Expectations.....

At times I feel that the root of all problems in a relationship is "expectations". Why do we have expectations in a relationship? Can a relationship exist without expectations? Thoughts welcome.....

Of Comments and Trackback

I have added Haloscan commenting and trackback feature to the blog so that I can post replies to the comments. In the process I lost all the previous comments to my posts :-( (Ofcourse I can get the comments by shifting to the old template, but of what good is a template if it doesn't allow reply to a comment)

Some cool features about Haloscan commenting.

1) You don't have to go to a new page for viewing the comments. The comments are displayed as part of a pop-up window.

2) You can customize your comments pop-up window.

3) The Web based installation is smooth.


Give it a try....Its pretty cool.

Hyderabadi Joke

A joke from a friend of mine who says that this is a real life incident. (I don't believe him)

My friend who is from Bangalore had some official work in Hyderabad. Our guy landed in Hyderabad and wanted to take an auto from Airport road to Banjara Hills. He headed for the auto stand outside the airport and came near the first available auto. Following is the conversation which took place between him and the auto guy.

Auto Guy : Kidhar jaana hai saab?
Friend : Banjara hills, chaaloge kyaa? ( With a Kannada accent )
Auto Guy : Haaau ( Pronounced as HOW)
Friend: Mereko kya puchata, HOW??? Tereko pata nahi????
Auto Guy : Mer ku pata saab. Iske kate to haau bola.


My friend didn't know that "Haaau" is "Yes" in Hyderabadi hindi.

kill house_hunt

Search for my abode came to an end this Saturday. I am happy and relieved. Whole thing was getting on my nerves. Finally had to settle for a 2BHK flat. Its gonna be too BIG for me, but can't help it. Don't want to share my place with someone and as told earlier finding 1BHK flat in Hyderabad is like Finding Nemo in Pacific Ocean.

Went out with couple of friends on Saturday night. Had some good time around Hussain Sagar lake. There is a huge monolithic statue of the Budhha on a rock in the center of the lack. Impressive.

Some good news on the work front. After a gap of almost 3-4 years, I might have to work on Linux again. I am thrilled. I remember those good ol days in college when we were Linux freaks and spent innumerable nights trying to configure the X Server. Most of us had SiS card on our machines which was not supported by Red Hat Linux distribution then. Bringing up the X Windows was the coolest thing you could do. Look at the Linux installation now. As smooth as Windows installation.

Hoping to have some good time with LiNuX.

Watching TV - II

Yesterday I saw "Sanyaasi Mera Naam" on Star Gold. Have you guys seen the movie? Its one amazing piece of cinematic excellence. Do you know who plays the lead in the movie? Some of you must have guessed it from the movie's name......The one and only Mithun Da.

Great music. Great acting. Great script. Great direction. One Great movie.

Don't miss it at any cost.

PS : I have this nasty habbit of pushing myself to the limit. Yesterday I was just stress testing myself. I wanted to see how much crap I can take. I am happy about the results. I saw the movie till the end.

Watching TV

At times watching TV can be a really frustrating experience. After a hectic day I decide to kill time by watching some TV before hitting bed. So I switch on the TV. Start surfing the channels. You know what is the problem with so many channels? You have so many options but hardly anything worth watching. I decide to put some songs. Good thing about this is you don't have to really get into a "Watching TV mood", you can just switch to other channel if the songs get irksome.

I switch to Mtv. Now, the Mtv guys are really lousy. Other music channels throw in a couple of ads between 3-4 songs. Mtv people throw in a song between ads. Its really frustrating. The songs which they play simply adds to that frustration. Nowadays they play mainly those loose remixes with loads of flesh in the videos. When I switched to Mtv they were playing "Lekar Hum Diwana Dil" remix. I am sure if Panchamda would have been around listening that, he would have regretted being alive. Some ads and they play the next song. "Ye raat bhigi bhigi" remix by Nitin Bali. You guys know Nitin Bali, right? What? You don't know who Nitin Bali is? For chrissake? He is India's answer to Johnny Cash. Nitin is one cool dude (or that's what he thinks ). I don't know why he is carrying that guitar with him in the video. He pretends playing the lead in the song. No Mr. Bali, you can't fool around. Smart viewers ( like me ) can easily make out that you don't even know how to hold a guitar, forget about playing a song. But if you look at the video from artistic view its done pretty well. I mean its not vulgar. Its sensuous. You know what I mean. BTW do you guys remember there used to be a program called "House Of Noise" on Channel V? What happened to that? I remember they used to play really cool numbers. But that's a different story.

I get bored very soon and decide to switch to something more meaningful. How about a news channel? I change to CNN. I get a detailed report about how 5 demonstrators managed to get into House of Commons (British Parliament) to protest a ban on fox hunting. Yes, you read it right. Fox hunting.

I decide to switch off the TV. Start reading "The Dilbert Principle" to cheer things up. Much better option than watching TV.

PS :
Guys, I am not able to post replies to the comments. ( The company firewall is not allowing me. I know it sounds ridiculous. I am able to post a blog without any problem, but when I try to post a reply to a comment by a fellow reader I just get the "Company's internet policy" webpage )

So don't get down if you don't see any reply to your comments. I am not avoiding you. If you mail me and still don't get any reply, I am definitely avoiding you :-)

Hyderabad

The stay here in Hyderabad so far has been pleasant. Company provided guest house is cool with all the facilities. The only thing which is keeping the spirits down is the house hunt. I am looking for a 1 BHK flat/house near the HITEC city, but looks like Hyderabadis have inveterate antipathy for 1 BHK flats/houses. I am sure it will be a tough time on that front.

Coming to the important aspect. Food. Well since I am a big time fan of Andhra Style food, I am not having any problem on this front. Water is a bit of problem though. It's a bit heavy. My throat is itchy since I arrived here. All guys from Pune complained about this.

Infrastructure is average. The roads are good, but they are not wide. During peak hours it gets pretty tough and you have a traffic rage. Ahh, the roads are capable of confusing you and its better to ask someone if you find yourself lost. Two days back while coming back from Ameerpeth I was lost and did a nice long drive around Hyderabad. The journey which ideally takes 30 minutes took more than 2 hours. Neverthless it was a learning experience.

Crowd. Well, can't exactly say that I am impressed by Hyderabad crowd. Actually haven't had much time to socialize, so maybe in the days to come I will update on that. Girls. After staying in Bangalore and Pune my expectations were very high. I was disappointed. Not a single decent face. But I knew that was coming.

Office. Its cool. My machine was ready by the time I joined and within half an hour I was connected. Office team looks great. Haven't got any real work. Undergoing some web-based training. Induction is next week.

Some cool things about this place...
1) No time logs....So as long as I finish my work no one is going to ask me.
2) Desktop configuration. ( Intel Pentium IV/ 1 GB of RAM / DVD combo drive )
3) Office pantry. Its much better than the one in my previous organization.


Happened to meet some Bitsians after a long time. Met Tikam while having dinner at Southern Spice. He is still with Intelli. The same Tikam I remember. He was my senior in Vyas Bhavan. Thanks to Mogru, Tanmay, Gappi, Rajiv, Garvit ( all seniors ) me and couple of my friends always used to be in his wing during the fresher's period. He never ragged us though. Very shy and introvert guy. Very much the same now also.

Also met Deepa yesterday. My batchmate. Actually we hardly spoke to each other during our college days. But it was great to catch up with her. Hope to meet some more guys/gals from BITS.

That will be my first post from Hyderabad.

Bye Bye Pune

I am packing my stuff. My stay at Pune was awesome. Made some really great friends. But as they say "All good things must come to an end". I will be leaving my current employer and joining a firm in Hyderabad. Moving out of Pune on Thursday.

Your first job always has this special place in your heart. Fresh out of college and they mould you to take on the professional world. Its so different. Things which they teach us in engineering are rarely applied in real life scenario. Learned some really great stuff in this company. People say that three years is a long period when it comes to sticking with a software firm. Can't say, atleast in my case it was pretty fast. Before I realized I had spent three years in this company. But got to move on.

And need I talk about Pune. Its a great place. My stay here will be etched in my memory forever.

Things which I will miss.....

1) Long drive to my office in Hinjewadi. Especially in the rainy season.
2) Kacchi Dabheli and Wada Pav
3) Home made food ( This is going to be tough )
4) Hanging out with college friends
5) Stroll down the F.C. road after visiting British Library.

If oppurtunity knocks, will definitely consider coming back to Pune. But for the time being I will call it a stay.

Define irony. I am listening to this great song by "Simon and Garfunkel"......

I'm sitting in a railway station.
Got a ticket to my destination.
On a tour of one-night stand, my suitcase and guitar in hand.
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound.

Adios Pune.

Tatoo Of The Year

This is really amusing. A bald guy turning his baldness into something which he can show off.....