5 lessons for IT pros from Team India

These are the lessons, in order.

Lesson #1: Discover yourself when on the 'bench'
Lesson #2: Be flexible
Lesson #3: Work on the weakness or be replaced
Lesson #4: Believe in the leader who has a vision
Lesson #5: It's all about teamwork

Well, the 'bench' concept, I guess came from the IT industry only. But the other things certainly apply to other areas of your life as well, not just your career I guess. Being flexible definitely helps. We may not be replaced if we do not work on weaknesses, or may be we will, say in a relationship :P. The leader, has to be God. Believe in Him, He knows best. And it's all about teamwork, whether it's family or a community or a country. Very valuable lessons indeed :-).

My first attempt at rhyming lines

Check it out here. Sure it can't be called a poem. But not sure what to call it. So, it's just a set of rhyming lines :-). Inspiration sure takes a person a long long way. Guess I should thank Smyta

Sightseeing

After lunch, we took a jeep and went on sightseeing trip. 6 places altogether to be seen. It was only for the first timers and so, I went with them just for the fun rather than actually sightseeing. We took them to all places and while the first timers enjoyed themselves, we regulars had fun. By the time we reached the end of the trip, the tiredness began to show. It was 5 pm by the time we returned to the rooms. Everyone wanted to take rest. Me, madhu and subbu went to have some masala tea :-). After that, we went to the room to take some rest. It was decided that we'll rest for may be an hour and then go back to the temple and sit at my favorite place. When we went to the room, we were not surprised at all by what we saw - everybody was already into deep sleep. Jack was on the phone. So, we three just rested and talked about everything. It was time to remember our batchmates in CRR. Inbetween, jack joined us and the conversation just went on. After may be an hour and a half, we decided it was time to go out. Enough of rest, we thought. Went out, had some snacks and went to the steps. Sat there for a good one hour talking about this and that. Then it was dinner time. Went back, had dinner and went to the room. One unfortunate incident happenned at this time, which sort of brought some discomfort between us. But knowing jack well enough, I knew I could set things right. And I did, when we came out again after taking some rest. From then on, it was as usual again, strolling around the temple, sitting on the steps (I just love that place), chatting on and then going back to the room, getting ready for darshan, standing in the queue, and waiting. By 1:30, we were in the queue. But we had to split up because the girls didn't get ready quickly enough. And when they came, they brought their mobiles, which is not allowed. So, they had to submit the mobiles at a counter and again join the queue at the end because of which they were far far behind us. Anyway, by 2:45, everyone was inside the temple, waiting for the doors to open. There were many VIPs I guess, so even though we were very early into the queue, we were still way behind in the temple. So, it took a long time for us to get a glimpse of the Lord from the outside. I was wondering what did I do that he's keeping me waiting for so long :P. But, this time, the darshan somehow was different I felt. I think we got to stay longer than usual, though the people were pushing us urging to move on. When in the temple looking at the Lord, I think nobody can think of anything else. We finished everything and were out by 4. After collecting the laddus, it was time to disperse. Jack and kanna were to stay behind, they were not coming to bangalore with us. Ourselves and the chennai brigade quickly packed and left. We dropped the chennai people at the busstand and went to Alamelumangapuram. I was dead tired by then, the previous day's fasting showing its effect now. So, I just sat in the vehicle while the others went in. Once they came back, we quickly went to the busstand, only to find out that the A.P.S.R.T.C. volvo at 8:45 was cancelled and the next one was only in the afternoon. Quickly went to the ksrtc counter. There, one bus was ready to leave. Next one was after 12. So, we got on to the bus, but only after confirming that he would stop for breakfast :-). Bought some biscuits to have in the meantime. The moment bus started, everyone drifted off into sleep. I guess I was the only one awake, though even I dozed off for small amounts of time. And so it was that the trip ended, and somehow I feel I got closer to Balaji after this trip :P.

Back home

Returned yesterday at around 1:30 pm. Went home, watched tv for a while and slept. Woke up at 9:30 pm. Didn't want to get out of bed, so I decided to forget dinner. Again watched tv for sometime and fell asleep. May be at 11. Woke up at 8:30 in the morning. Quickly got ready and started for office. My bike refused to start for a long time. Think the engine went dead because of the cold and 2 days of rest. Had a tough time getting it started. And by 9:40 I was at my seat again, trying to recollect where I had left off. Breakfast, a cup of tea, regular chores and a little work later, I'm back where I like to be - here. The trip was good. Initially we planned for only 3 or 4 guys to go but finally, we were 10. Myself, jack, kanna, madhu and 2 of Jack's colleagues and their cousin from bangalore. Subbulu, vasu (Madhu's bro) and his friend joined us from chennai. It was a horrible journey from bangalore to tirupathi. Started at 7 but it took almost an hour and half to get out of the city. And then he wouldn't stop for dinner. We were hungry and asked him several times when he would stop. Each time he said 1/2 an hour. Finally, around 10 pm, he stopped somewhere. Couldn't eat anything there, even though we were VERY hungry. It was that bad. After that naam ke vaasthe dinner, we started again. Everyone was sleeping. Me, as usual, awake, lost in my own world. It was 1:30 when the bus reached tirupathi. The other three were already there waiting. Seems all three came by the same bus. They even saw each other and wondered who they might be waiting for. And they were surprised that they were waiting for the same batch :-)). Then we started walking. Subbulu was shocked when I told that we were to walk. He asked why I didn't tell him beforehand. Why would I - I knew he wouldn't come if I had told him :P. We handed over the luggage at the cloakroom for transportation to tirumala and we started walking at around 2:30. Not much crowd, thanks to the land slide that was reported the day before and widely publicised by the newspapers. Therefore, the walk was pleasant, with the atmosphere cool and quiet. Being slow walkers, Kanna and subbulu started off early so they will not slow us down. We were surprised they covered so much distance, given their speed. We joined them maybe after one hour. They were taking rest, drinking glucose water :P. Here subbu received a shocking news, that I will be fasting the whole day and will not have anything other than tea. And that will be only after reaching tirumala. On the way, I'm not even going to drink water, and definitely I'm not going to sit and take rest. He asked me why, what was the reason. I wondered why. He knew very well how I used to be. And now why the sudden change? I said that's the power He wields over us. 25 years, I never bothered, even to question His existence. I never went to a temple and joined hands before God. I just told him we would talk about it later. By the time we reached the top, it was 6. Straight away, we went and joined the queue for the seva tickets. It was fun there, cracking jokes and pulling legs, subbu again being the worst sufferer. And so on it went, till 8 when the counter opened and we got the tickets. Then it was over to the room and preparing for the day ahead. We had booked two rooms online. So, we went to register and get the keys, myself, jack and subbu. Others went for the luggage. All 7 of us took one room while we gave the other room to the two girls and their cousin. We rested for a while and started getting ready. By the time everyone was ready, it was 11:30. So, we decided it's better to have lunch. Went to the restaurant nearby. I decided I'll have some tea and roam around till they finished lunch. I had some masala tea and went to my favorite place, the steps behind the temple where we always sat when we went there. There, I sat, in the sun and pondered subbu's question. Why this sudden change? And one by one, I recounted all the incidents in my life and how they had affected me. How after all those years, I suddenly accepted defeat and acknowledged His power, how I bowed before Him and begged Him to show me the way. Now, I have only my faith in Him to rely on. It was a good 1/2 hour there when I got a call from jack asking me where I was. I said I was on my way back. I met them near the restaurant and from there, we went on the sightseeing trip. More on that later.

Going to Tirupathi

Today. Will be back on sunday. Got some long pending dues to clear and some more favors to ask. Planning to go to the temple by walk but not sure whether my back will permit me or not. Well, walking will not be problem, but I don't know how many days of rest I'll need after that. But I guess He will take care. So in all probability, I'll be walking with my other friends up the hill.

Anyatha saranam nasthi thvameva saranam mama
tasmaat kaarunya bhavena raksha raksha janardhana

Will try and find out what comes in the blank - done

I'm so down today and so frustrated, I even changed the title of my blog. Why did I have to visit that blog? why oh why

When I grow up I want to be a child

Beautiful blog. Wonderful poems. Awesome photos. Really liked it. And it is so aptly titled, the spirit of celebration shows in the posts/poems. Hats off.

By the way, the title is stolen from the comments section of the linked post. Oh I'm so shameless

Memories to be cherished

Another email. Nice one.

The tragedy of Ganguly

Just read that Ganguly finds place in test team. Somehow, I felt a sense of sympathy for that guy. I was never a big fan of him, nor was I among those thirsting for his blood. But I did hear somebody saying that on the offside, there was God, then there was Ganguly. I even remember the media singing his praises for taking the fight onto the Aussies in the first test when India visited them in the recent past. Now I wonder what could have gone wrong. The other day, one of my colleagues was saying "we have to see what Chappell does with Tendulkar. Even he is not playing well. But he keeps saying Tendulkar's presence itself helps a lot ". Yesterday, in the news paper, I again read the same thing - Tendulkar can do a lot just by being in the team. That made me feel that may be it was Ganguly's attitude that has caused all these problems. May be he got a little carried away, being called prince, tiger and so on. May be he just thought he was next to God, but forgot that was only on the field and that too only on the offside.

The Last Don

Boring to begin, builds up slowly and gets interesting, unputdownable towards the end and finally it ends so abruptly leaving a sense of disappointment. I expected a lot more dramatic end. But it was so simple. Initially I thought it was the same old mafia shit. Powerful Family, with brothers waging wars with rival Families. But it sure got better as I progressed. So much so that I didn't want to sleep without finishing it off the other day. Good I didn't continue till the end that night, otherwise I would have been terribly disappointed. Overall, an OK read for me.

Don't drink or drive

Looks like driving in this city is getting far more dangerous than drinking. Saw an accident yesterday while going home. Looked like a bike was hit by a car, the biker lost balance, went over the divider and was hit by a bus on the other side of the road. When I passed by, they were just taking the person out from under the bus. Was so disturbed. Now I didn't actually witness what happenned and so I don't know whose fault it was. But as if driving on these roads itself is not harrowing enough an experience, have to see such things. And still I see so many people driving so recklessly as if the road is their grandfather's playground. They may not care for their lives but they should remember that their irresponsibility might cost someone else their life. I HATE these *&^%$*#&*@&#^

He is human afterall

Roger Federer defeated in the Master's cup title clash by David Nalbandian. But the guy played with a strapped ankle and almost turned the match around before losing. Yes he is human after all, but on the courts, he's next only to God.

I enjoy inhaling and exhaling

Picked it up from the profile of Nikol. Been random searching blogger whole of today because I didn't feel like doing anything. Came across this blog just before going for dinner. Thought I'll read it after coming back. Wanted to go home as soon as I came back. But after reading this post, I wanted to look at her profile. I did and I found the line which I put as the title. Thats quite a nice way of expressing the sheer joy of living

10 killer post ideas

Good ideas. But the one I liked the most was in the comments - the one about "Man, you wouldn't believe what happened to me today" form posts - they are sure to elicit response from readers who have undergone similar experience. But that's going to help only when you have readers. I think the others can help get readership and this one can help in getting comments :-)

Which festival is this?

Another email forward - kind of funny. If you said its Krishna Janmashtami, you're wrong. Its Rakshabandhan he he he

Insanity or an art form

Photography is a joy, an art. But for those who are bored with the point and click routine of imagery, here's something very very interesting.

I first laughed out loud at the idea of throwing the camera in the air and observing pictures obtained thus. But, after looking at some pictures and some thought, this indeed seemed interesting and worth trying.
And if you want to know what happens if you throw your camera once too often,
click here

Visit to the doctor

Atlast, I got to see the doctor today. I told him that I'm able to walk without much problem but the pain is still there when I sit/stand/sleep/move whatever. He examined me, stretched my leg and asked me to continue the medicines but this time to reduce the dosage. Earlier he had asked me to take 2 tablets a day. Now he asked me take only one. For 10 more days. And further he advised me not lift any weights, take rest when the pain is more and to always sit with my back erect. Well, scared as I was, I asked him what could be wrong. He shrugged it off saying it was a back problem, a disc problem and I should observe these precautions. Then I asked him if I should come back after 10 days. "Only if you have a problem" was his response. Somehow after today's visit, I'm more scared rather than feeling better. I dont want to listen to somebody saying "if only you had realised earlier, we could have saved you". Stupid it may seem, but Iam scared. And I've decided I'll go to another hospital tomorrow.

An insider's guide to Google

Read an article with the same title in TOI a couple of days ago. Tried hard to find a link to the article in the TOI site but couldn't locate it. Really was a nice article explaining what google is really capable of doing. Here is a list of things mentioned

• Google can cook - enter the ingredients and it will give you a recipe. May be a list of ways in which the specified things can be put to good use
• Google can aid you in performing conversions - enter 100 Indian rupees to yen and it promptly tells you 100 Indian rupees = 259.729417 Japanese yen. And you are not to worry if you do not know what is the currency of a country. Type something like Indian money to say Japanese money and it can still come up with an answer. Sounds a little awkward but serves the purpose
• Google can track the movement of flights - using google maps, someone has developed a site which will give you the path a plane will take from a specified source to destination. It can also tell you the whereabouts of a given flight
• One more site that uses google maps in the background - pick any spot on earth and start digging. It will dig the deepest possible hole and tell you where you will end up. The writer's comment - wonder what purpose it serves but nevertheless it exists http://grad.icmc.usp.br/~cipriani/bighole.php?lang=en
• And google is trying to put every book that has ever been printed on the web. Those books that are not copyright protected are already there. Don't know about those that are protected. Think we can still search and get pages from those books.

Interesting applications all these. Will have to find a link to the article.

Found a whole list of other things you can do with google maps - click here to find out

Kaun banega zero

A unique game on your Airtel! Give the maximum wrong answers and win Rs. 1 lakh! Call 3030 now. Call@ Rs.6/min
This was the content of an SMS I received yesterday. Quite amusing. Whats coming next?
Talk bullshit and win 1 lakh?? The art of incongruent speaking! Sounds like a good idea.

Finally

I'm here. Whole of yesterday, I've been making changes to the template. Now Im pretty much satisfied with the look and feel of my new blog. Coming to the content, I'm not sure what to do. I like the look and feel of this one and also because this is more popular, may be there's a greater chance of my blog getting noticed if I keep posting here. But I like the simplicity of the earlier one and I dont mind not getting noticed by anybody. Then why did I sign up here in the first place? May be just for the heck of it. Will decide later what to do with this.