Prodigy's Throne...

Where is the poetry gone?

2010-06-27T23:03:00.001+05:30

Heavy eyes greet the break of dawn.

Morning rays bounce off the concrete lawn.

Rush to work – but the traffic clots.

The day well planned in meeting slots.

Where is the poetry gone?

Ambitions move fast – life too slow.

Reality moves to a TV show.

Friends too many so we make a list.

140 chars for every conversationalist.

Where is the poetry gone?

Breaking news at the top of every hour.

Nations at peace but people at war.

People grow rich, economies crash.

Nature hides from spilt oil and human trash.

Where is the poetry gone?

Know not why these questions dawn

About where the poetry is really gone.

The books I search and my life too

And there I found it but will it find you?

Please let not the poetry be gone.

(In support of the Stop the death of poetry, the death of culture petition.)

Life At Microsoft - The Truth Revealed

2008-02-20T02:39:00.001+05:30

Bill Gates @ CES 2008

2008-01-07T18:31:00.000+05:30

Halo, world!

2007-12-09T22:04:00.000+05:30

Today was a great day for the gamer side of me. I completed both the Halo 3 and Gears of War campaigns (normal and casual levels respectively, I must add) on my new Xbox! I don’t think I can pull off the façade of a hard core gamer even if I tried hard enough. So I will refrain from blogging about my gaming skills and more about my experience playing both of them.

Halo 3

Unlike most other Halo 3 fans, this was the first time I was playing the game. Having not played the previous episodes probably disqualified me as a real ‘peep’ very early in the game. Either ways the game was mostly fun but what I loved most about it was the multiplayer custom matches. After all who can hate a game type called slayer that reads “Kill your enemies. Kill your friend’s enemies. Kill your friends.” The variety of vehicles and weapons were the deal maker for me when it came to the multiplayer casual “kick each others' ass” sessions! As for the campaign mode, it was mostly OK but I hated the penultimate mission, “Cortona”. May be it was just the weird creepy slimy freaks I was expected to shoot down in numbers throughout the mission.

Gears of war

Gears of War was very different from Halo. For one, the game play was way more realistic and involved much more strategy. In campaign mode I found it way better than Halo 3 because it felt lesser of a shoot-all-that-moves kind of a game. But I was disappointed in its multiplayer versus mode. Biggest deal breaker was the fact that it allows only two players to compete locally from a single console and for someone like me who is not-so-frequent on Xbox Live, it was kind of a bummer (specially with my friends all fighting for the grab at the controllers)! To summarize, lemme just say I can’t wait to play the next one!

PS: Excuse the title, could not resist the pun on every programmers most popular phrase!

Finding self...

2007-10-25T09:00:00.000+05:30

Some how some where during the course of our onlie life in this Web 2.0 era everyone starts to suffer from the multiple identity syndrome and in my case I have had the pleasure of living under multiple aliases (such as meet_ra13, prodigal.prodigy, and bhaskar.mitra) already. So it was very nice to see one of my most desired feature requests for Live Services actually come to fruition - the ability to link multiple Live IDs. Its one of those small things that makes a big impact for a selective group of people who due to some unfortunate circumstances have split their Live Service data over multiple logins.

Actually if you think about it, it's not that rare given initially to get a Live account you needed one associated with a hotmail account and for those (like me) who already had .Net Passport IDs associated with their non-Hotmail mail accounts it was somewhat of an inconvenience.

If you are also suffering from the pains of managing multiple Live IDs then go to https://account.live.com/managelinks.aspx and click the hyperlink 'Link an existing Windows Live ID'. That should take you to a page that looks like the one below.

Just type in your other Live ID and the password for both that ID and the one your are currently logged into... and hit 'Link'. At this point note that currently it allows you to link a maximum of 5 different Live IDs among themselves.

While this feature is super-useful for me, I am still keeping my fingers crossed that the Live IDs team is also looking at taking this to the next level by merging contact lists, favorites, Spaces contents etc. between linked IDs and creating the opportunity to have the true 1-ID feeling for people like me.

As for now, just wanna say kudos to the guys who pushed for this feature. Go team!

Going elite...

2007-10-23T09:31:00.000+05:30

Nothing says elite to me like a sleek black XBox 360 console in the bedroom... specially when it's my bedroom! Yes, my dream set is finally complete! Since yesterday evening I am now a proud owner of a XBox 360 Elite console in addition to my 40" Samsung LCD TV which I had bought sometime back.

...and to top it off, I am told by the Music World representative who delivered the console to my house that I am only the second person in Hyderabad to have bought the Elite console! If I am not mistaken the official launch of the Elite console in India is almost a day away and that makes it even more special to have my arms around my new precious possession.

Note: In the near future if you are trying to contact me and find me unavailable over phone or IM, don't strain your brain cells to guess what I am doing because you are not even remotely as interesting to me right now as my XBox wireless controller!

Sharod shubhechchha... from Hyderabad

2007-10-21T14:36:00.000+05:30

The beats, the scent, the words, the sight… all enamoring with the strange sense of familiarity… a sensual trailer of the place I call home… Kolkata.

It was Navami yesterday and my parents who were in town decided to adventure in the search of Bengali Puja celebrations and needless to say I was dragged along. We were lucky enough to find couple of places where such celebrations were being held but not before a disproportionate amount of confusing detours. From Bengali book stores to Anandabazaar Patrika’s stalls, they were all there. The Bengalis had found a way to curve a niche for themselves in the high-tech city of Hyderabad. It was in a way fascinating to see so many ‘bongs’ congregated within the same precincts... all strangers and yet did not feel so.

It felt nice to rejuvenate the Bengali feeling yesterday but don’t ask my dad because you will end up hearing about it in way more detail than you may have bargained for! ;)

Love Addiction

2007-10-14T21:33:00.000+05:30

My first published book of poems! You can either buy it on Lulu.com or download it for FREE by clicking the "Buy Now" button below. Waiting eagerly to hear your reviews! :)

And watch the following space for my future works!

The Google Welcome!

2007-10-13T11:24:00.000+05:30

Yesterday unexpectedly I found myself wondering in the corridors of the Google Hyderabad office. No I was not kidnapped, I was invited by one of my college mates from Google for their Bring-Your-Friend-To-Work Day! It would have been a real nice gesture if it wasn't so starkly evident that their HR dept. had a big role to play behind the organisation of the event.

Walking into the Google office I became reminiscent of my internship days in Amazon. Overcrowded cubibles... and yet it was different in a way that they all appeared submerged in their own little world. There was a chaotic sense of life that I used to love among the Amazonians that somehow seemed missing here, but may be I wasn't looking hard enough. My bad.

But my biggest disappointment came from the content of the event. Frankly it was a sorry attempt of beat-my-own-drum in the name of explaining the Google culture. Most people who know me also know very well that I have been a Google fanatic for a very long time and yet each time I see someone from Google India representing their culture I find myself looking into the void and wondering if we both are even referring to the same entity! Had the very same experience when a Google representative had come to my college campus during placements and now again yesterday. May be its the "can't talk about the cool things publicly yet" syndrome but honestly, if you are not going to show the cool side of things then save us from the drudgery of the rest as well!

Google HR if you are listening, none of us needed a lecture on data warehousing or backrub. We can read the published papers ourselves if we are interested (and I am and I did long back when I was back in college). You didn't reveal anything that was not common knowledge anyways! Please don't doubt my intelligence by talking about database tables during such an event. If it's not evident already then let me spell it out... talk of things that will get you a WoW from the crowd, not a "Ya, I knew that already!"

I apologize for my cynicism but don't get me wrong. I have lots of respect for Google and it makes me sad to see my favorite rival being under-represented so badly. Frankly all I walked away with yesterday from the event was a strong sense that Google India is NO Google!

Thanks for all the goodies but we could have done without the deliberate "there is life after Microsoft" pitch. Next time you wanna have a HR event please have the courtesy to call it so. Almost every other "friend" seemed to be from Microsoft. Co-incedence? Don't Think so.

<wink>As someone very eloquently summarized on the signature board - "This was a great Microsoft puller event!"</wink>

The Ray of hope...

2007-10-13T10:25:00.000+05:30

Being away from one's soil can have strange effects on fading memories and sense of heritage. In that sense I felt very lucky to bump across some of the great man's work which, even if for just a few moments brought back a fresh wave of childhood memories. If I had to describe Satyajit's work in one word, that would probably be "simplicity".

In a fast moving world of competition it is downright strange to see a man stitching a story of simple people and their simple existences. It may be hard to be simple but we can all take a step back and take pleasure and satisfaction in indulging in his fantasies.

Goopey Gyne Bagha Byne

Goopey Gyne Bagha Byne: Hirok Rajar Deshe

Feluda: Sonar Kella

Agantuk

A good laugh... with Russell Peters

2007-10-02T22:59:00.000+05:30

I must say... This shit is good! ;)

In God's own country...

2007-10-02T21:16:00.000+05:30

It was time for me to take a step in a new direction as I moved at the beginning of this month from the incubation product that was M3 (Microsoft Mobile Media) to a small team in IDC under the big banner of Live Search. All good things must come to an end and so had to the great journey that I had with M3. The first year of my career... the best I could have hoped for. But given that obvious finality the least we could do was to go out with a bang and thats what we did with a gigantum ship party (considering we were a small team working on a V1 prototype)!

The ship party came a little late... almost couple of weeks after I have already been into my new team but it was worth it. Destination Kumarakom in the heart of Kerala... the Venice of India.

At this point I will go against my nature and let the shutter clicks do the describing... after all a picture is worth a thousand words!

On a concluding note, just want to say to everyone continuing with M3 or joining new and to everyone else who are taking up new assignments outside of M3 I wish the best to all of you. Honestly feel I have grown a lot over the last one year from interactions with each and every one of you especially Bill, Bindu, Jim, Apurv, Mayur, Prashanthi, Raghu, RK & Mobina. It was a pleasure and a honor to work alongside each one of you and it has been a very memorable fun-filled journey for me to have you guys more as friends than just colleagues. Hope I will get opportunities to work together with many of you guys again in the near future. Till then adieu!

Pirates of Silicon Valley

2007-09-29T22:28:00.000+05:30

Look what I found on YouTube! :)

What are you reading this weekend?

2007-09-25T23:25:00.000+05:30

When life is on the slow road there is no better friend than a good book. While I have hardly found time in recent times to quench my thirst for a good read, I am on a strict road to amend that. While I gleefully resurrect my old hobby, I also want to leave you fellow bookworms some bread crumbs for consideration...

The Prodigal son returns!

2007-09-25T22:57:00.001+05:30

Almost 7 months back was when I had posted last on this blog. Somehow time has moved too fast and yet too slowly in my life since then and the opportunity to blog has strangely but effectively eluded me till now...

A lot has changed since then and yet almost nothing has really...

Professionaly... I have moved on from my last assignment (Microsoft Mobile Media) to the Live Search India team. People who know me well probably also know that's exactly the project I joined Microsoft to be in and after more than a year in my professional career and one ship cycle experience under my belt (and few other feathers on my cap), I am as happy as I ever can be.

Personally... still in love with the perfect girl of my dreams but wish I would have met her more often over the last six months than what cruel circumstances has actually allowed me.

...And oh! I almost missed telling you people what brought me back to blogging! Believe it or not it was one of the most frustrating experience that I had recently that almost made me quit blogging all together! The guys in charge of Blogspot really screwed up. They first of all blocked my blog as a potential spam blogs (who's writing those bots?) and then happily handed over my blog domain to an actual spam blog! After 2 weeks of frustrating pleading I got my blog space back.

...But what can I say sometimes circumstances make you fight desperately for something so much that you suddenly realise that it was missing from your life... long story short, am back!

...and hopefully it will stay that way.

Changing lanes...

2006-12-06T09:43:00.000+05:30

It was just another drive back to the hotel from office. The bug count was finally getting close to zilch and so we decided to head home early. It was barely a 1km drive back but it turned out to be more eventful than we had bargained for.

It was right before the last crossing to our destination. My colleague who was driving was in the process of changing lanes and trying to make sure of any approaching traffic in his rear view mirror. He looked up and all he had time to say was “Oh, shit!”… and BOOM!

We rammed into the back of a car right in front of us pushing it well over the divider. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt. The lady in front probably got the shock of her life. We were pretty much shook up as well. Both my compatriots came out without a scratch and I ended up with a raspberry lump on my head!

As you can expect every alternate person here in Redmond works for Microsoft and so did the Good Samaritan in the car right behind us. He came to our aid while we were getting out of the car and out of a sense of self preservation making sure that all our corporal extremities were in fact intact.

A prompt call to 911 made sure that we were soon accompanied by the paramedics and little later by the cops. A few more calls to the rental company, a few discussions on Indian food with officer Neese, an hour wait in the cold while things were getting back to order, an unfortunate ride in the ambulance for the lady in the car in front of us (it was merely precautionary) and our ride getting tolled away like war hero effectively signed the day off for all of us.

So just another day in my life and now I stand one lump richer!

Snowfall in Seattle

2006-11-27T06:57:00.000+05:30

I barely kept the phone down in excitement and ran to the balcony door. Shoving the curtain aside I could see through the glass doors that it was true... it was snowing outside!

Tiny white crystals raining down from the heavens shrouding all that was around in a milky layer of the winter. It was snowing - something that I was made to believe is quite rare in this part of the country and that made this even more special. Not a bad birthday gift I guess. May be I did something to overly please Ullr, The Norse God of Snow.

It did not take us long to run outside to catch a better glimpse of the familiar surroundings of the inn - today in all new adornments and apparels of the winter. Our car was covered with snow, and so was the vegetation and buildings around. Even we were covered in snow after a little while outside. All the while, we kept our cameras flashing as it was the first snowfall for both Apurv and me and like two little kids we had our share of fun. We made snowballs and even made our very own small little snowman!

Through the eye of the needle

2006-11-19T09:30:00.000+05:30

You can call it the human spirit of adventure or the human frustration of boredom, but today I found myself with a strong urge of sight seeing around the city that I have been resident in for the last couple of weeks. Even though our first attempt towards Seattle downtown met with an unfortunate “lost the way” conclusion, we were determined to seek out our destiny for the weekend.

So what does 3 Microsoft geeks do when they lose their way on the Redmond to Seattle freeway? Well, they get back to their hotel to check out Live Local for directions of course. I ain’t bragging but that’s exactly what we did. Though the adventurous disposition inside me to advocate that we keep going around till we reach the place, it was Mayur’s sanity that prevailed and after a short delay to check up directions we were on our way to Seattle downtown once more.

This time we were lost again but not as badly as the previous time and finally found ourselves on the bridge over Elliot Bay headed towards Frasier’s town. We could see the Space Needle from miles away and with some human instincts and some dumb common sense we found ourselves at Seattle town center in no time. We were impressed by the Science Fiction museum but could not gather enough courage to lengthen the short trip long enough to accommodate a tour of the inside. Instead we decided to take the lift up the Space Needle. The trip up was quite scenic, watching the rest of the Seattle city as you rise to 520 Feet up into the firmament.

The view from Observation deck was simply superb and I could only imagine what it would feel to have a romantic candle lit luncheon with the special someone at the Sky City restaurant 500 Feet above Seattle city! (Well, may be next time when that special person is also there by my side.)

The rest of the story was downstream (no pun intended). We headed back to Redmond to call it a day but of course we did that only after getting lost one more and landing up first in Lake City and then in Kirkland before we even got back to the right town of Redmond. Ain’t we the Christopher Columbus of the modern day?

Bugs, drizzles & chopsticks - The saga continues...

2006-11-16T15:57:00.000+05:30

The last time I left you guys, it was with stories of bug bashing and Vietnamese cuisines. Well, the story has not really been too very different since then. It has been well over a week since our arrival in Redmond and the weather God still seems to be stubborn about "pouring water over all our plans" - literally. But just as in all other crossroads in your life, if you can nurture the patience and the taste for subtle things then very often you find yourself a witness to the hidden beauties and glories of the Creator’s work. Redmond has been no different. I have quite fallen in love with the silent and peaceful suburbs – The Eden Garden of software industry.

Microsoft in Redmond is not a corporate org. It’s a way of living. Every alternate person on the streets has some relationship with the software giant but then again so does anybody who has ever poked at a keyboard.

This week’s cuisine experimentation has also been biased to the Asian side. But take my word for it; it was way waaaaaaaay out of league of anything I have tasted ever before. If you haven’t guessed it yet, then let me break the news. We hit a sushi bar! Well the experience was not as scary as was with the Vietnamese cuisine but it was distinctive none the less.

This last couple of days has also been quite stressful at work. Being a certified workaholic, I don’t mind the extra work especially when the perks include a ride home in Bill’s Porsche. For my readers who are unacquainted with Bill, he is the guy in the photo standing next to his Red Beast and also the Dev manager who has been on the receiving end of all my doubts last 10 days; and all that with a willing smile and few hilarious anecdotes on the side.

Bugs, drizzles & chopsticks

2006-11-10T12:12:00.000+05:30

What do they all have in common? ...They all form a part of just another day in my life!

Lately I have found myself totally preoccupied bashing bugs (the geeky kind) all day for an upcoming product release within the confines of building 117 of Microsoft HQ. But yesterday we decided to head out to downtown Bellevue and treat ourselves to some Vietnamese delicacies. Drizzling rain and murky weather bedecked the road to our destination.

What the Pho?...

No, no. Don’t get upset now. That’s just where we landed for dinner. Life has many distinctive moments and sitting beside a Vietnamese veteran and trying to enjoy Vietnamese cuisine (or at least trying to) is surely one of them. Needless to say that the combination of Pho Ga and chopsticks was quite a story in itself and yet I credit myself to have creditably passed the test of Vietnamese table manners, at least as novice.

Lately, of course the biggest adventure in my life has been being in the back seat of my colleague’s car. Before your imagination gets a flight license, I must clarify that all the excitement ensues from the couple of fact that this is the first time he is driving on the right hand side of the road and also because his driving is not exactly what you call as a confidence builder. So it’s a little bit of a prayer, slight hunger for adventure and the rest just plain and simple lack of options!

First steps into the new World!

2006-11-06T12:01:00.000+05:30

People who know me can surely testify to my love of traveling and meeting new people among other things. So it is not strange that you find me in an oddly excited frame of mind today. Yesterday I crowned Amsterdam as the first overseas place to be rewarded by my presence and though the short stoppage in between flights did restrained any chances of me having a look around the city; it was none the less a happy landmark in my life.

Between strict security checks and transient scares of flight officials having lost my baggage, I landed at Seattle airport close to noon local time. It was pretty amazing to see an airport requiring its own subway but what was more astounding was how my presumptions about the looks of Seattle city was invalidate by the reality. The city (or at least the parts that I have seen till now) is what we will call in India as open spaces pigmented with human habitation. We were warned earlier about the unvarying rainy weather which might welcome us and the city stood true to the words of it people. It was also quite strange to see the weather being pretty pleasant instead of freezing cold for which I (and my colleagues, Apurv and Mayur) had come prepared for.

In the last couple of days, Seattle has already shown us its true identity as a cultural hub for all its heterogeneous population. We were quite lucky to witness some remarkable displays representing different facets of the globe as part of an on-going celebration of cultural extravaganza. From African indigenous drums to Irish tap dancing. We have seen it all and all within the confines of a single shopping mall!

World Usability Day 2006

2006-10-30T08:26:00.000+05:30

Corporate Athazagoraphobia

2006-10-26T23:29:00.000+05:30

Becoming a household name may be the ultimate honor... Or maybe it is to find a place in the Merriam-Webster dictionary which takes the real cherry. Either ways the silver lining may not be as adequate as we may expect in covering up the stormy clouds or the wrinkled foreheads that come along with the trophy.

Remember XEROX, The so-proclaimed cradle of innovation once upon a time? Almost all of today’s generation will only identify the name synonymous with the photocopier machine. Long forgotten is the innovation of the first GUI computer that walked out of the XEROX labs decades ago. And yet being synonymous does not guarantee them the dominator status in the business that someone like Canon is enjoying.

The parish of Mountain View seems to have been affected by the paranoia of the very same fate. Seemingly the followers of Brin and Page don’t quite relish their users googling on Live.com or Yahoo.com. Yesterday through their official blog Google took a definite diplomatic stand on the issue in clearing the legal precipitate of the overuse of their brand as a common verb.

Usage: 'Google' as noun referring to, well, us.
Example: "I just love Google, they're soooo cute and cuddly and adorable and awesome!"
Our lawyers say: Good. Very, very good. There's no question here that you're referring to Google Inc. as a company. Use it widely, and hey, tell a friend.

Usage: 'Google' as verb referring to searching for information on, um, Google.
Example: "I googled him on the well-known website Google.com and he seems pretty interesting."
Our lawyers say: Well, we're happy at least that it's clear you mean searching on Google.com. As our friends at Merriam-Webster note, to "Google" means "to use the Google search engine to find information about (as a person) on the World Wide Web."

Usage: 'Google' as verb referring to searching for information via any conduit other than Google.
Example: "I googled him on Yahoo and he seems pretty interesting."
Our lawyers say: Bad. Very, very bad. You can only "Google" on the Google search engine. If you absolutely must use one of our competitors, please feel free to "search" on Yahoo or any other search engine.

Will the weight of legal correctness dawdle the viral marketing that the Search giant has enjoyed for almost a decade? Or are they just afraid to become a mere verb in the story of the Web!

Splitting hairs... splitting communitites!

2006-10-26T10:09:00.000+05:30

If you are one of those Open Source fanatics then you are probably wondering whether this is your teenage or mid-life crisis which is leaving you so confused nowadays. After all who ever thought that the biggest threat to Open Source and LINUX in 2006 will come not from outside (read Microsoft) but rather from the inside!

Well, Yes! Daniel Lyons recently covered a story on Forbes about how Richard Stallman, the eccentric anticorporate crusader and the protagonist in the story of Free Software Foundation, is now planning to wage a new crusade that could possibly end up toppling the revolution (read Open Source) he helped create.

He aims to impose new restrictions on IBM and any other tech firm that distributes software using even a single line of Linux code. They would be forbidden from using Linux software to block users from infringing on copyright and intellectual-property rights ("digital rights management"); and they would be barred from suing over alleged patent infringements related to Linux... Stallman hopes to use that licensing power to slap the new restraints on the big tech vendors he so reviles. At worst it could split the Linux movement in two--one set of suppliers and customers deploying an older Linux version under the easier rules and a second world using a newer version governed by the new restrictions. That would threaten billions of dollars in Linux investment by customers and vendors alike.

Even Linus Torvalds, founder of LINUX, has rejected this new push from Stallman and vows to stick with GPL V2. Others such as Simon Lok, chief of Lok Technology in San Jose, California have been a little more vocal about the issue.

"I said, 'One day these jackasses will do something extreme, and it's going to kill us.' Now it's coming to fruition," Lok says. "Some of this stuff is just madness. These guys are fanatics." He adds: "Who do these people think they are?"

Richard Stallman is not your every day pragmatic software developer. His eccentricities make him as much a legend as his contribution to Open Source.

He is corpulent and slovenly, with long, scraggly hair, strands of which he has been known to pluck out and toss into a bowl of soup he is eating. His own Web site (www.stallman.org) says Stallman engages in what he calls "rhinophytophilia" -- "nasal sex" (also his term) with flowers; he brags of offending a bunch of techies from Texas Instruments by plunging his schnoz into a bouquet at dinner and inviting them to do the same.

Well, considering everything this is surely confusing times for the Open Source band wagon but Daniel may be adding a bit too much spice in his dramatic conclusion of story.

And a big loser, eventually, could be Stallman himself. If he relents now, he likely would be branded a sellout by his hard-core followers, who might abandon him. If he stands his ground, customers and tech firms may suffer for a few years but ultimately could find a way to work around him. Either way, Stallman risks becoming irrelevant, a strange footnote in the history of computing: a radical hacker who went on a kamikaze mission against his own program and went down in flames, albeit after causing great turmoil for the people around him.

If this wasn't enough then in another story Oracle's Chief Executive Larry Ellison announced on Wednesday at the Oracle OpenWorld conference that they will now provide complete support for Red Hat LINUX to the customers.

"We will backport your bug fixes" to earlier Linux versions, he said. "We will indemnify you from intellectual property problems. And our support costs way less than half of what Red Hat charges," Ellison said.

But the LINUX community is not taking this move from this Redwood Shores, California -based software company so naively. It has already been vehemently criticized on LINUX Watch where Unbreakable LINUX was dubbed as a nothig more than a cheap shot being fired at Red Hat.

In short, this move hurts Red Hat a lot. In fact, I think Red Hat would have been better off if Oracle had started its own Linux, or bought Ubuntu or some other company. In either case, Oracle would have had to fight to win Linux market share even from its own customers. With this move, Oracle simply rips off Red Hat's mind-share, while promising a cheaper price... By doing this, Oracle not only wounds Red Hat, it serves notice to all the Linux businesses -- Novell, Mandriva, Linspire, etc. -- that a giant company can come along, and sweep their work and business plan away from them in a minute.

And finally to add the crimson cherry on top here is a little story that not many Open Source fanatics may be aware of. Microsoft has recently been active in building their own Open Source lab under the name of Port 25!

Look who's coming to town!

2006-10-24T08:48:00.000+05:30

Passion personified!

2006-10-24T08:42:00.000+05:30

Just thought of posting the popular video of Steve Ballmer performing the Monkeyboy Dance on Microsoft's 25th Anniversary. If you haven't seen it yet, you are gonna love it!

MS Ipod Parody

2006-10-23T22:31:00.000+05:30

Ever wondered what would have happened if Microsoft had designed the Ipod? Here's a little piece answering exactly that for you.

My Johari Window

2006-10-23T08:39:00.000+05:30

Arena

(known to self and others)

caring, confident, helpful, logical

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

able, accepting, bold, brave, cheerful, clever, dependable, energetic, extroverted, friendly, independent, ingenious, intelligent, kind, knowledgeable, loving, mature, modest, observant, organised, patient, proud, reflective, self-assertive, sensible, sentimental, silly, spontaneous, sympathetic, trustworthy, witty

Façade

(known only to self)

idealistic, introverted

Unknown

(known to nobody)

adaptable, calm, complex, dignified, giving, happy, nervous, powerful, quiet, relaxed, religious, responsive, searching, self-conscious, shy, tense, warm, wise

Dominant Traits

53% of people think that prodigal_prodigy13 is intelligent

All Percentages

able (7%) accepting (7%) adaptable (0%) bold (7%) brave (7%) calm (0%) caring (38%) cheerful (7%) clever (7%) complex (0%) confident (46%) dependable (7%) dignified (0%) energetic (23%) extroverted (23%) friendly (38%) giving (0%) happy (0%) helpful (30%) idealistic (0%) independent (38%) ingenious (7%) intelligent (53%) introverted (0%) kind (7%) knowledgeable (38%) logical (15%) loving (7%) mature (7%) modest (7%) nervous (0%) observant (7%) organised (7%) patient (7%) powerful (0%) proud (23%) quiet (0%) reflective (7%) relaxed (0%) religious (0%) responsive (0%) searching (0%) self-assertive (15%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (7%) sentimental (7%) shy (0%) silly (7%) spontaneous (7%) sympathetic (7%) tense (0%) trustworthy (46%) warm (0%) wise (0%) witty (7%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 17.11.2006, using data from 13 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view prodigal_prodigy13's full data.

Search results.. and a babe on the side!!!

2006-10-17T07:42:00.000+05:30

Huh! What the??? ...Well Yeah thats what you will be staring at if you decide to pay a visit to Ms. Dewey's (played by the hot Janina Gavankar) Web search engine. It may not be quite the "next-age" search engine but the actual interactivity is quite entertaining to say the least. Check out her reactions to different search queries such as,

Microsoft

Google

fastest bittorrent client

gmail

So how does this match up with other search engines such as Google, Live.com or Yahoo search? How the hell do I know? You really think I was even looking at the search results?

So use your imaginations and get typing... and stop getting naughty with your search queries! :D

Popping the BIG Question!

2006-10-16T10:44:00.001+05:30

We, men spend most of our lives hiding behind a wall of macho-ness putting up a façade of strength and conviction only to dexterously hide from the rest of the world the inherent want to be taken care of and the pride and completeness that we feel when the special someone rests her head on our shoulders and forgets everything else putting unconceivable trust in our capacity to protect her from all that’s bad in this world. But in every man’s life comes a day when he leaves behind all that self-pompous arrogance and gets down on his knees looking up into those perfect set of eyes, holding her hands with the intent of never letting go and says the four magical (and yet for most guys just as scary) words that most girls spend their first 20 years fascinating about. For the lady it’s a very special day but even though the guy may tell you later with a straight face that “it’s no big deal” for him, you can bet that it is. For it is the day that we lay down our guards and leave ourselves vulnerable only to find that special someone to share the rest of our lives with.

14th of October, 2006. The place - room number 314, Aashraya International Hotel. I had my special lady sitting right in front of me, eyes shut (on my request) wondering what I was up to. It was then that I got down on my knees and asked her to open her eyes holding out the ring all the while that I so ineptly had shopped the previous week. It was not the first time that I had queried her with a confirmation of our plans for the future but this time it was different, and I intended it to be. For those who spent the last couple of years agonizingly by our side can hold testimony of all that went wrong in our lives bleaking out all that did go right, or even great; and probably that’s what made it even more special. This day was coming and shouldn’t have been a surprise for either of us but for that couple of seconds we both had moist eyes and a lump struck in our throats leaving us speechless. A simple smile contrasting the pair of humid eyes and a subtle nod prompted me to slip the ring on to her finger.

And there it was. Two silly little souls proclaiming their love for each other and pledging to never let go, not just in this life but in lives to come. I love her, I really do. From the shy kid putting up a show to impress his partner in EC lab and doing whatever necessary to catch a minuscule fragment of her attention to a man 3 years later down on his knees pledging his undivided love - it has been a journey. A long road and for most part not an easy one, but there is no treasure in this world that will take away those memories from me; for those were the days when Scooby met Kitty.

I love you sweetheart. May God give me all the strength necessary to fulfill all your dreams.

Passion!

2006-10-13T10:02:00.000+05:30

My association with Microsoft Student Partner community is not really a big secret. Many people till date tell me that I might no longer be a student but I am still a Microsoft Student Ambassador at heart.

At the beginning of this month I had the rare privilege of catching up with my band of brothers from down south Bangalore and Chennai at the All India Microsoft Student Partner Meet, 2006 in Hyderabad. It was moment of reminiscence as I met up with people who have been an integral part of my life in the last couple of years. To me they are not a community; they are a fraternity… my own family.

It was also the first time that most of the gang who spent almost a fortnight together on the road with the Band Wagon congregated together and that brought back some pretty sweet memories as well.

The occasion was also marked by acknowledgement of the over-achievers in the community and the icons of BDotNetStudent (Sunil and Sharath) won the Most Technical Student Partner award while the Chennai giant (Reza) bagged the recognition for the Best Student Partner. BDotNetStudent won the honor of The Most Technical .Net Student User Group in India.

Innov8 and More!

2006-10-13T08:53:00.000+05:30

Last August we celebrated our 8th anniversary of our India Development Center in Hyderabad. This came not long after we became a 1000+ member family here in IDC. The festivities were hosted at the Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC). All employees graced this celebration of innovation with their families and friends.

Over the whole evening Microsoft employees found themselves rolling with laughter with the performance from Veer Das and dancing to the tunes of Euphoria. But Microsoft never believes in complete outsourcing of its entertainment. Therefore many of the senior and fresher members of the organization found themselves on stage performing to the delight of the crowd.

In particular, a skit portraying (quite comically, I must add) Microsoft's recent recruitment drive added the much enjoyable bursts of laughter to the whole festivity.

Euphoria’s performance was the highlight of the day. Singing from their original labels to Bon Jovi’s “It’s my life” they set the crowd cheering on the dance floor.

A formal dinner and couple of well crowded bars were the other mentionables from the party. The party ran well into the night as the audience showed that they can party as well as they can ship products.

Cheers to all innovators! See you guys next year!

Agile Microsoft

2006-10-04T09:34:00.000+05:30

Lonely at the top!

2006-10-04T08:24:00.000+05:30

Whether you are an out of the box end user or out of the World Geek, chances are that in your life time more than once some presumptuous jack would have walked up to you and flaunted his geekiness by sharing his view on the insecurity and poor design of Windows operating system. Well you can’t blame them. In the modern world mud slinging is as much a part of being “cool” as the $200 Ray-Ban sunglasses you bought last month.

Unfortunately the ludicrousity does not end there. Microsoft realised long back that such dogma can’t be fought with words but only with hard results. This lead them to invest a huge amount of their sweat and soul into the security feature of Windows Vista only so that the weak-hearted end users can sleep peacefully at night… And there lies the twist in the tale.

While they were inspired by the dream of building a more secure and reliable operating system they forgot that there are many people out there (and I don’t mean cyber criminals) who make their living exploiting any weakness that Windows previously had. Yes you guessed it right! Its the anti-virus software makers like Symantec and McAfee who have lost their sleep now. Strangely enough fierce competitors like George Samenuk (CEO, McAfee) and John Thompson (CEO, Symantec) found themselves on the same page as McAfee placed a full-page ad in the Financial Times to run an open letter against Microsoft, saying the software giant is abusing monopoly power to promote its own line of security products and it did not take Symantec long to join in on the band wagon.

Chris Paden, a spokesman for Symantec, bluntly proclaimed that "The M.O. of Microsoft is to prevent innovation from being able to happen, dumb down the environment, and then create solutions on their own."

Poor Microsoft! The price they pay for caring for its customers and for being good at what they do.

The X-Factor!

2006-09-28T00:26:00.000+05:30

Microsoft's Xbox 360 finally launched in India amidst a lot of excitement and anticipation on Saturday in Delhi. The event was flagged off by Peter Moore, Corporate Vice President, accompanied by the console's Indian brand ambassadors, Akshay Kumar and Yuvraj Singh.

A one-trick pony?

2006-09-27T23:02:00.000+05:30

Adam Lashinsky in his recent article "Chaos by design" in Fortune magazine has less than brutally vindicted the Search giant Google as an organisation where "a million-dollar mistake earns a pat on the back" and has vented his doubts on whether such "off-the-wall culture" and “edgy management style” will allow the juvenile corpporate to find a “follow up act”. Even though recently I have had my own misgivings on the acquisition spree that the big G has been pursuing, I am not quite convinced that their acceptance of chaos is without some form of geeky chivalry. I can probably identify my reactions on this with those that plague me everytime I hear some jack from the road sneer about how affinity to open source is a benevolent quality and how corporates like Microsoft are dubbing human creativity and freedom.

I have tremendous respect for both Microsoft (I wouldn’t be here otherwise) and Google (I wouldn’t wanna compete with them otherwise) and often find myself laughing at every Tom, Dick and Harry who decide to take a stab at either of the above. Personally I feel Microsoft is probably today a much better innovator because of the shoulder rubbing competition from the gangs of Mountain View.

I don’t shun Google because I believe you earn respect only by vanquishing the greatest of adversaries and for that at least I hope Google does well before the hunt really begins.

Just a few fans!

2006-09-25T19:33:00.000+05:30

Special Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this image are NOT my own and DON'T at all represent that of my employer.

Agile or CMMI?... Configurable in Visual Studio!

2006-09-24T13:53:00.000+05:30

Don't be shocked! That's the new face of technology support for software development processes. If you are a manager or dev lead who has been stretching your vocal cords a little too much recently to bring some order amongst the chaos that is ensuing in your project development then you should probably take a little time to look into the many offerings of Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite.

Visual Studio Team System helps organizations better manage application delivery by providing an integrated software change management platform and real-time reporting of key performance and quality metrics. A customizable template for development process is just one of the many offerings of this product. The fact that the tool integrates project management experience and activities seamlessly with project development and testing and also reflects the management decisions into actions at the later end is probably what makes this large scale solution unique in the market.

Note: In case you are waiting for a similar solution to manage your family life as well then leave me a comment and I will surely remember to pitch in that idea to the board members in the next company meetting...

Group hug!

2006-09-22T14:39:00.000+05:30

Thats what Yahoo! Messenger site is calling the alliance of two of the biggest giants in the software business. Now you can view all of your friends on your Yahoo! buddy list from Live messenger and vice versa. Currently I have not seen an option for directly importing all my contacts from one service to the other. It requires me to manually add my buddies but I won't be shocked if this is just a sign of things to come. To make this union successful I would expect both the Live messenger team and the Yahoo! messenger team to be looking at a much closer integration of their services. For now it is upto the users to enjoy the beta and wait for innovations that are headed their way.

The end of the question mark!

2006-08-30T08:04:00.000+05:30

In the modern times of conflict between the biggest software giants (such as Microsoft, Google or Yahoo) over the online services business model a new trend has been observed to be emerging in the domain of Information Retrieval. This has been documented with a nice amount of quip in the book “The End of the Question Mark” that deliberates specifically over the “Any Questions Answered” SMS service.

Are we moving towards an era of more value added services that concentrate on the accuracy of results over spontaneity – a trait that caught our imaginations 3-4 years back in the form of web search engines which are now but plagued by terabytes of unmanageable indexes? Or is this “trend” naught but a question of "Me too” that all software giants so conveniently find themselves accused of nowadays? We probably won’t know because remember “dead questions tell no tale!”

Writing solid code

2006-08-28T10:03:00.000+05:30

Well my cubicle was looking kinda bare and I felt it desired more of a personal touch. So what does a geek like me do to embellish his workplace? Well first he prints pages crammed with doctrines on writing bug free code (read “Writing solid code” by Steve Maguire) and then pins them up on the walls of his 5 x 4 square feet kingdom!

For the really geeky ones here is the extensive literature that currently graphitize my cubicle.

Enable all optional compiler warnings.

Use lint to catch bugs that your compiler may miss.

If you have unit tests, use them.

Maintain both ship and debug versions of your program.

Use assertions to validate function arguments.

Strip undefined behavior from your code, or use assertions to catch illegal use of undefined behavior.

Don’t waste people’s time. Document unclear assertions.

Either remove implicit assumptions, or assert that they are valid.

Use assertions to detect impossible conditions.

Don’t hide bugs when you program defensively.

Use a second algorithm to validate your results.

Don’t wait for bugs to happen; use startup checks.

Eliminate random behavior. Force bugs to be reproducible.

Destroy your garbage so that it’s not misused.

If something happens rarely, force it to happen often.

Keep debug information to allow stronger error checking.

Create thorough subsystem checks, and use them often.

Design your tests carefully. Nothing should be arbitrary.

Strive to implement transparent integrity checks.

Don’t apply ship version constraints to the debug version. Trade size and speed for error detection.

Don’t wait until you have a bug to step through your code.

Step through every code path.

As you step through code, focus on data flow.

Source level debuggers can hide execution details. Step through critical code at the instruction level.

Make it hard to ignore error conditions. Don’t bury error codes in return values.

Always look for and eliminate flaws in your interfaces.

Don’t write multipurpose functions. Write separate functions to allow stronger argument validation.

Don’t be wishy-washy. Define explicit function arguments.

Write functions that, given valid inputs, cannot fail.

Make the code intelligible at the point of call.

Avoid Boolean arguments.

Write comments that emphasize potential hazards.

Use well-defined data types.

Always ask, “Can this variable or expression over- or underflow?”

Implement your designs as accurately as possible. Being kinda close is being kinda buggy.

Implement “the task” once.

Get rid of extraneous if statements.

Avoid using nested ?: operators.

Handle your special cases just once.

Avoid risky language idioms.

Avoid calling functions that return errors.

Don’t reference memory that you don’t own.

Don’t reference memory that you have freed.

Don’t use output memory as workspace buffers.

Don’t pass data in static (or global) memory.

Don’t write parasitic functions.

Don’t abuse your programming language.

Tight C does not guarantee efficient machine code.

Write code for the “average” programmer.

Bugs don’t just “go away.”

Don’t fix bugs later; fix them now.

Fix the cause, not the symptom.

Don’t clean up code unless the clean-up is critical to the product’s success.

Don’t implement non-strategic features.

There are no free features.

Don’t allow unnecessary flexibility.

Don’t keep “trying” solutions until you find one that works. Take the time to find the correct solution.

Write and test code in small chunks.

Always test your code, even if that means your schedule will slip.

Don’t rely on the testing group to find your bugs.

Don’t blame the testers for finding your bugs.

Establish your priorities and stick to them.

Never allow the same bug to bite you twice.

The power of "Options"

2006-08-28T10:01:00.000+05:30

Consider this as a thought experiment. Imagine there are two stalls in your office/college cafeteria. One gives you a variety of delicacies to choose from each day. The other stall is quite special. Behind the stained curtains of the kitchen is located a SPARC supercomputer that analyses your brain wave emissions each day and only servers you the dish that you would choose anyways. Of course you being the lab rat are quite ignorant of this behind-the-scene arrangement. Now ask yourself honestly which stall are you likely to visit more frequently over a considerable period of time?

If you are any similar to the million of Homo sapiens that I have ever interacted with then you would probably head out to the stall that gives you the option of choosing everyday. Wasn’t that at the fundamental core of the movie Matrix? Yes, it was and it’s neither something new nor science fiction. We humans have always felt an inherent urge to enjoy the freedom of choice. That above all is what defines for most of us freedom from captivity.

It is that humane want that makes us stand up against monopoly, rules, traditions and quite often anything sensible. The outcome is also quite disparate ranging from tattooed pierced faces in the crowds to open source enthusiasts.

Hmmm… quite thought provoking isn’t it? Well the discussion started with options at the canteen and I must say the angel of starvation is raising a hell storm in my stomach. So catch u again after I have exercised my right to choose a plate of ghee soaked paneer paratha over a Chinese platter!

In the temple of the Geek Gods!

2006-08-28T08:39:00.000+05:30

...and they lived happily ever after.

Those six words embody the unconditional pinnacle of all materialistic aspirations of human lives for centuries since the most primitive instant reminiscent in the pantheon of human history and imagination above and beyond all forms of bigot divisions. We all aspire to attain the unattainable dream and en route plummet into the paradox of sacrificing all the happiness and comforts we possess for that which will always remain in the eternally evading future.

Don’t misinterpret me. I am not claiming to be impervious to the calls of this sea nymph. On the contrary I did just that for the last 2 years or so. Chasing an unachievable mark and sacrificing every ounce of happiness and corporeal vigor in my pursuits - experiencing both Poseidon’s wrath and Phoebus’ warmth – the woe and the ecstasy; and it all led up to this.

24th July, 2006. The day my pilgrimage finally ended through eventful means. The day I stepped onto the 2.6 lakh sq. ft of holy grounds that has so far been graced by thousands of demi-Gods from the Silicon constellation and now I was about to become a part of that saga!

Microsoft India Development Center (or IDC as we popularly called it), Hyderabad. The paradise I have always sought. Not to be accused of hypocrisy I do confess of having been swayed over the years by the darker temptations emanating from the Netherworlds – the foe behind the masquerade of white shroud adorned with one text box and two buttons… and don’t be fooled; the Devil always says I “do no evil”.

But now that my heart is in the right place I see the light and redemption. I see the journey that lies ahead of me. A life of adventure and success, war and meditation – a life where my passion shall finally meet the potential. The time is now for me to raise the bar and step forward to grasp my destiny and achieve that for which solely I was born.

But in this moment of joy I shall not forget those companions who stood by me all the way; their comradeship and sacrifice; and unto them I say, “Thank you”.

The trouble when Jane becomes Jack

2006-08-24T19:36:00.000+05:30

Silent portrait of wilting glow
Of motley fools who inhabit
Unseen depths of my being;
Limbering strings of me, The Puppet.
Save them, I am but a carcass.

Of motley fools who inhabit
Both spirit and wits,
Essence of the innocent child and
Yellow peevish guilts,
Story it is of them, my souls.

Both spirit and wits
I forego for reasons that I lack.
Reality knows not the snag,
The trouble when Jane becomes Jack.
Here my conscience’s separation meet.

I forego for reasons that I lack
Divisions that I have known so long.
Yesterday even fluttering Jane did despise
Lies of Jack who does belong
Life long with her in my cadaver.

Divisions that I have known so long;
Erstwhile one tempting evil black
And the other a naïve conscience;
The trouble when Jane becomes Jack
Here I today do witness.

I wrote the above piece for a Microsoft internal Writer's (Tuesday) workout using the Chagall piece, "La Promenade" (see image above) for inspiration.

For a little tork action, we were also asked to start with one of two titles, below
(taken from newspaper headlines).

1. The Trouble When Jane Becomes Jack
2. Truck Crashes in Texas, Spilling Moody Animals

Couple fun tricks added to that:
1. Write a series of five lines and begin each set of fivers with the SECOND line of the previous five. A braid of sorts.
2. Write an acrostic (see poem below). Take a word, like FLOATING and line those letters up vertically as the first letters of each line.

Acrostic example

Fire behind the city
Lint on his suit and what an
Oaf he can't hold me for long....
A
T

Acrostic: Outhouse

Once this homestead held many children,
uncles and great-uncles, delicate and stooping aunts
tatting lace all day, needles replacing
husbands who disappeared into Bayonet Woods, never returning,
obsession becoming gems of fine knots
until their men thread wholly into white roses,
sadly filigreed, as the wild roses
edging the outhouse are eaten by beetles.

Home away from home

2006-04-17T05:38:00.000+05:30

As the day closes near to bid adieu to the place I have learnt to call home over the last 4 years I look back and try recollecting all those sweet memories that binds me to this modern day gurukul.

People's Education Society

PES Institute of Technology

Exhibiting Innovation

2006-04-15T23:25:00.000+05:30

A definitive program that helps you get closer to the future, Microsoft Academic Projects gives you the opportunity to work on your projects with cutting edge tools- Next Generation Microsoft Technologies that are used by software professionals across the globe. The mission of the Microsoft Academic Projects Program is to inspire dynamic academic institutions in India to innovate, solve key computing challenges with industry, and provide unparalleled experiences and opportunities to their faculty and students. Under this annual program, students get a chance to execute projects, as part of their academic curriculum, using the next generation Microsoft technologies that make them ready for the professional world when they step into it. The program will be a learning session beyond compare.

And guess what? We made it to the top 7 teams. YUUPPIIEEE!!!...

Here are a few snaps of the whole team. Three CHEERS to all!!!

We also presented a research paper on our project at The First National Conference on Unstructured Data Management (UDM-India) in June, 2006.

A protest against the decree of God!

2006-04-15T20:24:00.000+05:30

12th April 2006. Bangalore was met by the heartrending news of the demise of the acting legend of Kannada film industry (Sandalwood), Mutturaju Singanalluru Puttaswamayya, popularly known among his fans as Dr. Rajkumar. Yet in this moment of grief what rose above all was the mind-boggling manner in which the news was met by 6 million Bangaloreans.

As the news pervaded into every single home over the wire through television sets and over FM Radio, Bangalore strangely found itself choking in an atmosphere permeated with smoke from burning tires and nightmarish visions of road side vandalisms. The city dressed itself in charred remains of burnt tires and glass pieces as it got ready to bid its very last farewell to the acting legend. To a person resident in this city only for the last 4 years this was not only beyond comprehension but outright criminal. Petrol pumps were set on fire and public transports stoned to stagnancy. All stores shuttered down and people ran home "shit-scared" in the middle of the afternoon. I saw no remorse in most of the participants who seemingly had found just another excuse for open drunken revelry on the streets to feed their ever ravenous hunger for sadistic destruction of public property. Auto drivers refused to turn the meters in reverence to the great man but agreed to 4 times the fare for any tad of service. Honest remorse was as rare among the contributors as was evidently any signs of culture or civilization.

The day closed in dismal silence and I was still to understand what inspired such out burst among people and just when I thought the worst was over I was starkly proven wrong as the next day came with its own share of unbelivable happenings. On 13th of April Bangaloreans witnessed mob violence of the worst kind. Buses were lit on fire. Public property damaged. Building stoned down. When the ill-armed police tried to discipline the angry mob the frenzy broke into animalistic hunt for the long arm of the law. The "long arm" looked evidently shortened as police officials were beaten around street corners and even people from the media faced the same consequences. 8 people lost their lives over what was supposed to be homage paid to anther late persona.

I might be ignorant of some key piece of Karnataka's history or the political picture but still having hailed from the city of Kolkata where I have witnessed tragic but civilized farewell being bid to multiple persona in the rank of Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa and Satyajit Ray, winner of the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, I would still stand in disgrace of the ridiculously vulgar demonstration of the day. The day would probably stand as one rare black mark in the otherwise bravura that was the life of Dr. Rajkumar. As the sun rises again Bangalore shall awake to realize the real loss of not only a great man but also that of Bangalore's administrative infrastructure and most importantly the face of the tech Hub of the nation in front of the rest of the world.

But as I started to belive that at least now the incongruities of the week has passed I was proved wrong again! The transformation from rioting rampages to just another day in the lives of Bangalore's software professionals is probably no less inexplicable as was the break out of mob violence yesterday. The city residents woke up on this Saturday as if from a bad dream with no more than vague recollections of what took place less than 12 hours ago. BMTC buses and autos are back on the streets and so is every single working citizen. The happening of yesterday seems to have left no more of an impression than any other action flicks on the big screen. It hardly seems any administrative authority is going to lose their hair over this matter, at least not until there is a sure possibility of yet another such incident.

Is Bangalore going to move on like nothing ever happened? Has the price of six innocent lives come down so far down the ladder of Indian economy? Or have the keyboard bashing software professionals of this city been numbed solely into the world of the Internet where physical emotions and losses no longer hold any real worth?

May the following videos (Source: CNN IBN Live @ http://www.ibnlive.com/) stay as subtle reminders of something that should neither be forgotten nor forgiven.

Mob violence overtakes the Garden City

Hospitals flooded in bangalore

Check out the following posts on MetroBlog Bangaloree. Both of them have instigated a series of thorough discussions. Feel free to participate.

One death stalls six million Lives

The day after tomorrow

Bangalore Live!

2006-04-04T07:53:00.000+05:30

Bangalore is Live! on the Metroblogging network. Three cheers to to the Metblogs team and Sean in particular.

What is Metroblogging?

With almost 40 active sites, Metroblogging is the largest and fastest growing network of city-specific blogs on the Web. From San Francisco to Bangkok, from Karachi to Toronto, Metblogs are a hyper-local look at what's going on in the city. Our hand-picked core of regional bloggers give each site a new perspective on daily life; less calendar listings, more friendly advice. With Metblogs, you can read about life and times in your neighborhood, your favorite places to visit, places where you've never been, or get a feel for them all with the daily "best of" blog on the hub at metroblogging.com.

There's also a Wikipedia article on Metroblogging with a lot of info.

I just posted my first article on the site. Check it out and be sure to leave me some comments. Anyone else interested in authoring on the site rush to here.

Three times a charm!

2006-03-22T21:42:00.000+05:30

In the last couple of years my life has taken so many twists and turns that it is rumored to have been the primary inspiration behind Wonder La (for the uninitiated it’s a water park @ Bangalore). The loudest mouths on this ride have been that of the Doubting Thomasses. Notwithstanding their obvious freedom of speech I still wish someone would have preached to them the significance of silence in social chemistry.

But today that shroud of doubts has finally risen (or at least I hope so) as I celebrate the attainment of an offer from Trilogy with couple more possibilities (Hewlett-Packard and Amazon) waiting in the background. Is this finally the end of the Summer of Woe?

Being eXtreme

2006-03-19T22:13:00.000+05:30

My first encounter with adventure sports! :)

Meter down.. down down.. underground!!

2006-03-16T22:30:00.000+05:30

A bag full of laughter and entertainment is how I would describe it but unfortunately it was not credited to the movie but rather at the cost of the movie! Having created a pre-release buzz at the box office as one of the fellow protagonists responsible for the New Age Bollywood Renaissance along with the likes of Rang de Basanti and Darna mana hai, it bestowed the audience with the curiosity on whether the Movie was inspired by Changing lanes or was made to be just a spoof of the same.

The presentation of the novel story line (it was novel in Changing lanes, not here) was in a form worst imaginable. While Nana Patekar continued to charm the audience with his performance, the audience had a tricky time choosing between the Taxi and the photo of late father of Jai Mittal (John Abraham) for the next best acting performance. The performance was found to be disastrous almost through out the movie. John Abraham was found wanting in a scene where all he had to do was to stand and stare at the firmament above!

I wish I had better expressions in favor of this piece but unfortunately I have none. All I can say is that if I was Milan Luthria then I would take an example from the movie and be 9 2 11 (Nau Do Gyarah) by now!

SPLASH!!!!

2006-03-15T20:22:00.000+05:30

Corporate conservatism. Occupational demands. Chain of command. All went down the drain with the stream of rangoli that so easily permeated into the house of the corporate culture. Not being a big fan of the particular festivity myself, I found myself in an attempt to remain inconspicuous enough to get Hollow Man envious of my triumphant endeavors.

Within hours the shroud of conceal switched sides as the colors that never had any place in human features found its way onto the faces and bodies of scores of Amazonians. The festivity continued as the crowd journeyed like devoted pilgrims from cubicle to cubicle spreading the colors and the joy of Holi.

An hour or two passed like ages for the down-to-earth soul, yours truly, nurturing a lingering dream of going home clean. In this while the waft of happiness that is Holi came and touched both me and my white t-shirt at least three times but it was humbling compared to the work of art that was shaping up elsewhere on other human canvases. More than two hours of revelry and frolic finally came to conclusion as appetite slowly emerged to influence over all homo sapient bellies and the sun dawned over another exciting day at the Amazonian jungle.

Google admits to evil!

2006-03-05T09:05:00.000+05:30

Shocked? stunned? dazed?

Dont be. Simply run a Google search on - "evil people throughout time". (without the quotes)

Better still use the 'I'm feeling Lucky' Button!!

Sexiest Geek Alive

2006-03-05T08:02:00.000+05:30

I came across this bit of trivia when I was on the hunt for a research paper for a "studpid" presentation in college for my final semester (I called it stupid because my college refused to allow me to present a paper that I was currently working on and insisted that I presented someone else's paper!!!). The paper I finally selected was titled "Evaluating Similarity Measures: A LargeScale Study in the Orkut Social Network" by Ellen Spertus, Mehran Sahami and Orkut Buyukkokten. My reason for choosing this particular paper was that I am interested in identifying common interest surfers on the Net (exactly what my research topic was for the paper I have been working on) but that's another story.

So I wrote to all the authors asking for permission. UnintentionallyI made the mistake of using a generic "Sir" to address the authors (the blame probably goes to my lack of familiarity with western names and unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened with me). I received a prompt, generous and one-line reply.

You may present the paper, although I (the first author) am a "madame", not "sir".

There was something in that single line of text that caught my attention and so besides writing back apologising for my mistake and also thanking her for my permission I also decided to google a little more about her and WALLAH!!!... I came across the "Sexiest Geek Alive"!!

What made this associate professor of computer science and part-time software engineer at Google "The Sexiest Geek Alive"? Check out this story on Ellen and her own interview on the same.

Just to give a sample of the "Geek" in her, the number plate on her electric car reads "V EQ IR".
(For the not-so-geeky readers of my blog, volts equals current times resistance.)

Guess what she wore to the pageant in San Jose, California where she received this incredible title! A PVC corset with a printed-circuit board pattern and a black slit skirt, which allowed her to holster a slide rule to her leg!!!!

Not convinced yet? Ok here is another. when asked whether or not she tells a lot of nerdy jokes, she promptly replied with one!

why do programmers confuse Christmas with Halloween?
Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC.

(Yet again for the benefit of the not-so-geeky readers of my blog, "OCT" means octal (base 8); "DEC" means decimal (base 10).)

Imagination runnin' wild....

2006-02-28T23:01:00.000+05:30

Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives...

This May the world shall witness the meeting of the best student minds from all over the globe at New Delhi, India as they get ready to face off for Imagine cup 2006. After the great success in Brazil and Japan, IC has moved to India this year. The only question that remains to be answered is who will bring the prize home?

Google Comic Sense

2006-02-22T19:52:00.000+05:30

Google-ians like any other creed of geeks on the planet possess their own unique sense of humor. Here's taste for your sole partake of the cuisine called Google Comic Sense.

Google MentalPlex

In 2000 Google announced MentalPlex. Using proprietary predictive search algorithms developed through 13 years of research by an international consortium of PhDs in the fields of artificial and pseudo-intelligence, parapsychology and improbability, MentalPlex is the only search engine that accurately returns results without requiring you enter a query. Google's CEO and co-founder Larry Page calls MentalPlex "a quantum leap in finding what you are looking for on the Internet. Typing in queries is so 1999". MentalPlex search technology thus supposedly read the user's mind to determine what the user wanted to search for, thus eliminating the step of actually typing in the search query.

PigeonRank

On April Fool's Day, 2002 Google claimed that the heart of Google's search technology is PigeonRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University.
Building upon the breakthrough work of B. F. Skinner, Page and Brin reasoned that low cost pigeon clusters (PCs) could be used to compute the relative value of web pages faster than human editors or machine-based algorithms. And while Google has dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect of our service on a daily basis, PigeonRank continues to provide the basis for all of their web search tools.

Google Copernicus

In 2004, Google clamied to be interviewing candidates for engineering positions at their lunar hosting and research center, opening late in the spring of 2007. The Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.) is to be a fully integrated research, development and technology facility at which Google will be conducting experiments in entropized information filtering, high-density high-delivery hosting (HiDeHiDeHo) and de-oxygenated cubicle dwelling. This center will provide a unique platform from which Google will leapfrog current terrestrial-based technologies and bring information access to new heights of utility. Their so called objectivecan be quoted as to "organize all the useful information in the universe and serve it to you on a lightly salted cracker."

Google Gulp

This fictitious drink was supposedly from a line of "smart drinks" designed to maximize one's surfing efficiency by making one more intelligent, and less thirsty.

Think a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of your bottle reading all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drink™ technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex. Plus, it's low in carbs! And with flavors ranging from Beta Carroty to Glutamate Grape, you'll never run out of ways to quench your thirst for knowledge.

Gmail touching infinity

A much less incredible hoax was 2005's Gmail's infinity+1 storage plan which was the precursor to the actual announce ment of the increase of storage space.

Welcome to the jungle!

2006-02-17T07:31:00.000+05:30

The news was soothing as an autumn breeze. Though it took me almost a day and quite a few missing heart beats to confirm the news it was worth it. An opportunity of internship at Amazon.com India Development Center! Finally the road of life did not look as thorn adored as it did over the last two years.

People who have known me over the last two years will vouch for how my simple life turned into an "Absolutely BUSY!!!" existence. Sitting in my room not having even attempted any recruitment exam while every one else was placed was nerve wracking. Almost everyone has asked me why I kept myself away from recruitment exams for so long. The plain and simple answer is that I was always trying to aim a little higher than usual and in an effort to attain that mark I ended up waiting longer than I could have ever imagined. Also I was a little to adamant about pursuing the Information Retrieval domain. In this context the news was a U-turn in an otherwise downhill journey.

But this is not the moment of sad recollection of the past. This is a moment of victory that I will love to celebrate with all those who stood by me during the hardest time of my life. People who believed in me and never lacked a kind word or two. People who may not realize the difference they made in my life.

I desperately hope I don’t miss out any one in the list but here are those true friends – Bharati, Anu, Nikhil, Aruna, Deepika, Maria, Ajay, Madhu, Radha, Laxmi Chetan, Neel, Divya and two of the most awesome seniors I have met in my life who went on to become my mentor, guide and inspiration - Cohan Sujay Carlos and Vikas Baligar. Another person whom I want to thank is someone whom I haven't yet had the honor of meeting in person but he has still touched my life no less with his kindness and support - Dright Ho. Last but not least my parents and granny of course. You guys ROCK!!!

Love of a different kind

2006-02-17T07:30:00.001+05:30

“I always believed there are two kinds of men. Men who go to their death screaming and men who go in silence, and then I met the third kind…”

14th Feb. I stepped into the theater with undiluted feelings of adoration and fondness in my heart and my sole attention hovering over the one person holding my hand. Not did I have a single clue of how the moment was about to change…

One movie about seven youths, one diary, one graffiti wall, two generations and one spirit.

“Sue [Alice Patten], a young, London-based filmmaker chances upon the diaries of her grandfather, who served in the British Police Force in India during the freedom struggle. Excited about these memoirs, she makes plans to shoot a film on the Indian revolutionaries mentioned in the diaries. She flies to Delhi and casts a group of five friends to play the pivotal roles of these revolutionaries. The youngsters are DJ [Aamir Khan], Karan [Siddharth], Aslam [Kunal Kapoor], Sukhi [Sharman Joshi] and Sonia [Soha Ali Khan]. One of their foes, Laxman [Atul Kulkarni], also joins them subsequently. However, products of modern India, the five youngsters initially refuse to be part of the project, as they don't identify with these characters from the past. Not surprising, considering that they are a part of a generation of Indians that believes in consumerism. To them issues like patriotism and giving one's life for one's beliefs is the stuff textbooks are made of. They would rather party than be patriots.

In the film, both the 1930s British India and the India today run parallel and intersect with each other at crucial points. As the film reaches its resolution the line between past and present blur’s, as they become one spirit.” -- By Taran Adarsh.

This is a story of India’s past and its present but above all it’s a story of the Indian spirit… the green, the white and the saffron... the spirit of which martyrs are born… the spirit that makes a man open his arms to death, suffering and sacrifice… a spirit that flows from the Himalayas to Kanyakumarika... a spirit that binds us all… a spirit that resurrected my soul in the span of three hours diminishing the clouds of materialism that shrouds my acquisitive existence only to light a candle in my heart and put the words in my mouth, “Someday I wish I can embrace death that proudly. That’s all I want, all I ever wish for.”

Vande Mataram.

Five wise men...

2006-02-17T07:26:00.000+05:30

Google Spoofed

2006-02-17T07:24:00.000+05:30

We often find ourselves contemplating on the age old question of what differentiates us from any other lesser brutes and though you may find yourself retracing the Darwinian path bouncing from “opposable thumbs” to “bigger brain size” the fact is that it is our possession of an unique emotion that is often dubbed under the 5-lettered word "Scorn" and what takes us leaps and bound ahead of the rest of the Earthly population is the innovation that we can possibly demonstrate in expressing it.

The shortest but wittiest quip can be more lethal than the sharpest sword and can overwhelm a warrior, beast, wizard or even a multibillion dollar multinational corporate on the verge of world domination as did the people at Google HQ found out…

The feel of a Honda...

2006-02-17T07:22:00.000+05:30

Bluffmaster

2006-02-17T07:21:00.000+05:30

Though I am no devoted aficionado of Bollywood harvests, I still often find my way into movie theaters exhibiting the prides of Indian film industry, most often in the context of alleviation of stress resultant due to the “socio-economic and political” demands of my life or in simple terms for sheer time-pass away from the “shits of life”. It was under similar circumstances that I found myself watching the junior Bachchan’s latest flick “Bluffmaster” in the company of my family within the confines of the average sized Inox Theater at Garuda mall, Bangalore.

It was in many ways a very familiar spicy product from the Indian movie industry and yet in many respect unique in its own ways. The story line was quite unique and delightfully entertaining. At parts the need for subtlety was obvious but in reflection I cant imagine the Indian crowd obsessing excessively about such minute details as over the years they have been familiarized with much shoddier displays. Comparatively this movie was quite a decent bargain for currency. My suggestion, if the hands of the watch seem to stir in annoying leisure then indulge yourself with some old-fashioned Indian comedy and some Priyanaka Chopra’s sizzles.

The Apprentice

2006-01-20T23:10:00.000+05:30

- by ~~Donald Trump~~ Bill Gates

One goal. One chance. One winner. Millions of aspirations.

Code4Bill is a fundamentally unique contest aimed at finding the best student technologists in India. It comprises of a series of online tests followed by a face-to-face interaction to identify the top 20 student technologists. The preliminary contest will run from January 2006 to March 2006 followed by a 2 month internship for the top 20 contestants.

The Prize:

The top 20 students will be offered a two month internship at Microsoft Research Center & Microsoft India Development Center in India. Needless to mention, students successfully completing their internship shall be considered for a job at Microsoft India.

The Grand Champion , the numero uno, the chosen one, the best of the best will be selected on the basis of project submissions & final presentations to a selection panel. The winner will work with Bill Gates Technical Assistants team in Redmond, USA for a period of one year.

The big announcement came from Bill Gates during his Bangalore Visit for the Launch of Visual Studio 2005.

Meeting James Shore...

2006-01-20T23:05:00.000+05:30

On 13th January, 2005 the Bangalore chapter of Agile Software Community of India was happy to welcome James Shore amidst its members at The Royal Orchid Park Plaza. The corporate lounge was packed with professionals from the software industry only to be punctuated by sporadic student agile enthusiasts such as yours truly.

James Shore, an award-winning leader in the agile community is known for his consultations, writings, seminars and coaching sessions on cutting-edge agile practices that he has rendered successfully to the industry over the years. His article "An Extreme Stake in the Ground" generated bountiful fresh discussions and novel views on the already-cluttered-with-opinions topic of how to build working software successully.

James is also one of the first two recipients of the Agile Alliance's Gordon Pask Award for Contributions to Agile Practice. This is the most significant award given by the agile community. The Gordon Pask Award recognizes people whose recent contributions to Agile Practice demonstrate, in the opinion of the Award Committee, their potential to become leaders of the field.

The two hours meeting was adorned with technical discussions and sharing of personal professional experiences by all the members of the Agile community present at the meet. For one thing it surely did make the whole experience unique for a student such as myself. It was like looking at my future professional life through a key-hole or in this case through the eyes of the people living it right now.

For images of James Shore's meet in Delhi check here.

The line has been drawn...

2006-01-13T03:07:00.000+05:30

The silence has been quite deafening till now and finally it seems the floodgates are opening. Its time for open war...

Both Microsoft and Google have been trying to out do each other in the field of technology and innovation for quite sometime now and though both of them have so far received there share of success and the bitter taste of defeat not much has been spoken about it officially. But that may change soon as Google makes its intensions very clear first with the launch of Google desktop search engine and then with the Google pack both of which have been perceived by one and all as a clear and open challenge to Microsoft on the field of desktop application. Bill himself was quoted during his tour of India that Microsoft is working on a search engine that he promised would beat Google by a mile. Though a lot of promises have been made by both sides, much remains to be seen.

But the launch of Google pack was surely an eventful moment in this bitter rivalry. It clearly indicates Google’s intention in teaming up with other allies to take on the Software giant Microsoft.

Microsoft is known for having won over many big competitors in their span of existence. But where Google stands unique is in their strategy of war. Whereas most other companies have tried building their own ammunitions to the level of Microsoft, Google has astutely picked up Microsoft’s own weapons for a war against them. Though this struggle was imminent even a couple of years ago, yet any witness then would have staked their lives that Google was going to war against Microsoft with Unix or Linux as their clear choice of platform. But history has revealed a story that is much different.

Google realizes that for any desktop application to be practically popular and successful it needs to run on the globally popular Operating System Microsoft Windows for desktop application. This step has given them the ammunition that Microsoft probably never expected them to have. Google has also accepted .Net as their clear choice of tool for Windows platform as evident from the Google Deskbar which is built using .Net 1.1.

The matter has now boiled down to a closely fought race of technological innovation and ideas that will change the face of the software industry over the next 5-6 years. Whether Google can out wit Microsoft in their own game is yet to be seen. But rest assured no one is going down so easy.

The current scenario around desktop applications can be voiced with the following clearly related technology face-offs.

Adobe Reader Vs. WPF+Metro
My vote: Adobe Reader

Norton AntiVirus Vs. Windows Defender
My vote: None (PC-cillin is my choice)

Firefox Vs. IE7
My vote: Firefox

RealPlayer Vs. Windows Media Player 10
My vote: Windows Media Player 10

Ad-Aware anti-spyware Vs. Windows Defender
My vote: None

Google Talk Vs. MSN Messenger
My vote: Google Talk

Trillian Vs. MSN Messenger
My vote: Trillian

Google Desktop search Vs. Windows Desktop search
My vote: Windows Desktop search

Google Pack Screensaver Vs. "My Pictures Slideshow" screensaver
My vote: "My Pictures Slideshow" screensaver

Google Earth Vs. MSN Virtual Earth
My vote: Google Earth

Where most people are expecting Google's next strategic step is in the contention against Microsoft Office though I clearly feel that Google might take a integrate-our-tools-in-theirs approach over re-inventing the wheel to compete against a product that has been clearly proven to be of high standards.

Whether it's going to be a defeat for Microsoft or Google remains to be seen but surely one can predict that it will be the victory of technology.

The OC

2006-01-13T02:11:00.000+05:30

A simple but captivating story of a boy lost in his teenage years. With both his father and elder brother in prison and a mother with a drinking problem and an abusive boy friend, it was up to fate to land him up in a family counted amongst the more affluent of those residing in the Orange County.

It’s a fairy tale story with all your familiar faces. The outsider, the misfit, the girl next door, her boy friend, the spoilt rich brats, the rebellious dame, the caring mom… but the story is all but unrealistic. In a very soft and sweet portrayal of life it has a capability to imprison anybody’s attention. Most often than not I find it hard to deviate my attention anywhere else but that may be just me!

Though more often than not its characters bear a badge of familiarity with all the other that we are used to watching on any other soap, it is the flavoring of the idiosyncrasies of these individual characters that make them so real. Its not black and white nor grey. Its colorful. Its colored with the shades of real life and it is these shades that are being portrayed with artistic accuracy in each of the character.

Over all its a sweet enthralling story of Great Expectations of a boy trying to fit in a society that is as territorial as the one he himself originates from. The suits and the cars may hide the innate human emotions that is shared by one and all societies inhabited by human beings.

Arlington Rd.

2006-01-13T01:30:00.000+05:30

When was the last time you protested while watching a movie when the hero came sweeping down to save the day? And all the villain was left to do was to lie flat on his rear?

Well if you, as most other movie buffs, are too familiar with such endings then this movie is going to leave you shocked. You will find yourself for the very first time wishing that the movie would not end the way it did and if only the hero could somehow resurrect himself to win back the fight.

But this is no movie to teach your children that good always win. This is to teach you that it does not. This is as real a snapshot of real life as it gets. It shows an incredible ability to produce captivating action without any real violence or “fly in the air” action sequences. No, it’s not a movie for everyone. It’s for the real connoisseur who can appreciate such quality and honesty in the art that is real life.

CommuNUTTY Nite.. The making of the video

2006-01-13T00:29:00.000+05:30

“Some say the best things in life are free. I say the best things in life are unplanned.”

Venue: Cubbon Park.

When we met I had already known most of the student champs for at least a few months. But none will deny that in that one single day the whole community literally reinvented itself. Till then we were a team. Since then we have been a more of a family. It’s the best of times and the worst of times that get people together. It’s in the sharing of a smile or a tear that we reveal our inner self to one another. It is in those moments that we learn to trust… Trust that we invest on another just as we would on ourselves.

The video itself was made to be present our as an ambassador of our community and a badge of what we stand for. It was made in the occasion of the visit of Mr. Joe Wilson, the global academic head of Microsoft Corp. But it was more than that. It was a step that we all took together… to be together.

Superhero

2006-01-13T00:20:00.000+05:30

Parikrama rocked the launch with a rock song just for our Indian software developers. Called `Superhero' the song is about the life of a programmer...

Superhero

Springs up from the bed with a crossword in his head,
A shiver shakes his spine thinking what the boss said,
Feeling like a mouse in the tiger’s den (ah right)
Missed the bus again, runs all the way to work,
Prays to all his Gods, even Captain Kirk,
Hoping he can make it in time for the bumpy ride.

(Pre-chorus)
Opens all the windows, as he shuts the door,
As the magic begins to flow, out to the fore

(Chorus)
He’s no less than a super hero
can’t make him fall
Ones and zeroes, threes and fours
But not that bad a guy after all

Afternoon comes when everyone eats,
Staring down at lines on his L.C.D screen,
Cracking up the code, faster than the speed of light.

Evening bells ringing, had to meet his date,
Digits on his hand will have to make her wait,
Smiles at his phone, then tosses it aside.

(Pre-chorus)
Opens all the windows, as he shuts the door,
As the magic begins to flow, out to the fore

(Chorus)
He’s no less than a super hero
Can’t make him fall
Ones and zeroes, threes and fours
But not that bad a guy after all.

The Biggest B!!

2006-01-12T23:52:00.000+05:30

The crowd was getting restless. A deep murmur reverberated the auditorium. Outside stood a battalion of people trying beyond their means to get everything perfect. For it was the moment. The biggest moment of all…

The announcement came. And everybody held their breath back as the publicly acclaimed “biggest geek of the planet” and the “richest man in the world” walked up on to the stage. It wasn’t his company. Nor his money. But it was his pure enigma that drowned the silence of the moment as everyone like a buoyant piece floated up on to their feet and then shattered the serenity of the moment with applause heard a mile away.

His charisma overwhelmed the audience in the next one hour. Nobody even whispered. It was just he and his words. It was during his interview later on stage that he revealed to the world that he is THE BIGGEST GEEK as he vented that had he not been a software engineer he would probably have taken up medicine as a profession.

I was one of those lucky souls who had the opportunity of witnessing this historic moment from the first row. We heard as he spoke, watched as he gestured, shivered as he inspired. So momentous was the occasion that it etched the mark in all of us. For he is Bill Gates, The Biggest B.

Around the world in couple of hours!!!

2006-01-12T23:27:00.000+05:30

Not so long back I found myself sitting morosely drowning under text that my heart had no wish to delve into. As I crawled my way to the Big Black Box (my computer) I suddenly realised an urge for travelling. As selfish Mr. Alladin has already refused all my past request to share his magic carpet I took the next best option. Google Earth!

So there I was. A free spirit running from the confinements of a comatose existence. I flew over the clouds, the mountains and the rivers, over the fields and the valleys, over the oceans and the deserts... And guess what? I took some snaps too!!

Travel, party, fly... The Agile way

2006-01-10T00:14:00.000+05:30

After a week of preparation, a month of confusions and year full of mysterious things I found myself on a bus with a friend headed towards Mumbai. This was going to be my first visit to the great Indian city and the only metropolitan in the country that I haven’t yet had the pleasure of visiting. The journey up was generally uneventful. Comfortable seats, nice dinner, and simple conversations. Bollywood slapstick rampaged all over the television screen all evening… or was it supposed to be a melancholic drama? Anyways my “Bollywood-ly challenged” mind could not decipher.

I woke up to bright sunlight and remnant sensations of what was a cold and not so pleasurable sleeping experience. The journey continued uneventfully except for the rare stop at a place that I would hardly call a restaurant and the moments that were adorned with some of the more visually pleasant moments… shiningly paved highways, green hillocks and the more interesting tunnels. Running through those dark “holes in the hills” made me think of the “Bat caves” but I was riding no “Bat mobile” and neither did I bear any resemblance of a superior being with an evidential confusion of precedence between his trousers and the underpants. So I just retreated into my pushback seats all lazy with the borrowed laptop on my lap trying out our “final touches”.

When Vasco Da Gama landed in India it was... well I don’t know! But when I landed it was evening. But one thing for sure he never had to take the auto to go where he was going. Lucky him! Anyways after being robbed for more than ten baker’s dozens we finally reached the shrine where we planned to spend the night and the night after that. We shamelessly crashed at Naresh’s place while he and his wife graciously welcomed us in into the warmth of their house.
New day. New challenges. We woke up in time and got ready. Ironically that felt like half the challenge after more than a day of journey by bus. Another auto ride and we reached Sardar Patel College of Engineering. The inauguration was followed the initiation in 3 different tracks. We got pushed into “Track 2 [Advanced]: For advanced topics and case studies on Agile”! How did that happen we still can’t figure out!

A nand Joglekar kicked off with his presentation on “Migration to Agile”. We were up next. In between the sessions a hot cup of tea took away most of my jitters and quite a bit of the sensation at the tip of my tongue. And so we commenced.

"A gile - Distributed: Connecting the agile ma ss". That was our topic. And all of a sudden I found myself being stared at by a bunch of professionals many of whom had professional experience of more years than the number of winters I have seen in my life! Anyways I went on… and on… and on… till I was gracefully indicated that I was closing near to the completion of the session’s slot. I over compromised in getting rid of the jitters but it wasn’t the time to think of all that now. My friend joined me on stage and she seemingly had a more severe dose of the same jitters than I did as she fumbled her way through the demo.

After the session all the tracks again got compiled back into one room to attend the “Keynote: Reducing Business Risk through Agile Development” by Fred Ti ngey. After the session we made our long journey (and it was really long!!) to the cafeteria and then made our way back into the TDD Workshop coached by our very own Naresh Jain and Anand Joglekar. The hands-on session was not much different than the one we had earlier experienced in the saturday sessions conducted on agile methodologies back in our college by Thoughtoworkers. An interesting BOF session later witnessed the flock drawing a conclusion to the day.

As the session drew to conclusion and all the tired souls gathered across the face of the building wondering where to retire it was proposed that we all go out for dinner. Anand joined my friend and me in an auto on our way to the restaurant. Where we met Conan and the gang and a gang it was! All the serious business seemed to have been left at the venue as the evening progressed as we were joined by many more known faces of our use r group. Fred’s anecdotes and magic tricks and Conan’s attempt at Shakespearean plays and the India numerals were the icing on the evening civilized revelry. As we early birds headed our home Fred, Conan and the few others stayed back obstinate not to end the day’s cheer so soon. We would have loved to stay but we had a flight to catch the next day. OUR VERY FIRST FLIGHT!!

Next morning we made our way to the airport sheepishly. It was the first time for both my friend and me. We made our way through the security checks and finally onto the bus that took us to our joy ride for the day.

We boarded and took our places like two innocent children. One little anxious, the other curious. The roar of the engine slowly got louder as the monitor in front of us played gleefully being more experienced with this moment many more times than either of us. My friend did not leave an ounce of her panic hidden inside. At one point I found her shove fingers jutted tightly into her auditory canal making me curious whether she expected a 4th of July celebration in the same moment that we took off! The flight took off uneventfully. Though in my friends might I am sure was noted a thousands of events. At least it was on her face. But once we had taken off the ground by quite a distance her nerves relaxed and we both found ourselves awestruck staring outside. So this is what God see when he looks down. It was beautiful. More beautiful than the word itself. A sea of cloud lay below us as we rose higher only to be defeated by the Phoebus King who suddenly rose from his ambush and showered the already beautiful clouds below with a milky luster of glee.

Let the good times begin... So is the motto of Kingfisher and it surely was the good times. Probably the best of times. To realize and experience the feeling that we humans have felt for years. The desire and sheer thrill associated in pervading the domains of the Chordate Phylum. To soar above the clouds. It is beyond the verse of any poem and the lyric of any song. It is a feeling so strange that it is almost divine.

Less than an hour of the same divinity that will forever be marked as my first flight trip came to conclusion as we slowly descended back to the world of the mortals… and so came to conclusion a beautiful journey as we found ourselves welcomed back into the city that I now call home.

Wisdom speaks

2006-01-07T12:01:00.000+05:30

I make everyone believe that I like to be different, but really I just don't know how to fit in.

-Anonymous

Life is a story that’s funny when heard, glorified when told and unfathomable when lived.
- Me

Life and Love both start and end with the same alphabets but differ in between; like two roads with the same source and the same destination but taking different routes. Life's road passes through many cities like the cities of Joy, Hardship, Rejection and Achievement and Love just passes through a desert of uncertainity. i chose to traverse through the desert. which one do you chose?"

- Me

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
- George Bernard Shaw

C++ also supports the notion of "friends": cooperative classes that are permitted to see each other's private parts.
- Grady Booch

To iterate is human , to recurse is devine.
- L. Peter Deutsch

Abstraction is selective ignorance.
- Andrew Koenig

There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.
- C. A. R. Hoare

Software engineering phase plans are something you make so your manager can explain to his manager how things are going.
- Rob Pike (On the subject of managerial "bullshit")

I haven't lost my mind -- it's backed up on tape somewhere.
- Anonymous

There's an old story about the person who wished his computer were as easy to use as his telephone. That wish has come true, since I no longer know how to use my telelphone.
- Bjarne Stroustrup

It's possible to awaken a sleeping man, but not one who is pretending to be asleep.
- Anonymous

Hard Work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off NOW!
- Anonymous

I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.
- John Cage

Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.
- GM Trevelyan

Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others.
- Ambrose Bierce

I have an existential map. It has 'You are here' written all over it.
- Steven Wright

A cult is a religion with no political power.
- Tom Wolfe

If your parents never had children, chances are you won't, either.
- Dick Cavett

Thus the metric system did not really catch on in the States, unless you count the increasing popularity of the nine-millimeter bullet.
- Dave Barry

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.
- Edgar Bergen

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
- Benjamin Disraeli

Science is nothing but trained and organized common sense, differing from the latter only as a veteran may differ from a raw recruit: and its methods differ from those of common sense only as far as the guardsman's cut and thrust differ from the manner in which a savage wields his club.
- Thomas H. Huxley

The prospect of a long day at the beach makes me panic. There is no harder work I can think of than taking myself off to somewhere pleasant, where I am forced to stay for hours and 'have fun'.
- Phillip Lopate

If someone wants a sheep, then that means that he exists.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.
- Andy Warhol

The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.
- Stephen Jay Gould

It is always the best policy to speak the truth--unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.
- Jerome K. Jerome

Life is just one damned thing after another.
- Elbert Hubbard

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
- Walter Lippmann

We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.
- Will Rogers

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
- Albert Einstein

The least of learning is done in the classrooms.
- Thomas Merton

Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.
- Herman Wouk
Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.
- Mark Twain

It is a curious thing... that every creed promises a paradise which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilized taste.
- Evelyn Waugh

The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.
- Nikola Tesla

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.
- Aldous Huxley

I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.
- Groucho Marx

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.
- Unknown

The follies which a man regrets most, in his life, are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity.
- Helen Rowland

Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
- John Kenneth Galbraith

Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.
- Lee Simonson

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
- Henry J. Tillman

The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.
- Benjamin Disraeli

The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.
- Horace Walpole

Politics is made up largely of irrelevancies.
- Dalton Camp

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it's important.
- Eugene McCarthy

Human beings are seventy percent water, and with some the rest is collagen.
- Martin Mull

Anybody who watches three games of football in a row should be declared brain dead.
- Erma Bombeck

In Mexico we have a word for sushi: Bait.
- Jose Simon

As for me, except for an occasional heart attack, I feel as young as I ever did.
- Robert Benchley

I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.
- Shirley Temple

Art is science made clear.
- Jean Cocteau

There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all.
- Robert Orben

Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone.
- Tommy Cooper

A witty saying proves nothing.
- Voltaire

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
- Alfred Lord Tennyson

If you would be known, and not know, vegetate in a village; If you would know, and not be known, live in a city.
- Charles Caleb Colton

The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
- Jane Wagner

Genius might be described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds.
- Samuel Butler

Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.
- Samuel Butler

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.
- Samuel Butler

Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.
- Samuel Butler

When you have told anyone you have left him a legacy the only decent thing to do is to die at once.
- Samuel Butler, In Festing Jones, Samuel Butler : A Memoir

All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income.
- Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

An apology for the devil: it must be remembered that we have heard only one side of the case; God has written all the books.
- Samuel Butler, The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912)

It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.
- Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, Chapter 77

Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice.
- George Jackson

The greatest mystery is not that we have been flung at random between the profusion of matter and of the stars, but that within this prison we can draw from ourselves images powerful enough to deny our nothingness.
- Andre Malraux

We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.
- Elvis Presley

Get your love some roses. There is nothing more romantic than the gift of dead, decaying, severed sexual organs of plants grown in mounds of cow manure.
- Demotivational Posters.com

I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste.
- David Bissonette

When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.
- Sacha Guitry

After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together.
- Hemant Joshi

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
- Socrates

Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.
- Dumas

The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, "What does a woman want?"
- Sigmund Freud

I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.
- Anonymous

Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.
- Henry Youngman

I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two years.
- Sam Kinison

There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage.
- James Holt McGavran

I've had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me and the second one didn't.
- Patrick Murray

Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming
1. Whenever you're wrong, admit it
2. Whenever you're right, shut up.
- Nash

The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once.
- Anonymous

You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to.
- Henny Youngman

My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.
- Rodney Dangerfield

A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.
- Milton Berle

Marriage is the only war where one sleeps with the enemy.
- Anonymous

If you trust Google more than your doctor than maybe it's time to switch doctors.
- Jadelr and Cristina Cordova

Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses.
- Margaret Millar

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
- Dr. Seuss

If mankind minus one were of one opinion, then mankind is no more justified in silencing the one than the one - if he had the power - would be justified in silencing mankind.
- John Stuart Mill

The cure for writer's cramp is writer's block.
- Inigo DeLeon

Money can't buy happiness, but neither can poverty.
- Leo Rosten

The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.
- Ralph W. Sockman

The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky

I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and someone said I was a snake, I'd think, no, actually I'm a giraffe.
- Richard Gere

My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.
- Richard Avedon

Nothing is foolproof because fools are so ingenious!
- Anonymous

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
- John 8:32

The 'Familia' man

2006-01-07T01:58:00.000+05:30

Lie, Cheat and Steal…

The first time ever he entered the square circle he made a promise of sacrifice… a promise he never lied about. Week after week he walked into the ring and spilled his blood and sweat for the trade. Never tried to cheat out of it.

…But he stole. He stole every wrestling fan’s heart.

Since 1987, when he first made his debut, he has done all that there is to do as a professional wrestler… from the Cruiserweight title to the Tag team titles to the WWE Championship... He held them all. From WCW to WWE every step of that way you can still find smeared drops of his blood and sweat. Arguably the best entertainer on the roster, he was a man of many skills.

If only there were Oscars for WWE he would have challenged the likes of Tom Hanks. His in-ring charisma and behind the scene actions has made us all laugh and clinch on to our seats uncountable times. The Unpredictable Entertainer has arguably made peer with the great entertainers of all time like Charlie Chaplin and Raj Kapoor.

But beyond every title he won and every demon he fought... every victory he cherished and every addiction he ran from... he valued one thing and one thing above all… “His Familia.” He was a great wrestler and a great man but above all he was a great member of the Family.

The Loss of Eddie Guerrero is the loss of a family member for many “Eddicts” world wide, including me. But the Latino Heat burns in our heart forever. Viva La rasa old friend! Long live the legend of Eddie Guerrero!

Google Bombed!!

2006-01-07T01:28:00.000+05:30

A Google bomb or Google wash is an attempt to influence the ranking of a given site in results returned by the Google search engine. Due to the way that Google's PageRank algorithm works, a website will be ranked higher if the sites that link to that page all use consistent anchor text.

The most recent noted case has been the results obtained for a Google search on the word “failure” or the phrase “miserable failure”. Apparently the top result is currently the White House’s official biographical page for President Bush.

Marissa Mayer, Google’s Director of Consumer Web Products, commented on her blog on the same issue saying, “We don't condone the practice of googlebombing, or any other action that seeks to affect the integrity of our search results, but we're also reluctant to alter our results by hand in order to prevent such items from showing up. Pranks like this may be distracting to some, but they don't affect the overall quality of our search service, whose objectivity, as always, remains the core of our mission.”

EPIC 2014

2006-01-07T00:16:00.000+05:30

A vision grander than the Mistress of Delphi has ever set her eyes upon or may be spec of imagination overflowing the brim and concluding its inconsequential journey to the floor splashing its elements around like a beautiful pattern that shows its beauty in not what it is but from where it came and the moments it touched…

It is hard to describe the portrayal of the possible future of the web that has been crafted so elegantly and ingeniously by Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson in their brilliant Flash movie “Epic 2014” involving speculative future of Google, Microsoft, Amazon and many other giants of the present software industry.

Following is an excerpt from the narration:

It is the best of times. It is the worst times. In the year 2014, people have access to a breadth and depth of information unimaginable in earlier age. Everyone contributes in some way. Everyone participates to create a living, breathing mediascape. However, the press as you know it, has ceased to exist. The fourth estate’s fortunes have waned. 20th-century news organizations are an afterthought, a lonely agreement for not too distant past. The road to 2014 began in the 20th century.

In 1989, Tim Bernhers Lee, a computer scientist at the CERN Particle Physics Laboratoryin Switzerland, created the World Wide Web.

1994 sees the founding of Amazon.com. Its young creator dreams of the store that sells everything. Amazon’s model, which would come to set the standard for Internet sales, is built on automated personalized recommendation, a store that can make suggestions.

In 1998, two Stanford programmers create Google. The algorithm echoes the logic of Amazon. It treats links as recommendations and from that foundation powers the world’s most effective search engine.

In 1999, TiVo transforms television by unshackling it from the constraints of time - and commercials. Almost no one who tries it ever goes back.

That year, a dot-com start-up named Pyra Labs unveils Blogger, a personal publishing tool.

Friendster launches in 2002 and hundreds of thousands of young people rush to populate it with an incredibly detailed map of their lives, their interests and their social networks. Also in 2002, Google launches GoogleNews, a news portal. News organizations cry foul. GoogleNews is edited entirely by computers.

In 2003, Google buys Blogger. Google’s plans are a mystery, but their interest in Blogger is not unreasonable.

2003 is the Year of the Blog.

2004 would be remembered as the year that everything began.

Reason Magazine sends subscribers an issue with a satellite photo of their houses on the cover and information custom-tailored to each subscriber inside.

Sony and Philips unveil the world’s first mass-produced electronic paper.

Google unveils GMail, with a gigabyte of free space for every user.

Microsoft unveils Newsbot, a social news filter.

Amazon unveils A9, a search engine built on Google’s technology that also incorporates Amazon’s trademark recommendations.

And then, Google goes public.

Awash in new capital, the company makes a major acquisition. Google buys TiVo.

2005 – In response to Google’s recent moves, Microsoft buys Friendster.

2006 – Google combines all of its services - TiVo, Blogger, GMail, GoogleNews and all of its searches into the Google Grid, a universal platform that provides a functionally limitless amount of storage space and bandwidth to store and share media of all kinds. Always online, accessible from anywhere. Each user selects her own level of privacy. She can store her content securely on the Google Grid, or publish it for all to see. It has never been easier for anyone, everyone to create as well as consume media.

2007 – Microsoft responds to Google’s mounting challenge with Newsbotster, a social news network and participatory journalism platform. Newsbotster ranks and sorts news, based on what each user’s friends and colleagues are reading and viewing and it allows everyone to comment on what they see.

Sony’s ePaper is cheaper than real paper this year. It’s the medium of choice for Newsbotster.

2008 sees the alliance that will challenge Microsoft’s ambitions. Google and Amazon join forces to form Googlezon. Google supplies the Google Grid and unparalled search technology. Amazon supplies the social recommendation engine and its huge commercial infrastructure. Together, they use their detailed knowledge of every user’s social network, demographics, consumption habits and interests to provide total customization of content - and advertising.

The News Wars of 2010 are notable for the fact that no actual news organizations take part.

Googlezon finally checkmates Microsoft with features the software giant cannot match. Using a new algorithm, Googlezon’s computers construct news stories dynamically, stripping sentences and facts from all content sources and recombining them. The computer writes a news story for every user.

In 2011, the slumbering Fourth Estate awakes to make its first and final stand. The New York Times Company sues Googlezon, claiming that the company’s fact-stripping robots are a violation of copyright law. The case goes all the way to the Supreme Court, which on August 4, 2011 decides in favour of Googlezon.

On Sunday, March 9 2014, Googlezon unleashes EPIC.

Welcome to our world.

The ‘Evolving Personalized Information Construct’ is the system by which our sprawling, chaotic mediascape is filtered, ordered and delivered. Everyone contributes now – from blog entries, to phone-cam images, to video reports, to full investigations. Many people get paid too – a tiny cut of Googlezon’s immense advertising revenue, proportional to the popularity of their contributions.

EPIC produces a custom contents package for each user, using his choices, his consumption habits, his interests, his demographics, his social network – to shape the product.

A new generation of freelance editors has sprung up, people who sell their ability to connect, filter and prioritize the contents of EPIC.

We all subscribe to many Editors; EPIC allows us to mix and match their choices however we like. At its best, edited for the savviest readers, EPIC is a summary of the world – deeper, broader and more nuanced than anything ever available before. But at its worst, and for too many, EPIC is merely a collection of trivia, much of it untrue, all of it narrow, shallow stand sensational. But EPIC is what we wanted, is what we chose and its commercial success preempted any discussions of media and democracy or of journalistic ethics.

Today, in 2014, the New York Times has gone off line. In feeble protest, the Times has become a print only newsletter for the elite and elderly.

But perhaps there was another way.

For the complete video, visit http://www.robinsloan.com/epic

Summer of woe

2005-08-08T23:35:00.000+05:30

What would you do when life looks the other way? And fate delivers defacing blows on your faith? When hope stays imprisoned in the Pandora’s Box? And you stand in the middle of a forlorn thoroughfare draped in darkness of impending defeat? When past is vivid and the future is obscure?

Life is a story that’s funny when heard, glorified when told and unfathomable when lived.

In every man’s life does come the moment when the trinity of time disguises itself as the Gorgon sisterhood haunting the Angel of peace out of every crevice of our feeble mind. The Past like the “forceful” Stheno, the Future like the "far-roaming" Euryale, but above all, the Present like the true daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, turning all witnesses to stone.
My hopes banished beyond the Hyperborean lands. The sword of Perseus severing my dreams from me, as I stood being a helpless observer of the remnant of a battered planet whose air feels with ashes and grisly fatality trading places with unadulterated life. A bleak and dismal image of pitiless obliteration and sorrowful devastation of a broken heart.

This is the tale of how it all began…

Summer of 2005. The Gods of Mountain View decides to bless some of us mere mortals with an opportunity of a life time. But celebration is quickly followed by rejection as a shattering night spreads its wings over what was a week of apprehension and anxiety. All lost and none remains but to pick up the pieces that this heart break left behind.

This was followed by an unsubstantiated buzz that feasted on my peace and my pieces left by my earlier dejection. News so heart-stabbing that it left me in a fury of retribution and pain. A potential prejudice stood like The Great Wall of troy between me and my Helen, all that I have fought for over the last few years of my mortal existence. Wherever I looked the air was permeated with controversy and resounding with the chorus ailing under the dissonancy of multi-valued modulation of voice, all but contributing generously to the recitation of a singular lyric, “Google is coming on campus to recruit only girls”. Though such a gender based Apartheid was never actually substantiated and now seems pretty unlikely to occur, it did procure in me quite a few sleepless nights and emotional unrest when it first popped its ugly head up from the bottom of the Dark Sea. After all, there is nothing more disheartening than to have struggled and forfeited all the simple daily pleasures of life in an endeavor for a bigger reward and then to see Fate, like the adulterous infidel, hand it down on a gold platter to someone far more undeserving.

And while Poseidon was delivering such fatal and vicious storms on my course and assailing my ship with his mighty waves and thunders, my vessel looked like it was giving way under the untenable weight of the cargo that I had forced it into sustaining. Uprising from my comrades and a look of disenchantment on the visage of my overseers added no further elation to my already murky night. My ship swayed side to side as an admonition for imminent defeat. Is this how it’s going to end? More than a decade of struggle crushed under bitter defeat?

I was waiting for the day but night was still in its youth. But divinity struck its might as it delivered in my path if not the King Phoebus of the East then at least a couple or more vibrant stars like Iris spreading her rainbows on the nightly sky enlightening this mere mortal of the initiation of the conclusion of the storm. But when the night is dark, even rainbows go unnoticed. So I steered my vessel with the brilliant star as my compass, eastward to meet my destiny.

The world around me got busy in hollow acts of existence. Everyone petrified and imploring The Great Oracle for sights of looming prospects. But I bothered not as I was a man who made his own destiny and moved along on the trail that Iris and Hermes so playfully did leave behind.

So here I am the Ulysses of my life in search of my destiny, through perils and magnificence, the tempest and the tranquil, defeats and victories traversing this strange winding unfamiliar course called Life. What can I say? Life is but one road none of us are going to travel long enough on to miss or regret.

Black and white dreams

2005-06-27T05:14:00.000+05:30

A step treaded in silence, visions all blurred,
Along the way rests memories discolored.
Alone a stranger am I, on this familiar road
Of the time that has passed, and those untold.

A cold dark thoroughfare, called Reminiscence Street;
Like a moth to a flame in the search of heat.
But this flame so different, that it freezes my heart;
This black and white road to where it all did start.

Darkness and light, seed of the same fruit forbidden or not,
For neither has the color that life has got.
So clear it is now, and so vague it was then,
How was I so stupid and so insane?

Someone had once said it, someone whom I had known,
Who once made a place in my heart, and never got overthrown.
“Decide what’s good and what’s bad, that’s all that is there”.
Never listened to it then, for I wanted to know life was where.

Looking back now I realize what I hadn’t then,
The moments that gave me all the joy and all the pain.
The things that felt right and the things that went wrong;
The happy lyrics and the tunes so sad of my life’s own song;

Like flowers offered to the dead, white turned black.
Now clear to me are my shortcomings and what I did lack.
So distinct in presence, no shades, just the truth,
Like an open-mouthed boy, no shame, uncouth.

So stark is this dream, all in black and white!
Lord, you show me this so that something learn I might.
I see all those moments when those excuses I did make
All the justification I thought of and the decisions I did take.

Opened up, to the whole world or may be to just one, my heart
And played around with it and in the process got all hurt.
If I could but only live all those moments all over again
Promise I o’ Lord, that I would follow the same old chain;

Of mistakes made, tears droped and smiles shared then,
For I need no treasure in my life, no profit, no gain.
Load the balance with all the grief and pain that you can get
Still tip the scale otherwise shall the memories that in my heart have set.

Lose I shall not them for any treasure that you can ever show
For dead was I once, but under these ‘mistakes’ my heart did grow.
Somebody once stepped in my heart, believe me it was no black and white dream.
It is what I have lived all these years for; it’s my life’s most colorful theme.

Life's obituary

2005-06-27T05:13:00.000+05:30

The moment in silent shroud, when naught the darkness breaks;
The firmament torn in thunder lights and the earth in trepidation shakes;
The place where lies footsteps none, of any human live or dead,
Six feet under there for centuries had rotted the Prodigal, in his mortal bed.

But the time has come when the constellations have all met
To witness, the never before seen, Heavens quiver and Hell veil in fret;
The ground sways and the earth’s face shatters in fissures all wide
And the soil breaks as the carcass scrapes out; The Prodigy rises for his last ride.

The prophesy exacted, as rises the king, whose story has never been told;
For no one has ever seen his wrath and yet afterwards lived long enough to grow old.
The iron fist that never did let go of whatever it ever grasped
And every mortal soul that came in his way barely to their grave has rasped.

The silence dies with the brutal roar of the beasts, as he takes his first mortal step.
The hunger shows on the face of the being who for centuries have slept.
But now he rises to, in his way, correct all that is wrong
To fill the air with choruses of the good old Death’s Song.

The gleam in his eyes as he roams the land and his prey he does scout;
Beware! The beast is on the hunt with the unsullied claws and fangs all out.
Feeds he, himself on the fear that all other weak mortals show;
In your nightmares he does live and in your fear he does grow.

Done what is good always he has in the way a Prodigal knows best;
Freed the world of its untamed sinners and never ever cared for the rest.
Redemption is not what he craves for because he knows he has lost his way;
Acquired pain and bestowed them in his life every single day.

Wronged he has none, this fallen angel, the immortal who ages back had died;
Risen by the tears of those poor unheard souls who for centuries now have cried.
Life there is none, but his heart still pounds as he breathes the blood bathed faith,
For he knows no justice has ever been delivered with the sword kept in the sheath.

For ages back the garden did burn and the planet by all sins got stained;
The darkness that’s with in us has since then this paradise maimed.
In the darkness thus grows the seed that shall one day take care of evils all
And cure the disease that all of us see and “Condition: Human” we call.

Shed he has blood own for the sinners’ sins and embraced all the mortal pains;
Now he rises from his grave again to take control of the reigns.
I see the look that is in your eyes, of fear, perplexed
That’s because you know it in your heart, it is you who is next.

Hallucinations

2005-06-27T05:12:00.002+05:30

Is this a dream that I see?
Visions of things that are not there?
But to me so very real it seems;
All I know is that I am lost somewhere.

Where does one draw the line
Of things that are and that are not?
I understand them not, but know one thing
Visions are but images of the things we sought.

A poem is but a set of words
Given to express a vision seen;
A picture is but colors splashed
To an image of what a dream has been.

A design is but an image thought
That never before did exist;
Science is but a struggle of
Ideas with whom we persist.

Religion is but beliefs and faiths;
Love is but a feeling sought;
Human spirit an image drawn;
But are they all dreams or are they not?

To dream is a right that we all enjoy;
It’s the quality that gets us to uniqueness close.
Like a fairy tale its story runs,
Know not ever where it finally goes.

You tell me that you are not
What to my eyes you so seem.
Care I not for such obtuse truth;
Know just that you are a part of my day-night dream.

Binary life

2005-06-27T05:12:00.001+05:30

To live in a world how simple will it be,
Where all queries are answered in yes or no!
Where remains questions none unanswered
And men answers to them all do know.

Life will be but a chain of choices
To agree to something, or not;
A world where confusion bears no meaning
And there is no place for human thought.

Right and wrong like an outfit shall stand;
Guilty or innocent a moment taken to decide;
Happiness and grief just states for mind to be in
And everything shall some rules abide.

Science shall be just a search for truth;
Passion, just a fault of the mind;
Love, a test based on compatibility rules
And relations just a social bind.

The day will be there, and so will night,
But no dawn or dusk will ever be.
Possibility shall probability replace
And no more miracles we shall see.

Prescriptions by certificate of life or death,
And success shall joy replace.
Faith by knowledge, and trust by guarantee
And shyness by utter disgrace.

No more thanks, no more byes,
Only acknowledge shall receive;
No compliments, no flattery,
No sycophancy to deceive.

Rumors none, only news,
No forwards, only business mails;
Innocence then stupidity named;
No more bed-time stories or fairy tales.

A world of choices… yes or no.
Such a simple world it will be!
I will love to live in that world
If one answer someone can give me…

“What it means to be alive?”
Does answer to this anyone knows?
We may hate imperfections all,
But in imperfections only our heart do grows.

It hurts

2005-06-27T05:12:00.000+05:30

Cascading Pearls rolling down her cheek
And the sweetest smile hiding behind grief.
Eyes so watery that it melts the toughest heart
And the freshness of her face stolen by some thief.

Echoing laughter and the sweetest smile was what
Had adorned that heavenly face yester night.
What monster did then break her heart
And left behind this piercing sight?

Sweet she still does look even now but
Just the way I don’t want to see her be.
Enthralling all hearts her smile did do
Riveting is now her tears also to see.

Breaks my heart, in pieces small
That to count I find them not.
Smile is the perfect jewel for her face,
Tear stained cheeks and a quivering voice is not.

Be gone, be thee rude sadness
That touches so cruelly do her soul;
Touch me if you find no one else
But in her life don’t play a role.

Done she has not any mischief or harm
To the happiness of any one or all;
Guilty is she of no crime but
Inside someone’s heart she might have crawled.

The sweetest being of all she is and
Simple thoughts only her attire.
Let the sweet have the sweetness;
Please make her not life’s satire.

Wish I could take it away all so far
To the horizon’s world, far from her reach.
Embrace I shall, pains and grieves all, with a smile
If you just let her have the quiet walk by the beach.

I beg to you, oh Lord, shall not beg again,
Give me the strength at least to try
To place a smile on that tear-stained face,
For it hurts, it hurts so much… to see her cry.

Friends... Forever

2005-06-27T05:11:00.000+05:30

The day of my life I remember not
When for the very first time we did meet.
Remember well that I asked not your name
Nor next to you did I sit.

Knew you not for a very long time,
Or rather knew you as an unfamiliar face.
You were busy, and so was I
With our own life’s stupid race.

Know not again when it was
When we first shared a word or a smile.
So stupid I was not to notice you then
But you became a friend all that while.

And then with time so much changed
And lost, as I was, I missed it again.
Slowly you became such a close friend.
I am so foolish that I just don’t know when.

Friendship grew and I noticed you.
Don’t know why so much time it took.
Look back now and think that friends we should have been
Since the first time we did trade a look

I was a fool not to see you then.
Thankful I am now to have you by my side.
Life never before such promises shown
That your presence did unhide.

Lucky I am, luckiest of all
To have you as my own dear friend.
Never will I ask for anything else,
Just promise that this friendship will never end.

Perfection

2005-06-27T05:10:00.000+05:30

Have you ever seen a baby in sleep?
Or heard nature’s song on a moonlit night?
Ever stood alone on the edge of a rocky cliff
And seen the world bathing in sun’s fading light?

Ever felt that perfect sadness
When you know you won’t see someone again?
Or seen the perfect smile that hurts you inside,
But yet takes away all your pain?

Ever got that perfect Christmas gift?
Or gone through a perfect day?
Ever felt like you were a child again
And got wet in the rain or played around with clay?

Ever told your self the perfect joke
And laughed in public all aloud?
Or succumbed to the temptation to go back to sleep,
On a day when the sun too sleeps behind the cloud?

Ever shed those perfect tears
For The Someone you care the most?
Or planned a vacation to the snowy hills?
Or may be just an evening walk along the coast?

Ever loved that perfect someone
Knowing full well that you won’t be loved instead?
Ever got that perfect compliment from someone
That made you all warm inside and your cheeks all apple red?

Ever seen a mother hold her child
With a gleaming smile on her face?
Ever got that perfect kiss?
Or perfectly been held in a warm embrace?

Ever imagined the smile the Lord would have had
After this beautiful world he did create?
You may have seen beauties all
But not seen perfection yet.

From one end of the world to the other I searched.
From the first fall of snow in winter to autumn’s first drop of dew,
Seen them all, and searched everywhere but perfection I could not find
But I finally did… when I met you.

Words from the heart

2005-06-27T05:09:00.000+05:30

There was a time when I had known
None better than the riches the world had shown,
But in my life then you softly stepped
And in that moment my heart you newly shaped.
Waken from a dream or thrown into one?
I realize how much I was a lonely one.
All my life I was chasing such hopes and dreams
That now to me so foolishly futile seems.
Lost in ambitions, emotions and mortal strife,
You have become the beacon of my futile life.
So I want to say to you what I have never told,
But no longer within my heart can it I hold.
You are the one, the only one whose
Every memory on my thoughts' ocean cruise.
You have set my heart on galloping beat,
Racing through my brain like the finest steed.
Contented was I once on this earth with my part.
Now all I have is an untamed heart
And youthful hormones raging in my veins
Lost in a dream with you on the grassy plains.
You are the one as you have always been
The closest to my heart, the sweetest thing.
When I am awake, and the face in my dream.
Presence as fresh as nature’s sweetest stream.
If love is a crime, then there is no one guiltier than me.
Will challenge the horizon so that with you can I always be.
All those moments that together we had spent
You taught me what friendship really meant.
Always by your side is where I belong,
Bringing down all that is between us boundaries strong.
There are no words that can mouth your charm
Like the first spring morning bright and warm.
Presence so fresh and colors so bright,
Wish you be the prisoner of my sight.
Yet am a prisoner of your innocent gait.
To be with you ten lives will I wait.
From dawn to dusk and again from dusk to dawn
I crave for you all day and all night long.
So perfect a creation of the creator's own hand.
Your beauty sweeps me off to the Promised Land.
Your eyes so deep carry me on to some unknown dream.
You are my princess, my life's only theme.
Your luscious lips - so sweet, so beautiful that it almost hurt
To see them colored in the colors of my bleeding heart.
The silken strands that over your shoulder flow
Is like a web forcing time to go so slow.
Defining grace at your slightest whim,
Unstoppable flow of nature's sweetest stream.
The peevish sun sets when it sees your glow.
The moment stopped and time goes slow.
Yet time like the naughtiest knave
So inappropriately it does behave,
And like the wind it runs so fast
That your company for only moments last.
Starved for your love and hungry for your touch,
Wish for nothing more than just to watch
Every moment of just you till I am dead.
To let you know what I wish I already have said,
You are the summer and the spring,
The winter, the autumn and all nice things.
You have shown me the paradise I have never seen.
Made me wish I was the man I have never been.
For you I will fetch the forbidden fruit.
You may doubt my love, but for me it is the only truth.
To be gone from this world, with you on an unknown beach
Or to be living in a shack beyond any human's reach.
To be lost in the woods with you, only you, on my side
Is to find true love and emotions that can no longer subside.
From the farthest reach in space to hell's darkest pit
It is your side that I will never quit.
Drowned in love, my feelings I can no longer mask,
The tiniest space in you heart is all I ask
And my love and heart I offer in return,
The heart that is already yours, and in your love burns.
If death would strike me after we have innocently kissed
Die a happy death will I, for there's no greater pleasure that I have missed.
All those moments when you are gone and then you are around
Shows me the meaning of paradise lost and paradise found.
The fireworks that you ignite, the colors that you add
And the emotions that I can’t word mark the moments that we had.
Love is not a destination but a journey on life's long road,
One journey that without you to take I can not afford.
I have found my life's meaning; no longer do I need to roam.
See the love in my eyes, hold my hand and let's go home.

Miss you...

2005-06-27T05:08:00.000+05:30

Silence slumbers in its futile sleep,
And the rest of the world sleeps with it, too;
But I can’t close my eyes, my Angel,
Because I lie so far away from you.

I close my eyes and there you are,
But when I open my eyes, you elude them;
Come to me, my image sweet, why do you,
With my eyes, play such a cruel game?

When I am well you run away, always;
Come now at least to my side.
Promise, I shall be a nice boy,
And to all your rules shall abide

Touch you not, bug you never,
Just witness your divine smiles of joy;
You be the princess in the palanquin,
I’ll be the admiring roadside beggar boy.

Your voice is all that I get to hear nowadays,
The reasons of which I very well know;
But a hundred reasons shall always be there
To stop us both from together old to grow.

Smile one time, then again, and then one more time;
Laugh out loud; and forever shine like a brilliant star;
Because you are the only dream that my eyes can see,
Wherever I may be, and wherever you are.

Paintbrush

2005-06-27T05:07:00.000+05:30

The smoothest stroke of the brush of time;
The first one, on the empty canvas that life I call;
Like a note breaking silence long
That all hearing hearts do enthrall.

Like the speeding steed by the name of time
Caught in the moment to stand and pause;
Like a flying arrow piercing hearts
So for its hiatus it can give a probable cause.

The second stroke, like a disciple good,
The first one it does follow.
Like the second note of a commencing song
Destined to fill all hearts, hollow.

Like the second line of a poem sweet
That, with the first, rhymes so good.
Like two birds on the branch of a tree
Or in a crib laying two new-born brood.

Following these is more of the same;
Splattering colors on a face so blank;
Mottled multihued like a butterfly’s wings
As it spreads gently on the middle and the flank.

Like a sweet poem taking birth
Of lines that just seems to rhyme so well;
Like a heart rupturing in passion inside
And colors returning to a face, so pale.

And within moments few, another of
The lord’s divine creation takes its place;
Creation that of the creator so highly speaks
So simple but beautiful none the less.

A life I had, even before,
But it was like a page so white;
Like a sleep that has no dream
Or like the dark starless night.

Like a song that sounds not well,
And like a poem whose lines won’t rhyme,
Like an ocean whose waves won’t break
Or a thought completely stopped in time.

If life was a song, then you are the one
Who a harmonious tune to it did add;
The colors of my life is what you are
The sweetest friend I have ever had.

Shadow of time

2005-06-27T05:05:00.000+05:30

Ever been there when time had stopped
And the sun so heedlessly refused to set?
Or when spring did stay all year long
And the nights never winter met?

When the leaves of the trees refused to fall
And flowers declined to wither?
Where morning dew stayed all day long
And children never grew either?

When your shadow never an inch did grow
But your luster surely did;
When the never-stopping Time did halt
And never other’s a warning heed.

Like a little boy under a tree
In the shadow of time I did sit,
The day when time itself had stopped;
The day my life yours did meet.

Time so foolishly stopped that day,
The act for which it is so ashamed now.
Like a shy boy it sits next to me
And wonders such an act happened how.

“Ashamed be not of your acts
For many a heart stopped that day too.”
I know that for a fact,
For my heart had stopped also for you.

Guilty I am too and forgiveness I plead,
For a crime that I committed not.
Never did I think that you, I will meet.
Never such a thing even in my dreams I thought.

You are but an enchanting fairy being
Who understands not who you are.
You are the moon that spreads its charm;
I am just one of many, an envious star.

My fault it is not that you are so sweet;
Blame the one who did make you.
Blame me not for staring hard
At something so rare and seen so few.

Let memories be the cage I build
And to time a sweet lullaby sing;
That it may sleep while you stay
A prisoner of mine, the sweetest being.

Punished may I be for such a heinous act;
To the strictest penalty oblige, shall this boy
Trade it for the moments with you I spend;
Foolishly I make these confessions, coy.

Footprints... On the sand

2005-06-27T04:59:00.001+05:30

Who is she, who treads so soft?
Like ripples made by a petal dropped;
On a pool whose surface so calmly stands,
Every drop bound by silence strands;
That breaks, whenever so slightly touched,
So gently, as if ashamed of being watched.

Like the breeze that hums nature’s song,
And whispers in my ears all day long.
Like the moon that bashfully looks
At itself in the flowing silvery brooks.
Like the starry eyes staring from up so high
So keenly with such an envious sigh.

I see the ocean, who does beckon the land,
And its breaking waves like a stretching hand
To kiss the sand where you once had stepped,
And with your presence the world newly shaped.
But I see it fall short one more time, every time;
Like an innocent boy who just can't do a crime.

And there it stays, your footsteps on the sand,
Making the watery bed jealous of the land;
Where once you were there, and now are gone
But left behind is a beautiful picture drawn;
Of memories of times when you were here,
Just by my side and to my heart so near.

I see the waves break and my heart breaks too;
The waves retreat but I shall wait for you.
Like the stars and the sea, I am envious of the land,
Where once did fall footsteps so grand.
Now that you are gone, inside it so badly does hurt;
You’ve left footsteps in the sand; now leave them in my heart.

Musaafir hun Yaron... Bas chalte jana hain…

2005-06-13T09:40:00.000+05:30

“Houston, we have landed…”

“Earth calling moon rocket, Please get your $#@!% back home...”

No, I am not quoting any of the Voyager or Apollo missions, nor am I quoting any of the million dollar Hollywood flicks. These pair of sentences simply describes my last weekends. Surely my experience was not as bad as the snippet would make you believe, but it surely felt worse.

It was Friday evening 6:30P.M., when I left home. Destination… Agile India Conference, Goa. It was Sunday morning 10:30A.M., when my weary and feeble demi-corpse clawed its way over the door sill of my room, figuratively speaking.

The statistics are simple,

32 hours of journey + 7 hours of stay = one arduous nomadic experience

With all that out of the way now let me get back to the purpose of my pilgrimage. It was around six months back when I was baptized to the Agile methodologies and though I wasn’t taken aback then, it later did sting me like the first love on the first blossoming day of a spring. Since then I have been known as an enthusiastic patron and follower of Agile software technology and Extreme Programming paradigm.

I was unlucky enough to miss the first of the Agile India Conferences that happened right here in my college, P.E.S.I.T., Bangalore. But this time when I heard that the student chapter of Agile Software Community of India was ready to sponsor couple of students for the Agile India Conference in Goa, I did not hesitate to jump in for the opportunity.

It was a nice little conference sited in the pleasant ambience of the International center, Goa. Nice relaxing atmosphere bejeweled with multi-modal informal interactions adding new quarks to the whole conference.

The XP planning game surely took the cherry as it presented the core practices of XP seen through the colored glasses of innovative tasks and a universal zest that seemed to be contagious and affected every single one present in the room. The seminars were also pretty exciting, informal and lively. Though I regret not being a witness to the whole affair in its completeness, I do cherish the few moments that I did.

My first Goa experience ended with close to an hour spent on the Goa Marimar beach. The sun set slowly leaving the sky dripping in its bleeding tears and leaving behind the firmament all to its lunar widow dressed in milky white suited to the occasion. But as the departure of one does bring no significant change to the lives of million others, so did the unenchanted waves went about their regular schedule, rising slowly along their journey of life only to share the same destiny as kamikaze pilots.

It was also a peculiar experience interacting with the idiosyncratic people of Goa who have seemingly read a different book on life than the rest of us. Most people in Goa share the same passion to be verbal, and their conversations were adorned by trinkets of the English language that many of us are lucky enough not to be too spendthrift with.

Hectic, exhausting but fun and educational. That was Agile India Conference, 2005 organized at Goa. My persisting appetite for respite, due to the past demanding weekends, will force me to cut my blog short here. So let me end this here with a standing ovation for the organizers for a praiseworthy effort and a credible outcome.

Congratz people!!!...

See you later, Bob… (In the spirit of one small little thing I picked up on this trip)

The baton has been passed...

2005-06-05T11:43:00.000+05:30

Days and nights of inhuman labor and human exasperation seasoned with dedication, sincerity and deference… a page out of an idealistic story of an uphill struggle met with flawless industry and steadfast and unflinching fortitude…

That is how I would like to start this narration but sadly it is NOT what this is about. It was merely an unexpected but elating nomination a month or so back because of which today I found myself standing and admiring the huge Microsoft office in Embassy Golf Links Business Park. It was a grand feeling walking into the office of what has often been quoted to be the cartel that dominates the computer industry world wide. The impressive high rising monarchs of architecture has bestowed a look of sophistication and common envy to this corporate environment. There were no fire crackers going off as I stepped in for the very first time into the Microsoft office, but who knows? A new opportunity today might be taking me to some new heights tomorrow…

It was a privilege and surely a pleasure to be a part of this event. The event itself was very informal, an environment well suited for the congregation of three generations of Microsoft student champs. It started off well with a few jitter at start and overall was nice and relaxing to say the least.

Many of the new members found themselves speculating, some more vociferously than others, over what their responsibilities exactly were as a part of this esteemed team. For me, I realized that this prestigious title of a Microsoft student champ, which providence had brought me, is escort by a power of authority and liberty of action. I sincerely believe in the following equation,

Authority + Liberty = Responsibility

and that is the equation that I will try to execute during my tenure as a Microsoft student champ.

A well crafted sword is an intimidating weapon but in the hands of the One mastered in the art of assassination, even a mere pin can prove more deadly. I have never believed in tools but rather in the craftsmanship with which it is used. I have worked on different platforms. Windows, Linux and very recently starting on HP-UX as well. But I am not a person fanatical over any of these particular platforms. But with all the hype that one gets to hear about the security and dependability of Linux and UNIX based operating systems over Windows, I would suggest my friends to visit here and get some of their facts straight. Also if any of you can get your hands on Forrester research on Microsoft vs. Linux flavors then I guarantee you it will be a good read.

A group photo of three generations of student representatives marked the end of the day and what can possibly be the beginning of many more exciting things to come. Conclusion of the story… The baton has been passed but for me the race is just beginning.

Eureka! Victory is ours...

2005-05-16T11:26:00.000+05:30

Victory is sweet but an unexpected one is gratifying beyond words. That was exactly the story today when we won our first OSP competition. Aatmatrisha-05 will forever be etched in the memory of at least two people who savored the soothing taste of triumph for the very first time in a manner they were never before acquainted with.

Not to sound too arrogant, but victory has been commonplace in my life. But the words “On-Spot-Programming” has been as much a part of my interests as it has been part of an eluding dream that has always beckoned me ever so temptingly. It’s been a story of my life or the story of past OSP competitions at least, that I would qualify for every OSP final with so much predictable ease and yet my performances in the finals have always haunted the peace of my mind.

Aatmatrisha-05 was the stage for redemption not only on a personal scale but also at the team level. Team IQ was borne out of dreams and mutual admirations but much like most aspiring rock stars it looked like it had faded even before it had its two minutes in the lime light. Bharati and me, we have had our good times and hard times before. We have had already finished a couple of projects together through hectic schedules, moments of pressure and an awful chicken pox, I must add. But since then the team kind of faded away slowly under the pressure of all our work and it was only recently that we spoke of injecting some life back into a team that we once believed so much in. I don’t know whether Aatmatrisha-05 quenched the thirst of any one’s soul but it sure did bring a ray of hope of Nirvana for team IQ.

The finals witnessed three teams from RVCE facing off with one and a half teams (ours and Parimala, the solo warrior, a very brave and gifted soul, and a close friend) from PESIT with of course the company of one team from BMS. On sure scale of questions attempted we had as much hopes as a dead man in his casket but who knew that solidarity of solutions over the number was going to bring the glory home? We carried the torch and we carried it well and at the end it was a surprise that we were not expecting.

A battle closely fought and won in the presence of peers whom you have looked up to and admired for so long for their God like talents (for the uninitiated, the elite jury of Vikas Baligar and Abhishek KR)… nothing can be more rewarding than that.

To summarize the day under the banner of a cliché that so well does fit the truth in this idiosyncratic circumstance…

Entry fee: Rs.60

Prize money: Rs.1000

Winning your first OSP finals in our very own Aatmatrisha-05: Priceless

CHEERS! May Team IQ witness more of such brilliant days ahead…