Humane Touch: Home Touch

Showing posts with label Home Touch. Show all posts

Image Courtesy: www.dhivager.com

This season is the happiest for everyone and I like happy times. Businesses are happy about the boom in sales, Parents are happy about getting their kids "settled" and kids are happy for having found the right match. Coming to think about it, everyone is actually optimistic about the future and I like optimistic thinking as well. However, in all the euphoria about the rosy future we still drag along a demon from the past which has no relevance, according to me, in the modern world. The demon is haunting me right now and what actually got me thinking about it was an interaction with one of my batch mates. This guy recently tied the knot with his girl friend and I met him for lunch as his office was near mine. We had worked together in the same committee while at Lucknow and knew quite a bit about each other. As usual the conversation started with a pointless, useless question when my friend asked me, "So when are you getting married?" I took a casual sip from my glass of carbonated poison and shrugged my shoulders. He persisted, "Arey! Tell me, saale. By now your parents must have started the hunt" He referred to the bridal hunt, which every Indian youth is aware of, as if it were the latest Roadies audition. I nodded in agreement accompanied with a wry smile. He continued, "Look, even if you go one chain lower in your FB friend list you will be able to find a suitable girl. I am sure!" I coughed up the poison that I was drinking and started laughing. Just because he has had a fairy tale wedding it cannot be that he has no clue about the system. The system of arranged marriage, which I call, deranged marriage. Initially followed by the western royal families who have now moved away from it to change according to changing times. While this practice is now prevalent in their colonial states. Intelligent buggers these colonialists!

As a dutiful friend and a co-societal being I explained the process to him. When I finished the entire process, especially the one that pertains to a traditional south Tamilnadu family, he was wide eyed in disbelief and gulped his poison, thanked his stars that he was not subjected to this torture.

Of all the steps involved in a deranged marriage, what I find the most amusing is that you should only get married to a girl from your own caste and some parents even go into sub-castes, sub-sub castes etc. I have no clue how many levels they have. I have earlier in my old blog (which is defunct now) talked about why we should question the relevance of some practices in today's life. While we evaluate technology and adopt as per changing needs and time but refuse to do that with customs and rituals is a blinker. Let me tell you why I think the caste based marriage made sense for my ancestors but no more appeals to me.

Why it made sense to my ancestors -

Caste system in its inception, as narrated to me by history books and wiki, was a classification based on the work you do; in essence the skill you possessed. So a Brahman's son could end up being a Kshatriya while a Kshatriya's son could end up being a baniya etc. Also, even town planning was done in a way that all the people with related skills stayed together. This is further corroborated by several street names that exist even today. This not only made societal sense in terms of easy planning of town and facilities required in an area but also business sense in terms of clustering.

Now, what does this tell me? Guys and girls from the same caste were in close proximity and had enough chance to interact with each other, observe each others' response to situations and other people. It gave them time and opportunity to evaluate each other. Also, the girls in the same caste understood the work life of her partner because she sees it day in and day out. She understands the difficulties, the opportunities, the up side and downside. So, it made sense for the same caste guy and girl to come together and say I understand you and I think we can make our lives easier, more pleasant and make it a journey worthwhile to be made together.

Why it makes absolutely no sense to me -

Slowly the caste system got corrupted in India. No surprises there! Any system in India is susceptible to corruption just like how any iron is susceptible to rusting. It is only a matter of time in both the cases. So it just took some time for the greedy Kings and ministers who wanted their sons and daughters to be with them. So they made caste system birth based rather than merit based. Then again, time wreaked havoc and we are in a state where it is a kichdi of the previous eras. While caste is based on birth, the work I do is not. The logical relationship between caste and work is abolished while the illogical relationship between caste and birth is still withheld. So, to find a partner in this kichdi world is to get married to a stranger who by birth is in the same caste which makes no sense to me.

I find it logical for a guy to marry a girl from the same profession. Though this is not necessary, I find it at least appealing. But the idea of marrying a girl about who you have no idea is appalling. If you guys find any relationship between the castes of the guy/girl to get married to one another, please let me know! I will at least change the title of this post if you convince me.

NangYuan Terrace and Doing Nothing

As I had told you guys before reaching Mumbai, I had been to the islands of Thailand and met people from other countries. During these encounters I realized that though every human being is unique, there are lessons we can take from everybody we meet and apply it in our lives. So here are some of my interesting observations:

Everybody has problems - If you know me personally, then you know how much I desist the Indian way of "settling down". While your parents will want you to be unique early in your school days and the trophies you bring home for poetry and elocution is much appreciated, it is never seriously viewed. It is to be written in the "hobbies" section of your resume. The main part of your resume is supposed to follow the routine route of Professional Education --> Work --> MBA --> Work --> Marry --> Home and Car --> Kids -- Die! I thought or was led to believe by the books and Hollywood movies that my counterparts in the western hemisphere have a better life! But I was proved wrong by Danielle, a 20 something English girl who was an accountant in a firm and quit her job because it became "too much". She narrated her woes in life and the pressures the society in UK puts on an individual. Her next career move, according to the society and her family should be to get an MBA, then get married and settle down in life. But she wants to be a writer and volunteer in the education space. I was totally flabbergasted! It was a story like any other Indian's only that she was super cute and had an English accent!

Get real. Get experience - I had to walk over 5 Km to get to the highest viewing point on Koh Tao - my most favorite spot in Thailand. The viewpoint was called Nangyuan Terrace and was actually a part of a resort. As a PR move the resort had allowed free access to the public and right at the ledge of the viewpoint is a restaurant overlooking the beautiful atoll Nang Yuan which is a popular day trip among visitors. It is here that I met David - A guy from England who lost his job with Barclays Capital. He is travelling and trying to find a job in SE Asia as the economy here is touted to be better. While talking to him topics about India and its culture came up. He was very curious to know how the marriage system works and the role that gold plays in the marriage and hence the economy. He even tutored me about the economic impact at which point I yawned more than I nodded. And then he revealed that he does not even have a degree which made me almost jump off the cliff! Looking at my expression and my open mouth he explained further - "Unlike India, in the western hemisphere you need experience. Your certificate does not hold any value for a job application unless you have worked in the industry. If you want to change your sector and find a new career or even an alternate career, then get real, get some experience and work your way up. I started 7 years ago as a back office analyst and now I have been fired as a consultant"

Exposure is reality - We often come across westerners in weird, unique, different careers and wonder how they had even thought about becoming what they were. I kind of figured out the answer to this question while exploring the beautiful reefs of Koh Tao. My dive instructor was a guy named Toby and he was all of 20 years. While it amused me to no end that he was an instructor at such a young age, it irritated him that I was amused by his age. Shamelessly, I kept prodding about how he knew that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He said he was exposed to diving at 15, the minimum age for you to be certified, and got hooked to it. He has been diving ever since and took up the instructor course at 18, again the minimum age to start, and became an instructor at 18! In India rarely do we get such exposure to a variety of professions. Rarely do we travel to other nations to give a different experience to our children. If there needs to be change in the way we look at life and career it is not enough if we swap marks for grades and give prizes for everyone. Rather, I would say make competition mandatory but the basis of competition must be different depending on the student. For that you need to expose him and bring to his cognition that there are alternate avenues available.

Do nothing - We Indians have a compulsive need to be doing something. While we plan our holidays we plan for "activities" to be done and sights to be seen. If there were not enough things to do then we label the place as "Not so good". "It was fun but there is nothing to do beyond a day in Kodaikanal and it gets boring." Such statements are testimonial that we have lost the power to extract happiness in doing nothing and just enjoying each others' company! We need a boat ride or a monkey falls or at least a children's park to enjoy the holiday. But travelling and doing nothing during a holiday is awesome. Its fun! All through this entire sojourn I had so little to do and I enjoyed it! I did not have a "must see" place that I was anxious not to miss out or a "must try" activity that I desperately wanted to try. I did nothing but laze around the beach, read a book and eat at the local coffee shop. I simply loved it!

Confusion - After all this, I was confused! What am I doing? Am I doing the right thing? But confusion is good. Confusion leads to good conclusions.

This post has been entered for the expedia travel competition in indiblogger.

Courtesy: Google Images

Courtesy: wikitravel

This is the first time my Indian issued passport is going to get a foreign stamp or should I say "Farang" stamp as they say here in Thailand ;)? Thanks to the company I am working for, I will be in Angthong province in Thailand for a 3 month training stint. Angthong is around 110 kms from Bangkok and so weekends are not going to be sober ;) But only after coming here I discover that even weekdays need not be sober :) So on 18 Sept, 2011 early hours I started my epic journey to Thailand. Thanks to Air India, we were delayed and practically held hostage at the Mumbai International airport for over 3 hours after scheduled departure time (I was so pissed off that I could have slapped any employee who had the guts to justify with some stupid reason).

After the delay, tiring flight and some 4.5 hours of time later we arrived at the Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok. I was too tired by now to be even psyched about being there! Damn you - Air India! After the usual airport checks me and my friend (he is to be stationed 15 min from the nearest skytrain station in Bangkok!! Lucky Bugger!) were searching for our company placard holding driver! And to our horror neither of our drivers spoke English!! After dancing around in the name of sign language we got into our cabs and drove towards our respective destinations.

So with no Thai from my side and no English from their side most of my conversations with factory workers, drivers or shop owners were like Sunday 2:00 pm DD news! But I love to learn new languages and so, I started off with internet (www.learningthai.com) and it was pretty useful. Unlike Indian languages, Thai is a tonal language and pretty difficult to master without you actually hearing them speak the words. That is where learningthai.com was better than other sites and they usually have an Romanised version of the Thai word phrase or sentence and on clicking the Thai version of it, you can also hear a native guy speak the word out to you.

So, equipped with some basic Thai and loaded with some Baht, my friend and I decided we should go around Bangkok the following weekend-day (I have a 6 day workweek :x and hence the new word). I took a commuter van from Angthong to Bangkok on Saturday evening. These vans are very comfortable with Aircon, LCD TV and plush cushion seats. However, there was only one problem, they don’t speak English and my "basic"/"Fair" Thai was not making any sense to them. As fate would have it, I ended up at a farther off skytrain station that lengthened my journey as well! But what the heck, I was in Bangkok!! I took a sky train to my friend's place in SamutPrakarn and the skytrain system is exactly like our Delhi Metro system minus the bag checking and extensive security. Luckily the automated voice announced the stations both in Thai and English which made it easier. We then passed our time off at a mall in Samutprakarn. We roamed around the mall marveling at the variety of stores, size of the mall and the hotness quotient of Thai sales girls. The night was well spent!

The next day morning we decided to visit the three most important tourist attractions of Bangkok - The grand palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun. After landing at few wrong stations and then shifting trains (Luckily I had a 30 day pass for the skytrain), we reached SuphanTaksin station on the Silom line. From there we had to take an express boat on the Chao Phraya river to reach the Maharaja pier where all the three attractions are located. Grand Palace has a hefty entry fee for foreigners (THB 400) and I think it is worth the money. It also houses the Wat Phra Theow, the temple of Emerald Buddha. Emerald Buddha is the most revered and loved Buddha in all of Thailand. The other two attractions will cost you THB 50 each. Wat Arun is across the river and ferry service for THB 6 per person (up & down) is available. You will definitely be approached by scamsters claiming the palace is closed or is under renovation, just ignore them and go see for yourself. (We were approached by a guy with a "Tourist Police" tag with the same story)

After tiring roundup of the famous attractions in Bangkok it was time for me to leave for Angthong and this time I was better off in finding the right commuter van and was back safe at my company guest house.

Practical Information:

Never ever trust someone who is willing to help you unsolicited and more than required. Insist on meter when in taxis and tuktuks are best avoided.
You get better exchange rates in the city than at the bank counters in the airport (1THB = 1.6 INR in the city while it was 2.5 INR at the airport. 1USD = 30.1 in the city while it was 29.1 at the airport)
Buy a lonelyplanet guide or at least go through wiki travel pages and take printouts if need be
Bring along the two pin US to India travel adapter/converter

Jugaad is a very Indian term for Indian way of doing things. We Indians in fact propragate and recognise or even accept the existence of only the positive side of it. However, like any good coin Jugaad has the second side as well. The negative side. The dark side.

I am Raj, 25 year old male and I am going to end this life! No not the age old suicide that you are thinking about. I am going to end this life and start a new one. No, I don’t believe in second birth either and that is not the new life that I am talking about as well. No... I mean… Wait till I complete my story please. Good.

Might sound like an advice, but I was truly frustrated after today's incident in the bus. "Yaathum oorae, Yaavarum Kelir", when translated means - "The whole wide world is my place and every one kith and kin". These golden words from the great tamil poet, Kaniyan Poongundranar, makes great sense in today's world. If only we apply this in our day today life, I think we will be much more tolerant, much more happier than what we are today.

This post is not about the latest multi-lingual movie directed by Jayender, starring Siddharth. The movie has anyway been ruled as a dud by many of my friends. So, this is about the 180 that we studied in Maths and Physics... The 180 degree shift!

The joy of fundamental science is in the way they are so applicable in everyday life. 180 does provide us with joy, to say the least.

sIt is very rare that I blog on an impulse. But this is one such occasion. I usually type out my thoughts on a notepad, then transfer that to a word doc where I edit and make it better and then search for a good pic to go along with it and then, finally, post it on blogger. But not this time... I found this gem of a write-up which I had saved from the net or email forward long long ago. It is about 21 little things that you can practice to live a happier life. Not wealthier or successful, but to be happy. Read on.. I am sure this will act as an energy supplement for you when you are emotionally down.

The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you…the dawn is coming. -- From "The Dark Knight"

Here is a story that I conceptualized during college days. I wrote it only now, inspired by the above line.

Pic courtesy: Yuga from flickr

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Disclaimer: After/While reading this post you might feel sick, bored and other allied feelings. But I am least bothered. This is my space and I am going to pen my Brownian thoughts here.
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The seed for this post was sowed by two of my close friends. One living hundred miles apart with whom I communicate via email and another who sits just across my cubicle. I shall explain each one of the incidents one by one. First my friend who currently works in eastern part o f India mailed me saying he is all fine but has been frustrated from last night. Now, how can one be fine and frustrated at the same time? Lemme explain... “I am frustrated” part is a signal for me to interfere into his train of thoughts with a red flag and change its track. “I am fine” part is for my train of thoughts to remain intact. Got it?! When asked about his reason for frustration, here is what he said "Yesterday, an acquaintance of mine called me up. She works here in ***. She said that she wanted to meet me. We spent an hour together talking around and then when I was about to leave she said “I have got through **** B school.” I said why were u this late to say this, we met an hour ago and u should have said it right then. She replied “I wanted u to have something to think when u start walking back to ur flat." Don’t know exactly why da, but I feel that life is not moving ahead. Nothing positive is happening in the professional front."

Let me explain a little more about his woes. He hails from a small town, finished his B.Tech from a reputed college. He has a younger sister studying in college. He works (he joined as a fresher from college) in Kolkatta for a *** IT, MNC. His family is in an economic trough and he is the elder son. First problem starts here, "Should he pursue MBA or Should he support his family?" The company he is working for has a great name but pays peanuts. His visa is stuck and is not moving anywhere which annuls the possibility of onsite. To add to this there is the recession. To add some more he has no liking for the job and feels his heart lies in people management. So here is the second question, "Should he do a career switch or should he stick around till an onsite with the company?" His friend's (who I refer to as "MBA gal") remarks were like adding fuel to the already existing fire (With all due respect to her positive intentions). I believe most of the freshers have this feeling. This feeling of indecision and the stagnation that results from this indecisiveness. Though the circumstances are different, the basic problem and dilemma is the same. Especially when we see other people moving up, moving on, this feeling makes us more uneasy.

So, I got his signal and ran with the red flag. I ran as fast as I could so that I could to save his positive attitude and confidence. I knew that he will come out of it and its just matter of time he did that. Once you pull him out, any human for that matter, he will limp back. After all we are built to survive, by nature. So my main aim was for him to realise that it is a tough situation and he has been doing his best. The rest will be Magic! I mailed him all philosophical things, hoping it made some sense to him. The thing about philosophy is that little will you expect from it until you follow it in your life and see success. I firmly believe in it and go with it. This is what I told him (I believe this is true for every one of us. I believe hard work always pays. All that we need is a little patience and self confidence):

"Da! when you handle an experiment, how do you solve it? You have a look at the variables. Then you see how many are controllable and how many are not. Then you try to vary the controllable variables and try to get the result (All College students know how to manipulate to get the results... I knew that!). right? Life is the same. Every decision you take is an outcome of the experiment. Every decision that you make comes with a consequence attached to it. In this experiment of MBA you have lot many variables to adjust and combat than any of us do. In that case you are doing a tough experiment. You are taking a tough decision. So I would like to think that if it were so easy an experiment as mine or as the MBA girl's, by now you would have got through something. No wonder that it is moving slowly than how you expect it to.

Consider yourself free of every other worry that you have and preparing full swing for the exams. I am dead sure that it will be a cake walk for you. Sachin said after his century (in the one against England in Chennai recently): "I don't know exactly what I think about. I was just telling myself that I was going to watch the ball as closely as possible and keep my mind free. If your mind is free, then the rest will happen. If your mind is preoccupied, the bat flow is not going to happen. I just kept my mind free and reacted to whatever was coming at me."

So when attempting such a tough experiment, with so many worries around it tends to take time. You need to be patient. Take a path and stick to it. I know there are many factors. So take your time to choose the path. This is what we did for IES (We thought if he gets through IES he will have govt managerial job. But his heart was simply not there). we decided, based on the outcome, that the decision was not that good. But after that we never chose a path. As of now I think we are travelling without knowing the destination with limited petrol. So fix the destination. Then work towards it. Sis marriage, aunty and uncle's health, money for them... everything is there. You can not run from them. At the same time you can not just sit there and watch it. You need to take a decision. The best possible one based on what choices are available. Then you implement the decision and then you come to know if your decision was good. That is how it is in life, just like in experiment. That is how it is in corporate world or for that matter anywhere you see. No man can claim that a particular decision is the best. You only know when the outcome is seen. So dude... Get up and Get going."

The second incident shall be dealt with in the next post! Another sequel (he he he)!

Hom

I thought of writing a sequel here. What with every one, from the book authors to TV screen writers to Kollywood to Bollywood to Hollywood, writing sequels, why shouldn't I? Also this can make a person irritated which is one of my favourite pass-time. Are you asking how? If you have not read my previous post you will not be able to understand this and so in the urge of understanding this you will read/re-read my earlier post :D sweeeeet!

This is the sequel to my earlier post ermmm... should I reveal it? Or should I make you guys search for yourself? Considering the options and the harmful effects each can contribute, I choose to reveal it! This is a sequel to "Brave or Wise?" And to reduce the damage that will be caused, I shall start from where I ended (similarity to QoS is co-incidental :P ). I had ended the earlier post saying that the world will unite to fight out a common enemy and asking should we be brave or wise. I shall be addressing both these things in this post as well. As mentioned previously, the entire human kind will come together to fight one common enemy as boundaries are increasingly becoming irrelevant in this global village. Just that the enemy has been qualified given a proper name and identified in this post. Earlier I had given them a common name called "Animals" and named a few examples of the kind.. Like elephants, tigers. I had blamed humankind for having ventured into their territories inviting their wrath onto us. This time it is just the mirror image. After all kaleidoscope has a mirror!

By now I presume, being the intelligent-smart-brainy reader that you are, you would have guessed where I am coming from. Yes! When the whole world is talking, it is very difficult to stop thinking about it. Mumbai Terror attacks! And the common enemy is anyone who calls himself an extermist/terrorist/jihadi/worker of god etc... No religion, no state, no nation associated. Though there are 101 other reasons/flows/logics that can be associated with what might happen next, but the first step has already been taken.

That is the step of showing solidarity, extending help and mourning in oneness by other nations to what has happened half way across the globe. Earlier as well, governments condemned any act of barbarism a.k.a. terrorism. But that was that. Nothing more and nothing less. Just a cursory-official-I care too statement from some unknown ambassador of the state clad in a black suit. But now, the equations have changed. People on the other side of the equation have now been included as variables (in the count of deaths, I mean). Thanks to Al Qaeda, LeT and the whole lot of others. US is alarmed at any Islamic terror happening in the world. They have been given the shock already with 9/11. So, With Israelis coming to offer help, Brits pledging solidarity, US sending its top diplomat to India and most importantly the candle light vigils of citizens from various nations have flagged off the unity in fighting the common enemy.

But just in any other conquest there are lot other disturbing elements to this one as well. First there is still this divide of pride-of-my-nation thought in accepting help from others. Well, if this is reflected while scandals come out, I will be happier. So get out of your damn ego and accept help. I am citing the refusal of Indian government for the help from Israeli's and holding up of FBI officials at IGI Airport here. Please! I know how duty bound the customs officials are.... especially after my Aussie-returning friend lost the precious liquor bottle, to the officials, for no reason, that he had brought us. Second, the bureaucracy is so deep just for one country. Imagine the depth and breadth of the line when multiple nations come together to fight an enemy!
Now to the question: How should we be "Brave or Wise?" In this post though, I shall go further than asking the question. I do accept that the answer here might completely be different but can we not do something from our part as citizens to help limit the attacks. We certainly can! Here is what I think we as common people need to do. First we must become aware of the law and be law abiding citizens. How many of us have travelled into a no-go zone? How many of us have travelled without our helmets? How many of us have voted? Have we ever used voter-id for its real purpose? It’s always just another ID-Proof for travelling and booking tickets. These may look disconnected with the situation. But these are the basic changes that we need to inculcate within ourselves so that the bigger picture looks good.

Just to give you some connected examples, I have seen many people bypassing security here at my place of work; zooming past the guards in their Yamahas and Hondas. Can you not spare 2 minutes to prove your identity. When such scenes are so common, how can we expect the security to distinguish a zooming terrorist from a zooming employee (you may be tempted to conclude that law breakers are helping terrorists here. please succumb to your temptation) How many of us have violated traffic lights? How are we to identify a bunch of terrorists who speed-past traffic signals (hypothetical) from normal citizens? Countries, especially India has become so corrupt that people who do their duty are seen as either idiots or idols. As citizens can we not be a little patient and get our work done rather than resorting to under-the-table dealings? How many of us have cursed AIRTEL for asking so many proofs? If you are one of them, then take this... All the sim cards used in the Mumbai terror attacks were procured using fake ids. Around 2 Lakh sim cards are in circulation that have been acquired using fake ids. So, are we to investigate all the 2 Lakh fraudulent people?

This is just a small list of mishaps happening around us, involving us. I can quote hundreds more that we common man do in order to "get things done”. People, please think. It is not about just the candle night vigils and spitting at our politicians. This is not to say that they are spotless. They are! But let’s put our house in order first. There are so many basic things to be corrected to make sure that the structure remains in-tact. I am a part of the group which I am accusing. I have shouted at AIRTEL, I have been irked by the security guard, I have jumped signals. I now understand the butterfly effect that such small violations can cause. Let’s pledge that we shall follow the rules and comply with safety and security checks. Let’s be wise!

PS: I salute the selfless police officers, army commandos, NSG who laid their lives fighting the terrorists.

Srirangam is the foremost of the eight self-manifested shrines of Lord Vishnu. It is also considered the first, foremost and the most important of the 108 main Vishnu temples. The temple complex is 156 acres in extent. It has seven prakaras or enclosures. There are 21 magnificent towers in all prakaras providing a unique sight to any visitor. But there is one other feature of the temple that is of my interest. The hall of 1000 pillars!
Though known as the hall of 1000 pillars, the hall has only 953 pillars. Here is the reason for the reduced number: The king who started to build the temple (somewhere in the 13th century, I forgot his name) wanted a hall of 1000 pillars and had put a deadline for completion (Like our dear IT Managers ;)) .But in the whole universe, only Lord Indra is believed to have a hall of 1000 pillars. Understandably, Indra was not very happy about a rival hall being constructed. So he devised a smart plan. On the deadline day, he disguised himself as a rooster and announced the arrival of dawn before it really was (unfortunately there was no Timex/Titan that time). So the construction of the 1000 pillars was stopped by the king (the workers were like developers caught during appraisal for low productivity ;)) and the hall had 953 pillars.
Now snap back to reality!!! Around 2000 years later... at ANZ, eleven people came together. They were people from different places with different ideologies. There is one similarity though, that I should admit, we all knew Tamil :) But that was not the uniting factor. Honestly, till this point I don’t know what bonds us so strongly. It just happened (Like it happens in some love stories!). We were distributed over groups... we met during lunch... we were distributed to various teams... We met at cafes... we became close... That was it! And when one of our pillars decided to support the statue of liberty, we met to bid her bon voyage and that was when we really christened ourselves as THE 11 PILLARS.
Legend in the future will say that Indra was very upset, more than he was with the construction of 1000 pillared hall. But little could he do for such was the strength of the bond between them. Even the gods envy us! And here are the 11 pillars for you...

Aarthi alias Gaaj:
I was unfortunate; as I learnt later, not to have interacted much with her. Still, I remember the way she cut me in during induction and bounced one into the ribs (cricket lingo). And I can never forget the way she says... "A (p) diyaa....” For some crap you say and make you feel that you have said something gr8! She is one gal whom I have always seen as ruling the corporate roost. Another example that gals are study maniacs!!! Now rocking in US! (I pray to god that she doesn't bring Hershey’s or Kisses when she returns home! Something better Gaaj, pls)

Aparna alias Mahabali alias Phone Booth:
You can never miss her. Partly because of the huge space she occupies and partly because of the noise she creates. If you don’t find her at her seat, don’t panic, go to the nearest phone booth and you shall find her. But do knock the door before entering or enter at your own risk ;) She is like the small niece of Jerry the mouse (in Tom & Jerry) that is always hungry. Poor thing forgot where her stomach ends :P. In the future I would recommend her to start a portal for all the restaurants in the town, where people can get to know what to eat and where to eat. Walking encyclopaedia for all the restaurants in Bangalore (dunno if she has separate DB for other cities).

Aravindan alias vind:
He is such a great philanthropist that he adopted Calvin and Harry (Potter) to be his own sons: P. My buddy from college, TP @ NITT and I will never forget him (reason: he wrote my first testi in orkut ;)). Jokes apart... no nonsense guy with a lot of aptitude, an ambition to scale great altitudes and a guy whom I thought to be having lots of attitude when I first met him. I don’t know why, sometimes when I see him I remember a dialogue by Hermione "Just because you have an emotional quotient of a teaspoon!” Buddy, do talk something other than stock markets, percentages, IPO s, you, more than anyone else know that there are more beautiful things :)

Bharath alias Lover boy alias Bar:
Bharath was my college mate. A nice friend with whom you can discuss any issue under the sun and this guy will know it. A councillor was killed in Neykarampatti; Bobby Jindal winning elections, Indian markets being thrown to dogs, this guy will know all. So informed yet so withdrawn and calm. Like Bhageera of “The Jungle Book”. He is exactly that... Mystery and style; Keen and agile. To me he is an enigma!

Karthik alias aachu vaa:
Hail the Mysore maharajah! This maharajah of Mysore has two lethal weapons:
1. Mokkais (PJs)
2. Tamil: P
The only king who has conquered Chera dynasty (U know who ;)). A very good guy and if you are searching for some one to talk to, have fun with... Then here he is. He is a nice companion to have. Though I know him only recently, I can assure you that he is one guy you can enjoy being with. Every thing is "seri aachu vaa polam" for him. Machan una intha 11 pillars kulla itanthathuku aravindanuku thanks sollanum da :)

Lakshmi alias kuty laks alias milk:
I take this opportunity to thank the founders of the words like patience, hard work, conviction etc... For without these words I will not be able to describe this gal. She works so much that you will feel guilty of under working in the company. You might have heard about/seen talking alarm clocks. But Lakshmi is a special clock; every ten minutes into the cafe/lunch hall she will sound an alarm - "POLAM" ;). She is a great friend of mine who has been with me through thick and thin.

Nivasini alias Akka alias Lappy alias Kappy alias...:
Akka as called by us all, she is a very easy go lucky character. She can make your mind glow with a 1000 watts with her 1000 whats? I am yet to come across a kid to beat our akka in asking so many whats? For our akka, everything is rosy in life and if it is not she will not accept it as part of life. She likes to walk in a bed of roses and expects to see a rainbow at the end of the path :) (Such optimism only she can show).She accomplices with many other fellows to make a fool of us all. She has done everything to make GURU look at her except slapping him right across and asking him to look at her. I am also eager to see our GURU MACHAN or DHEIVA MACHAN.

Naveen alias Pondoos alias dude:
The sweet heart of our gang and my personal sweet heart in my room as well :) Known him since the first day of my college (He used my bucket for taking bath on the first day and never thanked me! ;)). I doubt if I can see another guy who can make a dead man laugh. No! Not with his jokes but with his own actions ;) An excellent dancer who can give Mallika Sherawat a run for her money. Grand master in CHESS (sport as well as job). The entire custody support is on his shoulders whilst he snores with his bum to the ceiling ;)!

Santosh alias Red Bull alias RB alias Gundan:
Big man with big dreams. His pet name of Red Bull has more meanings than his stock market ventures ;) You better be very sharp otherwise you will miss all his gimmicks: 1. Acting like he is serious
2. Acting like he is an innocent guy.
A good companion to pass time with and know about the stock market. Has been an entrepreneur right from high school. Some how this bull likes only married cows :P

Shanthosh alias govinda:
Looks can be deceptive! Shanthosh is a living example for the phrase. Looks and "acts" innocent, but believe me he has a lot inside. Both in his heart and also in his head. THE WALL, I can say... very dependable friend with whom I have shared a lot! Aiming to move higher up and conquer the management world with his brain.

Shankar alias Shanky alias sithapps:
Big guy (read as: like Hagrid ;)) with even bigger dreams. The author of this blog who doesn't believe in blowing his own trumpet! ;)

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