Tea Time
That tiny blue speck is ME
Breath taking view from atop the KP
Descent from heaven
Sunset
Dinner in the wild
iTravel - KumaraParvatha
3 hours into the trek.. and this was just the tip of the iceberg..
Tea Time
That tiny blue speck is ME
Breath taking view from atop the KP
Descent from heaven
Sunset
Dinner in the wild
Tea Time
That tiny blue speck is ME
Breath taking view from atop the KP
Descent from heaven
Sunset
Dinner in the wild
Wedding Invite - Munnabhai style
It was to be my bro's marriage soon and I was to come up with a quirky invite. Drawing inspiration from Munnabhai MBBS (since my sis-in-law is a doctor), here is what I came up with:
Its a pity that the invite was never used :(
Its a pity that the invite was never used :(
iTravel - Wayanad
After months of slogging the team decided to go on a lil trip., off we went to Wayanad - the tribal district of Kerala. A pity though that we did not find any tribals. This place never ceases to amaze me - tea estates, coffee estates, lakes, waterfalls, small hills for short treks... There are also a couple of museums for the historically inclined...
A few snaps:
Tea estate in Meppadi
View from atop the Edakkal caves
Karapuzha dam
Green Mile
A few snaps:
Tea estate in Meppadi
View from atop the Edakkal caves
Karapuzha dam
Green Mile
Welcome - Services ishtyle
K is new to the company. He had heard a lot about the company - the amazing jumbo welcome for the joinees which made it to the headlines of most newspapers (for the sheer madness of the idea) and amazing work culture in the company which made some agency rate this company as one of the 'Best 5 IT workplaces in India' (just goes on to prove how misleading surveys could be - reflection of just a minority's opinion).
Unfortunately for K, his previous 2 companies were product based. Having had a real warm welcome and a 2 week period of liesure in the product companies (am serious, 2 weeks to just get accustomed) his first day at the services was like a punch in the solar plexus.
The PM tags along K and introduces him to the PL. K is handed over to the PL, like a chicken to a butcher. PL introduces K to the team and outlines his tasks :
1. Go through the requirements
2. Understand the platform (a custom platform designed by the client)
3. Learn SQL Reporting services
4. Start understanding the current design
5. Start DB design for the next phase
6.Since the team is already slipping, start helping them fix bugs
K took it all in his stride, it sure was surprising to see that he was not overwhelmed by the number of tasks. So K got to work and casually asked me how the work was; 'Not more than 10 hours in a day', I replied. 'Is that a good thing or a bad thing', he asked me. 'Oh, that's a very good thing, people work for more than 14-16 hours a day in some of the projects', I replied. I guess that's the first time I sensed a little bit of panic - having been used to strictly 8 hours of work, in which only 6-7 hours was productive K had every reason to panic.
With the release date close by and the fear of not being able to deliver on time looming large the good times came to an end. There were no more 10 hour days, K got his first taste of the services. With the test bombarding the dev with defects, the next 2 weeks were very hectic with all of us stretching to meet the deadline. K turned out to be very good juggler, managing all tasks with elan, albeit at the cost of staying back late into the night.
On the day of the release it was utter chaos, with the dev still fixing bugs and checking-in the code and test taking build after build and testing it out. The release finally happened late in the night with a list of known issues and unresolved bugs. As we all sat exhausted, thinking the worst was over, we got a stinker from the client. To call it a stinker would be an understatement and would not do justice to the stinkin abilities of the client, a stinker whose stench would put a skunk to shame. As we all sat disappointed I casually asked K why he quit the product company to which he replied 'Designation Change'.
I smiled inwardly as I reflected on his reply.
Unfortunately for K, his previous 2 companies were product based. Having had a real warm welcome and a 2 week period of liesure in the product companies (am serious, 2 weeks to just get accustomed) his first day at the services was like a punch in the solar plexus.
The PM tags along K and introduces him to the PL. K is handed over to the PL, like a chicken to a butcher. PL introduces K to the team and outlines his tasks :
1. Go through the requirements
2. Understand the platform (a custom platform designed by the client)
3. Learn SQL Reporting services
4. Start understanding the current design
5. Start DB design for the next phase
6.Since the team is already slipping, start helping them fix bugs
K took it all in his stride, it sure was surprising to see that he was not overwhelmed by the number of tasks. So K got to work and casually asked me how the work was; 'Not more than 10 hours in a day', I replied. 'Is that a good thing or a bad thing', he asked me. 'Oh, that's a very good thing, people work for more than 14-16 hours a day in some of the projects', I replied. I guess that's the first time I sensed a little bit of panic - having been used to strictly 8 hours of work, in which only 6-7 hours was productive K had every reason to panic.
With the release date close by and the fear of not being able to deliver on time looming large the good times came to an end. There were no more 10 hour days, K got his first taste of the services. With the test bombarding the dev with defects, the next 2 weeks were very hectic with all of us stretching to meet the deadline. K turned out to be very good juggler, managing all tasks with elan, albeit at the cost of staying back late into the night.
On the day of the release it was utter chaos, with the dev still fixing bugs and checking-in the code and test taking build after build and testing it out. The release finally happened late in the night with a list of known issues and unresolved bugs. As we all sat exhausted, thinking the worst was over, we got a stinker from the client. To call it a stinker would be an understatement and would not do justice to the stinkin abilities of the client, a stinker whose stench would put a skunk to shame. As we all sat disappointed I casually asked K why he quit the product company to which he replied 'Designation Change'.
I smiled inwardly as I reflected on his reply.
The next best thing to Moms food
'Eat it with finely chopped raw onions on the side.. Thats how the vendor at the Suratkal beach serves it and its a major hit at the beach', said my friend. Something none of us ever tried, but we were an experimentive(???) lot. Ripped the skin out, and tak tak tak tak went the knife chopping down the onion into tiny lil pieces.. Tears rolling down our cheeks.. 'Make sure it does not go dry, add plenty of water and let it boil on and on till it becomes all gooey', said another dude from the bunch of hungry guys..
Amidst the chopping and chattering the thing was boiling away to what was to be its destiny - slither down our throats and enter our dark, cavernous tummies.. We were making it plain, no special effects, no greens and no sauces.. simple and plain; with of course the chopped onions as an accompaniment. The dish was ready just as requested, a lil sticky and piping hot.. Out came the plates, an assortment of unevenly shaped plates (The last one had to eat from the pan due to lack of plates).. The dish was served and raw onions added on top.. It was the moment of truth.. As the dish entered our mouths colors exploded, it was a divine feeling.. It was worth all the wait and the tears..
All this was some 2 years back. There have been numerous such sessions, night outs during the exams, over a movie, over a game of Uno.. This dish has been a constant companion through the hungriest of times.. Wasn't I ever bored of this dish? Not really, there have been so many variants to the dish, cook it with a bunch of boiled veggies or break an egg into the pan while the dish is boiling(making it even more gooey) or make some egg burji and spread it over the dish or add some tomato sauce to give it a bright new look..
And all it takes is 5 minutes to make this dish, though the advertisement says 'Bas do minute'. This phrase and 'Fast to cook, good to eat' is something every Indian telly viewer would know.. From the past 25 years these have been the punchline for Nestle Maggi. There have been a number of other instant noodles in the market, but none like Maggi, the unique flavor of the Maggi masala has never been recreated.. 'Sticky and gooey or dry, Maggi is the only thing I wanna try', MAGGI MAGGI MAGGI!!! Am eating Maggi as I write this eulogy ,the plain and sticky version....
Amidst the chopping and chattering the thing was boiling away to what was to be its destiny - slither down our throats and enter our dark, cavernous tummies.. We were making it plain, no special effects, no greens and no sauces.. simple and plain; with of course the chopped onions as an accompaniment. The dish was ready just as requested, a lil sticky and piping hot.. Out came the plates, an assortment of unevenly shaped plates (The last one had to eat from the pan due to lack of plates).. The dish was served and raw onions added on top.. It was the moment of truth.. As the dish entered our mouths colors exploded, it was a divine feeling.. It was worth all the wait and the tears..
All this was some 2 years back. There have been numerous such sessions, night outs during the exams, over a movie, over a game of Uno.. This dish has been a constant companion through the hungriest of times.. Wasn't I ever bored of this dish? Not really, there have been so many variants to the dish, cook it with a bunch of boiled veggies or break an egg into the pan while the dish is boiling(making it even more gooey) or make some egg burji and spread it over the dish or add some tomato sauce to give it a bright new look..
And all it takes is 5 minutes to make this dish, though the advertisement says 'Bas do minute'. This phrase and 'Fast to cook, good to eat' is something every Indian telly viewer would know.. From the past 25 years these have been the punchline for Nestle Maggi. There have been a number of other instant noodles in the market, but none like Maggi, the unique flavor of the Maggi masala has never been recreated.. 'Sticky and gooey or dry, Maggi is the only thing I wanna try', MAGGI MAGGI MAGGI!!! Am eating Maggi as I write this eulogy ,the plain and sticky version....
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