Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The year that was ... !!

Its that time again when you bid adieu to another year ... put on a few more wrinkles and grey hair in my case and hope that life still gets better ... :P ... Adios 2009 ...

I had a much better year as compared to the previous year ... and I am in a much better mental state as compared to the same time last year ...

In spite of that I would like to still list the negatives of the year first ... :)

The killer - Gave up job at a good organization for nothing ... actually nothing :(
As a byproduct of this ... dreams of getting out of a financial rut vanished ...
Lost a very good friend due to my bad sense of humor ... :D

The good stuff ...
Mumbai has to be there isnt it? - I went to Mumbai lots of times ... I lost count actually ...
finally travelled to some place north of Mumbai ... I went to Jaipur and attended a lavish wedding ... that of my very good friend Prakash ...
Strained relations showed signs of improvement
I improved a lot in TT and was applauded for the tournament I organized at AT along with Sabhtarsha of course ... our team ended 3rd and we were the only team to defeat all other teams in the competition ... Kudos guys ...
Had the most amazing time at Sangaon with DAPP and in-laws ...
Survived the flood at South Goa and was lucky to escape unscathed ...
Lots of friends got married ... some friends had kids ... :)
To be honest ... got a job fairly quickly considering my mental state ...
My portfolio went up quite a bit ... JP leading the way ... RIL giving a bonus and Infy closing in on 2600 ...


The stupidity ...
Went to Goa on a 2 wheeler and came back the same day ... this was stupid ... but it felt good till it lasted ...

Its evident that the Bad section is quite short and I am going into 2010 with a lot more smiles ...

Here's wishing everyone a rollicking 2010 ... I wish everyone a great decade ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS ... Cheers ... !!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Punch ... !!

No, I have not been involved in a slugfest with anyone :P

This post will evolve with time. Dialogues have always fascinated me ... whether its in real or reel ... it doesn't matter ... so I thought that blogging about some of my favorites (actually they do not need to be favorites ) would be fun ...

Over the last couple of weeks ... I heard some great dialogues on the telly ... I have heard them before but it feels better the next time around ... here are a few ... and as I said ... this post will evolve with time ... and the dialogues may not be pin point in terms of the words I use ... :D

From the movie Guru ...
Manik Dasgupta (Mithun) to Shyam Saxena (Madhavan): Shyam ... kya tum is aadmi ko sabke saamne nanga kar sakte ho?
Gurukant Desai (Abhishek Bachchan): Mere kapde saari duniya pehenti hai ... sabko nanga karna padega ...

From the movie Kaala Pathhar ...
this needs a prelude ... Shatrughan Sinha challenges Macmohan for a game of Teenpatti and Macmohan is like the undisputed king of Teenpatti among the workers at the coal mine ... Macmohan's 3 cards are J J and 2 while Shatru has K K and 6. But Macmohan cheats by getting a J out of his shirt sleeve ... so he now has J J and J ... when its time for Show ... Macmohan says: Mere paas teen gulaam hai ... and then shows the 3 gulaams ... Shatru says: Mere paas 3 Baadshah hai ... Macmohan says: dikhao ... Shatru shows the first Badshah card and says "Baadshah" ... then shows the 2nd Baadshah card and says "Baadshah" and then shows the 3rd card which is a 6 ... Macmohan:Teesra Baadshah kahaan hai? and then comes the clinching dialogue ... as follows ....

Mangal Singh (Shatrughan Sinha): Mere taash ki tirpanwe(53rd) patte ... teesre Baadshah hum hai ... :P

from the iconic Sholay ... actually there are so many in this movie but I like this one ...
Police Inspector to Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar): Khota sikka to dono taraf se hi khota hota hai ...
Thakur Baldev Singh: Sikkey aur insaan mein shaayad yehi farak hai ...

from Inside Man ...
when a person is called to identify the bank robbers based on a language they are speaking inside the bank ... and this language is not known to any of the investigators headed by Denzel Washington
Person: That's the President of Algeria speaking ...
Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) to the Person: You want to tell me that the President of Algeria is trying to the rob the bank??

from Company ...
Rawte (Bharat Dabholkar) to Chandu (Vivek Oberoi) : ये पाटिल की वजह से बोहोत प्रॉब्लम हो रहा है
Chandu : पाटिल को मारना है?
Rawte : नहीं नहीं ... स्कैंडल हो जाएगा ... then he picks up his cup of tea ... looks in the other direction ... has a sip ... and says ... लेकिन उसको मरना है ... followed by the beats of Ganda hai par Dhanda hai yeh ... thrilling ... :)

from Con-Air
there is this scene where Nicolas Cage and John Cusack face each other and both have a gun in their hands ... Nicolage Cage asks Cusack to lower his gun to which Cusack asks ... "Can I also expect you to lower your gun"?

Nicolage Cage - Sorry ... there are only 2 people in this world whom I trust ... one is me and the other is not you :P ... fantastic ... !!


will keep adding to this list ... Cheers ... !!

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Nayi Shuruwaat ... !!

I guess that's the first Hindi title that I have used? No? I am not sure. I have used a Spanish one I suppose. Drop it.

Yeah ... a new start. A new place comes with its baggage. Some of it is good ... some not so good. Pretty much in line with most things in life. I have never had a more topsy-turvy 40 days in my life so far and I am hoping I never have one in future. Never say never they say. Alas ...

So a new company eh? Tieto ... short for TietoEnator ... OK ... before anyone wonders what it means ... it means Knowledge in Finnish ... why Finnish? ... its a company based in Finland and getting most of its development off-shored to Pune ...

Adjusting to a bigger company (compared to AT) has been a pain ... on the first day I felt like a little boy stripped of his candy ... bemused by the everyday work process of a large company ... why the hell do I need to spend 10 minutes for parking everyday? Bidding for parkings? Do hell with you ...

But there were lots of such things that made me look like that candy-lost-guy ... er ... kid ...

It takes far lesser time to climb 8 floors than in the lift ... the lift gets suffocated with the different perfumes and deos ... I thought fragrance was always good ... I dont approve of it anymore ...

What all do I need to do to get inside? Photo ID, Access Card, Fingerprints ... plus the Photo ID always has to be on display and not in your pocket ... I remember my AT photo ID locked up in the cupboard in the hall of my place ... people used to look at it and say "Aah ... yeh hai aapka beta ... bohot bada ho gaya hai" ... a sign that I was hardly at home when people visited us ... :P

The toilet (I somehow dont like the term "Washroom") is like entering Ramsay territory ... if you have just been to a brightly lit area before entering the toilet then be prepared ... its like the deepest of dungeons ... pitch dark ... or atleast it looks that way when you enter it ... there are these strange bright RED and GREEN lights that keep changing from RED to GREEN and back ... peace of mind I say ... I need peace of mind when I am releasing something that's not good to keep in my body ...

A gazillion processes ... if I have to get something reimbursed I have to do a million things ... I dont need no reimbursement now ... aah ... I speak like an American ... Amrriikkka ki to $#@ ki $#@! ... that anger is already vented ... :D

But there is something good to write about too ...

LTA here is non-taxable if you show that you have been on leave for 3 days during the entire year ... great isnt it? ... I mean you dont need to show any kind of bills or proofs ... just be on leave for 3 days during the year ... thats it ... this is amazing ...

Great pantry service ... when I say great ... its actually great ... atleast 3-4 different biscuits to choose from ... a completely functions vending machine ... tea, coffee, soup, milk, hot chocolate ... everything is working always ... a refrigerator in each pantry along with an oven ... and atleast 2 pantries per floor ... I mean I am aware most of this would be common to most companies but it was something new to me ...

The promises made by the people here are actually promises ... kharach ... aai shappat ... :P

The machine was ready at my desk at the time they promised ... fully configured ... 4GB RAM and 150 GB space ... whoa ... nothing is blocked here ... there is no firewall as such ... but you are allowed to use only Microsoft stuff like IE and not Chrome ... :( ... but theek hai ... no issues ... MS Communicator is a means of communication ... there is no restriction on Messengers as such but they dont encourage it ... every machine has a multi-purpose telephone and Mic ... wonderful ...

The seating arrangement is very open ... there is no cubicle as such ... there are cubicle arrangements but they lack in height ... so you cant call it cubicle as such ... the entire floor is a mix of Pink, Blue, light Green and Orange ...

You get reimbursement if you buy clothes for yourself :P ... its called Attire allowance ... never heard that before ... you get reimbursement if you buy books for yourself ... I mean technical books and not novels :)

The last thing ... something not so good ... no maternity expenses cover in Medical insurance ... sob sob ...

aisi kaafi cheezein hai ... so a mix of good and bad ... but a new experience ...

Lets see what the future has in store ... Aa Dekhen Zara ... Cheers ... !!