Don't know what to name it!!

It was 6.30 PM. The moment I stepped out of the vegetable shop .. an eerie feeling hit me.

I was standing in the middle of a new creed of species!! A creed called "Young Software Engineers". Their dresses ranged from perfect formals to torn jeans. A few carrying a laptop bag and others carrying just a lunch box pouch which holds a few Tupperware boxes. The girls in high heels and straightened  hair had their eyes glued to the new smart phones or were busy animatedly talking with their colleague / boy friend.

But one thing was very common among this whole group. They all looked proud. They had a sense of achievement on their face.

That look on their face left me wondering .. What is the real reason behind these proud looking faces. The tasks which they delivered at work .. or the pay check they will be given by the end of the month?

In my 9 years in this software service industry, I have not invented anything.. All I have done is used one or more existing software to provide the service requested by the client. I may have designed a few systems, but they were all created on an existing platform provided.   The pride I had during the college days when I was one among who cleared all papers and had a job after the first semester .. I dont have that pride anymore.. coz I know the backbenchers in my batch are doing much much more better in non-IT fields than what I am right now. And I am proud of them.

So these "Young Software Engineers" .. What makes them so proud?

I have seen a few of them in my previous work place. Occupying cafeteria for hours , coz they do not have a work station allocated, as they are not into project for the last one year!!  I have seen that girl with straightened hair going out of the restroom leaving the toilet seat wet.

Not that I say not being in project is their mistake .. But yet .. The moment they step out of the work place .. this pride sticks to their face.. I still wonder how and why.

Tagged to Good old days

Thanks Sri for tagging me ..

I relived my memories ..

1981 - 1986

Appo naanga Mysorela irundhom. So remember spending my holidays at my maternal grand parents' place in Trichy. I used tO love that Trichy house... A typical old Agraharam veedu with thinnai,railiway paltform maadhiri long hall, hall sidela chinna chinna rooms and kitchen at the end. Visits to Thiruvaanikaaval (Thiru Aaani Kaaval) also called Akilandeshwari temple used to be my favourite timepass. koyil kolathula neraya meen irukkum. adhukku pori pottundu irundha timeporadhe theriyadhu. ange oru kutti aanai irukkum.. Andhukku rice and vellam pottu periya periya urundai panni ootuvaanga.. supera irukkum paarka..

Apparam .. Mysore.. had a lot of tourist attarctions. Chamundi Hills, Brindavan Gardens, Najangud and many more ..Summer Holidaysla Chitthi, Chithappa with their kids, aththai paati , maama and family ellarum varunga.. Amma used to take them for a guided tour to all these places.. My favourite used to be Brindavan gardens and the musical fountain shows.

Pic 1: Naane dhan
Pic 2: With Mom and Dada.. taken in some Mysore exhibition

1987- 1993






We shifted to Chennai from Mysore. My materanl grandparents also moved in with us after selling our Trichy house. Chennaila Ayanavaramla settle aanom. Our house was quite near our maama thatha and maama's house. Their's was a joint family. Adanla eppovum jejennu kootama irukkum avanga veedu. Ennoda cousins , second cousins , third cousins ellorum iruppanga.. orey kooththu dhan.

Maama veetula rendu maanga maram irukkum. maanga adichucha veetula thittu vilum.. so periyavanga ellarum thoonginapparam maanga adippom.. Kitchenla salt and molaga podi edukka thada irundhadhu.. adhanala therumonaila oru thatha cut mango kada vechipaar.. anga poyi salt thirudindu varuvaanga.. Ellam ready panninundu out-housela poyi sema koothadippom.. Apparam .. night dinnerkku mottamaadila
ellaraiyum okkaravechchu saapadu poduvanga.. Wonderful days.

Soup panrennu maggi tastemakera hot waterla karaichu maamava kudikka vachchadu innum niyagabam irukku .. Paavam Raja maama .. he dint utter a word.. he drank the whole cup of soup..

Apparam .. amma and appa kooda neraiya oorukku poyirukkom.. ooty, madurai, Coimbatore, Thirunaveli, Tanjavore, kuttraalam, Mukkombu dam, Bombay.. We used to frequently visit Trichy to meet my grandmother's chiththi..(our great grandmother).

Pic 1: Mukkombu Dam with mom , dad , bro , Anu aththai family, Vidhu and Raghu
Pic 2: Ayanavaram veedu - bro , Chiththi's kids( satish , krupa), (innoru chiththi's kid) Bhargavi
Pic 3: Little Folks theme park- Priya, Nivi, Bro and Ramesh

1994 - 1998


10th std and 12th std timela engeyum poga mudiyala .. more over we shifted to Alwarpet. so our visit frequnecy to Ayanavaram also reduced. But school friendsoda nalla enjoy panniyirukken.. Kazhudha ketta kutti sevuru maadhiri.. engalukku Boat club road and Mcrennet bakery dhan kutti sevuru.

I love dogs.. Enga veetukku pinnadi Demonty colony park irukkum.. adukku walking kootindu vara dogs ellam ennoda friends.. Doogie and Bruno were my best friends :)
Photola irukaradhu Bruno ..

Pic: Alwarpet Veedu - two dogs (Bro and Bruno) :-P

1998 -2002





Golden days of my life..Wonderful college with 650-acre campus.. situated on beautiful plateau. According to amma and appa .. naan anga padichcha four yearsum enakku holidays dhan.. we never used to attend any classes..New Market, Dus Number market , Kota,Indian Coffee House (ICH), College Dam, campus temple etc etc etc
.. Romba enjoy pannen.. miss those days.. Evenings hostel maadila poyi okandhu pesa aarambichcha time poradhe theriyadhu.. And ofcourse mess table discussions were the best..

Pic 1: Hostel maadi
Pic 2: In fornt of new ICH , New market Bhopal

2002 - till date

Work panna start pannapparama breakknu eduthadhu marraige timela one month. Srilanka and Singapore trips were wonderful. Apparam Raghav was born. Ippollam Raghava Childrens park and beachkku kootindu
poradhu dhan holidaysla naanga panra orey vela..

Pic 1: Guindy Children's park




Indha photola enga total gange irukku .. except Vidhu.. We met last weekend for our Cousin Balaji's wedding.. angeyum poyi sema ruckus pannom.. Total fun..


I woud like to tag : Ones and Zeros - Kiran , Meproteus - Rajesh

Happy Friendship Day!!

You guys must be wondering. I can see question marks on your face. Friendship day in Sept.. No .. I am not crazy.

Yup.. Today is our friendship day and I would not miss wishing my friends Sandeep and Naresh on this day.

This is something which I wrote about Sandeep and Naresh, long time back on my blog..

Name : Naresh
Pet Name: Cobra
About : He was always there to giude me and advice me.

Name : Sandeep
Pet Name: Sandy
About : If you have never met a sumo wrestler, come to India, here is the one for you but beware - he's too sweet to handle.

Happy Birthday Naresh!!


Sandeep .. If you reading this blog.. I would like you to know that even now.. I call it "A Friendship by Accident"

Story of Ultimate Hatred turned Friendship(??!!)

This is not another He-She story. It is a story of ultimate hatred. , revenge , ego clashes and a lot of negative feelings. This is not a short story. It went on for 4 years to come to more or less a happy ending.

He was her college mate for 4 years. She was one of the toppers in the first year and then He took over the position. This was surely not their issue because She knew He was brilliant. She admired His capabilities and his hard working nature. She appreciated the fact that a Hindi medium guy who wrote his first year Physics answer paper in Hindi worked his way up to being a college topper.

They were friends(??!!) for a few days. They even exchanged birthday cards. There were rumors that He had a soft corner for Her. But He hated to admit she was intelligent probably because he was the leader of the male chauvinist group of their college.

She wanted a partner for doing a technical paper presentation and she thought He would be the best option. But He never even considered Her request. But this did not stop her from winning the Paper presentation contest conducted at BITS.

She was one of first few students who got placed in a IT company through campus interviews. He commented saying that IT companies were for Losers. And He joined CDOT.

The best attempt from His side to tarnish her image was when He tried to cross question during Her project reviews to prove that the functionality She has tried to embed in her project is already existing. The Project Review hall turned into a ground for Fourth world War leaving other teams and professors frustrated.

Similar small incidents sparked the hatred between the two. Leaving just the two in one room, would have made sure one was dead, that is how much they hated each other by the end of third year.

After an year of leaving the college, He mailed her to her office id. She replied back calling him "A Male Chauvinistic PIG". He called her to tell her how sorry He was for all the things He did to her during the college days.

She is happily settled in India and He is pursuing his Masters Degree in France.

They are in touch again. They exchange scraps with not even a small trace of the previous enemity. Have they grown up? or Is it the effect of the new generation of Networking Sites?

Anyways !!! Thanks to Orkut and Hi5!

Miss those days!!

Life is not the breath you take. Its the momemts that take your breath away.