meaw...meaw...

Twisted the threads again and again
Night and day, in light and rain.
Till they had no more hope,
Than to become a strong rope.

The little bell and its ring,
Looked perfect for the rope string.
A noose it became, when I put a knot,
And was ready for the final shot.

One eye, one aim and one throw
Towards the beast, that mew
Then came the sound of the bell
Alas, it ran away into its cell

A month or more it may take
Before that monster finally wake
Only then can I be sure,
If I have belled it, forever!

(Image courtesy: aesop.magde.info)

diwali...beyond crackers

This is a special Diwali. Lot of satisfying things done on this special day. Bala, Bhoobi, Rams and myself were left in Hyd while the others have resigned to the warmth of their native.

And this story is about how we successfully created the same warmth on an otherwise cold day. Let me start with the food. If I say Bhoobi is one of the best chefs I have ever seen, it is not an exaggeration. See for urself the items we had for lunch.


The semiya payasam was the highlight. The thayir(curd) semiya needs a special mention. Well, I realize that English doesn't have enough words to attach to the dhal, brinjal sambar, tomato rasam, potato fry(South Indian style) and the rice and paruppu podi and the ghee...poor guys have another look at Rams blog. Well, we also had Gulab Jamoon. Thanks Bhoobi. Thanks again.

And there was Thalaivar's "Padaiyappa" in Sun TV. I have no doubt the film will be a runaway hit, even if they release it again now. Inspite of constant nagging by Bala to change to a sports channel, we managed to get most of the excellent scenes.(spl mention: the unfurnished-hall-scene, where Thalaivar brings down the Oonjal for his seat).

Then we visited Sitaramnanjaneyalu Temple. The serene atmosphere was a rare one of its kind in Hyd and the Prasadam was really tasty. The temple is a stone structure and has a really aesthetic design. Hope there'll be more visits in the future.

End of day, the crackers were waiting for their Motcha. Rams refused to join for the party. So we three had some good time polluting the atmosphere along with our neighbours. A few snaps are worth having a look ;-)

my first time...

When it is ur first time, you will definitely be a damn lot more anxious about it. I was a little afraid too. But there was no other way. I gotta go. If I dint make it in time, I know, a lot of humiliation was in store. I entered slowly and carefully in the beginning, and then made a mad dash, only to find myself gasping. It was very difficult to breathe. A few muscles contracted and a few remained stiff. The body was shaking. It was very painful as though someone was punishing with a whip. But as I continued to remain there, breathless, I started feeling the pleasure. Man, it was damn good. I forgot the pain. I forgot the whip. Wow, great! When I came out, I already knew I desperately wanted to go back in.
Yes, morning winter showers are real fun. Never switch on your geyser in December!

freedom of speech

...the power of free speech is only beginning to show up. And thanks to the blogosphere for making it happen. Two incidents recently have caught my attention in this regard. The first one is in the desi sphere. The infamous Eye Eye Pee Yem issue. And how Rashmi Bansal and Gaurav Sabnis were involuntarily led to create a "all against one" atmosphere, against those people with cavalier attitudes. For the uninitiated, visit jammag and desipundit. One thing worth noting is that the "physical" media never gave any attention to this. And I wish it is only a coincidence that the B-School(?) in question is one of the top spender in print ads.
The second issue is that featured in slashdot today. The moment students are exposed to the internet, they are already vulnerable to a lot of predators. And preventing them from blogging is not going to help in any way. Read thro the comments to know how people feel about one particular school system. It is the same, all over the world. There are nerds and bullies. Thanks to the blogs. Thanks to internet. Free your mind.

the web 2.0 call...

Thanks Mur. For that wonderful article about Web 2.0. Throws a lot of light on where exactly the software development industry is heading to. In an Indian context, this could only mean, a lot of good is in store for the sub-continent. Because we don't have large investments to shed, while adopting to this new attitude, we are advantageous, as such. But it is time we start getting things in place. Like the map data, which proved to be critical for NavTeq as well as for those who subsequently ventured into the mapping software, we have a lot of data waiting to be collected, organized, distributed and then "organically" developed by user participation. Indian Govt is already planning for an e-Governance program. Definitely, there is going to be a lot of work, and the good news is that the IT evolution has not saturated yet. A lot remains untapped, in terms of data(collection, organization, presentation, distribution and maintenance), in terms of quality web services(blog, mail, travel-directions, e-commerce, directory-service, VoIP), in terms of employment generation, in terms of wealth generation, and what not.
Whenever I see a tech update like this, I immediately resort to thinking what lies in store for our nation and for we guys as such. Hope we are all getting ready for the Jallikkattu.

Sunday Times...

The Times Su-Do-Ku Hyderabad Championship was in the news for sometime and I thought of giving it a try, at the expense of my fifth SimCAT. ;-) But one Rishi finished the puzzle in 6 minutes and I was a few seconds late for the second place. Only the top two make it to the finale. ;-(. Returned to office and listened(ing) to "Kekalaiyo" from "Kasthuri Maan". Though it sounds like a mosaic of his previous numbers, Ilayaraja proves that he is really in his elements. It is a vocal melody with a good BG score. And speaking about score, I am reminded abt my "billi" score. Time for me to go back. Seeya later.

idle brain

Of late I am caught up with a web design fever. Thanks to my housemate who gave me valuabe tips on CSS and javascript. The template you are seeing in my blog is very much my own design. I like that green on the top, but a few suggested me to have a lighter one. Will try it out. Also I downloaded a couple of blogging software and am running them in my own machine. Trying to see if my design skills will help me out in bringing out a "man pasand" page. Also added Google AdSense. Will have to see how it goes. Well, it all depends on you ppl viewing my blog. So, all of you, please set it as your homepage and see it atleast once per day. Okay. Chalo, love all...

Started another blog. Dedicated to my India Inc. thevictorymarch.blogspot.com
Have a look.

rainy day...romantic song

kavidhaigal sollavaa, un peyar sollavaa
iranDumae ontrudhaan anbae
oaviyam varaiyalaam, un kaal thaDam varaiyalaam
iranDumae ontrudhaan anbae

Home sweet home - a summer trip

Well, this time it is a different journey. Completely the opposite season. Altogether a unique vacation.

The train trip is something forgettable. 14 May 2005. 12pm. HYD Deccan.
1. Close to the restrooms - #65 - the last coupe. I hate those two terminal coupes.
2. There was a tour party of 100 ppl and they were carrying all the cooking-needs with them, which got dumped in my coupe and my fellow coupemates are the cook and his children. No place for my luggage.
3. The most non-palatable thing: half the journey is in the opposite direction. From HYD, to reach Coimbatore near the west coast, why should the train touch Ongole on the east coast? Remember my shortest path selection last time? HYD-BLR-MYSORE-HOME.
4. Last but not the least - HEAT - unbearable and never-experienced. 12pm - 7pm. 43+C. Bottles and bottles of cold water, maaza, ... none could help. I maintained minimum contact with any object on the train. Please dont try to picturize.
Reached home by 12pm next day. End to end it took 25 hours - longest travel time in my life between two termini.

The return journey was not that bad. But I simply wonder how it used to be in my innumerous train trips between Chennai and Coimbatore. The greatest disappointment would be the lack of some good colors - that too not oft. Otherwise I have felt at home in the Cheran and Blue Mountain and Kovai and Inter-City. Here in these journeys, the basic survival itself became a question mark - let aside luxuries. Next time I should be prepared - either get an AC coach or dont think abt train. Garuda is the best.

What at home?
The main purpose of my vacation is the Maha Kumbabishekam of the Ganesh temple at my native village - where my paternal ancestors were born and lived(ruled?) . It was my Dad's long cherished dream to rebuild the temple and it has become a reality now, under his own supervision assisted by my uncles and cousins. I was fortunate enough to join them days before the function and contribute to my fullest. It was a mix of both manual labour and mental labour. The physical work saw me having a hunger after a long time - Of late, I have never been hungry for food - I just ate because it was time for a meal.

It is a social/community project and I can draw a lot of analogy with my software projects. It involves a lot of planning, design, resource allocation, men management, finance management, and the like. What may be there additionally are the egotistic clashes and sentiments and indifference. And women talking unnecessary things and having narrow minds. Not understanding the importance of the project and trying to refrain from contributing. Contributions here does NOT mean money. Any kind of failure of the project will leave an indelible black mark on not only the assumed management but the entire population and all their relatives and offsprings, and it will be remembered for a long long time and reiterated at every possible occasion. Hence concentration should be total and execution perfect.

Alls well that ends well.
Against all odds, a village of about 10 families residing onsite and about twice the number residing off shore, was able to successfully re-construct its century old asset temple and invite all of its relatives and hold a grand pooja to let the folks get the "Punniya Theertham" - the holy water - sprinkled over them. There was also a "Annadhaanam" - a grand meal for all - and we served about 5000 people aross 3 meals.
A collective effort. Mass goodwill. Success and peace in the end.

As all my relatives were invited, the effort to visit each one of them got saved. Met all of them at one place and it was a pride feeling showing them that we have done something. I dont know if I will have the same feeling in my own house-warming ceremony.

Of the 7 days in Coimbatore, I was home only for 2 days and the rest I was in the temple premises, in the other village. Change of work is rest and that is the kind of rest that I enjoyed in this vacation. Lot of experience regarding dealing with people and their sentis. Some divine blessings. Meeting some old friends and relatives. Meeting some of my teachers. Nice times.

Would have been even better if I had a little more time with my family.

the new "me"

Of late, I am discovering a new "me" in myself; the new me has thoughts, that are different from the old me; the new me differentiates among people; it assigns priorities for people and it has what is called EGO - "if you will, only then I will"!

I think, the new me is a beginning for the future me; a beginning for the realisation of the dreams of the old me. Whatever it is, this transition is painful; really painful; too much of pain to bear...still I am bearing it!

Ich bin Engineer at last! 

rebel 

why does Parthiban blog

>>[Gokul: iamiris.blogspot.com] why do you blog?

I blog because, it gives me a feel of our late night discussions in the hostel - where, we all friends discuss about some topic, utterly useless at that moment, but gives so much pleasure - the pleasure of killing time - the time, which would otherwise go waste for a DBMS assignment or OOPS assessment.

Now it is not the killing of the time that gives the pleasure, but the feel of being with friends and the usefulness of the discussions.

My latest signature:
You can’t change the past, but you can ruin a perfectly good present, by thinking about the future.

Visiting Venkat with an empty wallet

[home-raj bhavan-prasadz-mint-birla mandir-lkpool-khairatabad-raj bhavan-home]
Long since I updated my blog. U know the reason, obvious it is - I am busy. So this is the trip I undertook to pay a visit to Balaji, to greet him on the new year. The trip was really wonderful, with deserted roads and chirping birds - what more to expect on a Saturday morning in Hyderabad? It was kind of a lengthy expedition and it is long since I went for one. Walking too, has its share of joy, like the Volvo trips. The Darshan demanded 2 hrs of waiting. Balaji is fine. Jus' wanted me express his new year wishes to all of you, dream chasers. When I thought of taking some mechanised travel for the return, I found that my wallet is nearly empty, save the bank cards and some coins. You can encash at an ATM - but I thought that it is a note from Balaji - "go back as you came". Walked back home, after negotiating a sugar cane juice for the last 4Rs left. It took 4 hours in all.