Ugadi....

This Ugadi was the best I've had in many years.

Well it all started off rather inauspiciously. My company did not declare a holiday for UGADI and this was the cause for a heated discussion on our BB. I think I did well when ppl started throwing BrickBats at me, but finally the HRD had enough, and finally received a call from them. I didn't have to apologise though, thatz my bit of "hard" reasoning with the guys from the HRD. Felt good that I stood up for something, which I believed was right. Kicked some a** in the process.

That was on thursday, so decided to take a holiday for UGADI, Mom was very happy that I was back in INDIA for UGADI and the last thing I want to happen is I get stuck up at work and not be with her.

Ugadi day for absolutely fantastic. Sang the "Yuga UGADI kaledaroo..." to Mom, which has been the tradition for that past 10 years or so. Mom was full khush. Sis and Suresh were at home, watched some good programs on TV and had the pooja at noon. Called up DM and he agreed to come home for some evening snacks. Picked him at Sony world and he enjoyed the Obattu/Vada. Had some good discussion about MBA/Post MBA/careers etc. Nice person to talk to.

Post DM, felt a bit nostalgic about my mates. So went to meet Chetal G..., had been to his house last UGADI as well. His mom and dad were at home, and they brought up the dreaded M word.Now I'm almost immune to it. CG was cool, happy with VSign. Chatter with Ashu in chennai for some time, talked about investments ( talking of which, CG is worth almost 2 crores now, can you beat that). I felt ashamed for not having done enought, but its never too later, right.

So after some more eating and chatting, headed back home . But not before I paid my customary visit to the Ganesha temple at KML. Anshul G.. called up to let me know that he was back in Banga....so should make plans to catch up with him as well. Went back home to find Venkat Uncle waiting for me, now this was a bit embarassing, haven't spoken/visited him for years. I've promised to meet him this weekend. Then went to meet my good old Ravi, hmm...to much nostalgia here.

Ended the day with a visit to Geeta aunty and Giri, they would be joining Mom this suday to infy. So that ended a very memorable UGADI. Somehow, life has just turned a shade of rosy pink for me. It has been years since I've felt so good.

Hope you guys too had a great UGADI

HMTG.

Snaps for posterity...

Snaps from my Last assignment in the UK.

From L to R : Mathew, Akhil , Moi, Anand and Arasan ( sitting )
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Jim C's lunch (17-mar-06). Clockwise. Brian, Arasan, Moi, Tester, Jim M, Jim C and Pam
Place : CafeNaz, Brick Lane
Menu : Buffet
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More to follow

HMTG

ISB meetings

Yup, finally met a fellow (to be) ISBian, DM ( hard working, smart and dedicated chap). My guess is that he is a next big thing in the construction biz. That apart, had some good coffee ( with mosquitoes ) at CD. A lot of things were planned but just didn't happen over the weekend, am conscious of the differences the luxury of home makes to your life. Am being pampered a lot, but trying hard not to gain weight. Oh ! I forgot to tell you ( my buddies ) that I've re-joined the gym at work.

Talking about the gym at Infy, it is a treat to work out here, simply amazing. It is located in the terminal ( with all its futuristic glory ) and has some state of the art equipment. So apart from that, I'm having first hand lessons on "employee empowerment". More on that later ( BTW, is later ever going to come).

Met up my old school mates Lala ( hes married now, can't believe that). Vikas and BL ( now the proud owner of a jewellry shop at 4th block). Had loads of plans to go about reading some serious stuff, but ended reading IOC ( not that I'm complaining).

And to the find of the century, I purchased business today which featured the best CFO, and in the shot featuring MDP, I saw Bibek in the Background, and I was all excited about that. For brining it to his notice, BS has given me the annual reports of Infy ( now thatz a deal, with Payal P... on the cover)

Only sore thing, haven't met any new P's

Hope you all have a fab evening.

Consulting Skills..

This is the training I've been attending for the past two days, although it was very interesting , didn't get anything tangible from the course ( yes the material rocks). It was facilitated by Vikranth bhat...Did meet a few interesting ppl as well ( ;-0 ). Training apart I've got loads of other interesting things happenning in my life. ICICI approved my Personal loan ( got to look out for a MF now). Started my gymming at Infy Bang. Enjoying good cooked food at home.

Life is a tad busy now, yet to do some shopping , electronic purchase etc. Plan to do it this weekend. Plan to get Mom to infy this/next week. Have started reading Iacocoa y'day. Good book I must saw ( this follows from the Monk * which I just couldn't complete).

Quote from the book. "Why walk when you can run". Good motivator, I need tonnes of it.

Have a blast folks.
HMTG

Back in INDIA

Finally I'm back in INDIA. But before I start about my experiences in INDIA, let me brief about the last few hours in the UK and the final flight home.

Sunday morning was a biz lazy, saw Fischicella ( sorry ! ) won the GP at Sepang and Alonso, came 2nd ( Yawn ! ). Missed the entire race to sleep and saw the presentation. Then began my packing, my room was in a mess so it was a Big Deal. M..called to hand over the package. Hmm....will I ever forget the walk down the lane !

Went up to NG house, surprised to see her in a Priety Zinta look ( with specs and all ), got confirmation that they would be joining me for lunch. Asked MP to book tables for about 15. Bala and Co and most of the invitees turned up, had some good time together at CD ( I'm bored to death with this place now..., but something pulls me towards this place always -- it is dead cheap out there ;-0 ).

MP and Aras gifted me a shirt and tie. Went back home , with only Debs at home, a bit disappointed that I would not be meeting my buddies before I leave. So called up Akhil and he confirmed that he would be rushing back home just in time.

Managed to click a few more photos and also managed to get hold of Akhil. Then the cab arrived at 5, but not before bungling Tavistock Court for Tavistock Gate. Neways, he was our good old Frank ( he has been ferrying me to the Airport for the past 3 years). Good guy, he was listening to the commentary of the fulham-chelsea match, and he just couldn't stop smiling when fulham beat champions chelsea. Finally reached Hearthrow at around 6:15.

I quickly checked in ( Jet has very good ppl at their desks) and then decided to have some grub. Went to BKing to get myself some ChiRoyale. Had a sump meal and then headed to the immigration. Went to my gate, and found that I had to wait for another 45 mins before the plane doors were opened.

Got a very comfy seat next to the window , with the seat next to me empty. Wow...when was the last time I has such a good time in the flight. Jet airways rocks. Watched 3 movies. Parineeta, Shivakasi and Hulchul ( the last when I was half asleep) and did not catch a wink of sleep for the entire duration of the flight ( Oh ! the excitement). Reached Bombay at around 11:00. Got my baggage, got through the immirgration and finally managed to get to the domestic airport ( the temp. was around 32 and the fact the india was struggling on the 3rd day of the 3rd test agaist Eng didn't help my spirits a bit). Had some somosas and a coke for lunch and lazed around in the longue, the gates opened at 1:30 . The final flight to home stared at 2:00.

Here too, the seat next to me was empty. The airhostess was a Punju ( name : Manprit ) and she was good, courteous and polite. She almost persuaded me to have lunch when I said I didn't want anything ( as I had a bloated tummy ) for lunch. Reached Bangalore at 3:30. Was out in double quick time, the Inf.. cab was waiting for me, so no trouble for transport. So I was back again in the dusty roads of Bangalore which I so dearly missed. Reached home at 4:30, sis was at home. Mom came in a couple of mintues later. Boy, home sweet home, what a place to be !

Have a good time folks.

HMTG.

Rolling off...

March 17 was my last day at RBS, and boy what a day it turned out to be. The day did live up to my expectation of an eventful and gratifying day.

Had to collect an envelope from M...so woke up early, but since M....woke up late, we couldn't meet up. Reached office at around 9ish, had to complete some changes to my CR project. Completed that in double quick time. Jim C took us out to Cafe Naz for lunch, it was a very good place ( considering it was at Brick lane ) and the food was excelent. After chit chatting about Jonathan Ross, the Nugget and the Apprentice. We decided to head back to office. Now Jim M has other plans, so we went into a pub and got ourselves drinks. I started talking about my "the" affairs of my state. Had a good time here, the highlight being Aras gulping down a Guiness in one go.

We now headed back to Goodmans fields, but we spotten another pub at the end of the street, so we had to go in. After another round, during which aras peronformed his usual trick, we finally decided to get back to office. Was around 2:30, I had another leaving drink planned at 4 and I had to get the approval for my CR. Shot out the approval mail, to which Jim's response was in the tune of nanoseconds. Now that sorted, I had to clean my desk. Big task that, and also get my "personal" stuff copied onto my TD. Binned most of the papers and stuffed the rest into my bag, and asked Brian to copy my stuff as he had an XP. Now, Atul lead me to a room , to give me a farewell present. I had not expected this, and i was a bit drunk. They gave me a book with everyone signing on it. Have not openend the book yet. Gave a small farewell speech, which was basically telling everyone as to how much I learnt from them. Vivek also chipped in with his bit, saying how well I picked up stuff and my client interaction skills. It was very touching, some were shocked when I said that I was heading to ISB. Shrirang had personally shopped for the book, good gesture.

Now, my drinks at White swan pub, reached at around 4:15 with Vivek, Debra joined us soon. Had a good time , with all having a good lauch. Shrirang relealed my plans to the RBS folks as thus..."kumar is gonna have a touch year ahead, and if does decide to join Infosys he would be very high in the corporate hierarchy". This had its effects. After some more drinks we decided to head back. I thanked Jim and Brian at Aldgate east station , telling them that it was a pleasure working with them. It was indeed.

At home, Deb and Akil has got some more drinks to have a party at home. Got some food from Rupaali and got drunk a bit more. Wathed HAASIL ( more about this sometime later) and finally hit the bet.

Saturday, has been a bit hectic. Bibek had gone home with Bhabiji and Jas to complete my Loan application. Sis then sent it off to hyderabad. Now I had to do some chocolate shopping , which I managed in doubly quick time ( have been doing this for 3 years now). Finally the feeling of going back home is settling in. I have a lunch planned for my other RBS folks at chennai dosa tomorrow. My flight is at 9:00 pm tomorrow, flying Jet.

My next update would be from my motherland INDIA

HMTG

Meet the Gupta

There is something about the Guptas, apart from they being good cooks. Day was pretty ordinary, except that M....gave news about some stale acco. Called up home, Mom and Sis are pretty excited about me going back after a long time.

Life becomes very interesting, when you meet someone and all you want to do is throw open your life and reveal you deepest secrets , personally I feel that it is all to do with equal reciprocation. Accompanied NG home, was quite a revelation. Being a topper and being so down to earth , married to an IITian ( CompSci that) made a pretty good talk.

Thatz it from me.

Have a good time folks

HMTG.

Divine coincidence....

I must have seen the Gods when I woke up. After all the terrible things that happened to me y'day, this can only be the reason.

Met M..in the morning, ranted about all the things going wrong. Travelled to LB together, whilst she was doing her SO-DO-KU. Promised me coffee with hubby this weekend. After which , I called up home and repeated this, sis was very disturbed and gave me some advice. The day was going good when Kam, asked me if we were going out for Lunch. I said YES.

Jim, Kam, Brian , Aras and myself walked to MirchMasala and had a very sumptuous meal, with all starters , main course and all. This was the first outing with the team and was good. Had a good time, had a couple of Confs ( during which I completed the Metro du ku ). Called up home, just to make Sis and Mom confy. Headed home with Lochan.

Saw M..outside our car at LB, asked her to get in. Gave her the Metro du ku ;-). Walked home with her, priding my apartment as posher than hers. M...has promised me the help home details tomorrow. Will try my best to help.

Now my worries, Sis hasn't received my loan docs, and I haven't received my Cam. Work at Bangalore is going at a snails pace.

Keeping my peace ! Now you know the coincidence.

HMTG.

Leaving problem....

My company has given me a date of 28 Apr as a release date. The next day is the start of T1. Can't believe that they are doing this to me. Can't they see, that I need to be at H'bad on the 15th. This was one of the many problems I had today.

Had ordered a cam from Pixmania, who promised a 3-5 day delivery. After 24 hours, they mailed me asking for a bank statement as an address proof, as I didn't have a fax machine at home, had to wait till today to send them a fax, prompty they reply saying that the stock was over and they would despatch it once in stock. Was furious with this, blasted the Cust serv. rep. Finally cancelled my order with PixMania.

Ordered the same from Amazon, paying separate delivery charges for each of the Cam, Stick and Bag. Hoping for a 3-5 working day delivery ( this 3-5 day thing is so frustrating). The same applied for the mail I sent to Sis , she is yet to receive it. It has been almost 5 days. She has to get it in time for her to send it by the 20th of March. So frustration here as well.

Finally, called up M..to ask for some acco for a friend, but shez staying with her hubby ! ( period)

Hope I have a sane tuesday !

HMTG.

Meet the people

Well this weekend was caracterised by one thing, PEOPLE. Met loads of them. Will start with what happened on Friday. NG was outside as she had locked herself out, and her friend was with her. Now I am their friendly neighbour, so had to take charge of charing her Mobile. Did that out of considerataion. Did get to chat up her friend, will ask M..about some housing help. Or should I ?. Well that was the first of the many acquiantances I made over the weekend. Ordered my DSCP200 at about 3 in the morning ( Raj...got me a promo coupon on the net which gave me a £7 discount)

Saturday, was mostly dis-oriented as I had an upset stomach, thanks to the channa batura ( with 1/2 kg oil ) I had at Chennai Dosa ( I met about half of my office junta here). As though that did not embarass me , the chair and tables are so awkwardly placed, that you literally stick to each other. Did not enjoy it a bit.

Marched on, wandered aimlessly at WhitGift, pseudo shopping and trying to find MP some WebCam as his GF was desp to see him. Now that we didn't achieve what we had set out for, did some shopping at SaveMore and headed home. Pseudo slept for some time and then got up to go to MP house. and Oh ! Met Vineet and Hari at CD.

MP's house was awesome, Deebu ( my Mal hero lookalike) , GV, MP, Saith.., Thillai and srijith were at home. Won the ArmWrestling competition, even without arm wrestling, that is the power of the toungue. After that, sat down to have some good food. Had some good dessert and then some good old chit chat. Then sat down to watch Gajjini ( I kinda like Asin). Slowly junta started to move out ( probably they had seen the movie , but the interesting part is I got my way in the screening of the movie). The show ended at 2. Walked home, just to find Raj and Atul watching some Sean Penn movie. Raj asked for an omlette as he hadn't had any lunch/dinner and I was in a good mood not to oblige. Slept at 3.

Woke up to watch the "Match of the century" live on the internet. Boy whatta match. SA chased 434 to create a new World Record. Enjoyed it. Lazed around, gymmed and went to Park Hill Park with Arasan, who had come down to meet me. Akhil returned from INDIA and got some of his friends ( Anand and Shanbag ) . And Oh! Atul was here , the whole weekend. That made it a truly People's weekend !

Not so good news about the camera, they want some Bank proof , which I need to fax them tomorrow.

Thantz it from me folks, mez feeling too sleeepy today.

HMTG

Thank do...

Plans are afoot to get some leaving drinks to my folks out here in Londres. Have spoken to a few guys out here and all are very positive about it. Hope to have a great time here. Folks back home are very eager to meet me, it has been a long winter.

This winter has seen some good times as well as bad ones, the implications of the decisions taken now are probably going to dawn upon me in the years to come. But life goes on, bolder !.

And yes, made a £30K deal in two hours. This was my first, deal/sold experience. The earlier ones were more or less planned, but this one was a coup. Things moved really fast. Made me believe that I was born for such roles.

I have promised myself never to get back into the shell I've put myself in the last 10 years ( '96 was a bad year for me).

Plans for saturday, Camera ! Camera.

Thats it from me
Adios

Memorable day...

Today has been a very memorable day. Well lunch with M...at Tiffin bites and drink with Atul..at Bar one. Both rich in perspective and content. What a day. Fab.

Sis called up in the morning to inform me that my Demat linked account has been fozen, now I am racing again time to get my ESOPs vested. I have risked a lot to get them. Now I get this news, and I use the F..word on the phone. Patethic. Now sometime she would ask the question as to why and for how long have I got into this habit of swearing. Tried to make it up by saying that I would stand to lose lacs if I didn't get this deal. If you are staying away from home and if you have don't have any control on anything, let alone your bank account. Sis was worried that I would get tensed, and asked me to calm down. Had gotten up late and this put me back by almost an hour. So left home at round 9 am.

As this was not bad enough, I caught the wrong train ( I was totally lost today), caught a train to Victoria. Today was supposed to be a big day and this was not the way I had planned to begin. Got on with it, and changed at Victoria and got onto the District line, only to reach office at around 10 am, things weren't rosy at work, DOCs has goofed up bit time, and there was one tracker that I thought was a CR , Mike got the stick for it, but Arasan completed the change in doubly quick time and all wells that ends well.

Lunch with M....God please help me remember this day. Was rainning , had agreed to meet up at McD's at Liverpool station, reached there at around 12 and waited for sometime before M..turned up. Decided to go to Tiffin bites, M...explained as to why she had turned up a whole week late, I was only hearing not listening. Such clear conscience and such clarity of thought. Unblemished. Ordered for some food, and settled at one of the tables. M....had a lot to talk about, all the charities and all the social work. I never felt so inferior in my entire life as I felt today. The whole setting , raining , small shop opposite one of the most famous stations in the world is quite a setting. M...also taked about going to ILI, she has promised me to lead me to Mani, and a couple of other infoscions who are involved in charity work. This has changed me ! Thank you M...

Went back to office, and boy Arasan rules. He has been a phenomenon. Handling all things by himself. He will go a long way.

Drinks with Atul....boy the whole setting, raining, twilight, the read buidling view of RBS from bar one is similar to the day I returned home after Vinay got into IIMB. Just that I was the man making the moves. Atul is a man to watch out for, a man of value and substance. Had a couple of drinks and discussed a lot of career moves and strategies. He is CEO material.

And yes, called up the bank and because of providence ( had made a transaction a couple of days) and this saved me. Called up Sis and conveyed this to her, made her happy.

Thats in from me folks, a good memorable day.

HMTG.

Intent of Disengagement....

Finally put in my papers today. Realised my folly soon enough, when Sit..came up with a May day exit. Had a discussion with Sit..and Shir..., they would have to consult others before deciding when to relieve me, that would happen on Friday. Probably would have to coax them into relieving me ealier. Managed go get my Loan papers sorted and have sent it to sis back home and have mailed BS about what he needs to be my guarantor. Hope this goes fine. Life is indeed strange, some months ago, what seemed like a life's reward now just seems so ordinary. I guess "perspective" is something one should never lose sight of ( now how to avoid that preposition at the end).

That sorted, work was a bit hazy today. Not sure how I spent almost 9 hours simply lost in deep thought. Also, managed to wake up from my slumber w.r.t to my ESOPs. Now the logistics of getting the huge amount is another nightmare I need to grapple by the 15th of this month. Out of 12 months ( 4 months consitute insider tranding window ). Should get this done though, but as usual breathing very hard to what seems like a simple thing to many. The trick is not to just to win the race , but to do so without breathing very hard.

I am totally loosing sight of the other things in my Life these days. I guess at some point , one must just come out clean, open up and take and present life as it is. Black and white. Felt really heavy, when Shri..and Sit..made references to future education. Did well not to lie, but then why I did not tell them ?. Why ? Sit...has been very kind to me. He DOES deserve to know where I go.

Will tell them about it tomorrow ? First thing. See, I am beginning to feel good. Did go the gym today, was late and the gym was a bit deserted, and this made me feel even worse. AG has been kind in getting my transport sorted.

Seperation is always painful. As it the case of my first school, if some one asks me my company while sleeping, i wouldn't be surprised if I say In....

Hope I have a good day tomorrow.

HMTG.

Saturday night fever...

Y'day was crazy. Atul had come over to croydon to get himself a house ( he is planning to get wed this summer and wants to get his wife over to London). So after a frantic session of shopping and paying £15 for unlocking my SIM was back home to some great music and wine. As usual after a few rounds had to shop for some more ( at 11 in the night). Was real fun as all were on the net, Das was up with his usual shaadi dot com, Raj too caught the bug , and Atul was busy catching up wth his friends and yours truly was overlooking all these. It was fun to see ppl chatting over lost GFs, crushes and the usual MC ( maada...). Atul and I had a long winding discussion about career progression, which was interrupted when a neighbour came in at around 1 am and pleaded to keep our voices down. In all it was fun.

And Oh ! Friday was quite a day too. Spoke to Sit...about my immediate plans and he was a bit taken aback. Well not quite sure if it was a welcome thing as he promissed a discussion but it didn't materialise on Friday ( assuming that Monday would be a long day). In the melee managed to break a plate in the Canteen, GOD knows what I was thinking that I dropped the entire tray at the counter (my omlettes and finger chips). The lady was kind enought to get me another plate without charge.

With regards to the ISB front, there is no dearth of confusion about the loan procedure and all in a mad rush to speak to Mr. Kumar ( no wonder he must be feeling very important by now). I think that I have the situation under control and i know what I need to get my loan. My dear friend Bibek ( I promise to write about my best mate in the near future) has agreed to be my guarantor and my good old sis has agreed to take care of the logistics in Bangalore. I have decided to take the loan from SBI ( there is something about the name that attracts me, probably because it has an INDIAN in it). So things are looking pretty OK on this front.

Cricket, boy oh boy what a day at Nagpur , just when the whole world was thinking of a much anticipated draw, India sprang a surprise when they chared to the wining total towards the end, it was Harmison with his two quick wickets that saved England from a strategy goof up. Well played INDIA.

Domestic news, Raj has settled very well into our house, he cooks and is always cheerful. Really cool bloke. No news about M...as yet.

Have a great week ahead folks.

PS : a lot of junta at Bangalore, H'bad are meeting up to know ppl better to build early networks, am missing all the action there.

HMTG

Introspe3ction...

Y'day and today have been very bad as I've been intospecting , thinking all the mistakes that i've made over the past 5 years and thinking about the heights I could have achieved and the humiliation I could have avoided. There is something in me which makes me different from other, just can't even ride the tide when others are doing so. Am trying to convince myself that I had bigger and grander designs in Life and it is towards that the the universe is plotting to help me reach.

Arasan is a star ! after much tempering arasan is back at his best and is handling his responsibilities very well , that has allowed me to relax a bit ( and give me more time to contemplate , and so some reading). It was snowing in London today, all that while there was sunshine. Sal, liked it. Bala tried talking to me, speaking about K....exploits at ISB.

Talking about ISB, did send out a few mails. Making and maintaining friends is something I have to learn actively.

Did not speak to M..phone not answered/mobile switched off. Really need to sort this out.

Hope to wake up tomorrow, stronger and clearer. And bolder.

Have a good time folks.

HMTG.