I avn't been posting for the last few months. Somehow i have gotten too busy to find time for myself, topped off by the fact that more than half the sites are blocked in my office(dis being one of them).
Bangalore has its life. Its a place one would love to hate. When you are there, you would constantly complain about anything and everything that is Bengaluru(yup.. dats the new name).. but once you are out of that place- you would miss it. Okay enough of my crap.
The one question everyone asks me is..whjat do i do to pass time!! Well.. from monday to friday.. i pass my time in office( since i av no work...thankfully... the cafeteria is where me and my frnds hang out).. and on weekends we all go out...exploring the city.
The next question- Do i like my work or do i lie working?? Well, its pretty early for me to answer that. As of now, yes i love it. Everything is new. The office, the people, the technology that i work on, the culture...It's exciting but i'll can't promise that i won't hate it later... One complain that i have is that there is a serious shortage of good-looking men( call me shallow but yes looks matter)... How are we the 'just outta college' people( i still like to think of myself as that- after all its just 4months) supposed to pass time...
The third question- Howz the pay??.. Guys.. its peanuts.. but i am surviving... i may constantly complain on it being too less, my college friends in other companies getting more.. threaten to leave this organization within a year.. but its not that bad... and no other company is gonna hire me with the sorta experience i have, it's just training experience dude and frankly my training was better in a way since i am alive( in the back of my mind praying for my infy and sapient frnd's).
4. Traffic?!! It's aweful here. It just has to rain to bring the complete city to a standstill but the weather sorta compensated for all the things that are wrong or bad here. I mean imagine being stuck in a stand-still jam in bangalore with it drizzling outside and the temperature being cool enough ( please lets not consider mosquitoes) and compare it with the same situation in Delhi but with sweltering heat and the temperature being around 33 degree Celsius. Give me Bangalore anyday.
5. The food. People i am a non-vegetarian ( PETA people please excuse)... i very rarely have food problems since i am not too choosy except for the fact that it should be edible and not alive...i am doing well enough... idli-dosa i can handle and since i eat out almost everyday- i am not complaining, only my bank-balance is.
6. Lodging... The PG is ok but i plan to shift to a flat with my friends soon... since the latter is obviously more comfortable and i love cooking...but the search for a flat is on...what i actually mean is that all we do is make plans..we avnt yet started looking..we are too lazy..
Rest later... its time for my lunch now.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A typical day
Well!! My training is finally over. Had to slog it out for 38 working days (that’s how everything is counted in this world- number of hours worked, number of working days). Here is a brief review of my typical day.
Get up at 6:45am. Get ready. Have breakfast; reach pickup point by 8:15am. Reach office at around 9am. From 9to6 it’s all about studying with occasional coffee-break. Lunch is from 1to2pm. Once my shift is over, I board the bus, reach home by 7pm. Take rest, catch up with friends, have dinner and study for some or the other test. And then my eye’s starting closing on their accord. I catch a glimpse of the clock- it shows 10:30 pm. It’s late. Got another long day to fight out . And off I go, drifting to sleep, only to get up once the alarm rings the next day and again the routine repeats.
The test’s were tough to say the least coz anything could come. It was told to us in the very beginning that only 20% would be covered in the class, rest was self-study. And self-study it was. Learning a fully new programming language, and giving tests as though we were master’s in it was damn hard. Never had I imagined my self coming to office on Saturday-Sunday to study. I had to come to office as all resources was on the system or available on the net. Staying back in office till 8.30 pm for week’s just to study; Working on a Saturday. Reaching home dead tired so that all I could do was go off to sleep. The test’s actually psyched everyone out. Never in my life- either in school or in college, had I worked so hard.
The last few days have made me realize what my parents have been going through for years. Why they go off to sleep so early. Its barely two months, and I sit thinking whether or not I’ll be able to carry out this schedule for years to come. It’s a tough life. No doubt the pay-cheque tries to balance things out but still….
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Business Casual
Business Casual's.This is the word that describes the office wear that multinationals prescribe for their employees.Don't be mis-led by the word. It is one of the new words coined by the marketing and HR people inorder to make people feel good when they read it.It
has a feel good factor and masks it's own officiality.
The attire composes of trouser's in colours that are difficult to differentiate and shirt's in even blander colors. It's Men and Women. Please get over your Girl's and Boy's tag. Seems as though that in a day you make the transition from being a Boy or Girl to a Man or Woman respectively. If you get bored atleast the female employee has the option of wearing salwar-kameez
but for a person like me who always bemoans the challenge presented by dupatta,its not an option but a compulsion. Moreover, i don't know what the designer of women formal wear had against the female specie. No pockets.And i am not one of those people who can do without pockets. Have lived my entire life wearing jeans,cargoes which have multitude of pockets which you can fill with all sorta stuff and now i have to do with none. A problem in itself. Moreover, bags are an extra that actually hinder my ever free-flowing movement.
The most irritating thing that i face is the problem of wearing sandals. Why can't we wear sport shoes or shoes that are comfortable. Ladies sandal's will always have heels which go against the very principle of balancing.I find myself toppling down every few steps, watching each step i take as though i have just learnt to walk, not to mention the continuous discomfort that these sandals offer. Let me wear my Nike's,Reebok's and I'll be gratefull to you forever.(Imagine sports shoes combined with formal trousers- a fashion disaster in itself. Such a disaster that it might propel me to the top of the worst dressed people on earth..lookout Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears, you have competition coming up). Not to mention that
walking has been made an exercise in itself,something that i did earlier without notice. And somehow i find people stepping on my toes more now than earlier, and it pains ten times now. Come on people!Have some pity on my bare toes. Always sheltered by socks and sports shoes they are not used to your full weight falling on them directly.
It's been barely a fortnight and I am already bored of wearing formal's. And to keep this up all my life- it seems a really long life. Compared to my male counterparts, they don't even have an option. Somehow this makes me feel better.
has a feel good factor and masks it's own officiality.
The attire composes of trouser's in colours that are difficult to differentiate and shirt's in even blander colors. It's Men and Women. Please get over your Girl's and Boy's tag. Seems as though that in a day you make the transition from being a Boy or Girl to a Man or Woman respectively. If you get bored atleast the female employee has the option of wearing salwar-kameez
but for a person like me who always bemoans the challenge presented by dupatta,its not an option but a compulsion. Moreover, i don't know what the designer of women formal wear had against the female specie. No pockets.And i am not one of those people who can do without pockets. Have lived my entire life wearing jeans,cargoes which have multitude of pockets which you can fill with all sorta stuff and now i have to do with none. A problem in itself. Moreover, bags are an extra that actually hinder my ever free-flowing movement.
The most irritating thing that i face is the problem of wearing sandals. Why can't we wear sport shoes or shoes that are comfortable. Ladies sandal's will always have heels which go against the very principle of balancing.I find myself toppling down every few steps, watching each step i take as though i have just learnt to walk, not to mention the continuous discomfort that these sandals offer. Let me wear my Nike's,Reebok's and I'll be gratefull to you forever.(Imagine sports shoes combined with formal trousers- a fashion disaster in itself. Such a disaster that it might propel me to the top of the worst dressed people on earth..lookout Paris Hilton and Brittney Spears, you have competition coming up). Not to mention that
walking has been made an exercise in itself,something that i did earlier without notice. And somehow i find people stepping on my toes more now than earlier, and it pains ten times now. Come on people!Have some pity on my bare toes. Always sheltered by socks and sports shoes they are not used to your full weight falling on them directly.
It's been barely a fortnight and I am already bored of wearing formal's. And to keep this up all my life- it seems a really long life. Compared to my male counterparts, they don't even have an option. Somehow this makes me feel better.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Banging around in Banglore!!!
I av shifted base to Banglore for work purposes. Any one who works in the IT related industry knows that Banglore is where everyone is sent sooner or later. But let me just disillusion you- its overhyped.
The moment i landed here( company sponsered relocation) all i could see all around were hoarding screaming out in kannada,but what i and my friend could make out were the sweet-meats called jalebis were being formed in large bold letters. That to the uninitiated is what kannad looks like to an outsider. We hired a cab. The best thing with these people is that they forget hindi the moment it suits them. One more unique quality that the autorikshaw or cab drivers don't know the whole city like the back of their hand. They'll reach a particular point and then turn to you for direction irrespective of the fact that you av no idea about anything. If you are ever coming here please note that if you can solve the confusion between a cross and a main please let me know. Roads here are classied as XYZ Cross, XYZ Main, XYZ Stage. Now which one comes where is the question. Its like a matrix that noone has been able to explain properly to me till date.
The IT boom has made the simple Banglorean an enterpreneur. Everyone wants to cash in on the frenzy called Paying Guest Accomodation. If you av space- squeeze in a bed and rent it out for rs.3000(minimum). Even better, take your drawing room, use ply-boards to make cubicals and squeeze in around 10-12 people. To do that the bed will be made half the normal width. A single bathroom in which one can barely squeeze-in is to be shared between all. The reason behind this is- why make the bathroom large when one more bed can be juggled in. We are humans!! We need space to breath!! But finally inspite of all these downfalls i av found a pg where i and my friends would spend some time in(fingers crossed).
The weather here is one thing that is cool. Coming from Delhi, its a respite from the scroaching heat. Its so pleasant here. I look taking a walk at night with the breeze soothing down the nerves.
The major complaint that most of my north-indian friends have is about the food. I av lived in a hostel so i can survive. But for my friends, their fight for survival has began. Non-veg is very readily available. My vegetarian friend's are already losing weight. Moreover the smell of garlic is so strong that sometimes even the person with the most insensitive stomach finds it difficult. But for these poeple, north-indian means garlic. A simple equation. Its a non-veg heaven and a veg hell. Moreover for people like me who like to experiment, its easy to to live it out but for my choosy friend's- its a reality check.
I'll be regularly updating this post. This is just a small tip of the ice-berg.
The moment i landed here( company sponsered relocation) all i could see all around were hoarding screaming out in kannada,but what i and my friend could make out were the sweet-meats called jalebis were being formed in large bold letters. That to the uninitiated is what kannad looks like to an outsider. We hired a cab. The best thing with these people is that they forget hindi the moment it suits them. One more unique quality that the autorikshaw or cab drivers don't know the whole city like the back of their hand. They'll reach a particular point and then turn to you for direction irrespective of the fact that you av no idea about anything. If you are ever coming here please note that if you can solve the confusion between a cross and a main please let me know. Roads here are classied as XYZ Cross, XYZ Main, XYZ Stage. Now which one comes where is the question. Its like a matrix that noone has been able to explain properly to me till date.
The IT boom has made the simple Banglorean an enterpreneur. Everyone wants to cash in on the frenzy called Paying Guest Accomodation. If you av space- squeeze in a bed and rent it out for rs.3000(minimum). Even better, take your drawing room, use ply-boards to make cubicals and squeeze in around 10-12 people. To do that the bed will be made half the normal width. A single bathroom in which one can barely squeeze-in is to be shared between all. The reason behind this is- why make the bathroom large when one more bed can be juggled in. We are humans!! We need space to breath!! But finally inspite of all these downfalls i av found a pg where i and my friends would spend some time in(fingers crossed).
The weather here is one thing that is cool. Coming from Delhi, its a respite from the scroaching heat. Its so pleasant here. I look taking a walk at night with the breeze soothing down the nerves.
The major complaint that most of my north-indian friends have is about the food. I av lived in a hostel so i can survive. But for my friends, their fight for survival has began. Non-veg is very readily available. My vegetarian friend's are already losing weight. Moreover the smell of garlic is so strong that sometimes even the person with the most insensitive stomach finds it difficult. But for these poeple, north-indian means garlic. A simple equation. Its a non-veg heaven and a veg hell. Moreover for people like me who like to experiment, its easy to to live it out but for my choosy friend's- its a reality check.
I'll be regularly updating this post. This is just a small tip of the ice-berg.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The blue veins of delhi
Anyone who is in Delhi this summer will vouch for the heat. It was never so bad, never so hot,never so sweaty. It just takes one step. A step out of your ac room into the normal temperature to tell you that- its hot!!! Statistics that all news channels and papers play upon show that this is the hottest it has ever been in the last few decades. Its 4 degree Celsius above normal etc etc. Do i care! a rhetoric question if there was one. I mean its hot for me whether it be 10 degrees above normal or 1 degree.
If one needs a very strong test of endurance, may i suggest a trip in the Delhi blue line buses in this heat. The sweltering heat. Over-crowded buses that move at snail's pace inorder to load as many commuters they can. The bus is already busting its seams(figuratively) and yet the conductor yells out "khali he". The best is when the conductor in front shouts at the people "peche gadi puri khali padi he" ;mind you at this time most people are standing on each other feet. Then to complement him the conductor guarding the back gate of the bus yells out "aage chalo,age chalo.. gadi wahan puri khali he"; Guess they think that in the middle lies a crack that will hold all commuters thereby helping them load up more passengers. This front-back shoving(yup this is what they do) literally makes one person stand on top of another. Fanning the already heated up temperature. Everyone reaches their boiling point. A small jerk is all that it takes for people to start fighting. Add to this the cacophony of babies crying, kids pleading there parents, aunties giving their expert opinion and mobile phones ringing. Add to the above bedlam the omnipresent call of the conductors- dhaula kaun, moti bagh, safderjung, medical, south ex....
The sweat trickles down your back, it is suffocating. No welcome breeze. And you are nowhere near your destination. Add to that that you are standing on one foot and trying to hold onto you life by clinging to a small part of the overhead rod. And you are itching to slap the person next to you for falling onto you( and you can't cause you'll be labeled a mad-woman because of all the crowd-space constraint).
By the time your stop comes and you push through people you are not willing to give an inch for you and reach the front end of the bus to alight, you are ready to swear never to travel by this monstrosity again. But then a new day comes and you start afresh to battle it out on these buses.
Let me say , Delhi Blue Buses- bringing people closer :)
If one needs a very strong test of endurance, may i suggest a trip in the Delhi blue line buses in this heat. The sweltering heat. Over-crowded buses that move at snail's pace inorder to load as many commuters they can. The bus is already busting its seams(figuratively) and yet the conductor yells out "khali he". The best is when the conductor in front shouts at the people "peche gadi puri khali padi he" ;mind you at this time most people are standing on each other feet. Then to complement him the conductor guarding the back gate of the bus yells out "aage chalo,age chalo.. gadi wahan puri khali he"; Guess they think that in the middle lies a crack that will hold all commuters thereby helping them load up more passengers. This front-back shoving(yup this is what they do) literally makes one person stand on top of another. Fanning the already heated up temperature. Everyone reaches their boiling point. A small jerk is all that it takes for people to start fighting. Add to this the cacophony of babies crying, kids pleading there parents, aunties giving their expert opinion and mobile phones ringing. Add to the above bedlam the omnipresent call of the conductors- dhaula kaun, moti bagh, safderjung, medical, south ex....
The sweat trickles down your back, it is suffocating. No welcome breeze. And you are nowhere near your destination. Add to that that you are standing on one foot and trying to hold onto you life by clinging to a small part of the overhead rod. And you are itching to slap the person next to you for falling onto you( and you can't cause you'll be labeled a mad-woman because of all the crowd-space constraint).
By the time your stop comes and you push through people you are not willing to give an inch for you and reach the front end of the bus to alight, you are ready to swear never to travel by this monstrosity again. But then a new day comes and you start afresh to battle it out on these buses.
Let me say , Delhi Blue Buses- bringing people closer :)
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Female drivers.
Let me start this post by saying that i am a female driver and this is just my general observation about myself.
Do i hate driving(this is a rhetoric question) ..this is one activity that gets me so tensed up... i think i av lost more weight while learning to drive than by actually trying to lose weight. Somehow i just can't get over my inherent fear. The moment i see big vehicles approaching..god am i done for... or maybe at some junction when i av to turn, there is a traffic light, moreover pedestrians crossing the road the exact moment they are not supposed to and all of a sudden i go blank... i mean i become so indecisive as to what to do.. . i frankly don't av the confidence... i can conquer all my fears except this... people say it is not that tough..it easy once you get in the groove.. but i somehow can't see myself finding it easy..all my senses need to be on high alert... and some people say it relaxes them..to this i say:to each his own.
One thing that gets me cold with fear is that when the car starts rolling backward or forward when i stop due to a traffic jam or traffic light... once long time an incident happened and till now when the car is stationary it seems to me as though the car is moving backwards... even when writing this post i am in high tension...
i av never feared from any challenge but somehow it seems a mere mechanical contraption is getting the better of me.. man sorry Woman v/s Machine. i just wish i can get over my phobia... can can move through traffic like i see my expert friends doing.. no tension.. it will make me independent in the true sense also...
I'll keep u posted on my driving fiascoes.
Do i hate driving(this is a rhetoric question) ..this is one activity that gets me so tensed up... i think i av lost more weight while learning to drive than by actually trying to lose weight. Somehow i just can't get over my inherent fear. The moment i see big vehicles approaching..god am i done for... or maybe at some junction when i av to turn, there is a traffic light, moreover pedestrians crossing the road the exact moment they are not supposed to and all of a sudden i go blank... i mean i become so indecisive as to what to do.. . i frankly don't av the confidence... i can conquer all my fears except this... people say it is not that tough..it easy once you get in the groove.. but i somehow can't see myself finding it easy..all my senses need to be on high alert... and some people say it relaxes them..to this i say:to each his own.
One thing that gets me cold with fear is that when the car starts rolling backward or forward when i stop due to a traffic jam or traffic light... once long time an incident happened and till now when the car is stationary it seems to me as though the car is moving backwards... even when writing this post i am in high tension...
i av never feared from any challenge but somehow it seems a mere mechanical contraption is getting the better of me.. man sorry Woman v/s Machine. i just wish i can get over my phobia... can can move through traffic like i see my expert friends doing.. no tension.. it will make me independent in the true sense also...
I'll keep u posted on my driving fiascoes.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Mediocrity Personified
I av come across one basic questions in all interviews,GDs etc that i av given..
Introduce yourself.
Who is (first name) (last name)?
Describe yourself.
Tell us something about you that will help us know you better.
Introduce yourself.
Who is (first name) (last name)?
Describe yourself.
Tell us something about you that will help us know you better.
These are some of the various forms in which i am asked to describe myself. I know this would always be the first question wherever i go or which every GD/PI i face...yet i am never sure of what am i supposed to say.. till date i av jitters whenever this question comes on...and the moment i start speaking..things just fall into a pattern.
how am i to slot myself... i don't know the answer to the question- who am i... then how am i supposed to explain myself to others...i still don't know who the real me is... the one who laughs so easily or the one who gets bugged sometimes...the one who is practical about stuff or the eternal romantic... the hard-core diplomat or the opinionated fool who can't keep out of controversies...
a person who can go through the whole day without talking or the person who can't stand a moment's silence...my quest for finding myself and loosing myself is unending....
in answer to the questions above. i av only one answer i am mediocre.
Studies:not too good..not bad..just mediocre.
Sports:i play all but not too well..am mediocre.i mean am no expert but no beginner either.
Debates:not good neither bad.
General awareness: same as above
Bad at painting.
Creativity is very personal...i mean not very good at the so called arts. Am passable. Can sing,can dance but nothing to write home about...
av got no big awards to my name.. no scholarship to write about... am a very temperamental person...books i read but they don't belong to any particular genre.. songs or music i like depends on my mood... neither do i melt into the crowd nor do i stand out... half the world hates my guts..the other half loves me yet hates me cause of the very reason the love me.... am neither tall nor short..neither thin nor fat..neither good looking nor a troll(sorry if i offend anyone- harry potter lingo)...so in other words to keep things sort- i am a jack of all trades,master of none and if anyone ever asks me again to describe myself - i am what i am... not good,neither bad... it does not make me different from the crowd but still i stand as an individual.
whatever the above means....
how am i to slot myself... i don't know the answer to the question- who am i... then how am i supposed to explain myself to others...i still don't know who the real me is... the one who laughs so easily or the one who gets bugged sometimes...the one who is practical about stuff or the eternal romantic... the hard-core diplomat or the opinionated fool who can't keep out of controversies...
a person who can go through the whole day without talking or the person who can't stand a moment's silence...my quest for finding myself and loosing myself is unending....
in answer to the questions above. i av only one answer i am mediocre.
Studies:not too good..not bad..just mediocre.
Sports:i play all but not too well..am mediocre.i mean am no expert but no beginner either.
Debates:not good neither bad.
General awareness: same as above
Bad at painting.
Creativity is very personal...i mean not very good at the so called arts. Am passable. Can sing,can dance but nothing to write home about...
av got no big awards to my name.. no scholarship to write about... am a very temperamental person...books i read but they don't belong to any particular genre.. songs or music i like depends on my mood... neither do i melt into the crowd nor do i stand out... half the world hates my guts..the other half loves me yet hates me cause of the very reason the love me.... am neither tall nor short..neither thin nor fat..neither good looking nor a troll(sorry if i offend anyone- harry potter lingo)...so in other words to keep things sort- i am a jack of all trades,master of none and if anyone ever asks me again to describe myself - i am what i am... not good,neither bad... it does not make me different from the crowd but still i stand as an individual.
whatever the above means....
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