I had to go to Koramangala to pick up some stuff. So in the usual manner, I called for an auto and got into it telling him to take me to my destination. After a minute, the guy struck a conversation with me. What ensued during the commute time was awe inspiring to me. I have managed to recollect most of the conversation and am posting it here.
AD: Where are you working?
Me: In a computer based company out here.
AD: Hardware or software?
ME: (Surprised!) Software.
AD: Which company and where is it?
Me: There is this company called Sun and it is there in...
AD: (Interjects)Oh! Sun Microsystems, Divyasree Chambers?
Me: (Surprised again). Aaah. Yes.
AD: How long have you been working here?
Me: 3 years
AD: Where did you do your college?
Me: Hmm..In the north, in a place called Pilani. There is an engineering college called...
AD: (Interjects again) And says, Bits-Pilani aa?
Me: I showed no attempts to conceal my surprise and said, Yes, that is the college.
AD: You must've got through campus interview right?
Me: Yes I did. It is surprising and also interesting to know that you are aware of all these facts. How come you know all this?
AD: Well, I have two sons. The eldest son finished his engineering in Computer Science and is currently working in ITPL in a start up company.
AD: My younger son is in the 2nd year and is also doing his Computer Science.
AD: My first son scored high marks, but since we did not have the money to send him to good colleges, he ended up studying here in Bangalore university.
AD: He is very intelligent and today he has made all of us proud by getting a job.
AD: My second son is also studying well and we are doing everything to provide him good education.
There was a sense of pride in him when he made those statements. He was happy and proud of his eldest son's achievements and younger son's progress. I was quite taken aback and was joyously surprised to hear about this man and his family. My curiousity go the better of me and I asked him;
Me: So why are you still driving the auto? Don't you want to quit and enjoy the rest of your life?
AD: (Indignantly)Who says I am not enjoying now? I am very much enjoying my life now. But I don't want to put additional burden on my son right away.
AD: He has come a long way to this position now. He deserves to have a tension free life for some time to come.I will earn to take care of me and my wife. The money he earns is for himself and his future. But, he has already taken the responsibility of providing financial help to his brother.
AD: My father was a day wage labourer who started working from 12 and worked till he was 70. He had saved some money and helped me buy this auto. He felt it was his duty to do that. But after getting the auto, he still worked as a watchman to take care of his expenses till he died. I want to follow his ideals and do the same to my children.
I was zapped. I couldn't say more. I felt elated. It was awesome to see such high and strong principles in this person. He started his questions again..
AD: So are you from Chennai?
ME: No, from Coimbatore.
AD: Where is your family?
ME: All in Coimbatore
And before he could ask his next question, my destination had come. I got down from the auto and told him that it was such an excellent experience talking to him and if there is anything I can do for his sons, I would be very glad to do so. I left my card with him after paying him the fare and bidding him good-bye.
It is quite an exhilarating experience to meet some people in our daily life who radiate so much of motivation. Achieving success is no walk in the park and all over the world there are people doing their best to overcome stymies reach the success milestones. This auto driver is one who has just reached one such milestone. My wishes and prayers for him and his family to see more and everlasting success.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Monday, December 27, 2004
A good deed for the day
A couple of days back when I was getting down from the bus at Cbe, there was this
blind man who got down too. He wanted to cross the road and so I just helped him to reach the other side of the road. He thanked me and said, "Have a good day"!
Today as I was heading towards office, there was this probably 1st standard kid who wanted to get to the other side of the road to get his auto, but the heavy traffic on Langford road was simply too much for the kid to handle. So I offered to help him cross and once in the auto, the kiddo said "Thanks Anna!".
Now, I am not writing this to blow my trumpet here, but just started thinking, "Can I consider this a good deed for the day"?. If yes, then would it hurt to do sth as trivial as helping some one cross the road be a good deed for a day? In our so called "busy" lives, we surely do not have time to spend even an hour doing some sort of social service though many of us yearn and desire to do so. In such cases, helping people in our day to day lives is surely a good deed and the pleasure we can derive out it can make us immensely satisfied. This is very much a doable act and I am sure many of us would've already thought about it and doing it. I am strongly motivated to do ONE good deed everyday in some form or the other. Are you?
blind man who got down too. He wanted to cross the road and so I just helped him to reach the other side of the road. He thanked me and said, "Have a good day"!
Today as I was heading towards office, there was this probably 1st standard kid who wanted to get to the other side of the road to get his auto, but the heavy traffic on Langford road was simply too much for the kid to handle. So I offered to help him cross and once in the auto, the kiddo said "Thanks Anna!".
Now, I am not writing this to blow my trumpet here, but just started thinking, "Can I consider this a good deed for the day"?. If yes, then would it hurt to do sth as trivial as helping some one cross the road be a good deed for a day? In our so called "busy" lives, we surely do not have time to spend even an hour doing some sort of social service though many of us yearn and desire to do so. In such cases, helping people in our day to day lives is surely a good deed and the pleasure we can derive out it can make us immensely satisfied. This is very much a doable act and I am sure many of us would've already thought about it and doing it. I am strongly motivated to do ONE good deed everyday in some form or the other. Are you?
Friday, December 03, 2004
Spelling Bees
I was reading an article in Times of India yesterday about how people have become pathetic with their spellings espy in the world of chat and SMS. The interesting part is that more than 60% of the people fumbled when asked to spell common words like "necessary", "immediate" " , and a few others (I don't remember them). Such people are termed to be "orthogonally challenged" -quite an interesting term.
Today, I got this forwarded mail which was quite a contradiction to the emphasis on spelling. Research has it that apart from the first and last letter of the word, the remaining letters can be placed in any random order and they would make perfect sense.
If you don't believe it, read the below lines for yourself and be surprised.
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I wz rdanieg
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht 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 cn be a taotl mses and u cn 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? yaeh and I awlyas thaught
slpeling wahs ipmorantt.
If Lynne Truss reads this, she will surely have an heart-attack!
And finally, I did run this post through the spell check and it PASSED! ;)
Today, I got this forwarded mail which was quite a contradiction to the emphasis on spelling. Research has it that apart from the first and last letter of the word, the remaining letters can be placed in any random order and they would make perfect sense.
If you don't believe it, read the below lines for yourself and be surprised.
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I wz rdanieg
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht 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 cn be a taotl mses and u cn 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? yaeh and I awlyas thaught
slpeling wahs ipmorantt.
If Lynne Truss reads this, she will surely have an heart-attack!
And finally, I did run this post through the spell check and it PASSED! ;)
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Cornucopia of Acronyms
In the past 5 months of work as a software engineer, I would have encountered more than a hundred acronyms of various technologies. The interesting point is that these acronyms I've come across are only in the Java/J2ee world. I don't think that comes to me as a surprise given that I am at Sun Microsytems for the past 3 years. I was wondering how on earth would some ever be aware of all these acronyms at the first place leave alone the next big task of knowing what technology each of these acronyms stood for and what these technologies offer. It is mind boggling to even think of it. Just to give a sneak preview of what I've come across in the past months are, J2EE, J2SE, JAXP, JAXB, JAX-RPC, XML, SOAP, JMS, JMX, EJB, CMP, BMP, MDB, WSDL, UDDI, JXTA, JSR, JCP,JAR, EAR, WAR, etc. Of course, this list is not an exhaustive one (I have my own misgivings if anyone can come up with an exhaustive list). Microsoft needs a mention here as they are no way behind in their abundance for acronyms.
If you are not sure convinced about the number, take a look at this website and the information will leave you agape. http://www.developer.com/lang/article.php/3399521
I also found this interesting site on acronyms and you will find some interesting trivia there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym
All said and done, acronyms have become a common thing in our lives (most relevant in the IT world) and though they have really gone out of our hand, we have to gracefully except them and keep the learning curve going higher and higher. While you are reading this, there are folks growing the list of acronyms!
BFN & BW ;)
If you are not sure convinced about the number, take a look at this website and the information will leave you agape. http://www.developer.com/lang/article.php/3399521
I also found this interesting site on acronyms and you will find some interesting trivia there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym
All said and done, acronyms have become a common thing in our lives (most relevant in the IT world) and though they have really gone out of our hand, we have to gracefully except them and keep the learning curve going higher and higher. While you are reading this, there are folks growing the list of acronyms!
BFN & BW ;)
Monday, November 22, 2004
Cheers
I'll put this disclaimer right away mentioning that I am no way promoting this place or trying to sound biased towards anything. Now, if you are confused, then I am successful in confusing you.
Well, coming to the point, I have recently joined this club called the Cheers club. This is a regular book/VCD library but with a difference. The place is made to look so much like home with great couches around where you can take a book, slouch into the couch and keep reading. If you are feeling hungry or wanting to much sth, you can always order french fries, paneer tikka or whatever is there in their mini menu-they prepare this in their mini kitchen. They also have a home theatre where you could take your family or friends and watch your favorite movie.The best part I like about this whole place is that you get to rent CD's/DVD's that are 100% original (no pirated stuff or "thiruthu" VCD). Of course, all this comes with a price which you can check out at their place. They are located at Koramangala, Hosur Road and Jayanager. My recent movie flicks from this place were Harry Potter's-Chamber of Secrets and Intolerable Cruelty. So is it time to watch a movie and say "Cheers" ?
Well, coming to the point, I have recently joined this club called the Cheers club. This is a regular book/VCD library but with a difference. The place is made to look so much like home with great couches around where you can take a book, slouch into the couch and keep reading. If you are feeling hungry or wanting to much sth, you can always order french fries, paneer tikka or whatever is there in their mini menu-they prepare this in their mini kitchen. They also have a home theatre where you could take your family or friends and watch your favorite movie.The best part I like about this whole place is that you get to rent CD's/DVD's that are 100% original (no pirated stuff or "thiruthu" VCD). Of course, all this comes with a price which you can check out at their place. They are located at Koramangala, Hosur Road and Jayanager. My recent movie flicks from this place were Harry Potter's-Chamber of Secrets and Intolerable Cruelty. So is it time to watch a movie and say "Cheers" ?
Sunday, November 21, 2004
A Religious Retreat
The long weekend combining Diwali was quite a memorable one. My parents and my brother visited Bangalore the next day after Diwali. We went on a two day trip to nearby places like Talai Cauvery (Coorg district), Mysore, Melukote and Srirangapattinam. All these places are religious places famous in unique ways. Talai Cauvery-the origin of river Cauvery is considered a religious spot and claimed to be the "Southern Ganges". We hired the Indian oldie Ambassador and started on Saturday morning 6.30 am. We had breakfast at Maddur Tiffany's (which is very famous for its Vadas) at 8.30 am. From then on, it was a non-stop ride to Talai Cauvery which was around 200 kms. The roads were quite bad in lot of places but the skillful driver Jose meandered his way through the hills and valleys and finally reached the spot. A perfect blend of religious santity and nature's display of flora and fauna is a sight that is quite easy to recall but hard to describe. After offering prayers, we headed back to Coorg with an additional 5 liters of the so called pure water of Cauvery. Let us not get into the subject of the purity of the water-of course I still don't question its santity. Our initial plan was to stay in Coorg, but the place kinda looked weird and so we changed our mind and headed straight to Mysore. We halted in Mysore for the night quite tired after the day's drive.
The Diwan's residency (where we stayed) was just a refugee camp for the night. We wiggled out of the place by 7 am on Sunday morning and headed straight to Srirangapattinam to see Lord Ranganatha in his famous "Ananthasayanam". I need to mention that the temples here in the South carry some mystical tranquility that all the turmoil in your mind vanishes the moment you step into them (maybe some day I will mention this as a separate topic!). After offering our prayers, we headed towards Melukote. On the way, we say Tipu Sultan's dilapidated fort, and the place near the temple where his body was supposed to be found. History and legend has it that, Tipu was somehow trying to escape by entering the temple so that he can be spared his life. But he was killed just a few hundred yards from the temple walls.
Melukote was a 2 hour ride from Srirangapattinam. The roads were making the drive quite painful but that was a Hobson's choice and we just had to drive through. In Melukote, we visited the Chaluvanarayanaswamy temple which is in the foot hills. After this, we started our ascend to the Narasimhar's temple on top of the rocky hill. After offering our prayers here, we came down and saw the temple tank (usually called Pushkarani).
Having completed our agenda, we started our Bangalore journey from there around 12.30 pm. On the way, we stopped at the Kamat hotel for lunch and finally hit home at 4.30 pm. The journey was quite enjoyable and after a long time the four of us were doing such a trip. Thanks to the weather, the two days were very pleasant that kept us fresh and going.
My parents and brother stayed in Bangalore for the next two days where we went around Bangalore and did decent shopping, my brother got us all new clothes for Diwali. Their four day stay in Bangalore and my break from work was rejuvenating and the trip just made it even more refreshing.
The Diwan's residency (where we stayed) was just a refugee camp for the night. We wiggled out of the place by 7 am on Sunday morning and headed straight to Srirangapattinam to see Lord Ranganatha in his famous "Ananthasayanam". I need to mention that the temples here in the South carry some mystical tranquility that all the turmoil in your mind vanishes the moment you step into them (maybe some day I will mention this as a separate topic!). After offering our prayers, we headed towards Melukote. On the way, we say Tipu Sultan's dilapidated fort, and the place near the temple where his body was supposed to be found. History and legend has it that, Tipu was somehow trying to escape by entering the temple so that he can be spared his life. But he was killed just a few hundred yards from the temple walls.
Melukote was a 2 hour ride from Srirangapattinam. The roads were making the drive quite painful but that was a Hobson's choice and we just had to drive through. In Melukote, we visited the Chaluvanarayanaswamy temple which is in the foot hills. After this, we started our ascend to the Narasimhar's temple on top of the rocky hill. After offering our prayers here, we came down and saw the temple tank (usually called Pushkarani).
Having completed our agenda, we started our Bangalore journey from there around 12.30 pm. On the way, we stopped at the Kamat hotel for lunch and finally hit home at 4.30 pm. The journey was quite enjoyable and after a long time the four of us were doing such a trip. Thanks to the weather, the two days were very pleasant that kept us fresh and going.
My parents and brother stayed in Bangalore for the next two days where we went around Bangalore and did decent shopping, my brother got us all new clothes for Diwali. Their four day stay in Bangalore and my break from work was rejuvenating and the trip just made it even more refreshing.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
My file extension type
My friend Xavier had this funny and silly (according to me) post in his blog and I just got curious and tried it for myself and below is the result. Now that looks pleasing to me! :)
Which File Extension are You?
Which File Extension are You?
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
It was raining cats and dogs
I was in Chennai over the weekend and after some 7-8 years, I witnessed a soaked Chennai-the rain Gods must be pleased with their work in this city that is deprived of one of the most essential things for survival-WATER. The chill sea breezeand the incessant rainfall made the city look quite welcoming. Though the roads were quite messy, you could see the folks enjoying the painful pleasure wading through the water and skating through the roads.
Every couple of hours, there was quite a downpour that reminded me of this adage,
"It rained cats and dogs". Oh, btw for the curious minds, I figured out some interesting etymology for this phrase which you can find at "raining cats and dogs".
All in all, I loved the weekend stay at Chennai, loved the weather, the rain and loved staying indoors playing my favorite computer games. Raindrops stuck the chord well to suit the weekend.
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
But there's one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me
Courtesy: http://www.lyricsdownload.com/b-j-thomas-raindrops-keep-fallin-on-my-head-lyrics.html
Every couple of hours, there was quite a downpour that reminded me of this adage,
"It rained cats and dogs". Oh, btw for the curious minds, I figured out some interesting etymology for this phrase which you can find at "raining cats and dogs".
All in all, I loved the weekend stay at Chennai, loved the weather, the rain and loved staying indoors playing my favorite computer games. Raindrops stuck the chord well to suit the weekend.
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
But there's one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me
Courtesy: http://www.lyricsdownload.com/b-j-thomas-raindrops-keep-fallin-on-my-head-lyrics.html
Friday, October 29, 2004
I'm in Sophia da...
I wanted to enquire about Anna's betrothal (Anand's sobriquet that can keep you guessing his gender!) that happened last Sunday. So I casually picked up the phone
and dialed his mobile number. The ring tone was quite different than usual but I did not think that it was unusual. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello". I replied back saying, "Hello Anna, this is Srini here. You at office? meeting?"
And his reply really took me off guard. He said, "Dey, I'm in Sophia da. Just landed now". That was quite amazing because I just spoke to that guy a week back and there was no news about his travelling. All of a sudden, the guy was airborne and in a different
part of the world. It was quite thrilling to note that a local call ended up being an international one! Enjoy your stay Anna and drink a lot of buttermilk! :)
and dialed his mobile number. The ring tone was quite different than usual but I did not think that it was unusual. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello". I replied back saying, "Hello Anna, this is Srini here. You at office? meeting?"
And his reply really took me off guard. He said, "Dey, I'm in Sophia da. Just landed now". That was quite amazing because I just spoke to that guy a week back and there was no news about his travelling. All of a sudden, the guy was airborne and in a different
part of the world. It was quite thrilling to note that a local call ended up being an international one! Enjoy your stay Anna and drink a lot of buttermilk! :)
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Flamers and Slammers
It was 1997 when we got our 12th results and most of us fanned out to pursue our
grad education at different places. The next 4-5 years most of us were buried in our studies, were in touch with very few friends while the others seemed to have been lost in oblivion. Back to the future, the year is 2004 and by now most of us are buried in fixing bugs, writing code and attending meetings and conference calls. To hell with our work, a couple of us decided to revive our old contacts. We googled in and around Bangalore and were surprised to find around 15 folks all working in different places but not aware of the other's presence. Like someone said, “So near and yet so far”.
We decided to meet up and on this lovely Saturday evening (3 weeks back!) we meet at a restro bar called ShiokFood. Mamoo's to Mams to
Machans were the gestures thrown in tantrums when we meet each other after 7 years (yes, it was SEVEN looooooog years). And then the real party started. We were not only catching up with time, but also with the bartender coaxing into making real exotic and wild cocktails, fueling our party spirits with the flamers and slammers. Starting with Illusion Eyes, we went to have Shiok Slammers and finally
ended up with Electric Jumps (which had lot of hot chill pepper sauce in it!). Boy, it was one wild party that we had and all of us were glad to have done this. This is just the beginning and more are yet to come! The Idol show thus began...
grad education at different places. The next 4-5 years most of us were buried in our studies, were in touch with very few friends while the others seemed to have been lost in oblivion. Back to the future, the year is 2004 and by now most of us are buried in fixing bugs, writing code and attending meetings and conference calls. To hell with our work, a couple of us decided to revive our old contacts. We googled in and around Bangalore and were surprised to find around 15 folks all working in different places but not aware of the other's presence. Like someone said, “So near and yet so far”.
We decided to meet up and on this lovely Saturday evening (3 weeks back!) we meet at a restro bar called ShiokFood. Mamoo's to Mams to
Machans were the gestures thrown in tantrums when we meet each other after 7 years (yes, it was SEVEN looooooog years). And then the real party started. We were not only catching up with time, but also with the bartender coaxing into making real exotic and wild cocktails, fueling our party spirits with the flamers and slammers. Starting with Illusion Eyes, we went to have Shiok Slammers and finally
ended up with Electric Jumps (which had lot of hot chill pepper sauce in it!). Boy, it was one wild party that we had and all of us were glad to have done this. This is just the beginning and more are yet to come! The Idol show thus began...
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