Pandemonium....

The last couple of days has been total chaos at work. Things just have fallen apart, not due to anyone's fault or anything, just that things fell apart. This has scared quite a few people that we might just miss our project deadlines, but am confident of making them. Work apart, am pretty much settling into a rhythm w.r.t to my gymming and sleep ;-).

Y'day, OP was blabbering in his sleep ( cursing and all) so here we go. Would be going to the gym today as well. Would be calling up home,and then winging up early. So not much to write ( or I'm just plain tired).

BTW, Barani won some awards at ISB and I feel happy for him ( he does do a good job, keeping ppl like me in the groove). Haven't yet decided as to whether I would want to attend the Pre-term ( strategically would want to go after April, based on how things turn out in the next couple of weeks).

Wokay then folks, have a good day ahead.

HMTG.

Bunti aur Bubli...

Has been one of the best weekends I've had over a looong time, basically just chilled this week. No major worries ( B-school, project etc), twas just chillax.

Woke up late y'day, browsed a lot and just lazed around, until at around 3:30 when I decided to hit the gym ( so that I could take some rest on sunday and not feel guilty), so did a good routine , that really made me feel good. Retuned home in time ( was around 10:30 IST) and called up home, was good chatting to mummy and sis ( basically a long list of do's and don'ts). Neways both sounded happy , and Mom gave me a list of things to get for her and sister ( and also Suresh, my BIL). Then decided to have a hot shower ( absolute bliss after a good workout) and was feeling really good. So decided to go the video parlour and get some movies , got BnB and boy I'm glad that I did so, it is a rocking movie ( really love Rani in this , he was my fav for some time, till Saathiya came along). Neways, had a rocking time with BnB on saturday eve.

Sunday, was cool too, watched Federer thulp Marcos to get to his 7th Grand slam , and saw the IND-PAK match finally looking to produce a result ( after the first 2 matches in the series were drawn) not sure if is good news as India is in a spot of bother. Neways, saw a bit of BnB ( especially the naach balliye.. number, which features Shamak Davar). The choreography is amazing, with the disco style moves. My roomie OP is getting married so wanted to take a few pics, so had a photo session in the morning ( the sun was out and the weather was georgeous). Really felt good to be around today ( like one of the childhood saturday's when there would be no one around, and me and my sis would catch butterflies).

Have almost finalised on my Digital camera ( going for a DSC P200 cybershot) and am planning to place my DELL order tomorrow. Also, had planned to take my flatmates out for dinner ( once lost a bet to OP, as to who was at the door, how silly can I get). But since OP's had to attend the going-back-offshore party of his colleage, has to push this to next weekend.

Neways signing off on a very a happy note.

Wish you all have a very great week ahead.

HMTG.

Celebrity Big brother...

Today was the final day for CBB, and as expected chantell won it. Michael Barrymore finished runner up. Was a fitting finale to the 3 weeks of sheer entertainment. Really wanted Dennis Rodman to have stayed in for more. Any ways Devina McGall did a fantastic job as she always does.

Apart from this, today was a very happy Friday, no fires at office did well to please a couple of colleagues , did well to write up the DOCs involvement /engagement initiative. Had the conf between Edinburgh/London. Again had chips for lunch.

I left office really early today , at 5. Hit the gym, had the good old routine. Really felt good. Hope to keep up the tempo for the next couple of weeks. Again did not finalise the deal with DELL, probably am awaiting some divine intervention here.

Have someplans for the weekend, buy the Japanese Mgmt book Akio Morita ( I can't even spell it) and also finalise my gadget lists. Time is running out. Have to get my act together. News today, HAMAS was elected into the parliament, Mittal steel is swallowing up another competitor, Dharam Singh is all set to lose his chair. Rang de basanti rocks ( had a heart burn y'day when my house mates saw the movie). Neways planning to watch MUNICH sometime this week.

Am at peace with myself today.

HMTG.

Republic day...

Today being a republic day , and the news that India would become the 3rd largest economy this year is good news. Work wise nothing much happened today, just that a couple of nagging issues had to be resolved. Almost finalised on the my Laptop, would go for it tomorrow.

Did not to to the gym today as I wanted to recuperate from 2 days of hitting the gym. Called up home , and there were loads of complaints waiting, apparently Mom is eating a lot of sweets ( diabetic ) and also not taking her medication properly. Need to get this sorted when I reach bangalore. Also, had a heated discussion with Dipto regarding the Profits of RBS ( he claimed it was £18b, and I contested that, turned out to be £8b).

Went out with Arasan and Atul , had a good time. Tomorrow is a dress down day, so should be fun.

Ciao,
HMTG

Jama Jam Gym....

Good news - Enrolled in a local gym, this has been due long time. Was paying membership fees for about 3 years without really hitting the treadmill ( at office ) , now that I've just got about 3 months to get back to shape I'm very keen to be regular this time. So I did visit the gym y'day and today. The gym is called "energize" and is OK, good ambiance, non intruding staff and on the whole a very good place. So there has been a bit of change in my daily schedule, am leaving office early, about 6 ish ( yes in my standards it is very early) and hitting the gym at around 7:30 and I'm in bed by 11 ( a good 2 hours early). Lets see how I am able to keep up the tempo.

Y'day at office was crazy, was arguing with Jim about a non-existent tracker which he raised as a show stopper ( I don't really like being pushed around - IT is a partnership after all), so did a whole lot of talking, neways got this sorted today and he was very happy with it. So with it all the caveats have been fulfilled.

Laptop - I had some interaction with the ISB yahoo group and was good ( was about my LAPTOP), also managed to get a deal with DELL ( Uday is the man , looking for some discount) , yet to finalise it.

Didn't call up HOME, feeling bad ( Mom had asked me to call...sob sob). Arasan has joined me here at London and is still that non-chalant guy I knew, so guess it would take me a while before I induce some "corporate etiquette" into his behavior.

In general, feeling very excited about my future ( Anup Upadhyay our GEM has a rocketing career, and his interview did inspire me, IIMB grad , hez the talk of the town). Today was very interesting , opened up a leat at DOCs ( one of our vendors), so am mighty pleased with myself. Am supposed to write a enagagement opening document tomorrow for our Programme Manager to pursue it.

There is a good movie on TV today at 9 ( GodFather-1) so would be watching it. Kamal just popped into my place now, apparently his flat mates dumped him and went to "Rang De Basanti" no sure if it is a good movie.

So tomorrow is going be pretty relaxed no gym, no trackers, no tension. Would be finalising my Laptop and also do some browsing. Have a great day folks.

HMTG

Just another manic monday...

Ever wondered why Mondays are so lugubriuos and tiresome, more so if you have just completed a major deliverable and have a long hiatus before the next phase kicks in.

Well the real spot of bother is that I don't have the keys to my flat ( yes as mundane as that), so will have to kill some time before I head back home.

Work front, well things are shaping up well, my hard work for the past year has been recognised ( let's see if it boils to some "real" benefit). Haven't yet discussed my future with anybody at work, so It might come in as a shock to many.

On my personal front, had planned to enroll myself the gym, might just do so even now. Also, have posted s0me queries about my Laptop to some queries , hope to sort out my lapton by this week. Yet to figure out my Cam, iPod etc.

Had some fun @ work today, Kam seems to have a great penchance to look into the nitty gritty of stuff to come up with "undocumented software features", so had to negotiate some Defects with her. Also, delegating work has its own bliss.

Need to sort out loads of stuff, like a "to-do" list before I hit the home run, like dining with X,Y and Z. Handling my finances has taken a back seat, need to sort that out desperately.

So in short, loads of stuff to do, but this monday thing just bogged me down today ( I didn't have corn flakes today and that has made things worse).

Bye for now, heading to register myself in the gym next to E.Croydon.

Cheerio, HMTG.

I know where I'm going

It is a very gratifying feeling when your efforts have paid off towards your destiny. I'm quitely savouring this moment. Called up home and confirmed my plans , they were as happy as I am, especially mother who was a bit worried that I might get very upset about my rejects. I have learnt to focus on my positive future than worry about the things I've lost. It has not been easy for me, almost 2 long years. But I'm happy that things are beggining to take shape. The first real manifestation of the good news was when I treated Matthew Pallan ( my team mate - who helped me with my application) to some good Indian food at chennai dosa. The weekend has been a quiet one , was home all day y'day, saw HAASIL again, absolutely loved it. Gowri , Badri shankar are amazing. Irfaan apparently won an award for his performance.

Well my gadget plans are afoot, planning to go for an INSPIRON 6000. Haven't yet shopped/looked for other stuff, plan to do this this week ( I should be relatively free this week). Am planning to read some Management literature from today.

Had a very good weekend overall, had some good talk with my flat mates.

Hope I have a good week ahead ! ciao.

HMTG.

New Year : 2006 - Jan21

HowManyToGo

The new year has been a roller coster ride for me. It started with frantic/crazy hours of work ( whoever said that the offshoring model works). Well as an onsite project co-ordinator I had to shoulder responsiblity for the project and ensure that it see the light of day. So for starters was awake till 3 am UK time, just to catch folks coming into work at Bangalore. The team is a bit inexperienced so had to handle all their technical questions. My RBS project manager Jim Mallidine has been very cooperative with other project related issues and so has the project BA Brian Rodrigues. So the first week was all slog trying to get the software delivered in by the 3rd. The rest of the week was spent in trying to link up the Java world and the Mainframe components. Had issues with CICS regions not being up, this really put me in a spot of bother since folks at Bangalore weren't able to do any testing.

The link testing environment was finally ready , but was not in time for us to complete Link testing. So had to raise a CR to get this pushed to the 16th to which Jim was happy to oblige. So the next week too was spent in sorting out BLAPI issues and also some data related issues. Finally managed to get the link testing done by the 16th. The week 16-20 was to be spend in Handover testing. After some trouble with Group1 and Documents solutions ( the other components in my application) finally managed to get the handover testing through in flying colours. This means a lot to me as I was involved in the project right for conceptualising to final delivery of the project , doing this with all the difficulties I faced technically and managerially makes is very sweet. I think that my relationship with Jim has helped sometimes dilute a potentially explosive situation especailly with those CRs with no costs.

Well, the year to date has been very gratifying in every sense of the term. I am happy that I've sailed pass through probably the last few "challenges" the software world has to offer to me. This leads me very easily to my next topic of significance. My B-school applications. I've had some good resposes from some US B schools, but I feel that strategically India holds much promise. So I might be spending my next fews years in INDIA.

To break the suspense, I have been offered admission to ISB , class of 2007, which I have accepted ( incidentally I've just transferred my acceptance deposit a few hours ago). The prospect of being at ISB is very exciting. Have seen Bharani's blog and am very impressed with LIFE@ISB. I hope to be more regular with my blog henceforth.

Today being a saturday, none of my flat mates ( Akhil agrawal, Debarshi Das and Om Prakash Kesari ) are up. So am the early bird today. Intend to begin my shopping spree today. Need to get myself a Laptop, Camcorder, Digi Cam and some other gadgets. So lots of exciting things to write / discuss over the next months/years !

Wish you all have a very good saturday as I am hoping to have.

HMTG.