Harried Harry

Full 2 days at work, not much but as many as 16 hours. Very efficiently flushed down the drain.

And when Professor Trelawney draws all those unfortunate cards life can't be easy. While I drooled on Harry and his adventures with the Half-Blood prince, my team lead was calcualting the productivity indicies for everybody in the team. No wonder my index would have mounted the FireBolt and made a nose dive.

Thank God there were builds to do. Start 4 builds to run sequentially and I have 6 hours of free time.

So Harry started his new session at Hogwarts.

Adava Kevadra.

She killed the Professor. That bitch. How could she? How could she kill Dumbledore? Weren't many other worthless people to die than Dumbledore?

Ah but yes; ofcourse the hero of the story is Harry, how could he share his glory his delight of Killing Voldemort. How could she let him, the hero, share the success with anybody, even it was Dumbledore.

I wouldn't be amazed to see Lupin, Tonks, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and many others; all of them die in Harry's quest.

And yes it would be friends who laid down their life for a good cause. They'll be remembered till the Wizardly world exists. But why couldn't the story be so written to have them alive?

Rowling you leave me growling.

Teddy, Mickey and Donald

I hate Teddy especially when he's a Bear.
I hate Mickey especially when he's a Mouse.
I hate Donald especially when he's a dick. Oops! Duck!

This was funny...

Have a nice day!
* Achcha din lo!

What's up?
*Uupar kya hai?

You're kidding!
*Tum bachcha bana rahe ho!

Don't kid me!
* Mera bachcha mat banaao!

Yo, baby! What's up?
* Beti Yo, uupar kya hai?

Cool man!
* Thandaa aadmi!

Don't mess with me, dude.
* Mere saath gandagee mat karo, ek husti.

Check this out, man!
* Iski chaanbeen karo, aadmi!

She's so fine!
* Woh itnee bedaag hai!

Listen buddy, that chick's mine, okay!?
* Suno dost, woh choozaa mera hai, theek?

Hey good looking; what's cooking?
* Arree haseenaa; kyaa pakaa rahee ho?

Are you nuts?
* Kya aap akhrot hain?

Son of a gun.
* Bachcha bandook ka.

And the best one is.....

How do you do?
* Kaise karte ho?

Where's the 3rd Floor

9.00 pm Dinner time

9.15 pm I with other colleagues and my team lead leave for dinner

9.30 pm Filled my plate to the maximum

9.35 pm It starts raining and it rains as if it would never rain again.

10.00 pm Finished dinner, still raining

10.05 pm Chatting, talking to colleagues, a loud burst of laughter everybody looks at the rookies. still raining. Found a bakra. Leg pulling, teasing.

10.10 pm Bakra beheaded, hungry we look for another.

10.11 pm Found another bakra.

10.12pm My team lead, "I've parked my car in the 3rd floor."
I, "Is it?"
"Yeah its in the multi-level car park." (We have only one)
I, " Oh! Wow. Where else you would find 3rd floor if not in a muli floor building"

10.13 pm My Team lead bids adeiu and leaves. Walking in the rain, completely drenched he thinks "I'll be back"

Sania Mirza...

So much for Sania Mirza. The rising star of the Indian tennis...
Some poeple never miss a chance and some never take a chance...
Some don't care ...

The lady has put India in top 100 tennis player map, even though its not a great feat but not trivial either. I guess they want to give credit to her for everything...!

It was a dark room...

It was a dark room. Blizzards outside wrecked havoc. Chilling. Cold. Freezing. In the next room the fire in the fireplace was dancing to the tune of winds outside. Very often I could see the shadows on the opposite wall made by those dancing flames. Oh! It was such a lovely scene. And he was there. At the other far end of the long table. A table, which to me, looked like an entire expanse of a football field. Middle of the table was a candle stand sportively sporting 5 candles, neatly arranged into a spirally rising staircase. It was such a wonderful picture. Only if he could also see...

We were like brothers. No we were brothers.

We always were together. We swayed in the morning breeze together; enjoyed the lavish evening sun together. We cherished the star studded sky and the cool and comforting moonlight. We were like brothers. No. We were brothers. Hanging form the same family tree we saw the vagaries of life and the lives go by. Life bought to existence; babies born, children transforming into adults, adults fighting for something or other, and adults dying; life undone.

I still remember those birds... The sparrows who perched so close to us. Those parrots who used to come and nibble at apples kept next to us. Those owls hooting in the night, those kids sneaking in the farm trying to steal one fruit or the other.

His whispers still echo in my ears. The picture of his face, a face with a red splash, is still fresh in my memory. He was big. Too big than me. He was sweet. Too sweet than me. He was an apple of every eye. I always looked up to him for everything. It was him I wanted to be.

And then one day our curator, the lord of the place where we in lived took us, both of us, and transported us. Detached from the family tree, away from those simple pleasures of life, that sun, those stars, that moon, those birds... I was too sad. Dejected. It was him who gave me strength. It was he who told me life changes, and changes for better. "We all grow, and we all die. We all grow from our seeds. Without us everything would stagnate. We are part of the growth of entire universe. We all die. We leave space for more growth. A growth which is better than what we witnessed, a growth which will do this world better than what we could do. We all have roles to play, we play our roles and leave. Just like the Sun. It comes every morning to give us warmth. And then it grows to give us more wrath. What would happen if it stays for ever in any particular state. We would burn in its heat or else die for lack of it. So the Sun grows and dies and leaves. That's when the moon comes to give us the comfort and cool of the night. If moon stays forever we'll shiver and die due to the same good he was supposed to do to all of us. So does every other thing. They come serve their purpose and leave. And then come back again, to do a much better job, to play a much better role in this world than they did last time."

Yes. Maybe whatever he said was true. No it must be true. Or else why... It must be true. He has to come back stronger much wiser and to serve a purpose much better than what he did this time.

But for now, as I see. He lies there still. His red skin glowing in the candle light. That would not last long. I know. They cut him open in two pieces. And those two into two pieces. They were barbarians. They never though twice. Just sliced a knife through him.

I can still see his red skin glowing in the candle light. But now its loosing its shine. His flesh is now turning reddish, more reddish. Its rusting. All the iron in him is rusting. I guess he's already dead. Sure he is. I will follow him soon. I know.

It was a dark room. Blizzards outside wrecked havoc. Chilling. Cold. Freezing. In the next room the fire in the fireplace was dancing to the tune of winds outside. Very often I could see the shadows on the opposite wall made by those dancing flames. Oh! It was such a lovely scene. And he was there. At the other far end of the long table. A table, which to me, looked like an entire expanse of a football field. Middle of the table was a candle stand sportively sporting 5 candles, neatly arranged into a spirally rising staircase. It was such a wonderful picture. Only if he could also see...

And close to me I can see a health diet book of my owner, which somewhere reads...

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

When GM takes on Microsoft

DISCLAIMER: The blog owner bears no responsibility nor can he and does not assure the veracity of the statements; nor shall he be liable for any damages of any kind induced upon anyone in whatever form.

END READERS' AGREEMENT:
If you proceed beyond this, then you agree to not hold the blog owner liable for any damages of any kind to anything living or dead, person or corporation or anything on this earth.

One of the many forwards that reach me; I present to you one of those...

Now that you are here....

"
For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."


In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release
stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):


1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.


2. Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you would have to buy a new car.


3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.


4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.


6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.


7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.


8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.


9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.


10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
"

The forwards...

With so many forwards, one for you...

1. Regular naps prevent old age... especially if you take them while driving.


2. Having one child makes you a parent; having two makes you are feree.


3. Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right andthe other is the husband!


4. They said we should all pay our tax with a smile. I tried - butthey wanted cash.


5. A child's greatest period of growth is the month after you'vepurchased new school uniforms.


6. Don't feel bad. A lot of people have no talent.


7. Don't marry the person you want to live with, marry the one youcannot live without...but whatever you do, you'll regret it later.


8. You can't buy love . . . but you pay heavily for it.


9. True friends stab you in the front.


10. Forgiveness is giving up my right to hate you for hurting me.


11. Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.


12. Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you gettired


13. My wife and I always compromise. I admit I'm wrong and she agreeswith me.


14. Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.


15. Ladies first. Pretty ladies sooner.


16. It doesn't matter how often a married man changes his job, hestill ends up with the same boss.


17. They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldomgets to speak.


18. Saving is the best thing. Especially when your parents have doneit for you.


19. Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talkbecause they have to say something


20. Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between addressbooks

Voilla! Analytical Learner... Blah! Blah!

To gauge yourself take the test!

Here are your survey results!

Your Cognitive Style Index is 46 which indicates that you are an Analytical learner.

This survey measured your Cognitive Style. Cognitive Style affects how you organize and process new information while learning.

Intuitive learners [scores of 0 to 38] are less concerned with detail. They have an open-ended approach to solving problems and work best without strict rules. They are in touch with their feelings and need to feel personally involved in their work.

Analytical learners [scores of 39 to 76] give attention to detail. They focus on facts and "hard data" and rely on what experts say. They are logical in their approach to learning and do things step-by-step. They excel in structured, well-organized learning situations.

Neutral learners [scores of around 38] can learn using both intuitive and analytic modes.

Thanks again for taking the time to complete the survey,

Elena

Managers in an autorickshaw

It was raining in the morning day before yesterday. And I overslept. Woke complete 1 hour late than usual, missed my company cab and had to hire an autorickshaw to office. Rs. 70.00 down the drain. :(


A peculiar thing that I observed is that on every signalled crossing the autorickshaw driver killed the engine. And then just 2-3 seconds before the signal turned green he started the engine. I was amazed at the accuracy of his estimation. This was not a stand alone case but I observed the same thing at all the crossings. I put my brain to some rigorous work and dug into all the memories of travel in an autorickshaw and found that this was true for all aurtorickshaw drivers and at all crossings. Amazing.


Why don't all the managers undergo a trainning course on how to drive an autorickshaw, of duration 1 year or 6 months so that they can be better at estimation. They are pathetic are estimating how much time is required to finish a project. Way off the track. Or else what? I finished Harry Potter and the Order of pheonix and Da Vini Code in office, Half way through the Lord of the Rings trilogy...


Add to this that you can shout and swear at your manager, which you definitely cannot do in routine office life but can certainly do when he's a autorickshaw driver.


BTW this is does not in any way relate to my manager. He's a nice person very efficient and effective in all the things he does.


Does anyone of you people know him?

Sucking Itinerary

Sometimes there's nothing better than reading google.groups. And for certain there's nothing great than finishing Harry Potter and Order of Pheonix in 2 days, sitting in my comfortable chair, sipping tea, good music playing with intermittent periods of checking mail.


And this one is icing on the cake. Doing all this in office.


But seriously this itinerary sucks, sucks big time.

In the elevator... it so happened

In the elevator... it so happened...

Why are the managers the way they are. Not that they are very rude, bossy, overyfriendly or all of that sorts. In fact my manager is a mast manager. But sometimes...

For instance this other day after having lunch I was on my way back to my cubicle. My Mananger had been on a week's vacation and he had come back the same day. He took the same elevator I was in. After exchange of Hi. How was the vacation Blah...Blah which moreso was because there was nothing else to do in the small elevator.

At this point I'd make an OT (off - topic) observation. Ever noticed the elevator has an information inside. 13 persons only. XYZ kgs only. What amuses me is the fact that the lift doesn't even have enough space for 13 people to stand. Atmost 10 people can board the lift with their nose just a whisker awayfrom the other's! For once I thought that's an eskimo way of greeting which these people practise.

13 LOL. Only famished people.

Back to topic. So my manager asked me How's life? Pat came the reply Comfortable

The next day my team lead comes to me and says What did you say to him, that you have plenty of free time!

What? What else do you expect in answer, if you ask somebody How's life? OR is it should I say.

Life sucks. I'm in deep shit. Life's miserable. Add to it the peanuts that you pay. The f****** AC also doesn't work, the room tempreature is at 25 degrees. The food is terrible...

And we laughed a lot the entire day.

Even now you can hear a roar of laughter if somebody around asks How's Life?

The engineers with no TV to them...

Ever been in front of that idiot box. Well plenty of times. Many hours of the day; in fact for one reason or the other, stuck up on one channel or the other.

I was also on one of those channels when I thought why is it so that there so less if not any programs dedicated to engineers. Are we the lost part of this habitable planet? Have we become a vestige? Or is it that we are those back room slaves who never get across that door?


Whatever be the reason , the fact still remains that there hasn't been anyengineer per se on the television. You'll find housewives trying to mess up their calm lives; doctors trying to somehow mess up with their patients so that they can get some more money out of him or else trying hard
to save a patient just in time; lawyers pacing up and down the court hall yelling on top of their voices to convince the judge that their client is not guilty. But never an engineer trying hard to solve the problem at hand, pulling his hairs to get the things right and enjoying the pleasure the
intellectual happiness, so to say, that he would get when his product gets ready.

Never.

The closet the television could get to engineers were Dr. Brown, the mad inventor who built a time machine out of a DeLorean car in Back to the Future; MacGyver, not an engineer but who seemed to have engineering skills; and Gyro Gearloose, Walt Disney's engineer/inventor.

To quote "The National Academy of Engineering, in a 1986 survey, confirmed that the public perceived engineers as self-absorbed, rigid, and possessing poor social skills. One respondent said engineers were social misfits with whom he would not want to be trapped in an elevator because they were difficult to communicate with. Little wonder that entertainment
writers steer clear of us except, perhaps, for comic relief."

Doesn't this look like a positive feedback system, with no chance of things settling down to something more than something transient. The people feel engineers to be self-absorbed, long haired, unkempt and greasy, rigid, cocooned rats like creatures who live and die in the holes they call as lab or work space. So keep the people away from what they 'fear'.

But I guess there's also an other side to it. People respond to and feel more comfortable with things they have had first hand experience with. Not that third party experience or narration is not interesting, but it all passes as gossip as something which never happened to them but nevertheless was equally engrossing, or else all those crime serials or crime buster
serials wouldn't have been popular. Anyways this is off the topic at hand. The viewers can identify with lawyers, doctors, housewives, cops and all the other pervasive professions. The engineer, and now allow me to broaden the horizon to include researchers, are not in any of those.

"Possessing poor social skills" I certainly don't agree. This is a sweepingly generalized statement and is grossly incorrect.


To this effect I would say that Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic Channel to name a few, incidentally they are my favorites led by History Channel, have done a lot. Specially the History and Discovery Channel, I can smell some partisan behavior here, are the leader. With documentaries on engineering marvels, Wings, Modern Marvel, Boys Toys, Nokia innovations and so on and so forth they tell the world about what all engineering has and can do and with due exposure of engineers.