Musings of my mind

My blog address is moved

2008-06-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader,

I have now stopped blogging on this page. My new blog address is http://susheelk.wordpress.com

There are many reasons for this change of mine. The main reason is, I get bored with things very fast. I always look for change and something new. I went through a Blog in wordpress of a fellow blogger. I thought it is cool and hip. So I thought, why not try it.

So here I go with a lot of good memories from blogger.com. I have enjoyed my stay here. My first test of blogging started in these past few posts.

Anybody who reads this, I request you to PLEASE visit my new new Blog and keep sending in your comments/feedback.

I love you all,

Susheel

The Alchemist...

2008-05-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to write this entry since the time I finished reading “The Alchemist”. It is definitely one of the most beautiful books that I have read. The central character (Santiago) has been so wonderfully presented that every person can see a small part of himself with the central character. Apart from being a very good read, the book also made me ask myself some very deep questions. What is my destiny? Am I traveling the right path? Will I end up being a baker who was destined to find a pot of gold? Frankly, I am very much afraid to even think about these questions, let alone answer them. It is said in the book that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. I wonder when my teacher will arrive. I wonder if I am ready enough for a teacher.

But there is one thing said in the book which I believe totally. It is about the so called “Old man in shining armor” helping you in your life’s path. Ever since I was a kid I have always felt that there is “Someone” watching over me. Someone, whom I have never seen or met, but who always has my best interests in his mind. I call him God and the people who have read “The Alchemist” can call him the old man in the shining armor. Every time I have a bad experience he seems to be whispering in my ears – You will very soon understand why you went through this.

Let me try and explain by taking someone examples from my life. Early in my childhood, I had to leave my hometown and study in Delhi. I am talking about a time when I was in 6^th standard. It was a new place and I absolutely hated being there. I had no friends in the place and almost always felt as a south Indian outcast among North Indians. I remember wondering why I had to go through all this rubbish. Three years later when I was leaving Delhi and going back to my hometown, I again felt miserable. This time it was because, I had made so many new friends and I will now never be able to see them again. Now, after 15 years due to a strange twist, I had to go to Gurgaon for my work and one by one I am getting back in touch with all my old friends. You cannot imagine how happy I feel whenever I meet my “long lost friends”!!!! I am glad I came here, went back and again came here. It was as if everything was planned.

I am an electronics and communication engineer by education. I had always wanted to be a software engineer. Fate made me a telecom engineer. I was very angry on God to have made a telecom engineer out of me. It did not take me long to know that this job was “Charming”. In fact I began to love it. Everything that I had studied in my four years of engineer was proving to be useful. Today when I call my “Software engineer” friends that are more bitter then me. They are angry that studied electronics and are working on a computer. They are angry that the market is so over crowded that they have become just another person in the crowd. They are angry that their day start starts staring into a computer and ends with staring at the same computer. Today I am glad I am communication engineer and am enjoying every moment of it. It was as if everything was planned.

I used to hate traveling a lot. I liked to be in familiar surrounding with familiar faces. I hated the uncertainty that traveling brought you. My job as a communication engineer involved a lot of travel. The first time I went on a travel, I was so bloody scared and nervous that I lost 17,000 Rs from my purse. Just imagine how I felt!!!! But slowly as time went by, and I traveled more places, I began to see why people enjoy traveling. I in fact began to love it. My hate for traveling began to be replaced by a love for it. As I did so I also began to feel more confident about myself. Today I have traveled to more places then many of my “Software engineers”. I love the challenges of going to unknown places and visiting unknown people and finding friends. Now I am confident that I can go even to the North Pole and make friends there. Traveling has become such an inseparable part of me that I now wonder I did not like it before. It was as if everything was planned.

Like all people of my generation, I too got hooked to the internet. I loved to chat my heart out online. It was during this time that I found a very interesting lady online. She was so cheerful and bright that I thought it was her that I was waiting for all these days. It was not to be. And it turned out that it was just my hormones and infatuation that were fooling around with me. She was not the girl after all. But all these chatting session somehow made me feel good about writing my heart out. I realized that I loved to put my thoughts on paper and publish it. It cleared my mind and lightened my heart. I turned to blogging. I started to write my “own” articles. Tough I do not have a big fan following, I enjoy publishing my thoughts online. What started as a routine chatting with one girl online ended up with me trying my hand on blogging and to this day I have written about 60+ blogs. I plan to write atleast a 100 more. I have found some geninuly good bloggers/blogs online. I have inspired some of my own friends to start blogging. I am loving it. It was as if everything was planned.

Quick update...

2008-05-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have typed in anything. I alone know how much I have missed blogging. But I have not been able to do so. One of the reason for this was that the last few days have been extremely eventful for me. Now that its 12:34 AM on a monday morning and I have time,tranquility of the night and Insomnia on my side I thought it would be a great idea to just key in whatever happened to me in the last few days.

I got the Idea of doing this after reading a wonderful blog that I nowadays visit almost on a daily basis ( http://nrsl.wordpress.com/ ). So, here goes my update.

I came back from Nepal to India. (In a strange way I am missing Nepal).
Visited my brother who was in Hospital due to acute Jaundice (By God's grace, he is now fine).
Had a memorable stay in Bangalore (only one night). Met all my old roommates and chatted away the entire night. It will remain as one of the most memorable night of mine.
Stayed in Hyderabad over a weekend. Met all the old colleagues, friends and roommates. The get together in Ameerpet with all my "Gang" really charged up my batteries.
I FINALLY found a room near my office in Gurgaon. Gosh!!!!! I had been wanting to change my old room so badly that now I wonder how I did not so earlier.
After finding the room, I was pissed off. The room was simply too costly for me. I cursed myself for convincing myself to move into such a costly room. But, out of the blue, I found two people who were willing to share my room. So, end of the day, I got my room and I got it for cheap. (God!!! I love you).
I got a promotion at work. I am now a so called "Team Lead". This is a new challenge for me, I hope and pray that I respond well to this challenge as well.
I finished reading the Alchemist. I must admit it is one of the most wonderful book I have read in a long long time.
Started reading "Icon". I have finished almost 25% of the book. As of now this book has portrayed Steve jobs as an "Anti hero". I don't like this, cause Steve Jobs is one of my heros. I will still go ahead and complete the book.
I am now Chandigarh on official work. It is a wonderful place and I like the climate here. I now know first hand why bachelor like this place. Here I saw some of the most beautiful girls of India. Gosh!!! this place is heaven.

I am sure whoever reads this might give a damn about what I did all these days. I understand you. But after many many days, when I read this blog, I am sure I will be glad I wrote this :-)

Nepal Votes for change

2008-04-15T06:14:00.000-07:00

It’s been close to 20 days since I am in Nepal. As you might have already guessed, I loved this place. It’s been an absolute delight to be here. The tours, travels and visits apart, there is something very important that happened in Nepal during my stay here. Nepal has voted for a change. Nepal has voted to form its own constitution.

From what ever little I saw of Nepal, I can say that there are two major things that can drive Nepal as country (economically). One is, of course, Tourism. Another is Water power. Yes, Water power!!! A small trivia here - After Brazil, Nepal is the second country with the most water resources. You have all type of water resource here, river, like, stream - everything. I read somewhere - if somehow all this water resource is converted into energy, not a single person in Nepal will need Petrol/diesel. Everything can run on electricity.

But sadly for Nepal and its citizens, both these source of income have not been harnessed fully. For tourism to flourish fully, political stability is required. This is something that Nepal has not enjoyed for a long time. They have already been facing a lot of internal fighting and instability. Take my own case for example; in the last 20 days of my stay here, I saw five bomb blasts within a radius of 5 KMs from the place of my work and one bomb blast in a place of worship outside Katmandu valley. Even after this I see foreign tourists moving around and enjoying the place as if there are in paradise. Then just imagine, how tourism would be if there was no civil unrest and political stability in Nepal!!!

As far as harnessing water resource is concerned, it requires money. This is again something that, at present Nepal is not having in abundance. Most of the money that it has earned previously has either been either looted by anti-social elements or eaten by corrupt officials. In fact the situation is soo bad that there are only two roads of exit from Katmandu valley which is always congested. And the government does not have money to widen the road. There is only one rail line in the country. No expansion possible because the government has no money.

The common man of Nepal too seems to have become aware of these things. I think, they too now know that if situations are not changed very quickly, they will go into oblivion in the near future. Therefore Nepal has now decided for a change. Elections were held in Nepal on 10^th April, 2008. I was the witness to the campaigning phase, the election phase and also the counting phase. The enthusiasm that the general public showed was simply amazing to see. During the run up to election, at almost every corner of the place, you could see group of people discussing heatedly about the change that the country requires. Discussions about the pro’s ad Con’s of all the parties involved. During the counting phase, everybody was glued to the TV/radio/Newspaper. Everyone wanting to know the status of the pool.

The results are slowing pouring in. The Maoists seem to be heading for a landslide victory. As one of my local friend proudly said – “We will now write our own constitution”. With power now in the hands of Maoists people do feel that things might change for good. I pray that this becomes a correct prediction. I pray that peace and stability return to this small and beautiful country. Because this country deserves to be treated better :-)

The Royal Kingdoms, Patan Durbar and Religion....

2008-04-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

Nepal is also known by two other alternate names. One is Mountain kingdom and another is the Royal kingdom. The first name is quite obvious. The reason for being called by the second name is both interesting as well as worth recounting here.

I know you might have already guessed it. Nepal is (was?) ruled by a system of monarchy. That is one of the reasons for it to be called as a Royal kingdom. But what many people do not know is that just a few years back, like today, Nepal was not ruled by a single king. Nepal in itself was divided into four different “kingdoms”. Katmandu, Patan, Basantnagar and Bhaktpur (I might be wrong in the historic details – No offence intended). From what I have heard, the king of Katmandu once climbed on the top on the highest mountain of his kingdom and looked towards other kingdom. He found the other kingdoms to be soo beautiful that he wanted it for himself. It is then that he attacked the other kingdoms. After facing defeats four times, he finally succeeded in conquering all the other three kingdoms. Thus came into existence the Royal Kingdom of Nepal. This stands even till today.

As is said aptly, once person’s victory means another persons defeat. The development and governance in the other three kingdoms came to a standstill after the victory of the king of Katmandu. The palaces of the other king were left unattended. This has come as a blessing in disguise for the tourists. These palaces have now become a “snapshot” into the past. They are beautiful and splendid even in apparent age. The seat of power in all these kingdoms used to be called as Durbars. This could be compared to our present day’s Rajpath in India. It consisted of the place, the temple of the main Deity, the court and the main market. I think it would just suffice if you have a look at the attached photograph. This is the marvelous – Patan Durbar square.

Just stepping into Patan Durbar square makes you feel as you are transported into another era. The buildings, the small roads and the temples give you a feeling that at any moment a king might come out of any of the doors. You have to experience it to feel it. It is very difficult to explain in words.

The best thing I like in Patan durbar square is the “Museum behind the golden gate”. The golden gate here refers to the gate the place of the king of patan. This beautiful palace has now been converted into a museum dedicated to Hindu and Buddhist religion. I must say for a person trying to understand more about Hinduism and Buddhism it is a treasure trove. With the help of some splendid idols and clearly written comments, it takes you logically into the depths of religion. For example, one might have thought why image worship? And if we worship, why are the idols of Hindu and Buddhist Gods so inhuman (three heads, 6 hands, vertical eyes and what not)? Well the idol is a way to help the seeker visualize god. It is to help him focus his energy and concentration on something material which helps him to take a divine path. It is like the photo of your Mom/Dad/Husband/Wife/Girlfriend/Boyfriend that you keep close to your heart when you are away from them. And as far as the inhuman nature of these Idols goes, they are so because, after all God is super human. For example from a point of what God does he is - provider, destroyer, enabler, Judge, Father of the universe, and much much more. How can such a person have only two hands, a head and a pair of eyes like a “normal” human??? These Idols are just a proof of man’s struggle to understand God better. There is much much more I learned behind the golden door. But I know I am already sounding like a pundit straight out of a religious book, so I will stop here.

A stone throw away from Patan durbar square is the kumbakeshwar temple (Shiva temple) and the Golden Pagoda. Both are so wonderful, majestic and mystic that I don’t even have words to express. I felt strange warmth in both these places. There are some things words cannot express. You have to feel it to know it. These places are amongst them.

I have also visited Pashupatinath temple, Nagarkod and Dundikel. More about it in my next blogs :-)

My first "International" tour - Nepal

2008-04-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

It’s been a looong time since I have written anything. Looking back, I am really amazed. When I was leaving India to go to Nepal, I thought that I will write one blog each day. Today almost 7 days have passed and I have not even written a single blog entry about Nepal!!!!!

I was just wondering what took me soo long to write my first International blog. The simple answer was I was totally "awed" by this place. Even though this place is so near to India and you can see Indian influence in almost everything, yet I found the place to be very beautiful. I found everything about this place captivating - climate, culture, chaos, girls - everything. Now that I am out of this initial awe...I plan to write something about this country in general and my visit here in particular.

The first thing that I found when I landed here was that foreign countries are not that foreign after all. It's just the geographic boundary that segregates countries, otherwise we are all one. The moment I landed in Katmandu I feel in love with the climate. You know, Katmandu is a valley. By valley I mean that this place is surrounded by hills from all the four direction and the city is right in the center of these hills. The view that you have when the flight is about to land is unforgettable. Seeing out of the window, you feel that you can reach out and touch the pine trees on top of the hills. It was mesmerizing...I am sure it will be etched in my memory for a loong long time.

One more unique thing about Katmandu, which comes from the fact that it is a valley, is that - the climate is not same in entire Katmandu. It is quite possible that at any given point of time, it might be cold in one part of the city, raining at another place and chilly at yet another place. This is something that I had never even thought of before as being possible. Also, I love to peek out of my hotel window when ever I wake up. The dew, freshness and wonderful clouds on top of the hills fills me with soo much energy that, sometimes I feel I should just not leave this place.

One more things that I liked about this place is its people. They are very kind hearted, soft spoken and fashionable. You can say they are a near perfect blend of east and west culture. The guy serving you in the hotel, generally in denims and hip T shirts, bows down to you and asks with the best of manners - "How can I help you sir"? It is amazing. You look out in the streets and you see a Cool, hip and extremely fashionable crowd. Initially I made the mistake of thinking that maybe these people are haughty. Talk to them and you will immediately know that they have not forgotten their roots, culture and manners. One more special thing was that all number plates of vehicle were in Nepali language. Something very different from India, where most of the vehicles have English number plates. Have a look at the news paper; the date will not be as per the Julian calendar, but as per the Hindu calendar. Have a look at the resume of a Neplai person and chances are that you will find his DOB as per Hindu calendar. Now that is what I call preserving your culture.

I also visited some places in Nepal. Namely - Patan durbar square, Dhulikel, Nagarkot and Bhaktpur and Pashupatinath temple. Each place is soo beautiful that it deserves a separate Blog entry. And with me staying here for another week and planning few more visits here and there - I can’t wait to sit in front of my lappy and type my head out. Till then..... Wait to be awed :-)

Paradoxes of life…

2008-03-03T20:58:00.000-08:00

Observations can be such a great teacher. I think a lot can be learnt by intently seeing around us and “feeling” other peoples “feelings”. Yes, it does feel a little odd to understand what I am telling, but I have a gut feeling that you will understand what I am trying to say when you finish reading this blog.

Let me take a recent example that happened with me to elaborate what I am trying to say. I took a short break from my routine weekends in Mumbai and went to my home town for a change. Being with family is always a blessing. No doubt that this trip was nothing different. It was on my way back to Mumbai from Belgaum that I happened to chance upon three different people in the bus - A father, a lover boy and a frustrated customer. This blog is about these three individuals. It is also my take on how small things can go a long way in teaching you important lessons.

I had reached the bus stand quiet early. I couldn’t help myself from hearing the heated exchange of words happening between the travel desk person and a customer. The customer wanted his ticket to be cancelled and the amount refunded. The travel desk clerk was telling that the customer was informing about his cancellation way too late and refund cannot be done. Of course the travel desk clerk was correct. The irate customer was giving the choosiest of bad words to the clerk. I was feeling pity for the clerk and angry on the customer. Even as this was going on, I saw my seat and felt tired just by thinking that that I will have to sit and travel for 11 hours. How good it would be if I could have two seats for me by paying money for one. This way I could sleep even as I traveled, I thought. A slight jab on my shoulders woke me up. The same customer who was fighting with the clerk was standing besides me. He told me that he was supposed to travel alongside me. But he has now cancelled his tickets and the travel agent did not refund him the money. He wanted me to do him a favor; he wanted me to occupy both the seats myself. Since he was not traveling, he wanted to make sure the travel agent did not make any additional money by giving his seat to someone else. I said WOW!!!! The same guy whom I was loathing just a few minutes ago looked like a God sent angel to me. I was going to travel the entire 11 hours sleeping after all.

As I was sitting by the window of my seat and feeling happy about this fact, I peered outside just to see what was going on. I saw a man in maybe his mid thirties kissing small kids on their foreheads. He also seemed be going to his wife and whispering words of encouragement. Amused, I looked on. The bus roared back to life and began to honk ferociously. The person was still unwilling to part from his family. He had to run a few distance before catching the bus and alighting into it. I had a window seat and the seat besides me was free. He came and sat besides me and was waving his hand towards his children, till he lost sight of them. Once they had disappeared, I looked upon his face and saw tears on his cheeks. Generally I do not talk to strangers. Something made me talk to this guy. I said to him “Your kids are very cute”. It so happened that the guy was going to Saudi for work. He said he worked there day and night for his family. But he does not get to see his family. He does not get to see his kids grow up. He showed me a video recording that he had made of his kids using his mobile. He said that for the next one year he will be seeing these same video and imagining how his kids are growing. For a very very brief moment, even I could not control my emotions and felt tears welling up my eyes. I somehow managed to say “Don’t worry; you are doing all this for your family”.

As the bus began to slowly move on, and the father went back to his legitimate seat, I heard someone talking in his mobile from behind my seat. He was all giggly and talking in dreamy voice. A little bit of hearing and you could bet that he was talking to a girl. By the way he was talking and his body language, anyone could have guessed that he has special feeling for that girl. I was curious and began to hear more intently (I know its bad manners. But I can’t help myself). He was telling her about how he came to Belgaum for studies. How he used to like a girl back then. And how lucky he was that this time around he met her in his Dad’s friends sister’s marriage (believe me, this is what he said!!!). Suddenly sparks flew and the girl introduced him to his mother. The mother invited him to their home. He went to their home two to three more times. The girl then proposed him to get married (Of course I knew he is simply making up the entire story). Her family too were ready was what the girl supposedly said him. Then suddenly the boy exclaimed – What!!!!! He was spluttering out – “Don’t tell me - are you serious???” You should have been there to hear when he said – “You too have seen a groom, and you liked him???!!! When I woke up in the morning I turned around to see the lover boy. He was awake. And, by the looks of his face, he had not slept the entire night. I felt a strange sadness for that guy.

Now go back to the first paragraph and re read it. I hope the paragraph will now make sense to you.

Small Big things…!!!

2008-02-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

This weekend I saw three movies in my Hotel room. My first 50 dates, Bride’s father and 13 going on 30 are among the most wonderful movies that I have seen in a long time. I would definitely suggest who ever is reading this to see these movies at least once. You will Love it.

“My first 50 dates” is by just better then the other two. It’s a movie about two people who fall in love with each other in the first sight. The boy is completely bowled over. He rushes to the same hotel that he met the girl the next day. He just finds out that the girl does not even remember him. Let alone love him. The boy then comes to know that the girl has met with an accident and she cannot remember anything for more then 24 hours. What follows next is really a treat to watch. The boy goes every day in the morning to the same place and tries to tell his feeling to her as if it were the first time. I just can’t image to be in that guy’s shoes. Just imagine - you have someone whom you love more then your life and the other person simply forgets you. It’s a touching story.

“Bride’s father” is the story about a father and his young daughter. It’s a story about a dad who is immensely found of his daughter. She is the life for him. Then one day prince charming comes by. The daughter finds the love of her life. She makes her choice and begins to move on in life. A wedding is arranged and what follows next is both touching and hilarious. The scene where the daughter is leaving for her husband’s place and father remembers the different phases of his daughter – from a new born kid to being wedded -is very touching indeed.

“13 going on 30” is the story about a girl who is thirteen years old. She thinks that being 30 is the best part of life. She wishes to become 30 to god. God answers her prayers and she becomes 30. She thinks that she can have the entire world. She thinks that she is on top of the world. She only finds out that she has become a worse person then she was when 13. She is too busy with her life. She has stopped respecting other peoples sentiments. She does not speak to her parents. She has time only for work and no time for people who really matter in life.

All three are great movies. All three movies in there own little way try to convey the importance of small things in life. It tells that that we slog our entire life to find a couple of big moments in our life, but on the way we forget thousands of small things that really matter. I remember I was very happy as a kid. I did not have status, money, brains or degrees when I was a kid. But I was still happy. Why? I think it’s because I cared more about that small things in life. I always had time to talk to my parents. I always had time to go cycling with my friends. I was awed at the beautiful butterfly. I always loved the bloom of brilliant flowers. I was carefree. Tomorrow did not exist in my life. All that existed was today and now. Today, most often then not, I am either thinking about my work or about future. That’s not right.

Some great movies remind you about yourself. They tell you where you are going wrong. It’s a pleasure to watch such kind of movies. I sometimes think I am screwing up big time. But as in “My first 50 dates” – I remember it takes just a moment to find the love of your life. After seeing “Bride’s father” – I realize how sad and isolated our near and dear once might be feeling by seeing us running like this. After seeing “13 going on 30” I realize how important it is to be a child no matter how old you are.

Nothing beats seeing great movies on a lazy day… :-)

Stop hate Traders!!!!

2008-02-15T23:24:00.000-08:00

Before starting this blog, I want you narrate a story and an observation. You might have heard about the story and also have made the observation that I am about to write. But let me retell them in a new context.

First let me tell the story. Once upon a time there was a frog that lived in a well. It was so contented in its well that it did not ever think to see beyond it. It thought that the sum total of the entire world is the well. Then one day, an adventurous frog, which had traveled the entire word, came by and hopped into the well. The adventurous frog started to tell the story of the entire world. He told that there was a sea that was much larger then the well. The frog in the well did not believe the adventurous frog and called him a thug. He made the adventurous frog to go away from its well.

Now let me tell you about the observation that you too might have made. Have you ever seen street Dogs? Yes, of course you have. Have you seen what they do when some other dog or animal comes into its territory? Well, they bark. They bare their teeth’s. They show anger. They get into fight and not only do they hurt others but they hurt themselves too.

Do you know the reason for the frog’s and the dog’s behavior? It can be told in one word – Insecurity. It is in many ways a mental block. It’s a mental sickness. It is these things that separate a Human from an animal – right? We are after all rational. We are a social animal.

Now imagine – Just imagine – what would you call a human being who insists to continue being like a dog or the frog in the above story? Shameless? Uncivilized? Psycho? Or perhaps a person not fit to be called a Human? Worse still, what would you call the people who blindly followed such kind of shit heads? At least I don’t know what to call them.

Sadly, there are still such perverted people amongst us. There are people who say that a person of one state should not enter another state. There are so called “moral policemen” who say that Valentine should not be celebrated. There are people who say that youngsters should not wear certain kind of cloths. There are people who say that person of one religion is a sworn enemy of a person from another religion.

What the F***!!!??? For God’s sake why are you behaving like a street dog? Surely God have given you more brains. Why don’t you use them? Who are you to Judge who is allowed where? Who are you to decide who wears what dress? Who are you to tell which festival is to be celebrated and which is not to be? Unlike you guys, average people have brain enough to decide what should be done and what should not be. So stop giving this bullshit. It stinks and it pollutes people’s minds. Go out and do something useful. If you think your state is the best, roam the world and see where we stand. If you like certain cloths, then wear them. Don’t force me. If you don’t want to celebrate a festival, at least appreciate the spirit of the festival. If you really love your religion, listen to what your God has told. Respect your fellow humans. For God’s sake, grow up – Stop being a dog or a frog – be a human.
I generally do not write anything in this blog that is not connected to me. I try to look at the brighter part of things and be an optimist. But the recent politics of hate that was played in India has irked me a lot. Let everyone who reads these lines pray to god – Give some sense to these disillusioned people.

Susheel’s day out…!!!!

2008-02-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

I hit the road on Sunday. I made it a point to visit as many beautiful places in Mumbai as possible. I can say I say that I was successful to a great extent. I did have a fun filled day which ended with a happy accomplished feeling.

I fulfilled a long standing wish of mine on Sunday. I traveled in Mumbai local. Yes, to some it might seem very normal. But for a person like me who has only seen the jam packed Mumbai local either in movie or photos – it was fun. It is true that a lot of public in Mumbai prefer to travel by Train. Even though there are trains plying every minute or so, it is hard to locate even a half filled bogie. What is more amusing is the business that goes on in the train. In my travel between Santa cruse to Church gate I counted at lest four different hawkers (a calendar seller, a Train pass cover seller, a person selling shaving kit and a book seller). I also listened to a girl barely in her teenage singing some great Bollywood songs in a very impressive voice (Though she started begging later). And all this happened in a span of about 15-20 minutes!!!! This is the speed at which Mumbai moves. It is business as usual. The most fun part was while getting down from the train. I was told that it’s a very tricky thing. When your stop approaches, all you do is stand near the door of the train. Leave the rest to the mad public. You will be pushed (or should I say carried?) out from the train to platform.

I got down at the church gate station. Most of the good places to visit in Mumbai are in and around this place. A little walk down the roads and you will start feeling the influence of British rule in India. You will feel as if you are walking in the English Victorian era. Beautiful (but old) buildings, name of the roads, foreign tourists roaming around and the rustle and bustle all make you feel as you are in some other country. I roamed around a bit and visited Bombay university building, Rajabai clock tower (magnificent), Prince of Wales museum, Kala Goda chowk, Hutatma Chowk, The Bombay stock exchange, shivaji Bus terminus and the Taj mahal Hotel.

There is a special story about the Taj mahal hotel that I read and I think it’s worth sharing here. The Taj mahal hotel was built by JRD Tata. The story goes that JRD went to a posh British hotel along with a few of his friends. Even though he had the money to pay for the services being offered, he was not allowed an entry into the hotel. Reason – he was an Indian and English people did not want to sit with an Indian. JRD resolved then and there that he will built a 5 star hotel besides that posh English hotel which will be bigger, better and more brilliant then any other British hotel in India. The result was Hotel Taj mahal. Most of its civil works were planned personally by JRD. This was more then 100 years ago. Even today the hotel is soo beautiful that all other structures pale in comparison to this beautiful hotel. I salute the sprit of JRD.

Just a stone throw distance away from Hotel Taj is the famed “Gateway of India”. It is another wonderful place to visit and see. To many people it has become a name synonymous to Mumbai. A plaque besides this monument reads that it was built in1911 to commemorate the landing of King Gorge on the India soil. Since it was through this gateway that King gorge entered India, this monument was named as the “Gateway of India”. Today to many sailors and sea travelers it serves as bacon to Indian soil. All around the Gateway of India you can see the sea. There is something about the sea that makes me feel happy. Its vastness, its silence, its waves and the fact that it hides within itself a whole different word brings me peace and tranquility. I love to be on the sea shore.

After sitting for some wonderful moments besides the sea and beneath the gateway of India, I moved on. My next visit was to the Mumbai festival in Kala goda. I found it very interesting and fun. The punch line of the Mumbai festival was – “Discover your artistic side”. The name itself tells you how the festival might have been. I saw potter making pots, weavers making cloths, painters painting, dancers dancing, singers singing and lot of kids performing cultural events. And the sentimental touch to all this was that all the performers/artists were the socially, physically and financially under privileged. To name some - there were kids from slum, Women who where victims of physical abuse and domestic violence, physically challenged artists etc. I salute their Never ever give up attitude. God bless you all!!!

My last stop of the day was Nariman point. Now this is what I call a cool place!!! There is Lot of crowd, lot of young couples, Lot of beautiful young faces, lot of walkers. Gosh!! I was left breathless by this place. Sea all around, cool breeze, heavenly climate, lot of beautiful faces around. It was a perfect mixture of beautiful natural surroundings and Romantic atmosphere. I will forgive all the couples being a tad too cozy in this place. The place it self is so damn good that anybody can become romantic and fall in love. I spend quite some time in this place. All the fatigue that I had due to traveling the entire day simply drained off. I was refreshed.

Most of my “Must see” list of Mumbai are checked. The only thing left is to catch up few of my old friends and make some more new friends. With still a minimum of seven days of stay left in Mumbai, I cant wait to see what the coming days has in store for me :-)

Amchi Mumbai....

2008-02-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

My roaming days seems to be becoming more and more checkered with each passing day. I am now in Mumbai. It is one place that has so many different identities. Let me just try and recount a few of its identities – Commercial capital of India, home of the Bombay stock exchange, home of Bollywood, home of the biggest and the most ruthless underworld of India, Busiest place in India, costliest city of India, dream capital of India – so on and so forth.

Let me very frank, I have always grown up with the opinion that Mumbai is not a good city. Blame it on the way Mumbai is portrayed in serials/movies or the way ill informed people have spoken about it. I was always of the opinion that Mumbai is the meanest please to be in. A den of all illegal trades and a place where there is no value for human beings and their feelings.

Alas!!! How ill informed and bigoted my views were. I found the place to be pleasantly different from what people had told me and or I had seen in movies. It is a great cosmopolitan city to be in. The crowd here is simply superb. It is a city that never sleeps. There is place for everyone here. Be it a street hawker or a corporate honcho. You can see business as usual everywhere. Time is money. The energy of this city is simply infectious. I liked this city and my perception about this place has immensely changed.

Mumbai is also a very good place for a tourist willing to let his foot loose. For now I had the pleasure of visiting a few wonderful places. I visited Juhu beach. Gosh!!! You need to visit this place. It’s superb. In a single sentence I can say – it’s a bachelor’s paradise. I also had some chatapa in the famed Juhu choupati (I also say Rakesh roshan up and close in this place). I also visited a place called as Lohar chawl. It is not a tourist place as such, but it’s a market, very near to Mumbai Chor bazaar (meaning Thieves market). Though the place is very congested – it was a fun place to be there and do some shopping. I also had visited some cool Malls of Mumbai. Add the fact that I met a friend of mine whom I wanted to meet since a long time. We had a great time. I also went very near to Worli port. I had a site to visit there and when I climbed the roof of the building I could see the sea, the port and also the vastness of Mumbai city (the building was 15 floored and I was on top of it). It was a wonderful feeling to be in that place. With the see in front of me, the cool but gusty wind blowing across by face and being at a high place made me feel as in I am on top of Titanic :-)

There are still a lot of places that I have planned to visit in Mumbai. Let me through that list. I want to visit – Gateway of India (I have attached here a photo of the gateway of India), Marine drive, visit at least one harbor, climb on a boat and go on a short cruise, climb on the famed Mumbai local train at least once, pay a visit to the Mumbai festival, catch up with a few of my old friends. The list is partial. These are the bare minimum that I would definitely want to see. With the company deciding to allow me to stay in this place for maybe another one week, I guess my wish will be fulfilled. :-)

For now I can say that I will be going to DAKC (Derubhai Ambani Knowledge city) on Monday. Of course I will be on official visit. From what I have heard about this place, I am positive that I will be awed by it. I will keep you updated about my visits, experiences and views on “Amchi Mumbai” (Meaning “our Mumbai” in Marathi language) :-)

I visited Rameshwaram

2008-01-28T04:56:00.000-08:00

Its 12:30 in the afternoon and I am sitting in Chennai Airport even as I type this line. I can’t believe it!!!! Since I have joined my new company I have been on a traveling spree. In the last 30 days, I have now traveled to Delhi, Panchkula, Mohali, Chandigarh, Chennai and now the latest is Rameshwaram. And by the looks of it, things are really hotting up and I might travel to lot many places then I even imagined. I am loving it!!! :-)

The reason why I am giving my visit to Rameshwaram a special mention in my blog is because – first, it’s a beautiful place to visit and secondly its one of the holy places for the Hindus. The icing on the cake is, of course, the fact that the company is covering all my charges (I was on an official tour) :-)

For starters, Rameshwaram is a place where the Bay of Bengal joins the Indian Ocean. It’s really impossible to describe the beauty that this place has to offer for you. You need to see it to believe it. The vast expanse of sea, the slow humming breeze, the hot and crispy sun and the simple unsophisticated friendly people - everything about this place is awesome. I feel much better after visiting this place.

One thing worth seeing in this place is the Indhira Gandhi Bridge. I am sure some people might have observed small dots on the map of India between India and Srilanka. The Indira Gandhi Bridge joins two such “dots” (Islands). If you stand on this bridge facing towards Srilanka, on your left hand side you can see the Bay of Bengal and on the right hand side you can see the Great Indian Ocean. With ships, fishermen and tourists dotting the landscape, it’s a heavenly sight. If you happen to be an early riser you could as well come to this bridge at around 6:00 in the morning and see one of the most spectacular sunrise of your life. You can literally see the sun rising from the Indian Ocean.

Now let me go to the mythological part of this place. It is in this place that Lord Sri Ram worshipped the “Shiva Linga” (there is a beautiful story about how the Shiva lingam came here in the first place, more about it at some other time). This Shiva lingam is also happens to be one of the 12 “Jyothir Linga” in India (Jyothir lingam is a lingam that is very close to Lord Shiva. It is said that a part of Shiva lives in the Jyothir lingam). It is also said that no person goes to this place by him self. It is only when the Jyothir lingam wants to see someone it makes circumstances such that the person is drawn to the place. Hmm… Interesting. It is also at this place that Lord Rama started to build the “floating stone bridge” towards Sri Lanka. This bridge was then used by the troops of Sri Ram to march into the kingdom of the demon Ravana and defeat him. The photo attahed here is of the Ram bridge as seen from a satellite.

A beautiful, humongous and ancient temple now stands in the place where Lord Rama worshipped the Jyothir Linga. This temple is just besides the ocean shore. Every morning at around 5:30, water and beach sand is brought from the ocean. With this along with milk, honey, holy Ganges water and sandalwood the lingam is washed (called as Abhishekam in local lingo). I was not lucky enough to see this. But I can imagine how blissful it might be to watch this event. A special mention about the size of the temple has to be made. Just for the sake of it, I thought I will circumcise the entire temple once, believe me, I had to sit and take rest twice before I complemented walking around the temple. I am not sure when this temple was built, but I can positively say that it is “at least” two centuries old. My heart filled with joy just by imagining the number of devotees that might have walked inside this temple seeking for divine blessings.

All in all it felt wonderful to be in this place. I am going back with happy memories, joy in heart divine grace of God with me and body pains (due to the intense traveling). Bottom line – I am happy :-)

My first North Indian marriage…

2008-01-22T00:10:00.000-08:00

Soul mates, it is said, are decided in heaven. The celebration of this heavenly match on earth is – marriage. Recently I had the good luck of attending the first north Indian marriage of my life. On 20th January, 2007 Nitin, a close friend of mine wed Adithi. No doubt it was once in a life time day for Nitin – it was an extremely good day for me as well.

What amazes me the most is the diversity that India has. Though we are from the same country and have common beliefs regarding marriage, the way it is conducted in North and south part of India is breathtakingly different and wonderful thing to experience. The basic difference is that in South India marriage start early in the morning (about 4:00 am) and ends in the evening (about 6:00 pm). In north India marriages begin in the evening (about 6:00 pm) and end in the morning (4:00 am). This is as far as the timing is concerned. This is also the tip of an Iceberg.

Once more very big difference was the “Nach Gana” (singing and dancing) part North Indian marriage. The atmosphere is very lively and fun filled. There is a lot of music and people dancing all around. I could see an old man with all his hairs white and hardly able to walk giving his best shot at dancing. Now that’s what I call participation. The marriage atmosphere in south India is much sober. It is also conducted in a very orthodox way. Dancing is less and limited only to the younger lot.

Another difference is the verity of food available. Everything from milk, tea, coffee, Horlicks, Roti, Kulcha, Raita, fried brinjal, Jalebi, rasgula, Ice cream, Rice, bhaji was available for the taking. North Indians seem to just love food. This is one more common thing that I share with north Indians.

There were some funny traditions that I happened to see. One such tradition is called as “Jaymala”. Here the bride and the bridegroom are supposed to exchange garlands. The fun part is that when the bride is trying garland the groom, the groom’s friend make a lot of fuss over it. They act as if they do not want the groom to get married away and a lot of fun and frolic happens. Ultimately the groom and his friends relent and the bride put garland over the groom. The same refusal game is played by the bride’s friends when the groom tries to garland the bride. It’s an extremely funny thing to watch – I loved seeing it.

Another such thing is when the couple starts to have food. The bride’s friends and sisters literally surround the groom. They have some fun with the groom by giving “sweet dishes”. The funny part is that the so called sweet dishes have salt in them instead of sugar!!!! It is not done is a dry and customary way, but it done in a very lively way with a lot of fun and enthusiasm. You must see it to know what I am telling.

One more funny tradition is that the bride sister’s try to steal the groom’s shoes. The groom along with his friends keeps a close watch on his shoes. They try their level best to “protect” it from the bride’s sisters. In case the bride’s sisters are successful in stealing the shoes, the groom will have to “pay” to get bay his own shoes from them. Funny – right??

The way that North Indians conduct marriages might be vastly different from that of south India. But, the common this is the good will everyone has for the newly weds. By following different traditions and ways the only thing they wish is that the couples live happily ever after. I too wish the same…:-)

New place, new dreams and new challenges – Now in Delhi!!

2008-01-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

So - I have left Hyderabad. It feels good to know that I am moving ahead with life. It feels good to know that I can accept challenges. It feels good to know that I am growing up – at last. Any new place offers soo much. It offers you an opportunity to earn new friends, face new challenges, test yourself, make new mistakes, learn about different people, learn about different culture and broaden your knowledge. In more ways then one, I am happy that I took the decision to try luck in a new place.

Many of my friends were shocked to know that I am moving towers Northern India. After all, Susheel is a typical south Indian boy who loves to stay nearer to home – is what they thought. Hmm, frankly speaking – even I am shocked that I took the decision to move so far away from my Home town. Maybe – just maybe, it was because I studied in this place during my childhood. I have some found memories from Delhi. Whatever the reason, I am now in Guargaon and glad that I am still alive to write about it.

After a very hectic first month, in which I was forced to retune myself to the climate and people of this place, I am slowly settling down. The climate in this place (at this time of the year) is much cooler then in south India. The people here are very bold, confident and outgoing as compared to south Indians. And the best part is they simply love to talk – a trait that is common between us.

I have a big wish list now. To mention a few - I want to see snow fall, I want to ride in a desert (both a rarity in south India), I want to see the Taj mahal, I want to see the beautiful hill stations of North India (shimla, Kasar devi.. etc) and last but not the least – I want to make as many new friends as possible.

I understand it’s less then a month since I came to this place. I understand that my stay here might be bumpy. I understand that I might face a lot of problems initially – but all this excites me and makes me happy to have the courage enough to come to this place. Let’s see how my stay here turns out to be :-)

My greatest gift from Hyderabad

2007-12-18T23:39:00.000-08:00

While I was leaving Hyderabad, someone had the guts to point out that I am too much glued to the present. He told that I need to forget things and move on. Let me tell as candidly as I can – I think you are wrong. I can never forget Hyderabad. I have earned something more then money here. I have earned friends. Each of my friends is worth more than a Billion dollar in cash. In the next few lines I attempt to describe a few of my dearest friends. These friends have had a tremendous impact on me as a person.

Amol is the nearest person I have seen to a perfect person. He has so much patience that I would be a hundred times better person even if I had a quarter of his patience. He dribbles very easily between a Project engineer par excellence, a hard nosed professional and a great friend. He is also the most frequent visitor to my Blog. His encouragement and support is something I will not trade for a bank full of money. Words are not sufficient to describe a friend like him.

Bhavnesh is a person I can go to ask for advices. He has seen the ugliest face of life and emerged victorious. He is less of a friend and more like a big brother for me. Nobody can match his Will power, tenacity and straight forwardness. I have immense respect for him as a person. I sometimes feel lucky to have found a friend like Bhavnesh.

Basava is the Tiger of my group. Always enthusiastic and passionate in what ever he does. His fighting spirit and never say die attitude catches up with you like an epidemic. If at any point of time you are low, sad or need a kick – meet Basava. Simple, your problem is resolved. I would not have come out of a very tragic phase of my life if it were not for Basava.

Feras is the Einstein among our friends. It has been more then a year since he left Nokia Hyderabad. Till today people swear by his name. He is a through gentleman who also knows how to have fun. A full page would be insufficient if I start writing about things I have learnt from Feras.

Nikhil is the person with the softest of hears and the best of manners. HE connects with people so well that I sometimes feel he is either a magician or a charmer. A very tough minded professional – He is the most brilliant transmission engineer I have come across. He is such a good listener that I sometimes pity him. He had the bad luck of listening to my non stop talk marathons, without even complaining once. A lot of credit for my professional success goes to Nikhil.

I can go on and on. But the friendship that I have shared with these few peoples is so deep that I am at loss of words. These people have had tremendous impact on me as a person as well as on my character. Their friendship is the greatest gift I take from Hyderabad.

Adieu - Hyderabad

2007-12-18T23:36:00.001-08:00

I have now left Hyderabad. These few words fill my heart with sorrow as well as excitement. It has been four days since I bid farewell to Hyderabad – I am still not able to understand how I am feeling.

Now as I sit here in my home in Belgaum and think about Hyderabad, I feel happy beyond measure. What makes it even more memorable is the type of sendoff I got. Every person I met in the last few days seemed to be sad that I am leaving. Entire office came together to get a wonderful gift for me. Venkat was kind enough to make a painting himself and give me as a sendoff gift (it took him one week to make that painting). I felt great joy when Amol remembered that I simply love to own a Swiss knife and purchased one for me. My roommates too brought an expensive, stylish and a portable USB drive. Silly as it might seem now, the married people in our office brought me lunch for the entire last week of my stay. It was their way of telling me – We will miss you.

It is not the number of gifts, nature of gifts or the price of the gift that mattered. It is the love, care, and friendship that they have for me that made my heart choke. No doubt, I cried along with the closest of my friends when I left Hyderabad. I will never ever forget my stay in Hyderabad.

Cherished moments...

2007-12-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

After my first day in Hyderabad on 1st April, 2005 (a detailed account of which I have given in my previous post) I was convinced that my stay in Hyderabad will be adventurous. For once, I was correct. Can you see the happy face of the pig in dirty mud in the attached picture? I have been happier then that pig :-)

Someone has said that your entire life can be broken down into few moments of joy, happiness, sadness and grief. These moments define the essence of your life. I agree with it. In this post of mine, I have made a feeble attempt to capture some of the interesting/happy moments I have had in Hyderabad. I am sure these moments will stay on with me long after I have left Hyderabad. These moments will always make me laugh, cry, sad and happy.

The most cherished moments that I take from Hyderabad are the small get together I used to have with my friends. These evenings spent with Feras, Nikhil, Amol, Bhavnesh and praveen are no less then a treasure. We used to talk about Life, Girls, latest movies, songs, food, Einstein, office politics, plans to screw our bosses, Newton’s laws, past adventures, latest weight reduction techniques, Ram leela etc. In short we used to talk about anything and everything on the face of this earth. Of course I was the one who always talked the most. Friends - I will miss you and also miss our small get togethers.

There is one particular Black dog in our colony that seems to simply love me (I am sure Amol will be laughing even as he reads these lines). This black shows me soo much affection that I have now become a laughing stock among friends. Whenever this dog sees me, it will not miss an opportunity to run as fast as it can and collide with me. It takes particular care that I will not notice it coming. I still remember the night it sneaked up into my compound and was sleeping. It being a black dog, I could not even see it in the dark. I closed the gate behind me. When the black dog smelled me, it came running at full speed to collide with me. The only problem is that in the dark, it found the gate instead of me. The dog fell unconscious in front of me!!!!!!! Later it limped away. Black dog - I will miss your collision and theatrics.

I generally am not very good at dressing up. Not to mention I am very passable guy when it comes to looks. This have very often put me in funny/embarrassing situation. I remember once going to Hyderabad central and glancing over Nike shoes. A smartly dressed guy came walking to me and asked - "What's the rate of this shoe"!!! How very silly of him. Then there was a situation where I was waiting for my friends with tickets in my hands in front of a theater. One moron came to me and asked - "Bahiya, balcony ticket kitne mein diya?” Dude, does a genius like me look like a black ticket seller to you? My friends and I have always had good laugh over these situations. Fellow Hyderabadies - I will miss the misjudgment that you did going by my looks.

I particularly liked the time that I have spent with Amol in Pizza hut. Those visits use to be extremely philosophical and fun. A lot of my major decisions I have made in office life have been taken over a slice of pizza with Amol. Those days I have not eaten a pizza, I have savored slices of happiness. Amol - I will miss the time spent with you in Pizza hut.

Officially I have seen a lot of success in Hyderabad. I have made quick and efficient progress from a fresher to a back bone resource in Nokia - Hyderabad. I have won various accolades and appreciation from various people. But, all these things simply pale in comparison to the affection of my my friends. The support, joy, fun and understanding they have given to an eccentric guy like me are unbelievable. Not to mention the patience they have to listen to my endless gibberish.

For me these are not just cherished moments of Hyderabad - these are my little drops of Joy.

Robbed!!!!

2007-12-01T10:34:00.000-08:00

As I said in my last post - I have just a few more days of stay left in Hyderabad. Before leaving this place, I wanted to pen down something about Hyderabad. And what's best way to do it apart from blogging about some of my Good and not so good experiances in Hyderabad?

Let me first start with a not so good incident. It is a story about how I lost 17,000 rupees in just one day. That day is one of the saddest day in my life. It is also the happiest day of my life. This is a true story and it has happened to me. But before going into the details, I would first go into a flash back and set the stage for the Grand finale.

I had finished my engineering from a small and sleepy town - Belgaum. Like everyone I too dreamed of making it big in the Mecca for engineers - Bangalore. I dreamed of becoming a software engineer par excellence. When I went to Bangalore, the scene was very different. I say thousands and thousands of engineers fighting for jobs. Each and everyone of them seemed cleaverer and better equiped then me. I might have dropped my resume in more then 100 companies. I gave interview in a dozen componies. I did not get selected anywhere. I began to feel the heat of reality.

Then it came, almost like a flash. While I was roaming in the streets of Bangalore searching for a job, I got a call from a friend saying that there are interviews going on in spice. I was pessimistic about this. I still went on for the interview. I beat about 100 odd people who had come for the interview and got the job!!!! God!!! that was the happiest day of my life. Fame - here comes Susheel.

But there was a small clinch in the grand plan. I was not taken in as a software engineer. I was selected as an inplementation engineer. My work, among other things involved - Climbing telecom towers for installing antenna, carrying the toolkit around the town for my seniors, pulling the rope with all my strength to mount the antenna, sweeping the shelter after all the work has been completed etc. In short I was supposed to do the closest thing an engineer can do to be become a labarour. Heck!!!! this was not why I came to Bangalore all the way from Belgaum. I am a distinction holder in engineering, I deserved better. Ohh come on!!! even my professors in colledge said that I was one of the brightest guys they have come across. I am not supposed to do this!!!! But I had seen the struggle for getting a job. I knew real life and dream are two different and disjoint things. I accepted the job and worked with my mind, body and soul - literally.

It had been alomost 10 months since I had began working in spice. I had even started to think like a labarour. I literally sweated to earn each and every rupee. Then, through a friend (Neelesh) of mine, I got a call for an interview in Hutch - HYDERABAD. I was extremly exited about joing a compony like hutch. After all this was an oppertunity for me to work as an Engineer. I was on cloud nine. I could not wait until I give my interview. Being a very innocent boy, I went ahead and told my seniors about the interview call I had got. I had thought they will be very happy for me. I was wrong. When my seniors came to know I am going for an interview - all hell broke loose.

My seniors began to give me more physcial work. They unnecessarly increased my work load. They perticularly took care that I will work more on the day I was supposed to leave for Hyderabad. It was like - I am having my bus at 9:00 pm in the night and I am working like a mad horse till 8 'O clock in the evening. I was made to travel to different places. I was asked to mount two different antenna's on the tower and made to walk around with the tool kit (which was about 15 Kgs). Naturally, when I got into the bus I was tired and as soon as I sat in the bus I slept like a child.

Back then, I had a tendency to trust anyone and everyone. Blame it on either me being born and bought up in a small town of people who could be trusted or my carelessness. While I was fast asleep, without me knowing, somebody in the bus picked my purse. I used to keep my ATM card in purse. It might seem rediculous now, but I had also scribbled my password in a small telephone directory that i used to carry around and that too was stolen. The thought that someone could pick my purse and use my ATM card just did not pass my mind. A thing like that never happened in Belgaum. It could never happen like that anywhere in the world.

The morning when I touched down Hyderabad, I casually searched for my purse so that I could have a hot cup of tea. It was my big day and in two hours time I had my interview. Just imagine the shock I got when i discovered that my purse was missing!!! Just imagine what would happen to you if - you are in a new place, you do not know the local lingo, you purse has just been stolen, you dont even have a rupee to call up someone and ask for help and to top all that - you have an interview of your lifetime in another two hours. I was nuts. My mind became blank for a few seconds. My body was numb for a few minutes. Words are not enough to express what I was feeling at that time. It felt as if I was falling in a bottomless pit.

I somehow convinced a local shopkeeper that I am an engineer who has come here for an interview - and borrowed 2 rupees from him. I called up a colledge friend (Anil reddy) of mine and told him my situation. I requested him to come and help me out. He was my guardian angel that day. He came to me as fast as he could. He gave back the the 2 rupees to shopkeeper and thanked him. He then took me over to his room and asked me to freshen up. He then took me on his bike and rode me to Hutch office as fast as he could. He wished me luck and said he was confident that I would be selected. I reached Hutch office exactly at 9:00 - dot on time for my interview.

In the meantime I had regained my composure. I had the sense enough to call up ICICI bank and enquire about my account balance. I was again shell shocked to know that my balance was now 200 rupees. Somebody had drawn all the cash from my account. Somedody had stolen 17,000 rupees from my account. Only I know how hard I had struggled to earn those 17,000 rupees. I know how it feels like when somebody walks away with your money because of YOUR carelesness. Less then 5 minutes after I came to know about the money I had lost - I was called in for the interview.

Till this day I do not know how I cleared that interview. A thousand and one questions were running in my mind. I was crying inside. But somehow I cleared the interview. Even to this day my interviewers (Thomas sir and Narayana sir) say that I was brillent when answering the questions. After I cleared the tech interview I was sent over to the VP of Hutch Andhra Pradesh. He asked me some very routine questions about myself. He later said that he could see the passion I had towerds work. The interview went on soo well that I cleared all the rounds in a single day. By the end of the day, I had my offer letter in my hand as - Transmission planning enginneer. My first big dream had been achived.

Later in the day, I went to the hutch HR and told her my predictament. She (sabita Nanaiah)was kind enough to lend me the money I required to catch a bus back home. I booked my tickets back to Bangalore on that day itself. I did not sleep the entire night. I still remember clutching 200 Rs tighly in my pocket, least somebody steals it.

Thus ended my first day in Hyderabad. I lost a bundel of cash in the morning and was on my way back as an engineer in hutch by the evening. Hyderabad - You have thought me great many lessons. :-)

Candid confessions

2007-11-29T10:32:00.000-08:00

My blog has been a real friend of mine during one of my most depressing days. I don’t know why, but off late I had been extremely sad by the way things were going on. I was feeling like I am not spending a lot of time with my family. I felt I was taking life too seriously. I hated the politics that was going on in office. I never could bring myself to appreciate the Nepotism culture in my office. I was sad, I was depressed, I felt spent and most importantly - I needed change.

It was in this time that this blog kept me together. I could write about anything that fancied me. I could burst out in anger, I could complain like a child, I could laugh like a joker - and give a damn about what the world thinks. In a very strange way it soothed me and calmed me down.

Yeah, some people may think that writing is the last thing that a young man can do when he is agitated. Racing, sweating it out in Gym, playing a rough game, talking tough with others etc are better options they would say. While there might be another set of people who might say that even my writing is bad. They might say that my grammar is not good, my spelling stinks and more often then not the tone of the blogs are depressing. To all these people I have only one think to say - I don’t care what you think. This is my space and I decide what I write.

I have not been blogging for almost a week now. The answer to this would seem obvious after reading the above paragraph. I have been happy for the past one week. It has been extremely eventful. For one thing I got a great Job offer. The kind that I have been waiting for since a long time. I resigned from my present company. I got to say all the "not so good" things to my bosses. I was made to feel important by my bosses trying to retain me. I found out that there are really some people out there who like me - people who will miss me.

I have wanted to leave Hyderabad for quite some time now. I was beginning to feel that I am a prisoner here. Now after my resignation, leaving Hyderabad has become imminent. Now when I sit here and think about it, I feel strange. All the things that Hyderabad has thought me flash across my mind. It was here that I was robbed of 17,000 rupees. It was here that I was almost left homeless by a cheat. It was here that for 4 months I stayed in a locality that was the nearest thing imaginable to a slum. It was here that I made friends that will last for a lifetime. It was here that I had my first brush with ugly side police. It was here that I was perpetually chased by one particular "black dog". It was here that I evolved into a "Transmission planning engineer" from an Engineer pass out. It was here that I earned the respect of some very good people during the course of my life. It was here that I first understand how it felt like to be in Love. It was here that I first understood how sad it feels when you heart is broken. It is here that I saw the ugly face of office politics. Hyderabad to me is not a place, but a series of lessons.

I will be leaving Hyderabad on 14th of December. I will be going to a place that only the closest of my friends know. Frankly speaking, I am extremely afraid and nervous about going to a new place. I am soo nervous that I sometimes get nightmares. And I don’t care about confessing it. I was once afraid of coming to Hyderabad as well.

The Next 14 days are going to be a very bitter sweet experience for me. I can’t wait to live and relive these 14 days through these posts of mine.

PS: I am sorry if someone was expecting more explosive matter in this post - going by the heading :-)

Anticipation

2007-11-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

I am having a strange feeling today. I don't know what I should term it as. Is it sadness? Is it anger? Is it passion? Is it impatience? Is it depression? It took me just a little introspection to understand this feeling. This feeling I am having now is – Anticipation.

Have you ever wanted anything so badly that every cell of your body wants to scream out? Have you ever thought how it might fell if someone sucks out all the oxygen from the air and asks you to breadth? Have you ever felt the helplessness that you feel when you long for something with your heart and soul and you are not allowed to talk about it? Have you ever imagined how a thirsty traveler feels at the sight of a mirage in a harsh desert? Have you ever thought how it feels if the thing that you have wanted and waited for happens to fall on the plate of someone else? Have you ever felt tied down to some mundane thing when you know something brilliant is waiting for you somewhere? If you have ever felt any of these feeling, you will know how I am feeling right now.
I sometimes want to shout out loud. I want the entire world to listen that I don't care a shit about what they think about me. I want to break all the rules in the book. I want to run wild. I want to put fire to entire world. I want to smash every adversary that comes in my way. I want to become a nightmare to the people to try to belittle me. The reason why I feel this is when I am not getting what I am anticipating.

The question naturally comes – What am I anticipating? I am sick and tired of clearing so many interviews and not getting a good Job – I am anticipating a new Job. I am sick and tired of being called a childish person – I am anticipating when I will grow up. I am sick and tired of making silly mistakes – I am anticipating when I will become mature. I am sick and tired of roaming aimlessly in this world – I am anticipating knowing the goal of my life. I am sick and tired of people seeing me as a clown – I am anticipating people to know the real me. I am sick and tired of people stepping over me to reach their goals – I am anticipating becoming a more prudent person. I am sick and tired of seeing people with their lover – I am anticipating finding my dream girl. I am sick and tired of licking my own wounds – I am anticipating seeing myself spreading and wings and soaring high in the skies. The list of my anticipation is endless…
God!!!! Can’t you hear my body screaming? Can’t you hear my heart beating? Can’t you see my passion burning? Can’t you see the darkness in my light? Can’t you feel the noise in my silence? Can’t you feel the pain in my happiness? Can’t you see the direction in my aimlessness? If you can, then – Please help me!!!

I cannot find words to continue. The best thing to do would be to stop here – with a smile :-)

MBA results out - Pappu Pass Ho Gaya !!!!!!!

2007-11-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

It came as a pleasant surprise, a silver lining in the dark cloud, a lone lamp in a dark night. The results of my MBA 1st semester are out and guess what – I cleared the exam!!!!!!!!

The Marks too were too good to be true. I have got 70 in one subject, 71 in two subjects and 67 another. All the marks are out of 100. That makes my percentage to 69.5. Hmm…not bad for a person working and studying at the same time. Not bad for a person, who till about a six months back did not know a thing about Management. I am extremely happy with myself and all gung ho about the results I managed to pull off.

I literally called up everybody who mattered in my life to deliver this news. I call up my parents, I called up my sister, I called up my brother, I called up my relatives, I personally delivered this message to my friends, I spoke about it to my collogues, I SMS’s my Bosses to thank them for giving me study leave so that I could prepare for my exam. I was in broadcast mode yesterday. Almost everyone who heard the news was happy. Of course, there might be some pessimist’s out there telling that I am getting too exited over a trivial issue. They might feel that I have just finished my first semester and I still have a long way to go. To them I have to tell only one thing – Well began, is half done. I believe that we have to study hard and party harder. I have study as hard as I can for this exam and now, its party time.

This is not just about clearing my first semester exam. I have cleared quite a lot of exams in my time as a student. It’s much more then that. It’s my first stepping stone to a dream of having a Master’s degree under my belt. It has given me the confidence that with a little hard work I could as well go all the way to finish my MBA. It has inspired to take my coming exams with more zeal. I now have belief in myself and am sure that I will not leave any stone unturned to finish off my MBA course. I pray for God’s grace to finish my remaining exams with the same result. I thank God for giving being with me to clear this exam.

I now have my next semester books I front of me. I got two subjects and four papers. First subject is Management accounting and second subject is Introduction to quantitative methods. I just opened the book and skimmed through the contents. It’s now getting more difficult. At the first glance I was very happy. More then 75% of the book seemed to be filled with numbers and mathematical problems. I have always been fascinated with Math’s. I love Integration, differentiation, Trigonometry, Calculus etc. But it took me a little closer look to find out it was full of Statistics. Statistics!!!!!??? I don't remember to have solved statistic problems since school days. It’s going to be a totally different ball game. It’s going to be more difficult then pure mathematics. I do not know if I still have the energy and/or brains left with me to learn a new branch of maths. But what I do know is that I am not going to shy away from this challenge. I will go for it and give my best shot. I will try and learn to assimilate it in as many different ways as possible. I will not quit without giving a fight. Rest is left to GOD, and I have immense faith in him. :-)

Dewali Eve...

2007-11-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

Day 2 in Belgaum was wonderful. Today is the eve of Dewali. More then the day itself, it's the traditions that it brings that I like the most.

Festivals in India are truly a ladies day. It's the ladies in the home that are the busiest. You can see them running around. Here down south, the ladies are dressed in their best. Shopping is done very briskly. Varity of food is prepared. Lot of Poojas are done (half of which I don't even understand). At the end of the day, ladies generally visit each other’s place to exchange sweets, good wishes and of course Gossips. Dewali would not be dewali without the ladies. I would definitely not have felt the spark of dewali if I had not had the food cooked by my sister and listen to God’s chanting from my mother.

As against the traditions of the day I woke up late. On this day, as per the traditions, we are supposed to take “Oil bath”. This is a specialty in this part of our country. What this actually means is that we have to smear ourselves with coconut oil. In the meantime mom has hot water ready for us. A few leaves of neem are them put into the hot water and we are supposed to have a hot bath. This, it is said washes away all the bad omen and brings you Good luck. I don't know about the good luck part of it – it defiantly relaxed me and made me feel drowsy. By the time bath is over and sleep was tightening its grip, it was time to have a hearty lunch. Felt very good to eat chapattis made my by small sister. Defiantly after a hot bath and hearty meal I could not stop myself. Slept like a baby – no tension yar – Its Dewali.

Tomorrow is the D day. Meaning tomorrow is Dewali day. I can’t wait to have the eat sweets (tomorrows specialty is a sweet dish called as "Holige" in our local lingo). I can’t wait to listen to the crackers. I can’t wait to see the night sky being lit up with fireworks. I can’t wait to see the beautiful “Rangolis” in front of everybody’s house to invite Mahalaxmi. I can’t wait to see the decorations done to everybody’s house in the night time. Oh God!!!! Why is everyday not Dewali? :-)

Back to home!!

2007-11-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

I am back to Belgaum for Dewali!!!!! I am attaching a snap of our home that I took recently as a memoir. What you can see in the photo is the name we have given to our home. It’s “Tapasya” written in Kannada. For us it’s not just a house, it's a symbols of my parents struggle to have their own home.

It feels great to come to my home. It feels great to relish Mom’s food. It feels great to listen to endless stories mom has to say about innumerable people (why are you looking so lean? Why have you become so dark? Why are you eating so less? Do you know how granny is being treated by others? Uff, why are our relatives so haughty?). It feels great to answer a thousand and one questions that my dad has for me (How’s your job going on? Any investment plan? Did you apply for the Government job I told you earlier? Why are you awake so late? Any plans for purchasing a home?). It feels great when you walk out in streets and people smile back at you in admiration (oho you are working for Nokia? You are working in Hyderabad?). It feels great to listen to latest gossips from my sister. It feels great to see my sister walking up to me and showing her first offer letter. It feels great to listen to the great dreams my sister has for her future (Did you watch om shanti om? Did you see the clipping of my paper presentation? Do you know what salary my friend is getting? How I wish I could be employed like you). It feels great to see my small brother as a Doctor. It feels great see my brother’s childish maturity (He now has brought himself a toy gun using which he hunts down lizards – when they distract him while studying). It feels great to see the endless list of things my brother wants to own (Yesterday he wanted a communicator, today he wants a HTC touch mobile. Dig cam too would be a nice buy, you know. I wonder what will catch his imagination tomorrow). Its feels great to answer my brother queries (Is the binoculars I am using digital? Which is the latest mobile in the market? Why on earth does your Laptop not have a DVD reader? Have you seen my latest tour photograph? Do you have any latest games in your laptop? Why on earth are you reading a book on Buddha?)

Belgaum is a small district in Karnataka state. It does not even half the basic infrastructure as Hyderabad. But still this place is no less then heaven for me. Everything in Belgaum is great – Climate, people, greenery, jam packed buses – everything. For a change, it feels wonderful to be surrounded by people who genuinely care for you. I will be here till Sunday morning. I want to live every moment of it. I can never have enough of Belgaum. I love this place :-)

Change

2007-11-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

Change is such a wonderful and ugly phenomenon – at the same time. Today I was filling up a form for certain job in my Dad’s bank. In that I was supposed to fill in the number of years I have worked in a particular company. It was then that I realized that I have spent 2.6 years in Hyderabad now. Amazing. Considering that I was not at all willing to come to this city in the first place. I tried to recollect what this city has thought me and how I have changed as a person since I came here.

Let me write the next few sentences as Susheel 2.6 years ago. When I first came to Hyderabad, I was extremely immature. I was very childish. I was very vulnerable. My friends have always been of the opinion that I talk too much. Very few people know the reason why I talk so much. My mind has always been very active. It is always thinking. It is always chattering. It is extremely restless. There are only two ways in which I can calm my mind. First is my putting my heart and soul into whatever I am doing. Almost to the point that people feel that I am an extra terrestrial and/or a mad scientist when I am working full throttle. The second way is to talk. Talk with anyone and everyone. Talk about anything and everything. It keeps my mind engaged and the people around me amused. I know I make a fool out of myself by talking. But it also calms me down and makes people around me to have an interest in me.

Today I am far more mature. I am definitely not childish. I don't know if anyone knows it or not – I always have a motive behind anything and everything I do. I feel guided my something by someone/something. I don't like talking as much as I used to before. I am still vulnerable but to very lesser degree. Also in all these years I learnt the third way of calming my mind. That was by writing. I learnt this third way of calming my constantly chattering mind by a very bitter experience. Writing down something on a piece of paper calms me down. It also refocuses me. I don't have to please anyone. I don't have to think worry about hurting anyone. This is one of the reasons why I started blogging. Yes I know that maybe no one will ever be interested in what I write. But I don't care. I write.

In a nutshell I can say I have changed quite a bit in the last 2.6 years. If the change has been for good or bad, only time will tell. But I understand that I still have a long way to go before I can say that I am truly a mature person. But I am sure I have started putting steps in the right direction. And who knows, with a little writing and a lot of musings, I might as well become the person I want to be :-)

Money

2007-11-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

It’s so very strange – how a single conversation can make you think deeply. Today, a very old friend of mine called me. It’s been months since we had spoken with each other. We spoke about everything under the son. Slowly the topic turned over the topic of money. My friend is of the opinion that I don't understand the value of money. This got me thinking.

I have never been a very shrewd person when it comes to money matters. I am very simple and have pretty simple needs. And do not attach much importance to money. I do not invest much nor do I spend much. When I see people accumulating money, adopting unethical means to get a few extra bucks I have fell its rubbish.

Very soon my good old friend and I got into a friendly argument. He was of the opinion that today I do not realize the importance of money. But, tomorrow when I get married and have kids to take care of, I will repent for not having invested wisely now. He was of the opinion that I should not keep the money in my account, but, I should make it work for me, by investing in business, shares etc. Only money begets money. He was also of the opinion that we should not work “hard”. We should work smart (what ever that means). Also using a little unethical means (like producing wrong pay slips in interviews) is OK if it fetches you some additional money. I dismissed all his arguments as being too much inclined towards greed. He was adamant that if not today, I will definitely understand that he is right and I am wrong.

I thought over it hard. I do not think Money begets money. I think Money is just a byproduct of hard work and sincerity. I also believe that unethical means of earning money will not take you too far. I don't know how, but I think being unethical will not do well for you in the long run. And I also “feel” that God, in his very own way takes care of every need of a human in a very unique way. He opens he right doors at the right time. When I get married and have kids, I am sure I will be able to do my best even if I am not greedy or unethical today.

These are my beliefs. I do not know how correct they are in today’s Kalyug. Yes, my Good old friend might be correct. Yes, I might realize that I was not right. But till then I am happy I stick to my beliefs :-)

Decisions...

2007-11-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Decisions are such an important part of life. The very quality of our life depends on the decisions that we take on a day to day basis.

Just try and imagine the number of decisions that we take daily. When should I wake up in the morning? What should I do in the office today? Should I talk to the cute girl sitting across my table? Should I react to provocations by my boss? What kind of friends should I have? When should I quit an organization? Should I take a lucrative offer from another company? Should I call and patch up with an old friend? Are the things I am doing in line with my future plans? When should I Go on leave? How much love should I express to my loved ones? How do I organize myself so that I am ultra effective? How should I behave if people are taking advantage of me? How should I behave with manipulative people? What books should I read? When should I get married? How should I select my Bride? Should I go for arranged marriage or love marriage? How should I treat the people I come across? Should I use unethical means to get to my needs? How flexible should I be in my decisions...The list is endless…

But one thing is for sure. If I want to be truly successful, I should make efficient decisions consistently. It’s extremely difficult, but maybe with practice, I can achieve this.

Now let me make a very susheelish confession. As of now, I hate to make decisions :-)

Siddhartha to Buddha - Journey of a young man

2007-10-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

Remember I told you that recently I brought a few books t read? Presently I am reading the book “Buddha – a story of enlightenment” by Deepak chopra. It's a very good book and truly a page turner. I am happy I purchased that book.

I have always been attracted to Buddha and his teachings. In fact I still remember the first book I read on Buddha’s teachings when I was in 12th. His teachings are simple, practical and scholarly. It now feels good to read about how Siddhartha – the prince renounced everything and became a God.

Siddhartha was, like any one of us, a mortal when he was born. I am sure he felt all the emotions that we feel as humans. I am sure he was not a god from the word go. Definitely he might have had all the shortcomings that we have as humans as well. But then, what is it that made Siddhartha, a mere mortal to be included into the ranks of the god?

I think the reason why Siddhartha became Buddha was because he listened to his heart. He had the entire world at his feet. He was prince of a state. He was having riches that any of us would give our life to have. He was destined to be a great worrier to rule over the four corners of the world. But he renounced all that. And his renouncement was that of a highest kind. What’s the meaning of renouncing wealth if you are beggar? What’s the meaning of renouncing if you are already old and about to die? What’s the meaning of renouncing if you don't of anyone who cares about you?

Siddhartha was bold enough to leave his wealth, crown and family members at a very young age and walk into the realm of the unknown. He followed his heart and set on a journey to find his destiny. It just takes a split second to think how difficult and courageous a decision he took at that young age.

No, I am not a Buddhist. No, I don't plan to become a Buddhist in near future. But what I do like is a young man’s journey to know himself. I do like a person who fights against all odds to find his destiny. I do like a person who becomes a god from human with sheer will power. I do like a person who has nothing in his heart but love for his fellow creatures. I do like Buddha as a person. His life inspires me.

Through this Book I intend to walk with Buddha on his journey for enlightenment. I intend to at lest make a feeble attempt to know his joys, fears, loss and triumphs. Don’t worry! I will keep you posted about anything beautiful that I come across :-)

Hectic week..

2007-10-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

It has been a very hectic last couple of days. Seen a lot and went through a lot. I could not put posts because of the intensity and business of these days. I recount here a few things that both eat up my time and also made me happy.

Of course the list is topped by – finish of first semester MBA exam. God!!!! It feels great. So what if a few of my friends say that the evaluation of the MBA papers is very difficult. That I may as well not scrap through my exams. At lest I attempted the exam and gave my best shot, and I am happy for that. I have already written about my first set of papers last week. Last week I had studied and had been to exam. The story was quite different this week. I had not studied that well. This was because of a combination of some surprise packages I got during the end of last week (more about it in my future posts). But, God is great!!!! The exam did not go as bad as I had expected it to be. Though the second paper (managerial effectiveness) was a difficult, with God’s grace, I think I will scrap through it.

The second thing that happened was that I went shopping for Good books this week. Totally I brought about 6 books and spent close to 1500 rupees. But all the books are great – worth their weight it gold. I will definitely write about what these book wonderful books in future posts. Yeah, yeah, I know some people will think if it’s worth buying so many books? Will I read all these books? Well for them my answer is – I love books and am creating my own mini library.

There is one more surprise package of the week. I will not write it here now. I will touch upon it after a few weeks. It has everything Drama, humor, adventure, anticipation, suspense and a lot of susheelish twists and turns. I am dying to write about it, but Amol will kill me if I write anything about it now :-). Also, I realize it’s not the right time to blog about it now.

One more disturbing thing of this week is the news I read about post Godhara confessions. I came across these articles through a blog friend of mine. I really really hate these people killing each other in the name of religion. I hate them soo much that even as I type this my hands are shivering with anger for such kind of fanatics. Who has given them the right to kill in the name of religion? Do they even know their religion? Has Ram personally told them to kill at will? Do they understand Hinduism in the first place? Do they have even a little bit of brain in their rotten heads? Do they understand humanity? Are they humans? How can we even have such kind of lunatics in civilized society? How the hell can anyone kill in the name of God? God who takes care of everything - from a worm crawling in the soil to the mightiest of elephants – like his own children? God who brings in day, night all the seasons with such preciseness? How can anyone kill people in the name of God? How? How? How??????

Last but not the lest – Work pressure. Work came back with a vengeance for me taking leave. I had to complete a lot of unfinished work. And of course I had a few bickering with my boss. I sometimes love to work. I have a very very active mind. Always something or the other is going on in my mind. I am very restless. If I don't find anything to do, I will catch the nearest person and start talking with him endlessly. I simple don't like to sit idle. Work eases me a bit. It keeps my mind engaged. It keeps me grounded.

All in all a mixed package last couple of days. It was a very hectic and difficult week. I am sooooo happy to be alive :-)

Opportunity...

2007-10-23T18:57:00.001-07:00

Opportunity, it is said, is small window in life to God’s grace. It is through opportunities that God tells you how much he likes you. He tells you how enthusiastic he is to see you performing at your best. At the same time he also wants you to see recognize him through these small windows. If you are busy, lousy or careless, you will miss opportunities. And opportunities missed are success lost.

I have had a very good stay in my present company. I have had great friends here. I have learnt a lot professionally here. But slowly a lot of my friends and like minded people started to leave this company. New people began to come in who neither understood me nor did they respect my past work. Slowly I began to feel dejected and a started to look out elsewhere for newer opportunities. I might have approached a dozen companies. I gave interviews that lasted two minutes to one and a half hour. There is hardly any opportunity that I missed that came my way. But I cam back from every interview empty handed. I particularly remember one company where I cleared the interview four times – without the HR giving me a call. I started to get frustrated. I began to feel I am loosing all the opportunities that are coming my way. My friends say I am pretty good at work. Why then was I not able to secure even a job change? Am I good enough in the first place? Why is God making fun of me by showing so many mirages?

Yesterday I sat and thought as all these facts ran through my mind. I thought instead of being too judgmental or pessimistic, I will count the positives that I have got. Maybe God wants me to know teach the lesson of patience. Maybe I have not got the right opportunity because he is still out there, hunting the right job for me. Maybe he wants me to work with not so pleasant people to teach me the importance of friends. Maybe he wants to toughen me up. Maybe he is readying me for bigger and better battles. Maybe he wants to test how much faith I have on him. Maybe he does not want to show me small window of his grace. Perhaps, he wants to open a door full of opportunities for me.

It is when all these thoughts were passing through my mind, that I got a call from a company. My telephonic interview was over. I cleared it – as usual. Now they want me to come over to have a face to face talk so that another round of comprehensive interview can be done. I don't know if this is again a small prank God is playing with me or is it truly the door that I have been waiting for. Only time and perhaps God knows what’s going to happen.

For the time being a small window seems to be open. I have faith in God’s grace. I will go and peep through it. Let’s see what’s waiting for me :-)

There is soo much to learn!!!!

2007-10-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

Today my long weekend finally comes to an end. After three days of being a student, one day of writing exam and another day of lazing around, tomorrow I have to go back to office. The honeymoon comes to an end.

I still have two more exams coming Sunday before my first semester comes to an end. Today I was studying from the book called “Business communication”. From that book I learnt about the importance of listening skills. I learnt about how important it is have interpersonal skills in you official life. I learnt different ways of conflict resolution. I learnt about different ways of negotiation. I learnt how important it is to give praise. I learnt the importance of giving and accepting criticisms.

After reading this book, I felt I have sooo much to learn. This made me think about lerearning itself as a process. If we take things correctly, there is so much there is that we can learn even from a routine day. But the first thing that we need to understand is, perhaps, that there is a lot of learning out there that we have to do.

Is it not starange that unless we attempt to know something, we don't even know about its existence? For example, if I have not taken up the MBA course and not read the book I was mentioning, I probably would not even know that there is a seicence behing praising, negotiating, motivating, negotiating and what not. In fact if we are ope enough, there are so many things that we can learn even from everyday instances. But the first step is to realize that – Yes, I have to learn something new.

In an official setup – When my boss scolds me, I learn how I should not behave with my subordinates. When the implementation team rejects even my best thought plan, I can learn that I still have a lot of things to think about before drafting a final plan. When my collogues disagree with me, I can learn that I don't know the entire dimension of a problem.

In family setup – I see my dad and learn the importance of sacrificing your personal comfort so that your near and dear ones are happy. When I see my mom, I learn how important unconditional love is. When I see my brother, I learn how brilliant a young man can be. When I see my sister, I learn what all I would have missed if I did not have a sister. When I see my relatives, I learn how manipulative people can get to get to their needs.

With friends – I learn how different people can be and still be caring. I learning how important it is to belong to a group and still be unique. I learn the importance of support. I learn, there is still soo much to learn.

Yes, it’s really strange that when you open your mind a little wider, you know how much there is to learn. Everyday seems to be filled with so many lessons - if we are willing to learn. How wonderful it would be if I could somehow learn to learn the leasons of daily life. :-)

First MBA exam over!!!

2007-10-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

I got over with my first pair of MBA exams today. Gosh!!!!! I am tired. It’s been years since I used to keep sitting in one place. In office we tend to move around a bit. While studying I roam around/listen to music. I am also used to the constant chatter and noise of office and my roommates. It’s today that I realized how difficult it is sit quietly for 6 hours (in two sets of three hours each) in pin drop silence and concentrate every nerve of yours towards solving a question paper.

The day by itself started in a typical Susheel way. I thought the exam starts at 10:30, but actually the exam was scheduled to start at 10:00!!!! (God!! How careless I am). Reporting time was 9:30!!! At 9:30, I was still in room and had just finished taking bath. Got ready and came out singing, happy that I am leaving an hour early for my exam. It was when I pulled out my Admit card to give the address of my exam hall to the rickshaw driver, that I realized that the exam starts at 10 and I have only 15 minutes to reach the exam center. And to top all that, I was so busy studying all these days that I did not even know when my exam center is physically located. Just imagine what might be going through my mind. I could hear my hear beat above the sound of the rickshaw and the traffic. After every breadth, I was cursing myself for being the most careless person to walk on the face of this earth!!!!!!!

Luckily, today was a Sunday and that too vijaydashami (It's the day when people wash their vehicles and worship it) traffic was less. I reached my exam center in about 10 minutes (God is great). Hah, by the way did I mention, I forgot my watch in the mad rush? Anyway I ran into my exam center just when the bell rang. It took me some time to catch my breath back. Slowly settled down and began to read the question paper.

Still I could not believe how careless a person I am and why I do not improve even after soo many bad lessons. Still I could not believe how I have been thinking about this exam for more then a month now – only to ignore seeing the correct time of the commencement of the exam. Gosh!!!! Have you met the most careless man in this world?? If no, you are most welcome to meet me!!!!!

The first paper was OK. I attempted all the 100 questions. But the problem is that it is an objective type paper. And in objective type papers you always tend to think you have done well till you get the actual marks. At least I hope I can clear the exams.

The second paper was a bit difficult as compared to the first. Here too I attempted all the 100 questions. I think at least 70% is correct, but lets wait and see what the results have to say (results are expected in next one month). Of course, my only fear is that if there is negative marking, I am dead.

Mom (who knows me like the back of her hand) called me twice to tell me not to forget anything and be less careless – How sweet of her. But, I think even mom does not know that some things do not change. I think my carelessness is one such thing.

All in all, apart from the initial shock of the beginning of the day everything went fine. I am expecting to at lest pass in both the papers. My next exam is on coming Sunday 28th of this month. Yeah, yeah, I will be more careful that time around. For the time being – it’s OK :-)

PS: Will I ever become responsible and more organized???

Exams tomorrow..!!!

2007-10-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah…I know – Exams tomorrow. Tomorrow will be my first MBA exam on “Introduction to management”. Next Sunday I have one more exam on “Managerial effectiveness” and my first semester exams will be over. Yesterday too I had taken study leave. Felt so good, being a student again – Wonderful.

Frankly speaking, I am surprised by own motivation to study. After all it’s been more then three years since I last studied for an exam. Studying has really not lost its charm as far as I am concerned. The discipline, concentration and the will power that it calls for to write an exam is really exiting. I have never been a brilliant student in college days. No topper or the most brilliant kid in school. I have always had to study hard even to get OK OK score. But still, somehow, I have always loved to study and be a student.

At the end of the day, I saw the book that I had finished. Could not believe I had finished such a big fat book. It also brought back memories of my Engineering college days. It also brought back memories of – believe it or not - my Mom.

It’s so easy to take things for granted. I still remember how supportive my mom used to be during my exam days. I used to get hourly tea. Just tell my mom when I have to get up and no matter how ungodly hour of the day it might be, Mom used to wake me up. Any disappointing performance in exam and my Mom would always be by my side to perk me up. She used to cook my favorite dishes so that I have my stomach full. I still remember her telling me – Eat fully and fill the answer paper fully. I can’t stop remembering her enthusiasm to see me doing my level best. Maybe, it’s because of her that I love being a student.

Now I am staying in a bachelor room. Got to go to office in the morning and make time for myself in the night to study. An hour of study will make you feel tired, because you don't have even a table and chair to sit and study. No hourly tea now. If you have to study, you have to get up – nobody will wake you or remind you. Have food if you are hungry, else leave. One person perking you up is yourself. There are soo many things that we take for Granted.

Yes, I might be becoming a bit incoherent in writing. Yes, I might be becoming unnecessarily emotional. But, that's Susheel for you.

Tomorrow is my exams – I love you and miss you, Mom :-)

Productivity...

2007-10-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

I had a very good day today. No office, no calls, no mad rush, no quarrel with collogues and/or boss. I have taken leave from office and devoted the entire day to studying. It was a wonderful feeling - felt like a student again (I have always loved being a student).

I almost finished the entire book on "Introduction to management" but for the last chapter. Today I learnt about different control techniques in management. I also learnt about Operational research (OR). OR caught my imagination almost at once. OR is the field of management that uses mathematical modeling to solve the various management related issues (like human resource calculation, inventory ordering, risk analysis etc). It helps managers to make optimal and most logical decisions under uncertainty. Hmm...interesting. Math has a say in management as well, felt good to know that.

After the entire day was over, one of my very good friends - Amol - called me. We chatted routinely and he asked me how much hours I have put in to study and what all I have learnt. The discussion went back to our engineering days and he was surprised to know I used to study for almost 12 hours a day during our preparation holidays. He was of the opinion that studying that much did not actually give good "productivity". This got me thinking.

I felt that whatever he was telling was very reasonable. It also made me think more about the concept of productivity itself. The most commonly used interpretation of productivity is Productivity = (output/input). It is the output that we generate per unit of input. If this ratio is more, the productivity is considered to be more. This is correct when we are talking about machines and other non living things. But, I feel, this definition is not correct when human beings are involved.

When humans are involved, productivity is so much more then the ratio of input to output. Let me try and clarify. A student may study for 12 hours and yet not get good scores, in general terms you may say that his/her productivity is low. But, this teaches the student the importance of tenacity, never say die attitude and a passion for striving hard to get results. A fresh graduate may give interviews in about 10 companies before getting a final job. In general terms you may say that the productivity of the person in 10 previous attempts was zero. But it is this zero productivity activity that gave him much needed experience so that he can clear on the 11th attempt. Are you getting what I am trying to say??

Life for many of us is so much like a tennis game. You can have control over the ball only when it is in your court. Once you have hit that ball across to the other court, you do not have control over the ball or what your opponent does with it. Productivity for me is doing your best when the ball is in your court. It does not matter if you miss the ball, so long as you have stretched to your maximum extent possible. Your productivity should be measured by the amount of effort you are putting in when the ball is in you court. You are ultra productive if you are doing best in your court. You are unproductive if you are not playing up to your best of abilities.

Thank you Amol for your chat with me today :-)

What a wonderful day...!!!!!

2007-10-17T12:21:00.001-07:00

Today was a Wonderful day!!!!!! It is these days that make you happy for being alive. Today was so good that I thought that I should slowly chronicle the entire day and register it in this post.

After many days I got up early today (even though I slept at 2:00 in the morning yesterday). I had the sense to study my courseware. I was lucky enough to complete one full chapter on different techniques of control systems. I learned about the types of control systems. I learnt about the different ways to measure the key indicators of the financial health of a company. I also learnt about feed forward, concurrent and feedback control mechanisms. Well begun in half done. What a wonderful day...

The next best thing that happened was that I was not going to office. My Job as transmission engineer in Nokia requires me to go on “field” some days. I am supposed to do surveys, to provide microwave connectivity to our client Vodafone. Today was my lucky day; I got a call in the morning at around 9:00 and was told to go for an urgent survey near Ramoji film city. Ramoji film city is around 40 Kms from my room. The climate was good and I was supposed to go on a looong drive… what a wonderful day.

The purpose of my survey was to put a tower on top of a hill near Ramoji film city. This tower will give great mileage for transmission connectivity to Vodafone in the years to come and I had proposed it Vodafone – and they approved it. To do the survey I had to climb the hill (Which, by the way was the tallest hill in that place). It was a great trekking experience. Yes, I have claimed a lot of hills in the process of doing my survey. But, today’s climb made it more important because the climate was great and I was also accompanied by civil experts. I showed the part of the hill that had to be blasted off boulders so that the tower can be built… what a wonderful day.

I must also tell you I like to take photographs. During my travels and my moments with my friends, I have clicked a lot of photos. In fact the total size of my photos amount to about 1 GB. Recently there was a national photography competition organized in my company – Nokia. The theme of the competition was “Nature” (The photos were to be clicked only with a mobile and not a digital camera). Thanks to my travels, I have been lucky enough to click a lot of nature photos. I had submitted one such photo just for the sake of it. And know what, my friend called in and told me that I have won the first prize in India. I am attaching the photo that won me this prize here… What a wonderful day.

Generally acquiring a site to erect a tower takes about 15 – 20 days. Luckily, the owner of the house had also come to see his site. We immediately caught up with him. He was a jovial old man. He was a very interesting person of around 60+ years. Age had caught up with him and he had become a little deaf. But this had not stolen his zest for living. He narrated a lot of stories about how he came to Hyderabad, how he went on to make money and finally at this age he was the owner of thousand Acers of land spread all over AP!!!!! Felt good to talk to this person. Better still, he agreed to our proposed price for using his land to put a tower and the site was acquired in less then three hours… what a wonderful day.

Since we were so near to Ramoji film city, we thought we will pay a visit to that place. It's a great place to visit. Great scenery, fresh air and beautiful faces all around. We roamed around and clicked some great photos (I will give upload some of my photos in my future blogs). We also saw a shooting taking place in one of the sets. Public are not allowed to go into the sets when picture shooting is taking place. We told the security guards that we are from Vodafone and are here to check for signals. We were allowed to go inside. Not only did we see the shooting, we also saw Ali (a famous comedian of the Telugu film industry) up close and in action… What a wonderful day.

Came back to room quite late. Had a look at the calendar and a chill ran through my spines. Only two more days to go for my exam, I have to study soo much!!!!! I toyed with the idea of calling up my boss and asking for two days of study leave. But I was sure my boss will never give me a single day leave. In any case I thought I will try my luck and called him up. Not only was I permitted to take two days study leave, my boss also wished me luck for my exam!!!!!! … What a wonderful day.

And here I am 1:00 in the night, smiling at myself as I write this in my blog… What a wonderful day :-)

Difference of opinion...

2007-10-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Again I came to room early from office - to study. I came to room and thought I will blog instead. After all I have been studying since long a little blogging will do no harm (will power development required).

While traveling from office to room, I was thinking about the various differences of opinions that exist among people. What made me think is not this fact, but the fact that two people can think entirely in different direction, and still be correct in their own way.

Just have a look at the attached picture. What I see is a beautiful young lady maybe in her mid twenties. So beautiful that maybe I will ask her out for dinner. But in the same photo someone else may see an old lady, probably in her eighties and definitely not a person who could be taken for a dinner. But both the views are equally true. Look carefully - and you will find both young and old lady in the same photo.

So many things in real life are also similar. I might be feeling that my boss is pressurizing me too much but my boss might be thinking I am not co operating fully. I might feel that a person is committing a sin by robbing but the robber might think that he is making a living. I might think that I am relaxing myself by blogging, my friends might feel that with 4 days to go for exam I am wasting my time. I might feel that the lady walking on the road is not so pretty, but she might be the prettiest person alive for her husband. I might think of myself as a big man, my parents might think I am still a child. I might feel that a father is the financial head of the family, someone else might feel that a mother should be the financial head of the family. I might feel that a mother should be the emotional head of the family, someone else might feel that we are limiting a woman by confining her to the home.

What is most wonderful is that however contradicting both the views might look; both of them are equally true in their own right. What I personally feel is that as far human emotions are concerned, there is nothing called as pure truth or pure lie. What is true for one person might be a lie for someone else.

What is point I have learnt from these observation is that I should not be Judgmental. Maybe I should try and see things from other person's point of view. Yes, in doing so I might loose my viewpoint and I might become vulnerable. But I think its takes courage and wisdom to look at things from other person's point of view. I might not have learnt it now, but definitely would love to have this positive trait with me as I grow.

Life, I feel is soo complicated. The last thing that it can be is a series of YES/NO. The highest paradox is that anything can be correct and wrong - at the same time. An image can be a young lady and old women - all at the same time. :-)

Lakshya...

2007-10-15T10:01:00.001-07:00

Could not get up early today :-( - which implies I could not read much on my MBA today. Yeah - I did read a bit about the control function of management, nothing worth writing here. I then decided I will come early from office and study.

I did come early from office, but instead of studying, I saw the movie "Lakshya". Lakshya is one of my favorite movies. Apart from brilliant acting, direction and choreography, the reason I like this movie is because I am soo similar to the Hrithik in the first half of the movie.

I am careless. I don’t know exactly what to do. I believe in peer communication a lot. I considering doing a lot of things at the same time - I chew more then I can probably digest. The song "Main aisa kuyon hoon..." in this movie, I have always thought represents me soo well. I am very very similar to hrithik's character in the first half of the movie.

But then again, have a look at poster of that movie that I have posted here. What you probably see is a shabby, careless young man yawning. But in the shadow you see a fighter, ready for a battle. I too have always believed in my own strange way that I have some greater purpose to serve. Yes, I don’t know what that purpose exactly is. Yes, logically I might be wrong. But my gut feeling always says that it’s just a matter of time before I find my true passion, once I do it - there is no one stooping me. I will then wear my passion on my sleeve and an alive and beating heart in my palm and run towards my destiny.

I have considered what my present passions are. I am recounting some of them here. I want to be the best human I know of. I want to be brilliant in at least one field of my life. I have fallen in love once, but at least once I want to rise in love. I want to travel different places. I want to be friend to different people from different places. The list seems endless...

But are any of these the true destiny of my life? Is there something greater I am supposed to achieve? For Hrithek's character in the movie, it took him 24 years and 1800 feet to find himself. I don’t know what it will take me to find myself. Till then I will wait and consider my life as a journey to find my destiny.

Leadership...

2007-10-14T10:36:00.001-07:00

I have now become paranoid about my MBA exams. I want to clear the Exam at any cost. Of course, the fact that I have taken correspondence course makes the matter a little more difficult. On top of that I am having a very demanding Job, a Job that is full of mental pressure and also requires me to move “on field” now and then make the matter a little more complicated.

But the fact that I have always loved to read and immensely enjoy being a student has helped me a lot. I thought how I can make my preparation and revision interesting. I got a very brilliant idea. I decided I will play by my strengths. This is how I am tackling it.

I love being a student, so I have drawn up a strict time table for studying even after a hard days work. I have always loved reading, so reading the courseware is in fact an enjoyable experience – once a strict time table is set. I also like to write down my thoughts. I decided, instead of being philosophical, I will write about what I have read on that day, there by effectively revising what I read – Hobby and study both accomplished. Last but not the least; I love to post my blog with relevant photos. I will browse the net and find some photos/articles that are relevant to what ever I have read on that particular day and pot it in my blog. Today will be first of these series of posts.

Well, today I learned about leadership in an organizational setup. I learned about the various theories of leadership and how communication skills are very important for an effective leader.

Leadership, by the way is the art of influencing the behavior of your collogues/subordinates in a positive way so that the goals and objectives of the organization are met. Many scientists have done a lot of study to understand this “art”. The various studies can be broadly classified into Trait theory, behavioral, Situational/contingency theory and finally transformational theory.

Trait theory says that leaders are born and not made. This theory says that leaders are a gifted lot. It tries to describe the various traits that leaders somehow acquired. But, the crux here was that many successful leaders had contradictory traits. This theory was hence not successful. The next theory propounded was behavioral theory. This theory says that leaders can be developed. They have certain set of behavior’s that make them an effective leader. Any person who consciously learns and adapts himself to these set of behavior, will become a leader (like consideration for employees, consideration for achieving the goals etc. Based on the behavior the manager himself they can be classified as an autocrat, Benevolent, consultative or participative leader. One particular theory I liked was the “Management Grid” theory. In this the consideration for the employee is on the x axes and the productivity on the Y axes. Value of these axes can range from 1 through nine. Based on this grid the leader can be classified as impoverished leader, Autocratic leader, Country club leader, middle of the road leader and finally Team leader. A person should always aim to be a team oriented leader (High consideration for employees and productivity). But this again failed to give a permanent solution to the question. So, situational theory was proposed. This theory says that a leader must always change his leadership style depending on the situation. He should ask himself certain basic questions before adopting a particular style. Or, he could use the path goal approach in which he defines the goal for the subordinate and depending on the personality of the subordinate lay out the path to achieve the goal. Finally the Transformational theory was proposed. Transformational leaders are the ones who inspire phenomenal output out of their subordinates. Nobody till date has been able to pin point the way transformational leaders are developed.

Finally, today I read about the various communications that flows in an organization (Downward, upward, horizontal and crosswise), Model of communication process, barriers of communication and finally the ways to overcome communication barrier.

Hmmmm….a lot of stuff read. Personally I have some opposing views on what ever I read – but about that later. For now, I am pretty paranoid about my exam and “I want to do well” :-)

MBA...

2007-10-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well…I am having my MBA exams on 20th and 27th of this month. This leaves me with seven more days to prepare for my exams. Of course I am tense. I need a lot of good wishes and good luck – both for preparing as well as writing for my exam.

I have been reading my MBA courseware voraciously off late. What I have learnt till now is that management is all about five things – Planning, Organizing, Staffing, leading and controlling. Each of these five fields forms the cornerstone for Management study.

Planning is the phase wherein you plan for your Goals, objectives and mission as an organization. Organizing deals with giving a formal structure to your organization. It involves creating various hierarchy structures of employees, breaking your organization into departments and divisions etc. The main thing here is that your organizing should be in line and complement your plan/goal for the organization. Staffing is the process of putting the right people in the right places in the hierarchy structure developed in the organizing phase. Leading is then guiding and influencing the behavior of the haired employees so that “they” can help you to achieve the goals of the organization. Controlling deals with the various ways in which you have to control you finance, communication, morale etc for the smooth functioning of the organization.

I personally like the leading part of management. The main reason I like this is because in today’s scenario to be become a true leader, you have to truly understand and know people. You have to know what is it that motivates people. Why do people behave the way they do? How to get along with people to achieve a common goal? How to handle conflicts in work place? Etc. It feels good to get into the minds of some of the greatest of Physcology/management thinkers. It’s good to know what their opinions are on these topics (like Peter F. Drucker, Abraham Maslow, Victor H. Vroom, David C. McClelland etc...)

The another reason why I like the literature on leading is because I truly believe that each and every person is a leader in his/her very own way. A father is the financial leader in his home. A mother is the emotional in her home. A teacher is a leader for molding a child’s character. A sweeper is a leader of cleanliness of his area. I am a leader for myself; I am responsible for managing myself. So, I think everyone is a leader in one way or the other. And the literature present in management for organizational leadership can also extended to personal/family leadership. Maybe we will have to modify it a bit to take care of the human element. For example, have a look at Maslow pyramid proposed to know the motive behind people’s work in organization. A look at it and you will know how relevant it is in our personal life as well. We too – maybe unconsciously – Plan, organize, staff, lead and control ourselves in our life.

All said and done, days are slipping by, and I need to write my Exams. Wish me luck :-)

Friends..

2007-10-11T10:20:00.001-07:00

I have always believed that God loves me. One of the best examples for this is the friends he has given me. I have been blessed with some Great friends who have touched every part of my life. I Thank God a Million times for giving me such great friends.

I traveled down my memory lane to find out what would have happened if I had no friends? What would have happened if God did not send friends to me in difficult time?

Whom would I play with in my childhood? How would I derive a sense of belongingness during my young days? How would it be if I were alone without friends when I first arrived in Delhi at the age of 13? How would I have made my first year in college enjoyable if I were alone? Who would I have talked to about my first love in engineering college days? Who would I turn to when I went to Bangalore with nothing more then dreams in my eyes? Where would I look for help when I was stolen off my money and left penniless on the streets of Hyderabad - on my first day of arrival? Who would have helped me when I was cheated by a person promising me that he will find a room for me to stay in Hyderabad? Who would have helped me when I first walked into a hostile and competitive company as a fresher? Who would have listened to me when I needed a shoulder to cry upon? Who would have calmed me when I am angry about someone/something? ...

The list seems endless. It humbles me when I think how many wonderful friends God has given me. When ever I have been in trouble (and I am in that zone very often), God has always sent me a friend to help me solve my problems. I would not have been what I am today if it were not for a bunch of friends who held me in my difficult times.

A million thanks to God!!!!

Solitude...

2007-10-10T10:53:00.001-07:00

Silence, it is said has a thousand words. I love Silence. I like to sit quietly and let my mind astray. I like to listen to myself in the stillness of silence. Most valuable lessons that I have learnt have been in the midst of silence. Solitude I think is the greatest treasure that any one can ever have.

How true was Barton when he said – “Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequence comes from little things… I am tempted to think… There are no little things”. I love to walk alone in silent nights. The cool breeze, the humming of some far off bird, the rustle of the leaves that I stepped onto, the muffled sounds of TV sets. All these make me feel alive. They tell me how much there is to listen – both within me and outside me.

Solitude is my biggest treasure and my best teacher. And I live in the depths of my solitude

Corporate Mughal

2007-10-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

Like any company, our company too serves a client. Recently the country technical head of our client was supposed to have a meeting in our office. Of course all the preparations were made for his visit. Relevant data was collected, presentations were made, mock meetings took place and managers were given a list of do’s and don’ts to be strictly adhered to in the meeting.

The day finally arrived. Our managers of course were in top form. They came out with their best dresses and put on their best smiles. No stone was left unturned to make the country head happy. What happened later was a perfect anti climax. The client came and took everybody left and right. The choosiest of offensive language that can be used in a corporate setting was used. He literally shook up everyone. He conveyed in clear terms that it is output that he wants – nothing more and nothing less. Not a single person could stand up and speak back, because of the position and power that he commanded.

This made me think. How do people at the top of the food chain in corporate setting get there? What is it that separates them from the rest? What might be going on in their mind when there were in my stage of their carrier? Were they always brilliant? Were they born leaders or life’s experience thought them to become leaders? A torrent of question came flooding in my mind. The bottom line being – I too want to be in that position some day and command power – How do I do that?

I have always had my own set of corporate heroes. I have liked their tenacity and the fire in their belly to succeed and do something great. Some of my corporate heroes are – Steve Jobs (Apple), Jack Welch (GE), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Naryan Murthy (Infosys), Azim Premji (Wipro), Linus Trovolds (Linux), Richard Stallman (GNU)….etc. I am sure I will be writing a lot about these guys in my future posts. I have read one or the other book written by these people. I have always tried to find some common points in these kings which made them great. One thing of course is that they always knew they are here for something BIG. But there is also one Negative thing common in all these Guys (at least I think so) and that is – Neglect of personal life.

Steve Jobs at one point did not know what he was supposed to do and joined Hare Krishna movement and was a hippy for long time. Jack Welch’s wife divorced him because she thought he was not giving much of his time to family. Bill Gates was a college dropout. Azim permji took over the business because his brothers were not willing to take up the work. Linus Trovolds is considered by many to be too secretive and does not how to socialize with people. What I want to tell is, if you are on your way to greatness on the corporate world, somewhere down the lane, personal life takes a backseat (or at least that is what I feel).

Is it possible to be at the top of the food chain and still be a great family person? Is it possible to strike that perfect balance with work and life? Is it possible to be CEO of some company while being a faithful son, great brother, loving husband and a sincere friend to some human being? If the answer to these questions is YES - then that person is a true Corporate Moughal. And someday I would love to be a true corporate mughal :-)

Never Ever Give up!!!!!!!

2007-10-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to be a "Never say die" person. I don’t want to give up, I don’t want to give in - when I know I am right. No matter what the situation.

I simply love to read any story that has people showing this "never say die" attitude. And if this happens to be a real life story, it also inspires me.

Recently I read a similar true incident that inspired me. It's the story of the workers of Wilmington plant of general motors and their struggle to stop their factory from shutting down. Following is an extract of that story

In the early 1990's, General motors (GM) decided to shut down its assembly plant located in Wilmington. They sent a group of executives to convey this message. The executives addressed the 3500 employees of the plant and told them about GM's decision to shut down the plant by 1996 in order to reduce cost.

The announcement left the workers stunned. When the GM executives left, Ralph Harding, the manager of the plant, made a passionate speech to the employees. He said "There maybe nothing we can do to affect this decision. But there is something we can do: we can make them feel really stupid!! Because they are going to be closing the best plant in General motors!!” He motivated the employees with his speech and fired them up with the desire to make their plant one of the best of GM's plant by 1996 - the year it was meant to be closed down.

The union leaders and management started to work together to reduce costs and to improve quality of production. The employees took it up as a challenge and started working towards reducing costs and improving quality of the products. Their motto was to become the best and thus make the top management feel ashamed of their plan of closing down the plant.

In less the two years, the Wilmington plant became one of GM's best plants and the car dealer began making specific orders for car models Chevy Corsica and Beretta, produced in the plant. The employees succeeded in achieving what they wanted to do - To prove that GM's decision to close down the plant was a foolish one. In 1996 GM decided against closing down the plant.

Such a great story, makes you want read it again and again.... :-)

What a great Poem....

2007-10-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

Recetly I came across a wonderful poem on happiness...I found it to be soo good, I thought it shold write it here. It can be read, re read and re re read...So enjoy :-)

Be happy

Light is sweet,

and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

However many years a man may live,

let him enjoy them all.

But let him remember the days of the darkness,

for they will be many.

Everything to come is meaningless.

Be happy, young man, while you are young.

And let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.

Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see.

But know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

So then, banish anxiety from your heart.

And cast off the troubles of your body,

for youth and vigor are meaningless.

Has this ever happened to you??

2007-10-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

There is a strange and intriguing experience that happened to me recently in office...

Have you ever been very angry about something/someone? So angry that when you think about that particular person, anger starts seething within you? You feel that he is the only person responsible for all your misery?I am sure that everyone will be having such kind of anger for someone at one point of time or other....

Like many people I too had such kind of a person, recently I happened to confront this particular person. It was mayhem, an all out barrage of accusations and counter accusations. I squeezed out every bit of my anger right in front of that person.

After I had this no holds barred fight with this person, I felt certain calm within me. When I sat and thought over the entire thing, I began to feel that the person was not that bad after all. I began to feel that the reason why I was getting angry on that person was because my perception about that person himself was clouded because of my anger. I felt that after all everything was there in my mind and "Maybe" that person was not that bad after all.

I think I have always been very different and unique in the way I look and feel things. This duality of thought is also something that has always been there with me. I don’t know if this is something that happens only to me or others people also experience such kind of "strange" things? People might say I am not good at handling my emotions. But I personally don't agree to it. I know my shortcomings, am aware of my emotions and have courage enough to talk about them.

Now I don’t know how to face that person next time I visit him. Should I say sorry to that person (which my ego does not allow me)? Should I forget everything and go about my work coolly? Should I act as if I am still angry? How should I avoid such kind of things in future?

Life sometimes throws puzzles at you which are so difficult to understand. It angers you, amuses you, makes you think and puzzles you - all at the same time. It’s something like the attached picture, It's a true lie :-)

Karma - Nah....!!!!!

2007-10-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

I was a Kid when I first heard about the concept of Karma. This has always intrigued me, fascinated me and more often then not, made me think.

Does a something like karma really exist? Is it true that whatever is happening to me is because of my past actions? Is there truly a master accountant sitting somewhere above high in the skies and keeping a tab on each and everything I do? And after I am "die", I go to that accountant for performance appraisal and depending on my performance, I am either awarded or punished in my "next life".

True or otherwise, I have always disliked this concept. It makes you feel like a puppet. And sometimes I also feel that it was a concept developed by some pundit to give reasons for things which seemingly were wrong and nobody wanted to own responsibility (like a person dying young, a good person facing hardship, young kids being murdered etc...). I am strongly of the opinion that this is a cooked up story - a make believe concept to make you feel that everything is ok. God can never be an accountant, keeping tab on me.

In comparison to this I like the concept that I am in charge of what is happening to me. If I desire for something so much that it pours out from every part of my being, then the entire universe will conspire with me to help me get to that desire. I think getting punished in this life due to some bad things that I did in my previous life (which I don’t even remember) is not the way God works. What I feel is maybe God wants us to live this life as a traveler. Always exploring, searching, knowing, realizing and improving. Life is not a series of predetermined sequence, but a series of choices that God gives on our way. We are then to make our own choices and these choices will decide how our story ends. In short, God has laid out the entire life in front of us, complete with all the choices and the different endings each choice will have. He then involves us in this game of life interactively and tells us "Son, you decide how you want this story to end".

As compared to the Karma concept, the above concept is more logical, more "God like". Yes of course, there still will be a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Why then God wants us to suffer (I don’t know if I am using the right word)? Why we face so many heart breaks in this Journey? Why is it so difficult to find a soul mate, who will travel the road with you? The list seems endless...

But nonetheless, maybe God does not want us to know the answer when we set out on this journey. Maybe he does not want to spoil the fun and suspense. Moreover if I knew everything, wouldn’t I be GOD???? :-)

Transactional analysis anybody??

2007-10-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

Let me first start with the a little fact file - The attached photo is that of Dr. Eric Berne. He was a Psychology professor and propounder of Transactional analysis.

I came across this term when reading my MBA courseware. Must tell, suddenly I am feeling great interest for Psychology. Psychology truly is a very interesting and intriguing subject.

I really marvel at the human brain and the free will God has given us. It’s wonderful how we can first think and then think and find out exactly what made us think as we thinked!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have always been a Math Geek, an engineer at heart. As such I thought that science and math’s are the "Real sciences". I thought that these are the only subjects that work on solid logical reasoning. 1+1 is always 2 be it today or a hundred years from now. Rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to the applied force and acts in the direction of the force applied, today, tomorrow or a hundred years later. But I might feel happy today, sad tomorrow and Jubilant 10 days later. I mean, this - feeling - thing is unpredictable.

I was charmed at my first encounter with Psychology. I was amused to know that the way I behave might have a logical reason as well. I read the transactional analysis theory proposed by Dr. Eric Berne. I fell in love with Psychology.

As per Eric, each person is made up of three alter ego states - Parent, child and adult. He then goes on to say how these alter ego states take shape. How they affect the way we respond to day to day situations. How and why - one Ego state is dominant at one time and the other at another time. I also read about "strokes". Stroke is the term we use for the type of acknowledgement we give to a person. Stroke can be positive, negative or don’t care. The concept of strokes is then combined with child, adult and parent theory to know how the various ego states interact with each other. He then goes one step ahead and tells when and exactly why communication go wrong and the way to avoid it. The icing on cake is the real life example he gives, which are eerily accurate.

It was wonderful to read a different stream of science. It was an eye opener. In fact now I feel that Psychology in its most basic form should be studied by everyone. It tells a lot about yourself, which if used properly can improve you into a better person....

Gandhiji - My hero

2007-10-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Today is the Birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, otherwise called as Mahatma Gandhi. I thought I will write down a few things about Mahatma in today’s post.

I have always admired Gandhiji. I prefer to call him as Gandhiji rather then Mahatma. This is because the title Mahatma makes him almost godlike and the expectation from him increases almost tenfold. What – I think – we should not forget is that Gandhiji was after all a human being. He was no demi God. He made his share of mistakes (like we all do). I see Gandhji’s life as a triumph of the human will. His life inspires me, and I am a great fan of his.

I am sure there will be a lot of people out there who will not agree to what I write. They will be people who criticize gandhiji, who feel that he was after all not as great as people project him to be. For them I have to say this – I respect your views; you have the freedom of your views. But in the similar way I have my freedom as well, and for me Gandhi is a Hero.

Now let me try and rationalize why I love Gandhiji. What is it in him that appeals to me? Why do I think he is great person? Well, one of the reasons for it I can say is I read his Autobiography – My experiments with truth – at a very early age (when I was in class eighth). This book of his has made a profound effect on how I see this person.

I learnt from this book that after all he was a human. He too has faced the same problem that we all faced. He too tried his hands on Beedi in his youth, he too used to lie like all of us do, he too felt angry like each and every one of us when we see injustice, he too used to spent his night with his wife when his father was n the deathbed ailing. He too felt strongly about what he believes in, and went all out to convince others when he felt that he was right. In short, he was very much human like you, me, or the person moving on the street.

If he had all the drawbacks like each and every one of us – what is it that made him Mahatma?? Why is it that even people around the world including Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther king Jr, Mother Teresa, Richard gere, Dalai Lama and countless other people around the world are charmed by him?? No, he did not have a great physique. No, he never used a gun. No, he was not a great orator. No, he was not rich. No, he was not an intellectual genius. He was a very common and passable Indian. No, he was no king. No, he was not vested with any power.

What is it then that made him such a phenomenon?? I personally feel the reason for this was that a common Indian man could connect himself with him. They could identify with what he said. They could easily walk his talk. That was possible because he did not tell people to go on war. He did not tell people to leave their near and dear ones and go into hiding. He did not ask for Blood – ours or our enemies.

Just take this small exercise frankly. Let’s say two different people come to you for a good cause. One of them asks you to take a gun and come along with him so that the root cause of the problem can be shot to death. The other person tells you to show small acts of defiance (like stop buying certain cloths, stop paying bills, stop using foreign materials etc) and assures you that doing so on a large scale will non violently kill the root cause of the problem. Whom will you follow??

He just asked people to be themselves. He asked them to assert themselves. He asked people to stand for what you felt was right. He walked with people. He lived the common man’s life. He was very Indian even in his stature. Indian people, by their very culture nature, could – as I previously said – connect to what he said. And it is this factor that made Gandhiji such a great person. He did not develop an Atom Bomb. He developed the concept of being yourself and nonviolently assert yourself for the cause of truth.

People will still raise 100 questions on gandhiji. Yes, maybe he might have been wrong at times. That’s because he was a human like each and every one of us. That is what makes Gandhiji such a phenomenon.

Gandhiji – you inspire me and you are my hero!!!!

What happens when Ideology clash happens??

2007-10-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Again it’s an observation I did in office. I was previously working in a very good Company (Am not naming any names here). The boss I had there was one of the very best bosses anyone can ever get. He was intelligent, sensitive and dedicated. I loved the way of his work, and as a person I learnt a lot from him.

Due a series of mergers’ and acquisitions I landed in a different company. The new boss who is now at the helm of affairs is Practical, outspoken and Professional. Though most people don’t like the way of his work, he does get the work done and as a professional he has a lot to teach me as well.

In short terms - if my old boss is north, the new is south. If the old is day, the new is night. There are huge differences in their way of working, thinking and getting the work done. If old boss is innocent and goes about doing his own work, the new boss is a charmer; he gets his work done from others.

But one thing which is common in both these guys is the immense confidance they have in themselves, the power they command is same,both think their style of working is the best and both are the the best in managing a telecom network.

Now due to some turn of events, both of them are made to take care of the same network. One as the owner of the network and other as the vendor for that network. The ensuing clashes that take place, the misunderstandings that takes place and the sheer mayhem that occurs due to these two giants being at the helm is simply huge.

I for one have been stuck in a very critical position. I have tremendous respect for my old boss, but I have commitments towards my new boss. And so many times there is a clash between my respect and commitments. And I can tell you - It's very difficult to take decision and act.

All said and done, what I personally feel is when such kind of a thing occurs, it is the people who are working at ground level that suffer the most. Due to the top level fighting (and both being genius in their own rights) the lower level engineer's are lost. They do not know what to do and whom to support.

And in this entire scuffle, you will find some people who will take advantage of this confusion and go about spoiling others names, settle personal scors, back biting and playing the cheapest of politics. I hate these kinds of people - because I have been victimized by such kind of people.

In any case, this clash of ideology and clash of titans has taught me some very good lesson, it has taught me how people play politics when confusion is in vogue, I now am very careful before Judging a person, I have learnt the lesson that no matter how big a genius you become - Its nothing till you conquer your ego....Thanks to both of them I am more mature today then I was a few years ago.

What do I want to be??

2007-09-30T04:28:00.000-07:00

I have now completely read 7 Habits of effective people by Stephen covey. There is one thing written in that book which made me think, deeply. That thing is to think about "what do I want to be"?

Pretty basic and a very boring question is what I thought about it when I first read about it. Nonetheless I went ahead and had a cup of tea with Mr. Covey over this topic (meaning I read what he had to say about this having a cup of tea). As I read further, I realized it is one of the most basic and life changing question that anyone can ever ask to himself. Made me think.

Covey is a very practical and a typical American author. He quantifies everything - from emotions to feeling to your goal in life, with clinical precision. But full credit to him, he has done solid work and I think the things he says have great relevance and they really do work.

Covey is of the opinion that the answer to the question - what do I want to be is four fold. In order to find an answer to this question, you need to know what your roles in life are. Once you know what are the different roles in your life, you can then reflect on each of the roles, think about what is the best you can achieve in each and every role of yours. Third step then is to have weekly goals you set your self in each and every role of yours which will bring you closer to you very best. Fourth step is to always try and improve, o keep raising the bar, to know how you can do whatever you are doing still better.

I know - all these things seem to like shit, something that seems very impractical. Even if you somehow agree to whatever he says and go ahead to it, I think such kind of an approach will take away the spontaneity out of life. In any case I thought is controversial and different enough to give it a try.

One day I sat alone and thought, what are my roles in life? Long after I am gone, how is it that I want my near and dear ones to remember me in each and every role I have in my life? Just pondering over this questions and trying to find answers was very liberating, different and good.

I recognized the different roles I have in my life which is of importance to me. These roles are that of a - Son, Brother, Friend, Colleague. I thought reflected about what I want to stand for in each of these roles of mine. I then noted in down in my "black dairy"... (Doesn’t worry, I wont repeat it here - because they are very personal to me :-)). This exercise is truly very good and I think every person should do it once in a while. It gives you a sense of direction. It also helps you to set your priorities right.

I found the step of having weekly targets in each role of mine to be still more enjoyable. For example, as a colleague for one week I set the target for myself to be very supportive to all my team members, even if they did something wrong. It feels great at the end of the week when you know that you achieved your target of the week.

But then again, as I said earlier it’s very difficult to maintain the tempo for a prolonged period of time. But that is something that I have to try and see. Hope I am proved wrong.

One more thing that I think will work still work better is if you have a role model with each of the role you have. This role model should be chosen carefully and he should be an inspiring person. He/she can be as real a person as your father/mother or as fictional as Prof.Dumbledore. But the key is your role model should inspire you. This way you will know your ultimate goal in each role. You can then move towards that epitome of perfection.

All said and done, the road is rough, twisting and full of difficulties before reaching the desired destination. Just like that path to the top of the mountain in the photo attached (it is again taken in Golconda fort in Hyderabad).

I pray to God to give me the courage and stamina to walk on that path and reach my destiny....Amen :-)

What to write…??

2007-09-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

I am starting from exactly where I left yesterday. Yesterday I tried to find out, why I want to write. Today I want to write about what is it that I know of that’s worth writing. I wanted myself to know what is it that if recorded in my blog will make it my Blog truly “mine”. Basically, what is it that I want to write here so that the reader (including myself at a later stage) will have a slice of my life??

Most of the people who are following this blog of mine will certainly notice that I invariably start with questions…Question that more often then not will be having more then one answers…well that's the first things I want to write about – Questions. I love to ask questions, I love to make different enquiries; I love to find answers to difficult questions. After finding answers to these questions, I love to examine my answers in view of my daily experiences, to know if what I thought yesterday is still relevant even today. So, most of the time my blog will be a series of questions. Trying to have a look at it from all dimensions and give the best possible answers.

Secondly I would love to write about the different experiences that I have had in life. I for one have had some very unique experiences. Be it finding best friends among strangers, be it my funny experience I have when roaming in a mall, be it the strange hate that Dogs seems to have with me, be it some of the biggest blunders that I have made in my life, be it the way I am treated in office and many more things. Shortly put I want to tell my part of the story.

Third thing that I would love to write about is my travel. As such my Job involves some amount of Travel (though nowadays it has reduced to a large extent). In my course of travel I come across something beautiful, something funny, something thought provoking. I would love it record all this in this blog of mine, for me and the entire world to read. Most of the times I would love to tell these stories through Photos. Photos that I have clicked myself using my mobile. As someone truly said – A picture is more then a thousand words. You will find my blog dotted with a lot of photos – taken in different places and times.

Fourthly I want to write about the Books I read. I love reading and I love Books. I read anything and everything that I can lay by hands on. It can be a magazine like reader’s digest, a fiction like Harry potter, a Non fiction like The republic, a Autobiography like My experiments with truth, a biography like Swami Vivekananda, a self help like Seven habits of highly effective people, a business book like effective executive…..and the list continues. Basically I love to read and I want that love of mine to be show in these blog of mine.

Finally (slowly down the lane maybe be this will not be the last), I want to write about what angers me, things that shake me up. I know it happens to me sometimes and even a small and silly thing might trigger it. I want to record all those angry moments of mine.

Ohh my GOD!!!!! I have soooo much to write (and how foolishly collogue of mine remarked – “What’s there to write in a Blog?”)

I want this blog to be unique, to have a unique “Susheel” effect to it. As I said earlier in this post, I want to record a slice of my life through this blog – And feed myself and others on it ;-)

Why do I write…..?

2007-09-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

I was jut sitting and thinking without any purpose (As I usually do) and a question came across my mind – Why do I write?

I have been with myself from the last almost 25 years. I have been writing since I was in class three. I perhaps know myself the best. And from this know how, I can predict that someday, when I happen to open my dairy or read my Blog, I will definitely ask this question to myself – Why did I write?

I did a bit of inner work to find an answer to this question. My answer to this question can be roughly given by the photo (I took this photo in Golconda fort during night).

Just like the small sources of light that illuminate different parts of the Old Golconda fort, even when in dark, thus making it more beautiful – so do My writings throw small pockets of light about me, about how I live, about what I think, about what I love and what I don't – even though the entire picture is still dark and unexplored.

Let me make feeble attempts to elaborate it a bit more. I write because of three different and equally important reasons. Firstly to know myself, secondly to give some work for my creative side and lastly to get connected emotionally with other people.

When I sit alone in a corner, without any distraction and try to type/write something, I see myself in a totally different light. I connect to my real self. I came to know of feelings that I never know were inside me. If there is a very difficult problem that I am facing, and I try to write about it, my mind becomes clearer, I get more alternatives and more solutions. Shortly put, it’s my first reason for writing – to know myself.

I am by profession and education an engineer. My day to day work involves usage of my analytic and logical skill. In doing so, more often then not I become a Robot, a thinking machine. I loose all emotions and try to concentrate only on work (A few of my friends are of the opinion that I am no less then a mad professor when it comes to work). Writing makes me human. I don't have to be logical when I am writing. I don't require Analytic skills. I don't have performance anxiety / pressure. Just be as creative as I can and throw open all the thought gates. Shortly put, it’s my second reason for writing – Giving work to my creative side.

People may be of different color, different place, different lifestyle, different language, different gender etc…But I truly believe that as Humans there is not much of a difference amongst people. The things that I at times feel will also be felt by someone else. Things that make my heart pain, might make others heart to pain as well. The doubts and difficulties that I face might be faced by some one else as well. In other words, even after soo many differences, there are some basic similarities amongst all people. This is the third and final reason for me to write – To get connected to other people on an emotional level (esp. the readers of these Blogs).

In summary, I don't write so that people should read it, I don't write because it’s a hip thing to do. I don’t write because I want to flatter someone. I write because it makes me feel good. I write because I think God has given me this talent of telling what I feel, in words. And I don't want to waste this blessing of God without even giving it a try.

Ohh Lord!!!! Forgive me for I know not what is happening….

2007-09-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

I am frustrated, angry pained and Sad. This is not because of my Personal life; I am rather the luckiest guy when it comes to personal life. I have great family and one of the best friends that a person can have. I am frustrated because of my official life. For Name sake I am working in a MNC, a respectable company but as an insider all that I can see in Politics, back biting, hypocrisy, favoritism and nepotism.

I mean, I have been working in this company from the last almost 2.5 years (of course now the company along with the manager has changed due to a meager). I have worked hard for the company. I stayed put in a department which has the highest rate of attrition. At some point of time (and regret for it now), I placed higher importance to my office work as compared to my personal life. By with each passing day I feel after all maybe it was not worth it after all.

What I see in office sometimes makes me sick. I see a manager who is afraid of his own team, who does not place trust in his own team - the team (including me) which works for him in the office. I see team leaders, who even after having almost double my work experience having insecurity feeling. I see people playing blame games, I see people whom I once thought to be epitomes of Goodness changing their colors depending on the occasion. It irritates me very much. Work does not seem to get any recognization. Favoritism is in vogue…. In short, nowadays – It stinks in office.

People who read this might feel that if there are so many problems, why I am staying there. Well, to that I need to say that I have been trying left right and center to get away from this place. But each time something or the other happens and I miss an opportunity. I don't know what the Lord all mighty has written out for me. One of my friends recently said to me that the reason why I get so upset due to office affairs is because I have a lot of expectations from my Manager/team lean in particular and the company in general. Well, maybe that’s true. But for an emotional guy like me, it very very difficult to Just go about everything in a robotic fashion. I cannot turn a blind eye to what ever is happening around me. And this weakness in me piles up my misery.

After my experience in this company post meager, I am convinced that No company is good or bad. It’s the people who compose it that make a company good or bad. I am also convinced of the fact that employees do not leave company but they leave bosses

All said and done, I really do not know what’s happening around me. I only have one prayer to God – Help me to get out from this company and get me a better opportunity.

I don't want to grow up!!!!!!

2007-09-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Its one heck of a thing to grow up!!!!A part of me always wants to be a child, carefree and innocent. But with each passing day I am forced to grow up. And with growing up is associated the lessons that the silent teacher – Experience - teaches you.

Have your ever observed two children playing?? They will happily play with dust. And they will truly enjoy doing it. They know of only one human emotion and that is Love. They might not be wearing anything and still not feel awkward about it. It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago I too enjoyed in similar fashion.

I sometimes wonder where I lost that innocence, that joy, that carefree attitude, that feeling of nothing is impossible (During my childhood, I thought that if a Truck or lorry Mows you down, you don't die, you just become flat – Just like in cartoons) … I wonder when in this rush of “Growing up” I lost those treasures. I wonder why we become more and more miserable and cynic as we grow up. Logically speaking, it should be the other way round. We should be born foolish, ego centric and fearful but grow up into Wise, non egoistic and fearless. Strange is the way the world works.

Now as grown up adults, one look around you and you see paranoid people. Keep two people together and sooner then later ego starts building up, a struggle is always there to gain upper hand over someone else. In the grown up world, the buzzword is – survival of the fittest. There is always an underlying meaning that if you got to win, someone else has to loose. How very annoying.

At one point of time, I thought that you always have to be Mr. Goodie good with everyone. I felt that if you did good to someone, it is but natural that only good can happen to you. But slowly I begin to know that this is not the case. I came to know that it is impossible to keep everyone happy at the same time. It’s impossible to be Mr. Goodie Good to everyone. I came to know that if you are too innocent, you will be taken for a ride and people will stamp over you to meet their own greedy ends. This has made me more rigid, this forces me to sometimes behave in a way which I am not. This is the lesson that experience has thought me – This is knowledge.

It is said that initially Adam and Eve were fearless, happy and devoid of any human emotions apart from pure Love. Then Eve tasted the fruit of knowledge and made Adam to eat it too. By eating the fruit of knowledge, Adam and Eve became fearful, unhappy and first time felt negative human emotions like Pain, ego, shy (In fact this feeling of shyness made them to cover their body)…

By growing up and with experience, are we not – knowingly or unknowingly – are we not tasting the fruit knowledge? Are we not running away from our true self? Are we not experiancing more and more negitive human emotions with each passing year? Isn’t the world of grown up’s more bad then that of children?

And if the answer to all the above question is YES… then naturally, should we taste this fruit of knowledge in the first place? What will happen if we insist on not growing up and being a child? Many people will even call these questions stupid and probably won’t even give it a second thought…

The road ahead is long and I still have to travel a long long long way, even to understand why I am on this road in the first place :-)

Make way for India – The champions of the world

2007-09-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Yes!!!!!!!! Team India has done it…Unbelievable but true – India is the Cricketing champion of the world. You got to see it to believe it. The festive mood, the crackers bursting, the screams, the people dancing on roads…..its Jubilation all around. Wonderful feeling, I guess a lot of people who saw the match will proudly say, we were there when it all happened. I will not go into the details of the match, because I am sure almost everybody might have seen it by holding their pumping hearts in their hands.

I tried to capture the way cricket binds all of us through this photo. Alas!!! It has not come out very clearly, but still I hope it tells the feeling that runs around cricket in India. The photo that you can see is taken in a small street in Hyderabad, I am not sure if you can see it, but there’s a TV right in the middle of the road!!!!!!!! And people all around it eagerly watching the game!!!! Food and snaks were being offered so that people don't miss even a ball!!!!!!!It happens only in India :-). Of course this snap was taken much before we actually won the match, I wonder what it would be like “after” becoming the champions????!!!!!!

The one thing I like about Cricket in India is that it really brings people together. There are no Muslims, there are no Hindu’s, there are no North Indians, there are no south Indians but Indians with Raw emotion – a Hunger to see India win…..Anything that brings this attitude in us ought to be admired.

Sure sometimes you feel that we are giving undue importance to just a Game, we feel there are far more important things that we need to look at. But then again we need to celebrate on our success else we will never appreciate what we miss when we fail. If all India can stand together and dance if a handful of Young Indians win a match – So be it.

Nothing more can I write now, cause I need to have the feeling sink in that India are truly the Champs of the world…..HIP HIP HURREY – CHAK DIYA, INDIA. :-)

Chak De India.....:-)

2007-09-23T02:36:00.000-07:00

My heart is singing today, I want to dance with Joy and I want the entire word to see me dancing with Joy....It’s a great moment - "India reaches the final of T20 match”. Feels great, makes me proud.

India have been doing great this world cup season, makes every cricket loving fan's heart beat a bit faster by seeing their performance. Particularly the now legendry six sixes in an over by Yuvraj against a hapless England was simply superb. Its so Good that you just don’t feel bored by seeing it again and again and again...That's exactly the reason why I am including that video in the post here, see it and feel grateful that you lived in the times when Yuvraj hit six sixes in an over....

Any cricket fan who has been closely following India’s advance into the finals can tell you that they have been doing so supremely well. The first match again Pak was breathtaking till the very last bowl...it takes character a courage to win a match like that - and team India won it :-). Each and every match that India have won till date be it against Pak, England, South Africa or Australia have shown the stuff that Team India is made of. And all this by a bunch of youngsters - WOW!!!!!!!

Out of the cricketing field too India seems to be getting better and better with each passing day. I see an Indian buying out a Huge steel company, I see a Liquor Baron buying a Airlines company one day and a F1 team the other, I see the word's biggest Mobile company Vodafone coming to India and fighting tooth and nail to have their place in India, I see an Indian made software running a boing Aircraft, I saw a Brilliant Scientist as the Head of Indian constitution, I see more and more Indian names in the Forbs magazine, I see an Indian Football team winning Nehru cup, I see an Indian Hockey team giving shivers down the spines of their opponents, I see a Newspaper - Times of India - Understanding its responsibility and coming out with a wonderful campaign Lead India. And the list goes on and on...

I know there will be Cynics out there who might say that as a Great country we have still a long way to go and not everything is going our way. In fact I might be among the first people to criticize India and its state of affairs at the mistakes that we do. But I also know that these are all the sign's of a growing India and see the Glass to be half full rather then half empty :-)

For the time being let's Dance, rejoice and sing aloud. Let’s keep the complaints and criticisms for a later day........ Great going Team India - "Chak De India............."

One more Wicket falls in NSN - Vikas resigns

2007-09-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

The bunch of happy faces you see has been taken in front of Hyderabad Airport (Don't worry!!!!! I am not there in the snap), when we had gone to send off Vikas. Vikas has now resigned from NSN and moves abroad to chase his dreams and look for a better future, I am sure all the people in this snap are wishing him the very best from the deepest of their hearts.

Vikas has been less of a co worker and more of a friend from almost a year. It feels strange and odd - cause with passage of time you tend to get used to some faces when you spend time with them - and suddenly to know that from tomorrow you will not be seeing them in their seats, that you wont be able to see their faces as frequently as you have got used to - it feels odd and strange. But the only thing that makes me feel good is the fact people always leave for their own betterment and personal improvement.

I am slowly getting used to this slow march of friends/collogue from my company. But each and every friend who has left the company have thought me some pretty good and lasting lessons.

Feras has thought me how important it is to be Silent. He thought me how speaking a few words could mean a thousand sentances. He truly thought me - Speech in silver and silence is Golden.

Nikhil (Fifth person from Left) has thought me the importance Deep friendship. Nikhil thought me how to truly connect with other people. He thought how to be soft and still be strong. He truly thought me - A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Bhavnesh (Third person from left) has thought me the importance of being Practical. He thought me that the word is not really as rosy as it seems. He thought me that the best from of help is self help. He truly thought me - How to have a body of thorns and a heart of rose, and still be a good human being.

Vikas (Fourth person from left) thought me the importance of being Professional. He thought me how silly and foolish it is to mix personal life with Professional life. He thought me how important it is to be confident in what you believe, no matter what others think. In his very own way he perhaps thought me the 10 most wonderful letters I have known - "IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME".

But the fun part is that when these guys were with me, I did not learn the lessons. I took too much for granted. But today when and sit and reflect on what each of these wonderful people who have been with me have thought me, the lesson's become more evident.

For Now - So long Vikas here's wishing you all the very best CHEERS!!!!!!!! :-)

The 7 habits of highly effective people – a critique

2007-09-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Recently I have been reading the book “Seven habits of highly effective people” by Stephen covey. Must say it's a very good book. You cannot classify this one as fiction, Non fiction, adventure, self help....etc. It is more of a text book. It is a series of principles that the author thinks to be the corner stone for highly successful people or rather highly effective people (there is an actually a lot of difference between being successful and being effective).

The thing that is evident in this book – which you will know after reading only a few pages, is – you and you alone are responsible for what happens to you. Nobody can make you feel angry; nobody can make you feel sad, nobody can make you feel happy. It is totally you – your conscious decision – about your reaction to the situation. If your boss shouts at you, you have two choices – either go in the flow and shout back at him (in which case your boss is having control over your emotions) or you exercise your own free will to decide what you want to do when your boss shouts at you (in which case you are having control over your emotions).

After driving this point home, he slowly and clinically dissects everything and tells you how you can be happy, if you want to. How you can be successful, if you want to. In fact he has clarified it and expressed it soo well & in such a scientific detail that you tend to think everything can be planned and executed as per your will (Which of course is false)

The key here is, he says – to take total responsibility for your self. You and you alone have decided what you are now and not – your parents, the circumstances or the society. Strong Idea. So if I decide that my boss will not control how I react, it is just a matter of application of some will power before you relies that, yes – It is possible.

After hitting home the point about how important you are in your life with some solid example (which by the way is the first habit of highly effective people) he slowly builds up the remaining five habits. The habits too are devised in such a way that you will first gain private victory (that is victory over yourself) and then public victory (Victory over your surroundings). And finally he requests us to “keep sharpening the saw”. Meaning, keep improving, keep looking for new and better ways to do things, learn as you grow. For clarity purpose, I am listing out the seven habits.

Private victory

1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first

Public victory

4. Think Win/Win
5. Seek first to understand…Then to be understood
6. Synergize

And finally, the seventh habit which holds the entire development in place

7. Sharpen the Saw.

The author himself says that these seven habits are the cornerstone of highly effective people. But according to his own confession, it is extremely difficult to live these values. It is this difficulty, this mystery of wheatear we will be able to live these values is what makes it even more beautiful, timeless and rock solid.

At the end the author says that reading the book itself and committing the habits to memory will not do any help to us. We should “live” these habits before we start getting its benefits. You cannot read 100 books on swimming and say that you can swim. You have to shed your cloths, get into the water and start applying what you know to learn and truly swim.

All in all, a very good book to read and potentially life changing – if applied in true sprit.

Questioner of Life….

2007-09-17T19:05:00.001-07:00

Questions, Questions and more questions!!!! Life for me seems to be a series of questions. Am I too soft? Is it true that nice men finish last?? Is honesty really the best policy? Does unconditional love really exist in real life?? Why do sometimes things turn out bad even if we have good in our heart??..........These and many other questions have now become my constant companions. And the more I think about them, the more difficult it seems to find an answer for them. In the same breath not finding an answer is like living a life of ignorance – which I am sure I do not want to live. Even now as I site and type this out, I feel I complain a lot!! After all I have everything that makes a person Happy. I have great parents, brilliant brother, sweet sister, Good friends and a pretty decent job, but I still tend to be complaining a lot. I have a lot of unrest inside me. The thing that I fear the most is “Am I wasting my life?”, “Am I doing something wrong?” When I see people o my age around, I see most of them having Girlfriends, chatting ideally, freaking out, drinking, smoking and doing things that I don't even dare to write here. I am doing none of these – I don't have a girlfriend, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't do anything that can be remotely classified as “outside the rule book”. This raises one more series of questions in my mind, “who amongst both of us is living fully?” “Will it someday happen that I look back and say – I think I did something wrong, I think I wasted my time”…. The problem here maybe - I don't have a clear direction, a sense of having something to live by and achieve. In the words of Stephen covey – I don't know the goal of my life, I don't know the reason I am here.” And this, if I think deeply is very scary. But this feeling itself raises another series of question – “how do I find my Goal? “, “How do I know why I am here?”, “what is it in my life that I want to live by?”, “will I ever find a passion in my life that is all powerful, all consuming?” “Will I be able to do something that I can be truly proud about?” – Something that I can say my life stood for???? Going back a full loop - Questions, Questions and more questions!!!! Life for me seems to be a series of questions. PS: Do I take life tooo seriously????!!!!!! :-)

Visit to Nagarjuna sagar Dam

2007-09-17T03:16:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Today I am penning down this travelouge to talk about my latest trip – A trip to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. I had been to this place due to some official work of mine. Hutch is going to cover this area and I was lucky enough to go on a pre survey there :-)

Well, let me first start with a fact file. Nagarjuna Sagar dam (NSD) is the tallest masonry dam in the word. It is located in Nalagonda district of Andhra Pradesh. I don’t have the exact mathematical details about it (like its xyz meters tall, ABC meters wide....blah, blah, blah). But from what I can see I can say - "its Huge". It also made me feel proud for being an Engineer, because it’s nothing less then an Engineering marvel.

We started a few days back to this place in a “cheverolet Tavera” by road. The place is well connected to Hyderabad thru roadways. A national highway runs right thru it. We (Myself, a collogue of mine - Manju, a civil engineer and a land acquisition person) started off at around 7 in the morning and were in NSD after a 4 hours drive.

You are greeted into the confines of NSD by the sweet flowing sound of Krishna River. A roadside bill board screams at you - "swimming here is dangerous. Crocodiles inside". We made a brief stop at this spot to have a good look at the river. A few meters away from us, an old man had just killed a King cobra with his walking stick and was showing it off proudly in our direction. I smiled back at him.

I am attaching a picture taken from this place with my mobile camera for you to see(First picture above).

Then you come across a brief "Ghats section" that leads you inside the main dam area. At the highest point of this hill, I have now planned a Microwave repeater for Hutch. It’s going to be a very important Back bone site in near future. I love this site - It’s my brain child. And no worries if you read the last few sentences as Chinese ching pang po :-). The picture above (picture 2) is taken from the point where my repeater will be coming up in near future

APTDC (Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation) has maintained the main dam area very well. They have given it a cool and neat look. 10 on 10 to them. We can stay back in a Lodging maintained by APTDC called as "project Green land". The cost comes to anywhere between 150 to 750 rupees. It is said that when the dam was being built, the engineers who were involved in the dam construction work used to stay back in this quarters. It has an Old, classy look attached to it. With a big lawn in front, cool breeze, silence, soft music of running water and no mobile coverage - it was a pleasure living in this hotel.

About 10 minutes drive from this hotel is the Right earth dam portion of NSD. Just by standing there and looking towards the construction, gives you a feel of the massiveness of the structure. Appreciation, awe and respect for the people involved in its construction come naturally to you. Behind this Right earth dam is a small town that has been created by the people working in NSD. It’s called as Pylon colony. You can visit there to do some shopping and refilling of your stomach.

Going down from the Pylon colony first brings you to the chief engineer’s house of the NSD project. It’s now in ruins. Not that it is a tourist location or it’s beautiful - It’s just that this is the place where all the chief engineers of the project resided and overlooked the proceedings of the dam work. It’s in a high elevated place and standing on this point, you can view the entire right earth dam in its full glory, along with the power generation station. And guess what we will be putting up a small cell site here, which will help us to cover the full of Power station. :-). The photo above (picture 3) is of the picture taken from the place where once upon a time the chef engineer’s house existed. To the right hand corner of the photo you can see the high tension wires of the Power Generation station.

Right below the Chief engineer’s house is the power generation station. It’s generally locked for the general public. This is locked due to ISI threat (yes, of the Pakistan fame). We tried to get into this station by giving all sort of rubbish reason - we are from hutch, we will give you coverage in this area etc etc etc...But we were not let in. Nonetheless, the view of the dam from outside the power station is breathtaking. From here you can see water flowing in small rivulets after being let away from the turbines. You can hear the constant humming of the power turbines. Inside the power station, power requirements of the state is continuously monitored. If there is any increase in the power requirements - a loud siren is sounded to alert anyone who might be near to the river banks. The water is then let out in higher speed, increasing the turbine speed and the generated power. Engineering Rocks :-). See the view I saw from this spot and judge by yourself. The small tunnel like things you can see in the photo is the outlet from the turbines inside the power generation station. Its even more beautiful see the sudden increase in water flow after the seiren is sounded. Unluckily, the photo is covered by tree branches that hide the view of the actual power generation station. But still it’s good enough to see and have a feel of how it looks(Pleasse look at Picture 4 above).

In case you are thinking "what the hell is this Masonry dam?” Let me give you some Civil Gyan. A masonry dam is a man made obstruction between two hills with water flowing in between. It’s the same in case of NSD as well. The value added service you have here are two bridges between the hills along with a dam. One bridge is an old weak one, which is now broken. And a newer, stronger, longer, taller bridge just a few meters away from the first bridge. Traveling thru this bridge to the other end of the hill takes you to the left earth portion of the dam. Equally majestic, huge, massive and beautiful as the right earth dam portion. You can stand here for some time and enjoy Nature. Luckily for me, I had taken a binocular for survey purpose and could see the picturesque location very well. picture 5 and 6 are two snaps in succession, one is the older bridge which is now broken, owing to the gush of water. The sixth photo you can see in quick succession is that of the newer bridge. The person who you can see in this photo going downwards is my collogue Manju who also accompoined me in this tour of mine.

In case you are thinking “why on earth this place is called Nagarjuna Sagar?” let me give you some historical Gyan. This place derives its name from Acharya Nagarjuna. He is said to be a very great Buddhist monk. He was also very scholarly and learned. He had created his own university on a small island on the river Krishna. People from all over the word thronged there for learning. This was something around 2000 years ago – WOW!!! . Since this place was made famous by Acharya Nagarjuna and his university is on Krishna Sagar, this place came to be known as Nagarjuna Sagar.

The university that Acharya Nagarjuna started is still accessible (though in ruins) from NSD. A few minutes drive from the south earth dam takes you to “launch point”. A boat steamer starts from this launch point every 15 minutes. The destination of this steamer is the University of Nagarjuna. The duration of the trip to the university is a solid 45 minutes. I was not lucky enough to go to that place, due to lack of time. But, from the people whom I met on my way back said that it's a very beautiful place and the boat ride make it still more enticing. The seat of the university itself now contains some splendid sculptures, Buddhist tablets and a serene and calm environment.

My last stop on this tour was Ethipotla. Ethipotla is around half an hours drive from left earth dam of Nagarjuna Sagar dam. The place to watch out for is the Ethipotla water falls. It might not be as beautiful as Jog falls or even Gokak falls. But it provides a nice full stop to the visit of NSD. Start off by seeing the Dam where man stops water for his use and end it with a free flowing beautiful water falls - beauty in contradiction. Picture seventh above is the photo of the ethipotla water falls for you to see and admire. Also, just for the records – you are not advaised to go down there near the waterfalls. This is because this place still houses some mean crocodiles, and it is said that just a few days before our visit to this place a person was dragged into the water by a crocodile for a hearty luunch :-(

Thus came to an end my small yet enjoyable trip to NSD. The things that I narrated were the main part of the travel. There were also smaller not soo important things that happened like our vehicle meeting with an accident, breaking its wheel axle and spinning out of control (we managed to drive the handicapped vehicle all the way to Hyderabad). Or us living a entire day on just a few buns cause the place where we ended up while doing survey did not have anything to eat. Or the “king lizard” that royally fell from the heavens on our feet when we first time opened the doors of our lodging (the thing was so big that I was confused if it was a lizard or baby crocodile!!!!). But then all this things are quite common during travels and surveys. What really matters is as far as Nagarjuna Sagar dam is concerned I can say – “Been there, seen that”…….

Techies at cross roads (corporate curry)

2007-09-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

It started as a dream, a seed that I wanted to grow as a tree in its full bloom. Like all science stream students of today, I to wanted to be an Engineer. Money, fame, and peer pressure ultimately brought me to Bangalore, after finishing my Engineering.

After much heartbreak, Interviews and sun burns, I finally got a Job. I became a part of the corporate culture. I started to feast on the corporate curry. But, it did not take me long to know that this corporate curry served to us is not that tasty after all. I came to know – It’s a Jungle out there.

Humans cease to be humans in corporates. They are just work vending machines. You put in the monthly salary in their account and expect them to work like slaves for you. The company itself is nothing more then a big shark – always hunting, looking out for smaller companies, devouring it and filling its stomach and the company owner’s bank vault.

It did not take me long to know the meaning of “every man on his own”. With the company seeing us as people who directly impact their profit margin, and devising innovative ways and means to cut short the expenses – we need to be careful. A classic example of corporate politics can be known from the following true story.

Once upon a time, there was an Engineer named “Mr. me”. Mr. me worked for a company X, there were two competitors of company X. They were Y and Z. Mr. Me being a loyal employee of X worked day and night for X. He forgot his personal life, and worked full throttle to see to it that his compony X performs better then Y and Z. One fine day, it so happened that company X and Y decided to tie up with each other and defeat the third company Z. Z being faced by a stronger opponent “x and Y combined” bowed out of the fight and lost the race. Mr. Me was of course Jubilant that his beloved company has emerged victorious and has forged a strong alliance with Y. X and Y being strong allays, decided to share the market amongst them and not to interfere with each other’s business. With only two players in the market, to save their “Trade secrets” they decide that a person working in one company cannot come into the other company. With competition becoming lesser and lesser, both the companies decided that it’s high time to remove some employees from the company. The reasoning was simple – They simply cost too much. Our hero Mr. me was summoned to the cabin of his boss, and a pink letter was given to him, with a cute message that the company was thankful for all the work he has done. It wished him all the very best for his future endeavors, and that his services were no longer required. Mr. Me’s life was shattered; he did not know what to do. He went to the doors of the company that till yesterday he was working against – company Y. They too did not want his services.

This is a sort of story that’s very common in today’s corporate world, where the newest mantra of companies is “monopoly”. And the buzz word in office is “survival of the fittest”. And in order to be fit you need to keep running. Running to the extent that someday when you happen to sit alone, you tend to wonder – Why am I running so much? As someone very rightly said, “the problem with Rat race is, even if you win the race, you are still a Rat”.

Today when I sit and see what all I have gained and what all I have lost, reality hits me very hard. I left my family, my close circle of friends, my home and almost everything that made me the person that I am today. And in return of all this, what is it that I get? A life full of stress, fear of loosing my job, friends who themselves are paranoid and lost. Definitely this is not what I wanted when I dreamed of tasting the corporate curry.

On a positive note, I started as a kid with a dream, corporate made me a man with a mission. I met different people both good and bad. I looked into the Eyes of a new developing India. I met people with dreams in their eyes and courage in their hearts. I am still seeing the seed growing into a plant. I am also confident that one day this plant will become a tree in its full blossom.

Have a look at my word...

2006-10-29T01:14:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of things that I love to do...and also share it with others. One of the really good things that I love is to take photos with my "Samsung D500 mobile camera"...Here i am putting in some of the photos that i clicked...and one that i consider as Good. In case the reader has a different openion, he is welcome to give his suggestions :-) Today...as a begining, I am just posting in a few images that I have taken during my various travels in Andhra pradesh in genral....and Hyderabad in perticular...adding my own comments to them..:-) . The Photo u are seeing on top is of course..the famed Char minar. Its one of the most important landmarks of Hyderabad. Sitting in old Hyderabad city and drinking the famed "Irani chai" has a joy of its own...i have been one of the lucky few to have done that:-)

It is said that Char minar was built by the the qutub shahis when hyderabad met with a severe plauge. It is said that This char minar was built to ward of the evil of that plauge. There are still a lot of people who think this char minar is really warding off evil sprits till today.

From top of the char minar, you can see almost all of hyderabad. Its a wonderfull view from there. Lot of people jostling around for sapce, autos moving around like ants, cows munching their way into the crowd and "many" self stylied Hyderabadi Nawabs sitting and having a sip at their Irani chai. I would Love to post the image from top of the char minar in this posting itself, but the window here is not so friendly with images and I am not able to orgaanise the images properly. I am therefore posting all the images in my next posting as a bunch....Enjoy....:-)

The next best thing that i have probably seen in Hyderabad is the Hussain sagar lake, which happenns to be in the center of the city and the Necklace road sorrounding this Hussain sagar lake. A reson why this road is called as Necklace road is because the road itself is dotted with a lot of Lamp posts. in the night when the lamp post's are switched on - It seems as if the hussain sagar lake is wearing necklace - beautiful imagination is it not????I am posting a image of the Hussain sager lake in my next posting.

The next beautiful thing I have seen in Hyderabad is Golaconda fort. It is called as Golaconda Fort because in telugu "Gola" means shepheard and "konda" means "hill" Goloconda fort, is a architechral marvel. If you clap your hand at the enterance, your clap will be heard about 1.5 Kms away in a Masjid!!!!!!!!

Golconda fort is more then 500 years old. As such its in ruins now. But its is having this magnatic ambiance that holds you mesmarised when you see it. It has been witness to a lot of power struggles, Wars, Love stories etc. The famed story of Lord Rama giving "dharshan" to Bhakt ramdas took place in this fort itself.

Golaconda fort has become more beautiful, by the light and sound show conducted by the department of archiology. It enhances the view of the Golaconda fort.....and makes it more beautiful.

There's nothing more I can say as of now.....i will sign off for now....and post all the images in my next Blog....see them and Enjoy...

Hi all

2006-10-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Hi,
My name is susheelkumar. I am a engineer by profession.

This is my first "blog". I have come here to pen down my random thoughts that occur to me, stay with me for some, linger around and then finally get lost. I now want to throw the gates open to my thougts...I want to reach out to people...I want the consolation that "I am not alone".

I am writing this as a fun exercise, lets see if there is anyone out there, who "really" reads what I write, Even if I get a few comments for the big word out there, I would be happy and swing into writing more.

Let me take my first few post as a "test" of the blogging community, let me see if people really do respond to blogs posted.

You would find what ever i write here as Random scribblings...sometims without any thought process...i write just because i have to. I am new to blogging community..dont know what or how to write...let me see what are the first few hits that I get...

I got sooooo much to write, sooo much to tell, and the world is sooo big...lets see if my "blog" gets heard some where...

"Hello blogging community..........Anybody Home???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"