Last Day in Investments!

Today- Mar 31st, 2006- is my last day in investments! I move on to a new assignment in ULIFE after 3yrs and 5months in Investments!
As is the case when one is subjected to any change, one goes through the process of retrospection and some deep contemplation…and I am no exception to this!

Yes! I am excited about the release from investments- all the more because of its rarity…;)
Nevertheless, the excitement does not overlay the fact that I would miss the team and therez also a huge apprehension about being able to fit in to the new set up. Investments has grown to be my Rositta (Joey’s favorite Chair which he thought had self-healing powers).

Thanks all you guys for making my Rositta even better than Joey's!

Only Time...

From my Pandora's Box

an attempt with colors... did not turn out the way i expected though!

realized I do not have the patience for oil paint.. atleast at the time when i was trying it out... i was too restless for delicate art then!!

May be now, i would do more justice... will give it a shot sometime!

Women's Day.. well almost!

Slumber party on Friday… chatted into the night.. slept at 4.00 am
Wake up 9.30 am( that’s a huge achievement.. well wouldn’t have been able to boast of it had it not been for P… she has her own ways of getting things done…see, therez not much option left when someone puts paste on your toothbrush and fixes the brush in your hand.. )
Had a lazy Breakfast…( that’s huge achievement too--- well again wouldn’t be able to boast of it had it not been for A.. she fixed us some magi n Tea before we could say ‘quidditch’).That’s probably my best breakfast of 2006 so far…:)

By the time we left the house ( A’s place) it was 11ish. Mangalore fashions was our first target!—A and I had a few salwar kameezes to be stiched.. yeah ‘mangalore fashions’ is a tailor house.. he he he he! Our next target was Lakme Beauty parlor — the massage was extremely relaxing!

It was 4ish and we realized we hadn’t had lunch yet--- PD was closed.. had to settle with Naivedhyam..not that it matter.. we were so hungry, we would have even had a papaya!
3 girls and no shopping—well that cant be… after a tryst at Saree Palace( no… they don’t sell just sarees.. we too got enlightened just yday)
A had this craving for an ice-cream at pubbas—after the heavy hog at Naivedhyam, she needed an ice-cream to help digest it!.. well P&I were kinda expecting such theory from A.!

The stop-over at Pubbas put in some energy and we decided to buy some grocery at Saibeen! We couldn’t resist a sale going on there… After deciding on the clothes we wanted to buy, realized we did not have enough money…J

Couldn’t wait to hit home! However, the tiredness did not overlay the fun time we’d had…

Safe City

Safety Week at Infy had each IBU come up with a Safe city model.

Had personally decided to stay out of this since was getting royally busy with work!- So had successfully averted all pleas to anchor any event for IHL!...orr well so did i think...until 6.00 pm last eve!

GD had been chosen to anchor. And the team apparently did not go beyond Pavi n Ajesh!

Couldn’t see them struggle..(The nice I in me did not let me turn a bling eye to 'em)...n zat’s the background behind HALE City- A city built on 6 Kgs of Yellow Dal, 1 Kg Rava, 1/2 Kg Rajma, 1/2 Kg Peas, 5 chart sheets, 2 match Boxes, all the souvenirs( read toy vehicles) and thermo Cole sheets!

It was 2.am by the time we (GD, Pavi, n I) were done… Haven’t spent that obscene amount of time even on projects lately!
Had to be back to office by 9.00 am for the confounded presentation!- All I could hear while the presentation was going on was hammering in my head! Havent been able to sleep more than a couple of hours in the entire week!-- No its not just work load... just havent been able to sleep!

Have a Proj-Party- a movie at Adlabs( the new multiplex) this evening— probably I would be able to sleep a good 2 hours there!....Jeez I dont believe am making the party sound like a complain!

O! btw, we got the 2nd place!

Eeerie....

Feeling Claustrophobic...Suffocated!
In my head
In my mouth
In my chest
No... Its not –release- I seem to want… not the longing to throw up or vent! Not even the familiar desire to run...

Probably dunking myself in some real loud music and voluminous work would help!

May be I’ll listen to U2… the noise in the background and obscure singing will block unnecessary yet veritable self-psychoanalysis!

Days of our lives

Cant believe this!
I am back to Ulife...well not officially yet... 3 more weeks to go! Nevertheless, got invited for the Project Party at Summer Sands... one helluva day!
colors, dog n Bone, Veg-nonVeg( thats the name of teh game..:), DumbC, Volley Ball, DJ, booze, dance, great food.... it was fun!

couldnt help reminiscing the welcome party 3 yrs back- first time I got inducted into Ulife -- again at Summer Sands-- It was MK, Bhaskar, Lucky , Asif, Prithvi etc then...

Seems like everytime I (re)-enter ULife, we hit Summer Sands!

Life would be pretty different in the days to come...



Team Tsunami- After Dog n Bone!



Entry to the beach.. Tele n I strategizing..:)

'Rest of NM' Vs 'Rest of IHL'

First Ball of the First over… aimed at 3.5 fts from the bats(wo)man. Did not hit the stumps, but no runs.
Second ball- tried to aim at the lady’s feet. No run. On the Forth ball, I took the first wicket. Voila!
That was my first active bowling over of active cricket of my life... :)
Fielded in the position – where the right-hand batsman’s butt would face you. I don’t realize the importance of that position yet.
But it was a pain to field in that hot sun—though the ball hardly came in my direction- just cautious standing was damn draining!

First ball of the first over… pitched 2 fts from me. Gave me enough time to dodge it to my left. No Runs.
I wanted to finish my allotted 2 overs ( per rules, the ladies retire after 2)-
Second ball- it pitched a li’l too close for my comfort and by the time I withdrew my bat, I knew I had touched the ball—Sampath, who was keeping the wickets, caught it- and that was the end of my first ever active batting over..:(.

And yeah.. My team lost by 5 runs..:( Ravi, Abdul, Nitin, sudhindra n Arvind played well. But we’d given too many wides, which proved pretty expensive.
The best part was when Arvind entered. 30 runs required of 12 balls. The chap gave us some much-needed sixes and fours and brought us back in the run!
But…L

Anyways, the entire thing was fun.. except the waking up at 6.30 am on Sat morning and fielding for an hour in the scorching heat!

I was a part of "Rest of NM". Some names from "Rest of IHL": steephen, sampath, dilip..

Some Men...

Whooaaa.. its over! Am talking about the Women’s Day celeb. The theme this yr was “Men and Women in partnership”. Good motive, but requires a lot of improvement in execution. A few( yep .. I was the few) ended up doing almost everyone else's ( 4 ppl) work!
Anyways, the whole Women's Day theme and the discussions on IWIN ( I wasn’t a huge fan of it until recently when I understood the real intent behind it) yesterday got me thinking on the chief men—the ones who leave a mark ( positive or negative) in my life so far.

So, Herez my list

Papa- My Daddy is the bestest!
Mama – a father, a friend, a philosopher, a teacher, a competitor – my hero!
Udupa – First Boss ( at MAHE) – acquainted me with the real world- where corruption, bureaucracy and cheating are the way of life, where talent and dedication alone do not guaranty augmentation- you either must know how to step on others or you must be in the good books of someone who does! [ I wonder how I got in there!..:)]
Ashfaq – My PL in my second project at Infy! A wonderful human, the best Manager I have ever come across! Wish I can be half as good somm day!
Anoop – A friend at mke- transition from Observer to participant to Observer! (Go figure!)
Srini – Onsite Client. – reinstated my fading memories of the world that Prof Udupa had shown me a glimpse of!
Manoj – Onsite PM
NRN – All time inspiring!

I know theer’ll be many more Ashfaqs and hazar times more of Udupas n Srinis!

Hope I make into someone’s list as an Ashfaq somm day!

Some more Purane Panne

Pizza lunch, L3 Pantry July 05

Purane Panne

A Drop in the Ocean

The Finale episode of Friends had just begun. Unusually, I had no inclination to watch it... But I wanted to keep it going in the back ground.
Felt the urge of scribble. Found the much awaited reason to put those fancy Mickey Mouse pencils and erasers (petit day gifts) to use.

Once the paper was under my pencil, I did not much realize how my thoughts took form on paper...
The outcome looked nice (well your baby is always the best to you) But my investigative nature of thinking made me want to find the questions to some answers. My mind did not let me ignore the fact that usually, there is a lot of thinking that goes behind each of my sketch. But, this seemed an exception. My mind was also surprised at the mood reflected from the sketch- it seems to emit –Happiness- which again is an aberration with my past sketches.

May be I am in general better state of mind than before… May be its just the effect of “Women’s Day Planning”..;)
Why am I analyzing the unconsciously radiated glee?... What is wrong with me? Am I so used to my mask that I question my genuine?