For a software engineer.....Part I

Here are a few things that you need to know to become a software engineer or things that you would learn if you choose to become a software engineer.

• Issues - anything and everything

• No issues - Everytime a software engineer wants to say "No problem" he says this.

• Calls - for onsite, waste of time since offshore doesn't understand anything scribbled in email
  - for offshore, waste of time since onsite is lazy to keyin what is discussed on call
  - the truth, to discuss things off the record
• Clarifications - nobody knows the answer
• Design - doc never opened once it is completed
• Coding - life mantra for developers
• bugs - for QA, life mantra, the more filed - the more lifed
  - for developers, "That can't be","My code can't be wrong","Don't know how the code is behaving so weird","works fine in my machine"
• emails - SE's favorite timepass "forward"
  - sent, to not get screwed up
  - not sent , screw up someone behind the back
• escalation - happiness received in screwing up someone else
• Client - God(they say so)
• night out - regular office timing, wasted time compensated
• leaving home early - taking half a day leave
• Coffee break - Gossip time
• Lunch break - More gossips
• boyfriend in same team - victim to write ur code
• girlfriend in same team - team member when u r the team lead
• love - technically..... no time
• mobile phone - always rings during an important meeting

To be continued.....

Worst Traffic Jam!!!

This time when I came home I travelled for 22 hours in the same bus. Gosh... I didn't travel continously on a single plane when I returned from US to India. We were caught up in a horrible traffic Jam somewhere between Dindivanam and Vilupuram. It was a two lane road, one for each direction and somewhere in the middle of it a carrier lorry had stopped and didnot start again. Until I was awake, it was a three hour Jam and I counted more than 525 vehicles jammed in the opposite direction which included an ambulance with the emergency lights on.

Worst what I saw was how when the vehicles started moving each lorry/tempo travel/car was trying to move ahead one over the other and furthur making a new Jam. Drivers should learn some patience is all that I could think of then. By the time I reached home, my body started aching part by part and I even spoilt my mom's Monty Thursday :-(

So,
What did I liked about the TJ? I enjoyed watching the stillness and darkness of the night, the vast sky covered here and there by clouds, scattered stars, the dark lining of the trees. All in all a picturesque view. I wished I had a cam to capture the view.

What did I hate about the TJ? I hated the TJ on the whole. Apart from that, I hated to watch the arrogance of drivers trying overtake each other whilst in a TJ.

What is it that I learnt? Book train tickets on time :-) I think I would soon get a gold medal in "learing things the hard way".

Relativity

Its intereseting to see how relativity plays an important part in our lives. Wondering what that evasive sentence means? Well, it all starts with today being the last day of my vacation. Oh sorry! Its the penultimate day. And what part is relativity playing for today being the-almost-last-day of my vacation? Well, it goes like this.

Sometimes when you very much want something to last for a longer time, it would just seem to end at the blink of an eye and when you are most expecting something to happen, time seems to be endless and what you want to happen to be at infinity. Like this vacation, it just seemed to start and tomorrow I have to go back to Chennai to join office on Monday and when I went to London, the wait for the Sept 13th was killing. Each day seemed to have 36hrs.

Funny this relativitiy is, isn't it?

"Randomly Me"

I was quite bored seeing the same caption "Beni's Blog" through these days. It didnt really sound like me. It sounded like telling someone "This is Beni's Blog, get out of here". So I decided to change the name. After giving it quite a thought, well, not really, just as a quick thought, I decided to name my blog that would explain me.

Btw.. what I am generally blogging about? Well, nothing specific, just things in random. But its all about me. Its all my thought and my opinion. So, "Randomly Me". Its me, but just random thoughts.

Chennai 2008

Now this might sound like a blog written by someone who had been out of Chennai for years. I had been out just for 11 months. But "just 11 months" had made lots of differences. I had earlier posted a blog regarding my first arrival at Chennai. Was I equally happy this time? The very honest answer would be a big "NO". What a traffic!!! Too crowded!!! Too polluted!!! Too many concerns. Right at the time I reached Chennai, it seemed like I was in a mess, and it would take lot of time for me to get back to reality. The clean and almost unpolluted environment of CA has made me think it would take me more time than I thought it would.

But it didn't really take that much. Two days in Chennai, and now life is back to normal. Same fighting with auto drivers for rate, same Tidel park, pretty much everything is same and back to normal. So what has really changed. Chennai has become more and more and more costly. For someone who has just returned from the US, it should not seem so. But it does. Auto rates have increased, vegetable rates have increased. Has it really increased or is it just my perception? I dont really have an answer for this.

Second, I miss all my friends. I have countable number of friends at Chennai now. :-(

Anyway, now I am back, after a wonderful 2007 at California. Is 2008 going to be equally wonderful? I hope it would be more wonderful. Oh btw... if you were waiting for an entry regarding my time at US.. therez too much to write. I shall try and recollect some of them and put as an entry in the future.

Eppadi irundha maram ippadi aahiduchude!!!

In the beginning....

When the trees were ready to fall ....

After fall....

Eppadi irunda maram ippadi aahiduchude.. Aaacharya kury...!!!

Yet another Diwali, but its different

This entry is specially dedicated to Sathkutta, Anju and Femy. Two years back when we were at Chennai, on Diwali day we went to the open terrace at the top of our flat and celebrated diwali with lights. Then I said that it would be the last Diwali when the four of us would be together for which Femy actually became sentimental. But last year, again we four were together. We cherished the moments, but still thought that nothing had changed. We were working at Chennai, going to office, going home when there was a long weekend, the train journeys, the office stories and a lot more. Life had not changed.

After two years of my universally true and a definitely known prophecy, things have changed this Diwali. I generally don't keep everything that I said in mind, but what I said then struck me today for some unknown reason. The four of us parted in three different parts of the world. Our lives have changed, our ways have changed, our routines have changed, our priorities have changed, our interests have changed and everything around us has almost changed compared to last year. Might sound like a cliche but the one thing that really stays unchanged are the memories that we cherished together. Those have become good ol' days now. Time seems to compete with the speed of light.
Girls, this is not something I really have to tell you. U know it already but still... I really relished the moments we spent together at Chennai. If I should put down the ~2 years together this blog will not be sufficient... but to say a few, setting up the house together, paying electricity bill, gas problem, cooking, my rasam, Anju's Sambar, whatever that Sathya makes, Femy's Ladies' finger fry, Sunday morning walk to the beach, Shopping at T-nagar, chattering till 4am in the morning, renting CDs, the once in a while polambification with each other, going home in train, fights, arguments.... at this pace, this blog is gonna be endless.

But trust me, though at times we had fights/clashes/disagreements I really enjoyed my time with you girls. After all you girls were my roomies and friends. Oh! Am I getting sentimental or what. Thanks for leaving a mark in my life. I will always look back at those days and miss those times together.

Luv,
Beni.

Trip to UK - Sept 14th - 24th 2007

London has always been one of the most fascinating cities for me. My fascinations turned to disappointment on first sight. To me, San Jose and California seemed better than London. But the disappointments did not last long. It was back to my fascinations after my first site-seeing trip of London.

The architecture and decor of the House of Parliament was amazing. Not to mention the history and stories behind each of the decorations and the tastes of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Our tour guide was a very polite and lovely 40+ years old lady. Her narration of the story behind each room in the House of Parliament was adorable. We were allowed to stand(not sit) at the rows of benches in the Houses of Lords and Houses of Commons.

The next incredible stop was the National Gallery. Incredible it is, because of the centuries old paintings by famous painters like Da Vinci, Rapheal, Rembrant and Van Gogh. This is located right in front of Trafalgar Square(built in memory of victory over Napoleanic war). After this we headed to the Tower Bridge. It was incredible. After taking a few snaps and my bro's fav Panorama we headed home.

"Gliding, the best form of Aviation", said by a British Airways Pilot who is an instructor at my brother's gliding club. My brother started his gliding lessons when I was at UK. I was also given a test flight then. Amazing I must say. I enjoyed the view from up there. For more on first timing gliding and the learning experience check my bro's blog.

The next trip to London was on my birthday, the day I completed 25 blessed years on the planet. What does a little princess get on her 25th birthday? Well, my bro's little princess visited the Buckingham Palace. The palace was decorated with a color theme for each room. Each room had the taste and interest of Queen Victoria and anybody who was involved with the decoration of the palace. The garden behind the palace was vast, wide and green.

This is the queen's current residence. The once royal residence and our next visit was The Tower of London, the place of making of histories of execution and currently the house to the Crown Jewels. Our Narrator or our tour guide was the man who served 22 years in the Army and was recommended by higher official for good will. He had a great sense of humor. He said a lively story of prisonage and execution and the great history of the Tower of London. And I did see the Crown Jewels which included the famous Kohinoor and Cullinan diamonds.

Who would visit London and not go on the London Eye? The answer is no one and "no one" doesn't include me. Hence we went on the London Eye next. It gave a full fledged view of the London city. A 360 degree view of London and if you are standing facing the Thames, u might even have a feeling that you are about to fall. After we roamed near the Tower Bridge, London Bridge, the City Hall and shot as many snaps as possible including some Panoramas by my bro, we headed back home. I was soooooooooo happy that I could spent my birthday with my bro. It was special. :-)

Saturday, London trip again. This time we were very very late. So we could visit only Greenwich. Greenwich is the origin place of GMT. It was more or less like a hill top. We walked up and it was good to see that we were at one moment in East and the next at West. We took many snaps at the Meridian line and my bro and I one at East and other West.

Then we roamed around London City.... Embankment Station, Piccallidy Circus, Baker's Street Station.... we went to the highly secured Downing Street.... Walked around some Park... went in the Bakerloo tube train and simply roamed around having ice cream and coffee. I didnt want to go back. I didnt want to leave London, but every happiness has an end.. just as every trouble. So I bid bye to London and headed back to High Wycombe.

The next time I went to London was to board the BA285 at Heathrow to sit at seat #49A. Well, shopping - I did go for shopping at Reading (pronounced Redding) the day prior to leaving. Overall, I enjoyed the trip. I had a fab 10 days with my bro. I was so so so happy to be with my bro on my Birthdays after a few years. I can't forget this trip. I only hope that this should not be the last time I visit London.

Count Your Blessings

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Once in a while when I think about what I dont get, God shows me a way to understand how much I had been blessed. There was this one incident that happened the other day at Chennai City Centre. Though of not much significance, it really touched me and made me think of how I had been blessed.

At Lifestyle showroom, while going through the cloths, there was this one employee who made a small boy around 12/13 years old to fold the cloths that were left unfold by the customers. He also told him, if you are going anywhere out, let me know and go. To which the kid politely answered I wont go anywhere. Then he started folding the unfolded cloths. He seemed like a new kid to the store and was folding the cloths with utmost sincerity and was very meticulous in folding the cloths with the fear that he might make a mistake.

Here I sit in an AC room, in front of a PC, nobody to question where I go and when I go until my work is not disturbed, getting a hand full salary, still cribbing over work, appraisel, promotion, salary. How much the other companies pay...

At an age when he should be playing with friends, or when he should be studying for his exams, he was standing there folding the cloths. I was cursing myself for the times when I had missed to study when my mom used to be behind me saying, "study, study, study.." and the time when I had missed to eat properly or wear the cloth my mom has bought saying i didnt like it. If only these choices were given to this kid, he would have happily taken it.

But I thank God for the blessings he had given me. A good family, good education, good food eat, nice cloths to wear, good job and a good salary. I can keep counting and naming them one by one.

F-R-I-E-N-D-S

I was not a very friends-oriented person up until I came to Chennai. My conception used to be "Friends come in friends go out, nobody stays with you forever". I did have many friends. Some from school and some from college. But never did I feel that they were so important to always have with you. I did have contacts with many of my friends way after I parted from them. But never did it strike to me that I would need friends at any time. For me, my family was more important. But now, staying away from home, my heart tells me the real necessity of friends. And another thing that I have learnt is that, when it comes to friends, its not about the physical existence, but about the existence in heart. Its not about talking with each other all the time, but about being at cloud nine when your friends give you a call or sends you and sms or an email.

I am happy that God has blessed me with a good group of friends. And I am very selective with friends. I want friends whom I can trust and rely on. Whom I can tell the biggest secret and completely believe that they wouldn't open their mouth. Whom I can go and cry to when in pain. But truly, I dont know on what criteria or basis I select friends. Coz all my friends are different. There is no connection between two friends with which I can give a set of criteria for friends. Though I have mentioned about the philosophy of existence in heart and being at cloud nine, you are always closer to the group of friends you are with right now. They know all your secrets, they know all your recent problems and your recent happiness. But that does not make your old friends any different. Still when I get a call from my old friends or when I call them, its nice to talk about the good old days, old friends, what they do, what they have done good, what they have done wrong.

No matter how long you have not seen your friend, you are always happy for them when they are happy. Like when I met Fathima after 6 years, when she gave birth to a girl child, I was so happy to see her being happy. And when I met Jasmine again after six long years, I was happy to see her and say.... how you look, how much you have changed, what a miracle that we are meeting again... and all those senti stuffs. And Jancy - Receiving the first mail from Jancy - Cant explain how happy I was - Now that has become a habit to keep sending mails all through the day.

I know... I know.. this blog is becoming very philosophical and Ideologistic. But the question of what made me write down this blog has an interesting answer - Lack of friends. My new office(Elnet). Here I have only one Rose with whom I go for coffee break. There is no one I talk with, there is no one I can comment to, there is no one I can send a message saying hey its damn boring come lets go for a walk. Also, this blog is the effect of frustration being in this office and missing all that I had at Tidel office.

The long coffee breaks, the interesting comments about almost everyone in floor, the chats that I have with Preethi in AIM though we sit in the same bay, shouting to each other for no reasons, crowding at the middle of the bay and pulling each others legs, the late lunch... therez lot more to explain. Only thing that keeps me happy now is going to that floor every afternoon, with an excuse - Lunch - and spending two hours with my friends.

Abhi, Avi, Soni - Missing you guys.. I cant give reasons.. but I definitely miss you. Thank God Tidel and Elnet are close by I get to meet you atleast during lunch. Preeths - I miss sitting next to you. I dont have anybody, whom I can turn right and disturb.
Valli - Oh! No more projects to give you. :-(
Gee, Sathya - Missing you too much - right time when I should be there to make fun of Sathya. :-(
Anju - Darling, trust me, I dont miss you. ;-) But I miss walking to ur desk once in a while for conveying the slightest happiness or the slightest sadness I have in office.

Thanks guys for being there always... (Until I have started missing you). I know I can get along well in this office, but its a matter of time. Now it feels good after typing so much in my blog. Though I miss all my friends, I am happy that I have so many friends.

"AJ024"

Am back with another blog. Thanks Roselin for your comment. Gave me the encouragement to put in a new entry.
Chennai Kickstart is over... So whats next? "AJ024"... Wondering what this encrypted code mean??? Its.. "Advanced Java 024". The name of our batch at Cognizant and by the words of my batchmate Sriram, "The" Batch. Comprising of 24 people, though we shrunk to 22 at the end of two months long training period, our batch was a community of enthusiastic youngsters put together in a single classroom for the mere reason of... "Celebrating Work"(Cognizant's Ex-Caption).
I still remember day one, sitting at a corner wondering how it would be to spent two months with these 21 people I didn't know (I had introduced two of my batchmates, Sathya and Anjali in my previous blog) who come from different place. But at the and of our training, we became one big group of friends.
Our batch can be called a prototype of our sub-continent. Albeit at Chennai, we had people from different states and different languages. First among them, our Rep.. Sandip Chandarana (Rappai, as we call him). He knows.. well, I dont exactly know how many languages he knows. A Banglore born, Tamil Nadu brought up, Gujarathi. Next is Sriram, Gujarathi brought up Tamilian. Not to mention, Mallu Anju, Telugu Srini, Chaithu, Srikanth and Geddada, Urdu Hasi, Kannada Goje, Chennai born and brought up Mallu Ani, "Vat are u speaking Naansense" Ammu, Chennai born brought up Telugu Sathyendra(appu as said by Anju), Jharkandhi Praveen Kumar Singh, Sourashtran Sathosh and the rest Tamilians Sudar, Lakshmi, Sathya, Mohan Raj, Dinesh, Anu, Gnanavel, Bhavani, Vignesh.
Two months went away in no time, just happy and happening. Starting from the boring sessions to the online tests and the fourth floor lunch in hot sun and MFRP and the movie "Kisna", we had the most of fun. And the round of treats, viz., Sriram's B'day treat, First Salary Dutch treat, McRennett Pasteries and so on. Above all these was the fun we had during the last closure treat at Ravi Resort. Can't forget those good times we had together. In a single word our batch can be described to be always "Rocking".
I had all the fun that anybody can have during a training period. May be it was because of the realisation that fun cannot be repeated the same way again. After eighteen months now, those days stay as pleasant and beautiful days in my memory. Today Chennai is not a foreign land, but a place with a big group of known people called "friends". All thanks to my training. Thanks Cognizant for "AJ024" and thanks to my batchmates for being there.
I can keep going on and on.. but I prefer my entries to be small. So Will come up soon with another blog.

Chennai Life's Kick Start

wheeeeee... Am back from my hibernation period. Well, my hibernation was not because I was busy or hectically working.. but i was too lazy to type anything in my blog. From now on, I hope to keep this blog alive. There has not been much entries that I have put in this blog earlier. So to start with this is something I cherish as golden moments, "Chennai Life's kick start"

My first day at Chennai, I came into this city like any other ambitious, enthusiastic 21 year old girl looking ahead at the bright and prosperous future(well, thatz how my friends wished me when i left college). Joined Cognizant, with no friends, no seniors, no one I know, except my only loving brother. But he... he was/is at onsite. Therez nothing much he could do. I realized that I was dropped in this big city alone. I knew I had to help myself and there was no one else to help me out.

Suddenly from the blues, arouse one young sweet lady with a bright smile, "Rememeber me, I am Sathya. We attended interview together."... Oh really..!!! How do I remember? I hate it when people ask me "Remember me??". My reaction: A stupid Blank Face. Ok.. maybe... Good. Finally somebody I can talk with. Mine might have been an amnesiac memory, but my mom seemed to be sharp. She seemed to remember her very much. My mom brushed up my memory saying, "shez that smart girl we spoke with on the day of your interview, remember?". Ohhhhh.. Now got it. "that smart girl" Knowing that she is gonna avial Cognizant accomodation during training period, we planned to be roommates. Went to Pallavaram(accomodation location) and booked for the rooms.

Saturday - went for Medical checkup... mmm.. well, I dont remember the name of the hospital. Nothing big to mention about the medical checkup. It was just a normal medical checkup. But there were two people I met that day whom I should mention about. One - Managai - who later became my batchmate and friend. Two - Miss. Anjali Kizhakkekunnel Sukumaran. Shez gonna kill me for elaborating her name. Mallu - again another mallu - Is she gonna be added to the stack of my mallu friends.... No, I didnt think like that.. I didnt even think about her. After lunch, we headed to Pallavarum to occupy my new location. And when I reach there, lo.. its Anjali again with her mom and her bro. I was there with my mom and my dad. I had to share my room with her. Within a quick few minutes after our parents left, we became friends. This is becoming "friends at second sight".

Sunday, I went with Anju to book train tickets to go home for Christmas. Reminds me of the song "I'll be home, for Christmas". Sathya joined us at the hostel on sunday, and after a few relocations we were put in the same room.

Thus started the chapter of Chennai in my Life's History.

Well, actually I wanted to type more. But I'm bored. If I'm bored, I know how bored you should be. If u still reading this, plz come back again. I shall try to post an interesting blog..... :-)

My Very First Blog...

This is my first blog... the very first One....Very new to this business.. Please do come back and check this again. I shall post my happenings and happiness here