BIG MAN OF SATYAM

Always had a thousand things in mind as to what all I would say/ask and do, if I would ever meet
the Big Boss Ramalinga Raju...
Have lot of finished/unfinished drafts in my mailbox addressed to HIM...
N today from the pantry on the 1st floor was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the BIG MAN OF SATYAM accompanying some clients...A group of us had our hawk - eyes fixed on HIM...There was surprise, excitement and I should say there were some disdainful utterings too...:)

But finally the thoughts that beat me are
> A small man in the backdrop of the large empire he has built...
> If I have so much of pride about my SDC, how much will the creater-cum-funder-cum-owner feel...
> Big visions create big business...big business creates big money, big fame, big ties, bigger jobs and oppurtunities...
> In spite of so-many-bitter-thoughts-in-mind, there was an "awe" still to greet THE MAN...
> Can find thousands of things to complain about, but a moment to think about the foresight, struggle and perserverence that must have gone into building a business empire...n equally the struggle to maintain and nourish it...

SIR, I should say that "fleeting glimpse" of YOU was wonderful and thought provoking...:)

Main Snap Courtesy : A colleague...:)

Gulmohar Ka Pedh

Captured this beautiful red inflorescence outside Friends Restaurant in BTM...It brought some old forgotten lessons of school days back to my mind...Gulmohar Ka Pedh...Itz also called May Flower (courtesy my roomie:))...

Remember reading the famous article "3 days to see" by Hellen Keller...Wonderful if we could capture beauty of nature to the canvas of our mind, if we could play over the pitter-patter of rain, whistling of wind, hum of bees, song of birds to ourselves over and over again, have a window in our mind which opens to the priceless feast of light n sound that nature arranges..:)..

Corporate Culture...?

The drama has gone for quite a while…N I have been on an endless wait for the final scene…Every scene I hope would be the final one, even though the climaxes differ…

When I was on-bench, I thought an internal project would be fun…seeing the past from present, I should say it was…but my thought in those days were that a client project would be a learning experience…it was and has been so far…I have worked for a great client and executed a wonderful system, that still gets applause and ovation…at this point having seen too much the business side of it, and all the tricks that managers do to save their ass, the only thing that comes to my mind is that “GOD save himself, rather than interfering in all this crap”…

Surprising how money and business overtakes our personal relations, how we take one-liner mails, phone calls and messenger chats as evidence to point to each other’s faults…even though we have compromised on small problems as a gesture of goodwill, we forget all that for the business at stake…we forget the rapport and personal relationship…we forget that money and business comes after friendship and trust…lose our cool, shout at each other, and fall flat on your belly on dollars of billing stacked in front…is this the much talked about “corporate culture”…?

Yesterday…
PM: The client has finally decided to sign the PO(Purchase Order)…agreeing to our terms…
Me (after hearing the much heard dialogue): …?
Fellow Team Member: Great…:)
Me (still…): …?

Today…
PM: Don’t answer any mails from the client, sign out of messenger n switch off your phone…we are not giving them any support…
Me: …?

Tomorrow…
Yesterday continued…
My response doesn’t change, only the number of succeeding question marks increase and font becomes bolder…

I still wait for the climax…sad that I don’t have the remote in hand to fast-forward it to the end…I’m tired of the movie, but still curious about the ending…:(

Far, yet so close...

There have been times where I have thought and thought over decisions to be made…friends talk around me, but I’m counting my for and against arguments…I’m praying to God in my heart of hearts for His help in taking a better decision…Consequences scare me, intuitions show me highs and lows, people and possibilities look uncertain…I feel my decision controls my life, n I focus my resolve and mental resources…

I was in one of those phases this weekend…My MBA roomie talking lot of stuff – a very interesting and dynamic woman…she brings the same charm and dynamism to her talks and views…I confide my deepest fears and concerns…I speak out my doubting self…

N M-woman baffles me…she tells me “even I’m scared…”…times when people fail the vision of super-smartness and assuredness that they naturally exude…

And she touches me with her statement – “I have seen so much – so much so that I think I’m talking with you here, I leave for office and I don’t know whether I’ll come back to the same place…”…the whole story tumbles out…how death devastates, how it leaves you helpless, the meanness that you suddenly realize is a part of this big world, how you toughen yourself to straighten things out…n showed me that people endure so much, they go thru things that seem impossible and irrational, still they survive, they wear their happy masks and act comedy scenes, they comfort and console you so much even when their hearts are brimming, n they feel they might not handle it all and explode the next moment…

The cents I earn go to my stay, stomach and style…For someone else; it’s a family’s survival and necessities…
The decisions I have to make are simplified by the support I get in life…For someone else; it is to support and in the best interest of others…
I rush home to dump my worries and concern on my parents…For someone; it is home to greater issues and things that need fixes…

Death – I have seen you steal many dear ones…dance a horrendous dance in the lives of many close to me…but still I do remember when I first got a glimpse of what you can do…sometime in my primary classes when you stole a plump, bubbly, “undapakroo”, loves to speed up n down stairs, childhood friend…
Death – that left a dull colour at the corner of his lips, and packed him up in a cardboard box with a white ribbon tied around his head…
Death – superior enough to make the whole students of a school queue up to witness the masterpiece…
Death – red swollen eyes and damp saree pallus…
Death – silence and immobility…
Death – the big void…

And remind me of my very own existence – “far, yet so close” destiny...

@M-woman: I salute the amazing person you are..!! I can foresee your great future ahead...

Blossoms

Missed the 6 pm shuttle from SDC (Satyam Development Center) on Thursday... Since I had hurriedly told goodbyes to friends and rushed out to catch the bus, I felt a bit embarrassed returning back in the same speed:-)…So took a small stroll around the campus…After the evening rains, the weather was cloudy, with a slight cool breeze…Sat on one of the wooden benches in the campus and felt a soothing sense of calm descending on my mind…Jus walked around the campus taking some snaps before I went back to my cabin…And I captured this beautiful blossom…

My political incline...

My political incline surprises me...Coming from a pro-leftist family background, I have stood for the Congress in college union elections...My wider family viewed that development almost 3 and a half years back with utter disbelief...My parents went ahead and supported my decision, but still had a puzzled look on their faces which indirectly said "How come you chose Congress?"...The only concern for me at that point of time was that the people I personally knew and were friendly with were in KSU...I did not have my own political standpoint...N the so-called independent candidature - I found it scary coz I wanted some support in my endeavor...I was always interested in national politics...Being a part of a college sub-circle politics opened my eyes to a lot of things...Probably gave me a real idea of politics...

In the bigger picture, I have gone thru 2 real elections wherein I had an electoral right...For the Ernakulam bye-election and in the most recent Assembly elections...I was somehow surprised that I was impressed by the Left candidates in both these occurrences...From their policy manuals, I felt they had more to give back to the society, I found them more convincing, also Thripunithura had always been the forte of Congress, n I felt "Let me see what the Left can do here..."...This is when I started doubting my true political standpoint...The people whom I admire in politics cut across party lines...The policies I feel will contribute to a "greater common good" also is not party specific...I never applaud/grieve party victory/loss...I rather look into what would be the next best thing to happen assuming 'X' party has won...Still people associate me to the Congress and feel that "Reshmi must be genuinely upset coz Congress has lost" or field questions like "So madam, what do you have to say to this Left victory(chuckle)?"...So at times I end up thinking which party am I in?

The LDF has won the Kerala Assembly Elections...and even in the company bus, I find myself discussing a bit of politics with friends...that’s when it crossed my mind that I could post something about the opinion I expressed in one such discussion…Ever since I started blogging I always think “What would I post next?”, “This topic would make a good post…”, n am always trying to capture something unique thru my phone’s camera eyes…

So here is a very personal opinion on who should be the next CM...I'm not much in favour of VS grabbing the prestigious post...I do realize that quite a few times he has lost the place he deserves becoz of party politics...I also admire him coz most of the times the issues he raises are of public interest...What I'm afraid of is VS's approach to newer things - IT, Technology...The Grand Old Man of LDF after EMS and EKN - will he form a document of "cons" of Smart City(/any technological advancement for that matter) and build his 5 year term over it...I feel we need a younger person in the CM's Chair, a person with vision and passion, a person who can ignore a few "negatives" and take a bold step thinking about the "positives", a person who can devise a step to tap into the wide and immense human resource potential of Kerala and build the backbone, flesh and blood of a new Keralam...Personally I favour Thomas Isaac or Suresh Kurup…

May month...

This month has extracted from me the most of hard earned and still harder saved money...Not that I regret spending even a bit...Went on a weekend shopping spree with my roomies - got gifts for my parents and sister and a new mobile for myself (Nokia 3230)...

The point:-
This is an important month for my whole family...my dad's and sister's birthdays and most importantly my parents' wedding anniversary...this year, they are celebrating their 25 years of togetherness, rejoicing for the niche they have build together, life they have shared together and thanking God for all the moments of joy and success we have had as a family...they can claim to have build each and every inch for all the prosperity that we have around our family by themselves, raising their kids (one to "her own feet"), making contacts and keeping their friends and commitments alive and intact...

The celebration:-
So chama (my parents as I call them, my dad – Achan - cha and my mom - Amma - ma) will be here in Bangalore next week with Punnan (my sister as I call her) to celebrate the big day..

The setting: -
Spending the day in Mysore with my family…

The VIPs: -Definitely chama…:-)

Sponsors: -Reshmi (the major one) and Punnan:-)

Looking ahead to a great outing and a memorable day on May 15th…

Nokia 3230:-
My new mobile...after lot of visits and refreshes on the Nokia site, I finally got it...!

My equation with Chennai

Its one and a half years since I started my professional life - as a software engineer...I have bittersweet memories of my work life...It has taken me places, given me the chance of meeting different people, made me part of an amazing process of knowledge and idea sharing, at times shown me that I'm a small immature girl in this big IT field, taught me to keep distance from people, hurt me to the core at certain times, increased my faith in friends, fuelled my ambition to excel, brought 60% order to my 100% disorganized life...

The major part of my work life has been spent in Chennai...I was not particularly happy when I got a relocation to Chennai from Hyderabad...I was definitely excited for my project which is the most important word for every software engineer...Hyderabad was fun - lots of friends, some "own" money in hand, lots of places to roam about, and a wonderful, reasonably costly and beautiful city to roam about...Chennai only brought heat, dirt, misery, nearer to home feelings to me...

But my feelings for Chennai has changed ever since…so much so that I was really sad to leave Chennai for Bangalore…Looking back at Chennai and the equation between me and Chennai =

1. Made me a lot systematic, I started to be forever obsessed to folding and arranging my clothes and cupboards, took a fancy for washing...
2. Made me a lifelong high dosage perfume user...courtesy Thoyakat :-)
3. That the best way to tackle irritating people is to keep mum and have a slight smile on your face…
4. Taught me that there are some locations that capture the soul of this rich and diverse country better than the rest...My long treads thru Pondy Bazar have brought me close to this nation's soul, gave me a sense of oneness, a feeling of togetherness and amazing clarity of the thought and feeling of "my country"...
5. Tunes sung with passion, together with friends will bond hearts and forever reverberate in your life…so much so that you’ll always relive those moments in your day 2 day thoughts…
6. Sea will never make you sick…It’ll jus make you feel better and better, take off all your troubles and worries with the waves…
7. Cooking is fun…So is home making…Also window shopping...And bargaining...
8. Made me hooked to .NET technology…N given me the feeling that “I’m doing some great programming stuff”…
9. Helped in the transition from the thin, emaciated "Reshmi" to the fatter, plumper n healthier side of the world...
10. Given me some great friends…especially the 3 musketeers with whom I first stepped into Chennai and also reiterated my friendship with certain people, who have become my friends for life…

The list goes on...

Well Chennai...you'll always be close to my heart...for teaching me that its not the place, but people who lighten up ur life...:-)

Guided by instincts...!

Feels like I have started blogging one fine day without any sorts of introductions...Blogging had never been on my agenda...I used to definitely read and enjoy my friends' blogs...Curiosity brought me here...I was curious to see how much of bitterness and resentment blogging can take away from me, whether it will increase my perseverance, add to my linguistic ability, organize my thoughts, re-open the gates to the world of words which is my inheritance...

Already put up 2 posts...There is a side of me which tells me to wait and see how many people will discover my blog by their own...But the publicity savvy, attention seeking "Reshmi" is teeming to call friends and tell them that this is my blog...Don't know which line of thought is going to win...Most probably the second one...;-)...coz as an individual, I'm quite a demanding one...

It was on instinct that I created this personal place for myself...Hope I can hold it close to my thoughts as I plan to...

Is marriage the loss of a friend?

Had gone home to attend a dear friend's(RSK) wedding...Had a great time...Though I had gone banking my hopes on meeting lots of batch mates from college n school, couldn't see even a single person...

The topic of the blog jus crossed my mind when the marriage ceremony was going on...Am I losing a friend? I know I'm not the kind of person who always takes the initiative in keeping touch with friends...Not that I'm not keen to...but mostly laziness gets the better of me...there are times when I feel that putting a two line mail to friends is a big job...and procrastination has always been my constant companion...

RSK and I studied in the same class from 9th...and later we were in the same college, though in different streams...we were good friends, our friendship accentuated by the fact that our homes were close by, our sisters studied together, n other common factors...we went to the same place for tuitions when at school, talked endlessly about a lot concerns regarding studies, friends n relatives, gossips, future, ambitions...at times, found a lot of solace in each other's company...some school heroisms when she literally brought a sick "me"(barely conscious) from school to home, all by herself...even in college, we never ran out of common topics…had always people and problems to share with each other…were constant companions in weekend travels to and from home…our dads' would bring us to the bus station, we’d get our seats in the bus(I’ll get my window seat) and then stare down at our dads discussing their problems…n every time, I get back home from work, she’d come over home to meet me and spend sometime talking with me…memories are endless...

Mixed feelings at her marriage…happy to see her happy…thrilled to see her dazzling on the stage…a bit of concern for her…a silent prayer for her happy times ahead…a little bit sad that she is not going to be around for “on call support” as she had been and that distance (kms) between us is going to increase…More and more gals joining the “red headed league”...Hope we all remember what role we had in each others lives, n remain close to each other the way we were...