Something that can bring anyone down

What is that ? I am talking about something that get the worst out of even the best people.It has a completely disconcerting effect and helps no one at anything good .But there a people who benefit from it and cannot resist indulging in it impulsively.Personally whenever I have encountered it , I have always had a bad taste in my mouth. I keep thinking "Who gets what out of this ?" and most of the times nobody does.It drains you and everyone else and creates a messy environment and promotes disorder .

What am I talking about ? Well I am talking about the stupidity called office politics .And the minority that indulges in it manages to affect the majority that does not .So I have very strong feelings against this wasteful indulgence .Let me narrate a few scenarios

Scene 1: A is a manager , B is his reportee , C is a common friend and colleague.Everything is fine and things are going great .Then one day B realises that some of his expectations are not being met and after giving it a long thought talks to A about it and in the course of the discussions C also comes in .They discuss and mutually arrive at solutions to address the issues .

What do u think happened next ?
That everything was sorted out and things were ok ?
Well think again , a nasty scene was created and A and B no longer work together !!
Surprised ? Let me explain :
The seemingly solved and good situation was sabotaged by D .D is a person with a vested interest in not letting A , B and C work together in harmony and in that process has now rendered the good rapport void and these three guys now share a strained relationship .This I am sure will do no good to anyone , but it happened

Note : A , B and C are still friends , but the whole event has been managed by D in such a way that it looks like they have a problem.That is not true .But sadly D won :(

Scene2 : X and Y work in the same team , this is a team that is delivering a strategic flagship product .X and Y play vital roles in each delivery .They do a great job for three releases .The Management realises that they need someone to manage the team and since X and Y are both senior and similar in experience , they get Z to do it .Z is a manager from a reputed firm .A mature guy who has seen it all .What happens next ?
Well , Z screws up X and Y in every possible way , plays them against each other and both of them leave the company .
Why dis he do it ? out of insecurity , he thought they make better managers that him and hence he had to boot them out .What a terrible loss !!


The moral behind both the stories is the same , steer away from a few icky people
But it is tough to identify them .What do u do then ?
Here is a list that works in that case

1. Do not participate in or propagate gossip
2. Do not believe anything official other than what your boss tells you
3. Friends at office are friends at office and not like your other friends , remember that
   
4. Do not get personal with anyone without being very sure about the person
5. Give and take respect at all times
6. Keep a dignified distance from conversations that are quasi gossip and quasi facts , they hurt a lot
7. Never pass the word on , even if you believe it
   
8. No two people are the same , treat everyone differently and correctly
9. Good camaraderie at work is great , but try and keep your partying away from it
   
10. The Boss is always right , remember that
    

Ciao for now

Pravenka : The Preparer !!

Today we talk about the last of the awesome foursome.
The Final and most weighted member of our gang : Pravenka (again , that is his id , his name is Pradeep !!)

Even now when I think of it ; I still dont remember where I met him first or what we talked .
It feels like we were always friends and he was always there , and that is how he is " always there when u need him !

Pradeep is a very strong sysadmin and I am also told by reliable sources that he is good at development and testing too !
But that is not the Pradeep that we want to talk about .My Friend Pradeep , is a very nice , well mannered and dependable person .
Whenever you need an additional head to think things out , he is the right guy .
You can trust him to be blatantly blunt and truthful about his opinion .
Like I said  when talking about Paari , it is a long forgotten vice that got us together more often .
Lunch times were really good , you see there was Swami the dreamer  and then Pravenka the preparer , he prepared you to wake up from your dreams :)

There was a prestigious quiz competition at office , me , Paari and Pradeep participated , there was a some simple question about Ethernet Twisted pair and Pradeep muffed it up :)

There was a boys day out at a guest house where Pradeep's preparation skills impressed me boundlessly .
Man !! He is the ultimate preparer :)

More about him in another post
Ciao

Paari's Visit

Hello Reader ,

I should share a happy news with you .
Largely due to my blog here , Paari (lan government ) actually came and met me here in Bangalore and we had a fun time catching up with each other .
It is always a HUGE pleasure to have old friends coming over .
The whole feeling is very hard to describe , you know each other well , and yet there is so many things that you want to speak about and the whole process of that interaction is fun.
We went and sat in a nice quiet scenic place and talked and talked and talked and talked ......
There were so many memories that we caught up with ; some good ; some bad but all sweet :)

Another piece of news is that Swami (yes!) re-connected with me as a result of my blog posting about him .
He now has a son and is a responsible Dad !
Well a lot of good results of Technology and the internet there .
Thank you Blog !

After all this I miss my other very good friend : Pravenka , the preparer !!
Will tell u about him in the next post .
Ciao
More Later ...

LAN Government :)

Wondering what that is ?

Well that is how I call my very very very good friend Paari .
Why ? His id was pelangov , and I kinda liked the "langov" part .
After Swami , Paari is the only other person who can predict my reactions to situations .That is how close he is to me , I hope that I am as close to him too .He is a completely positive person , sees oppurtunity in every situation , sometimes the most adverse of times motivate him .An example of that is the time when we were colleagues in the great year of layoffs , and he was transferred from a billed unit to a kinda "bench" .You and me wud have let our confidence , down , but not Paari , he used that stint to write a ietf proposal and a very good one at that .He studied up everything there was to study and became what he is , a VERY STRONG TECHIE .Dont mess with him technically , he will unmess it and give it back to you .

How we met is very interesting , We met , when Swami and me were indulging in a now long forgotten vice of ours , which we will not digress into here .I still remember Paari attentively and adoringly looking at Swami when he was talking about something he read in Eco-T (Swami's fav magazine , if I am not mistaken).We met and became acqaintances there .In the days to come Paari became one of the things that are parts of everyone's life , "one of my best friends" .My family knows his family very well , we have even gone out together in Chennai and out of station .(Our trip to Conoor is still a high point in my life ).Paari's wife Kavitha is one of the most straightforward and practical persons I have ever met .Paari's son Mugil was the favorite of me and Hema till we had Hari .I still remember that I have to buy furniture for my nephew ! (this is something that only me and Paari understand ) .

There hasnt been a single auspicious or sad happening in my life after we met that Paari has not stood by me with .Whenever I had to rant to someone , it was Paari or Swami .Whenever I needed advice , again the awesome twosome (S and P ) .Did I mention that Paari is from Ambur , very famous for Biriyani ? And Kavitha is the best cook after Hema in my hall of fame .

Paari is now a Project Manager , a Dad , a husband and a wonderful colleague .
To me he will always be "LAN Government " , one of my best friends and trustworthy companions .
I hope I dont sound too retro , but i wanted to write what I felt .

To this day there are two things that I crave for :

Swami's creativity and Paari's practicality

ciao

Hari's first day at school

My son had his first day at school about a year ago in Bangalore .
Here are the snaps of that eventful week .
I especially like him in uniform .
Click on the photo to see the entire set .

Hari's First Day at School

The Reception ....

Was more fun .
At the wedding it was just about 500+ people who wanted to wish me happiness .
Here it was 1200+ and all of them had fun and just seeing that made me happy .
I was wearing a Two piece Blazer with matching shoes and Hema was wearing a bluish silk saree .
There was an orchestra playing , (very LOUDLY ) , the guests were regaling and so was my mind .
A small side note is the fact that the orchestra was playing popular film hits and that was considered cool at that time .

Please note that everyone of the guests met us and wished us , smiled and had their photo with us and moved on to dinner .We on the other hand , well , met them , met them , met them , met them , hey it is 10:00 pm , ok you can have dinner now !!
Imagine our energy levels .They were like the friendship between Sehwag and Chappell , at a record low !!But wait , just before dinner , there are 25 photos of us that need to be taken (in various fun poses :)) .Arrrggghhhh !! My kingdom for food !!! Finally after an hour of Xtreme photography ;) , we had dinner !! .Then my whole family sat around us and we had the happiest 30 mins of our married life !! .

Then everyone started retiring and so did we , and then started the longest chat I have had with my wife till date .We were talking for about 11 hours after that .There werent any really important things that we talked about , we just kept talking .You see , this was the moment we had waited and struggled and dreamt of and when it was here , our happiness just flowed out in conversation that dint stop at all .

Suddenly asked her to check the time and guess what , it was morning !! Hooray , since we dint sleep , we dint need to brush !! (just kidding) .

That my dear reader was the start of our married life .

Please note two important things here

1. "I" has become "We" in this post
2. I hope you can see the wide grin I have when I am typing this .

Ahh , but good things dont last long , and very soon there was a flurry of worry !!
More on that in the next post

Ciao for now

March 26th for the first time !!

March 26 is the day I got married , ten years ago .This march is my 10th anniversary .
Yes , I am getting back to the track of how my life progressed .

Like I told you , it was testing times after Hema's Dad passed away .There was a lot scampering and adjusting that was needed for the scene to go on .Especially for me and Hema .Needless to say that we needed to pull out all strings and stretch likr crazy to get married .And we finally did .

I vividly remember every detail , I woke up at 4:30 am , everyone at home wakes up by then .Had a neat little shave (I was the groom , remember ?) and was getting ready to get committed .My friend from school days , Pankaj Goel had lent his huge car , my folks had arranged for a few more cars .There were about 80 pple to transport to the temple just from my house .And guess what , I got the last ride ! When I was in the car , it refused to get started , I got into another one and the first one started , I get back in the first one and then it stops .Restart and it fails .The phone rings , it is Hema's uncle from the temple wondering what I was doing at home when I had just abt 10 mins to get married !! Oh yeah , I forgot to tell you .Before all this , was a ceremony at home , where each elder couple stands in front of me and I fall at their feet .So roughly twenty sit ups in a row for me !! So you can imagine how tense I was , my mind was racing "Am I getting married or what ?" .I have an uncle , we fondly call him Chithappa . He came to my rescue , opened the hood of the car and did some magic and vola !! it started and kept running !! Hurray !! To the temple !!!
For the next 20 minutes , I was looking at all the roads in the way to the temple and smilingly enjoying my last bachelor's ride !! We reached the temple .At this point I must tell you something , I had never worn a dhoti in my life before .It was held up with a tight belt to prevent it from falling .The minute I entered the temple , Hema's niece came running and tugged at my dhoti !! I closed my eyes in horror , has it fallen down ? Has my dream of married bliss become a nightmare ? I opened my eyes , thank god for lacoste !! The dhoti was still faithfully around me !! Then I went in and saw my wife dressed up for the wedding .She looked gorgeous and totally not nervous ,I on the other hand was a pile of nerves wrapped in a silk dhoti !!

Then the marriage began , a series on manthras and exchanges of garlands , rings and what not , the moment arrived , I tied the mangalsutra around Hema's neck and we were married .Phew !!

I started relaxing , but then we got married in a temple and the dining hall was on the 4th floor !!
Imagine the plight of my and my dhoti again , this time I bravely went to the final frontier and conquered it.

Ok , I cud see breakfasy served , I sat down with Hema and we started eating , we were ask to pose feeding each other for the camera .And after that was done , we were told to get up from the table , WHAT ?? THAT IS BREAKFAST !!! YES IT IS !!!!
Then I had use my influence and get hold of a couple of bottles of pepsi to satiate our digestive systems .
Then there was a flurry of people , I dint know 90% of them , smiling at me and wishing me and blessing me .Felt good .

After everyone else had eaten breakafast (grrrrr!!) , we left the temple and went back home , There was a ceremonial welcome for us there and I finally got the chance to rest a bit ! I thought "Phew ! It is done !!"

Well there was a reception after that !!!
About that in the next post !!
Ciao

Introducing : Swaminathan

Like I promised , I am back.
Let me start by introducing someone who has left a permanent impression on me and my life in his own inimitable style.My very good friend Swaminathan .I met him when both of us were colleagues with one of the largest networking companies in the world .Let me describe him in detail to you .

Swaminathan is a very clever , very fast thinking and well read person.There aint any topic in the world that he cannot talk or argue about .His confidence in facing the world in unparalleled.His sense of humour is just the best .He knows how to make you crack up in the middle of a serious conversation.He also knows to be dead serious when the situation warrants it .He is also one of the few pple who understands global politics .He had the uncanny ability to see China's intentions getting implemented by an action in Guwahati .And my friends , most of the times ; he was right .

With Swami , you never had a dull moment in life , he cud just invent something out of the air and then make an entire group cavort with laughter .Here is an example : he had to test the date field in an application , he took limits testing to the extreme and set 31/12/9999 as the date and tried to roll it over .It dint add a new field , and he was seriously contemplating filing a bug against it !!!

Lunch time with Swami was the best part of our days together ; he used to meticulously select a topic ; mail it to us and say that we will discuss it over lunch and we wud .He did all the talking and we did all the listening .He used to pepper facts with wit in such a way that even the dullest face wud light up immediately and crack up laughing .

As a friend , Swami was like a brick wall , you an lean on him any time , he was there for you , no matter what .Even if he knew that what you are doing is wrong , he was there for you .When you were down , just talking to him for 10 mins , wud bring you back in a jiffy .He was also very good at playing the devil's advocate and explaining the wrong side of things to you so that you see them before they happen .Reliability was his middle name .I still remember a time when there ws an emergency at home and Swami and Paari (another very close friend ) stayed with me till the wee hours of the night when the problem was resolved .Swami had another thing in his favor .His wife was the perfect foil for him .She had everythuing that he dint , a very practical mind and a fantastic sense of prediction .Together they make a wonderful couple and I know that they will be happy for all the times to come .

There was many a time when the going was tough and I needed someone to bail me out , there was always Swami .Like all friends do , we had misunderstandings , but they were never bigger than our rapport.But the last one we had kinda led to us getting distant from each other .

Swami , wherever you are , I am very sorry for everything
I miss you very badly .
Have a great life ! Hope to meet you someday