has been good going. Lot of water has flown under the bridge! Quite literally! I am not a bachelor any more! Thats the big Before & After difference. Here are the indicative accounts on the first anniversay of blogging and marrying:
Profits:
Good food, Peaceful life, Someone to talk to 24 hrs a day, Free early bird a/c on gmail, and many more...
Losses:
"Wise men say, that losses are what you count on an ongoing basis after marriage"
But I feel:
"Wise men say only fools rush in (to marriage).. but I can't help falling in love with my wife" !
But the losing fact is that my wifey doesn't read my blogs as yet ;-(
p.s: Those who have heard this UB40 song will appreciate the above remix....
:-)
~Amit
Budget 2005 - My Take
The pundits say that the FM has done a good job. Big deal. That was expected from the celebrated trio of economic reforms, Manmohan, Montek Singh and P Chidambaram. But I really dont care what it means to the markets, equities, FDI and what not. To me it means only two things: Personal taxation has been simplified and eased a bit, and my perks have been taxed. I learnt as a kid that +ve and -ve nullify each other. So my finances stand as they were earlier. That's my take on the budget. I may be reading in between the lines and taking it quite literally. But I am not an expert in economics so I will wait till my tax consultant beams some sunlight down my brain. ...And btw, Times of India (ToI) has gone crazy, oh sorry, it was already crazy and now they are hell bent on proving it. Its budget printed on all pages today and that too colored with crayons and graphics!! What people will not do to sell these days! Somebody recently and rightly termed the new look Times as ToIlet Paper !!
~Amit
~Amit
Monday, February 28, 2005
KingMaker !
Assembly polls in Bihar were truly entertaining. The whole exercise of polls in Bihar are usually a mockery of democracy and a farce, but Mr Ram Vilas Paswan has just added a new dimension. He is the kingmaker now. And look at his cunning! He went through the process of elections, campaigning and now that there's hung assembly, he has the nerves to play hard ball and demand presidents rule ! Why? he quotes ideological differences with both RJD and NDA, but every deaf, blind and dumb Indian on electoral roll knows he needs more time to bargain a good deal. A railway ministry berth, Oust Laloo and family, and Snub NDA by asking for muslim CM..now thats what I call being a Kingmaker who can bake a cake, get an icing done, have it and eat it too !!
New Look!
yes, my blog sports a new look. I was too bored with the old one. I opted for a standard blogger template, it looks sporty, hip and yet suits a married man;-) I hope I can justify the new look and be more regular at posting tit bits from the weeks gone by!
Say Cheese!
Honesty is a virtue. After Marriage I am trying to be more honest. It pays, you know, accpet your mistakes and save hassles or pay the price! Otherwise also I am being honest with myself these days. I have accepted the fact that I have put on some extra kilos (10 Kgs extra to be exactly honest!) and badly need to shed them. I have started some honest efforts at reducing intake (food) and increasing outflow (sweat) by giving up on yummies and picking up my latest hobby of playing basketball respectively. AK (my wifey) is good at basket ball and she is giving me some tips at being nimble footed on the court. It is a addictive game indeed, especially the shooting part :-) Though she keeps shouting at me for running my ass around the court more than just standing and aiming at the ring with one eye shut and toungue peeping out the corner of the lips. But its fun to play on basket ball court at night in floodlights and that too just the two of us..Infact thats quite romantic! ever heard of romantic basket ball! Dream team will commiy mass sucide if they read this...Anyway, I hope to improve on my dribbling and shooting very soon...and I will beat AK at her own game..maan she is good in dribbling..and yes will shed those layers of flab too !
BTW, these few extra kilos have given a whole new meaning to the photographers catch phrase "Say Cheese"! You ought to flash your dentures when someone shoots thru lense at you and is about to click ( btw, ever noticed that your eyelids are craving to blink at that precise moment?) but for me "Say cheese" means inhale deeply and hold your tummy in until you hear a thanks. Needless to say that you cant give a good smile while you are holding your breath (try that right now!)..so folks crux of the story is that I look like a man in desparate need of potty in most of my wedding n H-moon snaps. Thanks to cheese, It has cheesed me off!
~Amit
BTW, these few extra kilos have given a whole new meaning to the photographers catch phrase "Say Cheese"! You ought to flash your dentures when someone shoots thru lense at you and is about to click ( btw, ever noticed that your eyelids are craving to blink at that precise moment?) but for me "Say cheese" means inhale deeply and hold your tummy in until you hear a thanks. Needless to say that you cant give a good smile while you are holding your breath (try that right now!)..so folks crux of the story is that I look like a man in desparate need of potty in most of my wedding n H-moon snaps. Thanks to cheese, It has cheesed me off!
~Amit
Thursday, January 13, 2005
I am back..just for a moment!
Life is keeping me busy. Conspiracy theory!
Anyway forget my news they are all stale. Real good news is that Sidin is back. I was polling his blog and he is back!! with a bang! The guy has topped IIMA ! Now thats throws an area of research open for a different kind of nerds- medicos/shrinks. How can a homo sapien with that caliber of humor be a IIMA topper??
Let me know the results when they are published!
more soon..
~Amit
Anyway forget my news they are all stale. Real good news is that Sidin is back. I was polling his blog and he is back!! with a bang! The guy has topped IIMA ! Now thats throws an area of research open for a different kind of nerds- medicos/shrinks. How can a homo sapien with that caliber of humor be a IIMA topper??
Let me know the results when they are published!
more soon..
~Amit
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