World viewed through a Libran's window...

Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 16:42:00 +0000

Like a pregnant woman craving for specific types of food (may be a bad comparison, but that's the first one that comes to mind), sometimes, certain songs just stick to you, regardless of how long ago they were composed. It may be memories surrounding the song, people that you remember or the sheer tune itself and today, I'm hooked to this one from Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaayaa :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2XK58JZ_wQ

Alone or Unique?

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 01:39:00 +0000

The beauty of solitude is that it lets you focus all your energy inwards and not so surprisingly, you pay attention to things you never noticed, new ideas are born and you can reminisce about moments that matter, even if they are not so important, with a smile on your face or a drop of tear running down your cheeks. Of course, my solitude is often accompanied by work and that doesn't make it very interesting; but I was able to pay closer attention to a song, which I conveniently ignored in the past - Chitthirai Nila from the movie Kadal.

What fascinates me about the song is the powerful concept expressed in very simple, rather colloquial lines. A child is born, his mother passes away and his father abandons him - the dictionary meaning of an orphan, a loner who has nowhere to go to. There are so many motivational songs that talk about being strong, comparing the person to heroes from the epics and all that; but this one is different. Here are the comparisons made by the lyricist:

Chitthirai Nila - The full moon, one of its kind that comes in a specific month of year

Sky - The vast evasive space

God - Accepted by most religions as a single limitless power

Now, this is not the first time someone brought moon, sky and God in a poem, not at all. In fact, if you analyze the lyrics of Tamizh songs or even Indian songs for that matter, apart from love, heart and probably rose, I think these will be the most frequently used words. What makes the comparison interesting in this specific song is that the lyricist calls these orphans too. They are all unique in their own ways, but you can call them loners, if you really want to. They are one of their kind and the only one of their kind. Would you call them unique and compliment them; or would you call them loners and pity them? It's really up to the perspective of the viewer, just like his outlook towards his own life and himself. I can't think of a better way to render such a powerful concept in lines simpler than these and kavippaerarasu proves yet again, why he gets so much respect and recognition.

Here's to uniqueness...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_B1eOGys_0

Installing Drupal on Windows with PostGRESQL DB

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:26:00 +0000

I'm new to Drupal and I recently installed Drupal to work with Postgres database. As luck would have it, I hit a couple of configuration roadblocks along the way, which I'd call the most painful and uninteresting part of my IT career. So I thought I should summarize the steps in one place for future reference. I've a Windows 7 X64 installed in my laptop.

The Downloads:

The system requirements for Drupal are given here. In short, download Apache, PHP (download BOTH the installer and the zip version), Post GRE SQL.

The Configuration:

The step-by-step instruction to install Drupal is given here and it's fairly intuitive.

The Gotchas:

There were a couple of things to watch out for:

1. PHP looks for the config file (php.ini) in C:\Windows (or the equivalent windows folder) by default and that file isn't automagically created. So we need to add the PHP installation folder path to the PATH variable. In my case, I added C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP to the PATH variable.

2. Drupal uses PDO (PHP Data Objects) to connect to a database and you should be having a PDO (which is usually a DLL) for each DB you intend to support. However, this DLL is not provided in the PHP installer; and even if you go around hunting for that DLL file in Google, you will hit nothing but road blocks. So after you install PHP using the installer, unzip the contents of the PHP zip version that you downloaded (to a different folder of course) and copy the php_pdo_pgsql.dll file from the ext folder (under the extracted PHP folder) to the actual ext folder (created by the windows installer). Then, the php.ini file needs to be updated to include the following lines:

[PHP_PDO_PGSQL]

extension=php_pdo_pgsql.dll

Once this is done and the apache server is (re)started, following the step-by-step Drupal installation instructions should do the magic.

Mausam movie review

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 08:05:00 +0000

Spoiler Alert: This post reveals the story line (?); but don't worry! The director has already done a terrific job spoiling the movie.

Pick up the horrible incidents that happened in the past 2-3 decades; and create characters that connect all these dots. That's what Mausam is all about. Operation blue star, ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri pandits, terrorism in kashmir, Babri masjid, Twin towers, Godhra... You name it! Every notorious tragedy of the past, is a part of the movie. I liked the fact that the director wanted to show how humanity is buried in the name of differences; but when that is not focused on one incident and virtually everything is taken into the scope of a three hour movie, the result is an extremely long, boring movie; and that's exactly what Mausam is. (Aanaalum padam rommmba mosamnga! :D)

The best part of the movie is the heroine and right from scene 1, she faces trouble wherever she goes. Born in Kashmir, victimized by ethnic cleansing, losing her uncle in Mumbai blasts, missing her lover due to Kargil war, discriminated by the US government after the twin tower attack, escaping death in punjab riots... She is more or less the angel of death in the movie. If I were her, I would better stay home and let the world live in peace.

The other funny aspect was the chemistry between the hero and the heroine. Shahid is obviously shorter than Sonam and he looks like her little brother than anything else. And their ridiculously long love story spanning three decades of riots and violence is just intolerable. On top of this, the director apparently forgot that there is an editing department and there are so many scenes after which you scratch your head, thinking "Why have that scene now?". The climax scene was the best of the lot. Every time a bunch of goons (causing riots as usual) walk around or even remotely get mentioned in a statement, the heroine asks "Who are they?" and Shahid says "They are nameless shadows of death" and this statement is repeated like 3 or 4 times to stress the importance of it. Likewise, with his left arm paralyzed by a flight accident, the hero climbs through the arms of a giant wheel to rescue a child and this part alone takes about 15 mins of the movie. As usual, he rescues the child and his arm becomes functional again. Looks like the director forgot the fact that people have been watching so many movies in the past to automagically understand the result of such sequences.

In short, I wasted about 3 hrs of my time, watching a movie that had no traces of continuity or screenplay in it. Yawwwwn!

Married Wisdom - 1

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:12:00 +0000

This is the first post in the long awaited (from my end that is :D) series on marriage; and what you get to learn out of it. This is just a process of making notes along the way to serve as documentation (to me and to that rare person who thinks I'm sensible) and that being said, let's move on to the "What's not said is not understood!" chapter.

Usually, I'm a big fan of abstract expressions and implicit communication. Even in the movies, I love shots that implicitly convey something as opposed to the ones that dramatize the whole thing. Unfortunately, that's the last thing a married man should do. Until you are married, you are like a pet. Free to wander and permitted to do what you want to do, no questions asked, unless it's something incredibly stupid or irritating. The hope there is that you will return home no matter where you wander and you will be in the vicinity no matter how long you keep wandering. The moment you are married, you are expected to be responsive and responsible. Your best friend, your immediate surrounding and even your parents start believing that your life would change drastically after marriage, whether that happens to be true or not. So staying out of touch, forgetting to call, avoiding touchy-feely dialogs are strict no-nos. Unless you say "I love you" nobody is going to believe that. Unless you call, nobody is going to believe you are interested in their welfare. Unless you express, nobody is going to understand you!

So rule 1 in short, if you want to say something, say it instantly and explicitly without the the least bit of ambiguity or abstraction in it.

(To be continued... ;))

A moment to cherish!

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 23:16:00 +0000

I often wonder how nice it would be to have a tool that blogs contents from our mind automatically (of course upon approval and moderation :D), as that's the need of the hour for me. If I even blogged 10% as much as I wanted to, this blog would be overflowing with posts. Of all those events I wanted to blog about, there was one, strong enough to drag me all the way into blogger - India's victory in Word cup.

People who know me well would probably be surprised, as I'm known for being the devil's advocate ever since the Azhar, Jadeja days. Even a couple of days back, I was arguing about how this whole thing is becoming one big masala movie and I was totally sure that India will win, listing out the reasons why a hero should triumph over all disasters in the end. I was stunned when Ravi Shasthri projected a 275 total when Srilanka were making less than 3 runs an over and that turned out to be the exact target for India to chase. IPL scheduled within the next few days, India beating all the old rivals on its way to the final and so many other things made/make me think that there is some form of predefined results involved.

But all that said, I was immensely proud when Indian team lifted the cup and earned the top spot in ODI and here's why.

1. The most awaited moment - I don't know the exact stats; but I'm sure that at least 60% Indian families are interested in cricket in varying degrees. If there has been one thing that all these viewers have been waiting for, it's India's triumph in the World Cup tournaments. Nothing could match a great milestone achieved after a long period of expectation, anxiety and longing. This definitely is one.

2. The respect it earns for the nation - Facebook is flooded with updates, Twitter has no energy to tweet anymore and Gmail Buzz hits the 100+ mark in less than 10 minutes; and everything just boils down the one word - respect. Even people who don't know much about cricket turned their heads to see what is so spectacular about this and why so many people are euphoric. Knowingly or unknowingly, this creates a positive vibe about the country and I felt like I was watching "Invictus" live.

3. The first step to being a superpower - In all these years, I've never known a field where India dominated so much, owning the stakes and having command over things. Cricket without India is almost a fantasy right now and needless to say BCCI now owns the space. From how we were treated a couple of decades ago, this is what I call an achievement.

4. Inspiration - When something good happens, there is always a free supplement to it - inspiration (advice is another). Dhoni is now being studied as a great leader who stood up for the nation, taking charge of things and standing by his decisions. That is something that Indians are going to remember for a long time.

5. The future of sports - If India (hopefully) wins a couple of other tournaments as well, it could very well be the start of the golden era of Indian sports. I sincerely hope this would put an end to the days when over a billion people eagerly wait for a bronze medal to celebrate an "achievement".

Blogging after a break!

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:47:00 +0000

I still remember the days when I used to wonder what good a blog could do. I mean, what's the whole point in writing some random stuff online without knowing who is going to read it or without having any kind of guarantee whatsoever that it's going to matter at all. But over the years I realized that blogging, unlike FB, Twitter or any of the "cool" trends, serves like a real vent. Even better, I have an indexed, searchable diary that tells me what I've been thinking on a specific date, with no respect to the years that might've passed in between. To a person like me, often getting lost into thoughts, this for sure is a boon and that's how I get back to blogging irrespective of the breaks that I take in between. This is kind of like a marriage - the initial days you are so expressive, never stay apart and the instinct to be with each other is overwhelming. Over the years, all the superficial things vanish; but the bonding is so strong that you kind of grow into each other.

Speaking of marriage, which is the biggest event that happened in my life quite recently, I've always contemplated and blogged over the topic in general; but nothing would be as realistic as experiencing it, right? I recently realized that I didn't ponder much over one important aspect of this social system - what it does to people. I mean, I've thought about what expectations the couple and/or the parents might be having before marriage, how important it is to ensure that all parties are happy when the couple get engaged, how important it is for the couple to stick to each other, to be flexible/understanding, etc. But the post-marital changes in people related to the couple, is a topic that I never thought of and quite honestly, that comes to me as the most surprising part. I guess I'll try to record these steps and changes and thoughts through my good old, trustworthy, faithful companion - my blog! So in case this sounded the least bit interesting, stay tuned! :)

SQL Server BCP - Nulls getting exported as spaces as opposed to blanks

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:50:00 +0000

SQL Server just drove me crazy with a BCP issue today and though I usually don't put a lot of tech-stuff on my blog, this one is well worth it I guess.

The issue:

I had a stored procedure that uses bcp to export data from a table and surprisingly all nulls were being exported as spaces. I tried explicitly using ISNULL to populate an empty string, tried replacing nulls with empty string in the table itself; but no luck. Google didn't have anything useful either.

The solution:

Specifying the COLLATE attribute on all the character columns to use COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS as shown below:

[EMAIL_ADDR] [varchar](100) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL

After adding this to the source table, all nulls were exported as blanks with a simple bcp out.

Dedicated to that lone programmer somewhere breaking his/her head to figure out the solution to this issue :)

The Indian "formula"

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:14:00 +0000

It's been a pretty hectic schedule at work and I almost forgot that I had a blog. When you are forced to spend a large portion of your day working and your personal life asymptotically tends to zero, you don't get the mood to do anything else with the remaining time. The only activity I've been enjoying these days is playing racquet ball (American version of squash) as it tends to give you the peace of mind that you miss the most. Enough with the off-topic chitchat. Today I was watching the movie "Vivah", a typical formula film that reminded me of Vikraman films; and that combined with the numb philoso-sarcastic (if you will) mood I'm in right now, catalyzed this post. The essential parts of a formula movie...

#1 - A divine protagonist

The hero and/or the heroine of the movie should be too good to be true. So loving, so caring, so selfless, so beautiful/handsome, so forgiving, in short, so unrealistic.

#2 - A cruel antagonist

Antagonists come in two flavors - I'd call them the born-villains and made-villains. Born villain should be soulless, selfish, if it's a male he should booze/smoke/should be the opposite of a teetotaler, kill people like mosquitoes and get away with it; usually starting with a murder in the very first scene of the movie. Made villains are good persons with bad misconceptions. He/she can turn bad even because of the silliest reason one could imagine ex: s/he thought that the world is flat and the protagonist thought otherwise. And just to prove himself/herself, s/he will be behind all insane stuff going on in the movie.

#3 - Sentiment bit

Usually dominated by ladies... Mom, sister, wife, one-side-love, neighbor who has always been sister-like... Someone who eventually gets killed or for whom the protagonist risks his life.

If it's a guy, it's usually the father, a friend or in the worst case a brother; but nothing else. It's hard to believe the protagonist risking life for a distant relative who is a guy (girls are accepted for these roles :D)

#4 - A terrible incident

Something terrible should invariably happen in the movie. Some accident, a betrayal, a murder, sudden poverty, death of the most important family member in the most crucial moment that turned the family to beggars overnight. Usually this happens just before the interval and the second half of the movie will be the phoenix re-incarnation.

#5 - Songs

Whether it's the song that brings out the difficulties of the protagonist or the song that turns the protagonist into a millionaire in minutes, songs are inevitable in a formula movie.

#6 - Villain's expiry

Expiry can be literal expiry or expiry of his/her character. A born villain will usually die and a made villain will transform into a mahatma just a scene before the climax.

How many of these crap movies are we destined to watch? GOK!

Conclusive Conceptions

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:09:00 +0000

This is my office. As you could see, I didn't get the biggest, it doesn't even have a window and it might even look a little bit like a glorified store room. But I've made it mine as much as I could and in that attempt, made is as beautiful as I could. The floral painting out there is something I got in the arts exhibition last year. The painter should've used bold yellow on the skies to accent the sunset. But yeah... Better than the junk at the reception, rite? This porcelain paperweight is Chinese and its said to bring good luck; but I don't know. Everyone knows that Chinese are good at selling BS. This pen, the calendar out there, my desktop wall paper and almost everything here is something I liked and chose. But my job...

*Phone gargles*

Just a minute...

"Good Morning. This is Geeks420. I'm Shreya. How can I help you?"
"..."
"Oh yes... yes Mottayyan. We are still trying to fill that position. Can you please forward your resume to Shreyas@geeks420.com?"
"..."
"Yeah. I understand. What is your rate?"

"..."

"Are you looking for benefits?"

"..."

"Ok. I'll forward that to one of our developers right away and let you know. What will be the best number to reach you at?"
"..."
"973...979...2797. Ok! I'll keep you posted. Thanks for calling."
"..."
"Bye"

Well... Where were we? Oh yeah... My job! I'm sure you would be smart enough to infer that my name is Shreya and I work for Geeks420 as a recruiter. An interesting name to a company isn't it? Our boss wanted to name it Geeks to at least have them in the name; but mother internet had conceived too many children at that point making my boss's dream impossible. So he added his birthday 20th April to Geeks and named it Geeks420; but the Indian Penal Code gave a suitable and hilarious perspective to it. Coming back to me, I'm commerce undergraduate, and an economics postgraduate relying ultimately on English which I never learned past my high school. Married to a software engineer working for Verizon, mother of two kids, trying to get more a-holes, if you will, added to this company. In the US, making a living with a single working member becomes tough unless your husband makes truckloads of money. With a husband like mine, you would've to work overtime to compensate.

Before I forget, I've to schedule an interview for the dumbo who just called. He's always available in the market and God knows how he's making a living. You know the worst part? He has a family with two kids... poor souls... and he wants benefits as well. Imagine... Paying him is an overhead and he wants insurance on top of it. Funny rite? And I'm not sure if this guy is one of those 23 yr olds with 10 yrs of experience and a post graduation; like they had a laptop in their mother's womb. Join me and I'll show you around. You wouldn't believe how much crap is going on here!

Do you see the one sitting in the next office? Her name is Priya.

"Hi Priya... How are you?" She's from North India and you could see the arrogance in everything she does. In what way? Well... err... it's hard to explain you know... But you'll feel it. She's another recruiter here. Hardly knows how to talk to a candidate and all her recruits are crappy. Last week she hired a candidate for 120K and you know what? The clients have deemed him unfit this week. Sort of like cutting the company's throat for the commission. All North Indians are like that... you know?

The one next to her is Tracy and I honestly don't know why she is being paid. She eats 6 times a day and walks around the floor for the rest of the time. Yells at the top of her voice all the time and even if she speaks the kindest words in the world you will feel like a wrestler punching you right on your face, particularly the ears. One person I can't stand.

The Chinky guy over there is Charles. He is from Vietnam or some other country that is hard to locate on the world map. But we have a convenient term - Chinky that can be applied to anyone whose eyes aren't wide enough.; and I always call him one. The funny thing is... he calls himself American. Getting a citizenship here and being an American are two different things in my view and this guy doesn't have a clue about it. Another useless recruiter who is so good at losing money gambling. Trust me. If he ever wrote an autobiography and named it "Top 10 ways to lose money gambling", he would've been a millionaire now. Not that he can write that well... you know what I mean... Insane guy loses half his pay cheque or check since we are in the US, gambling every month.

The five offices next to them are occupied by the sales department and don't even get me started on them. False promises stacked over false promises! I find their very sight repulsive. If they were able to get at least 1 customer per 100 phone calls, the company strength would've been doubled now. I think most of them just keep talking to their friends and family. Free lunch, free calls, free trips. Brain naturally dies you see. Useless fellows claiming that they have seen unicorns and angels.

This is Tom's cabin. As you would imagine with any boss's office, this one is naturally bigger than all the offices here with three glass walls. Only after meeting him I started believing in the idiom "Every dog has its day". Every Dilbert story I ever read is like his biography in parts and I get a feeling that being dumb is important to become a boss. There are times I feel intellectually insulted to work for such a guy; but then all bosses across the world are dumb and being a smart person, I can't become one. So there you go!

This is the most interesting part. The "Software Development" division filled with freaks who call themselves geeks. Look at their attitude and you'll know. No one here knows a thing about programming; but they yap about it for hours.

Do I know programming? No no. I hate sitting in front of a computer like an idiot and I think no smart person would do that. So I didn't want to be a programmer. But I know enough to know that these guys have zilch programming knowledge. I'd bet dimes to donuts that these guys don't have half of what it takes to be called geeks. And you know the funny part? We've like a hundred guys back in India who are so intellectually handicapped that these guys end up complaining about them.

I hate to make personal comments; but getting one of these idiots interview a prospective idiot is such a difficult task. They always claim to be busy and I always see them surfing the internet still having the air of "I'm a developer" pride around them. The funny looking guy out there in that greasy white shirt is the one who is supposed to handle the interview today. Just see what happens...

"Hi Praveen. How are you?"
"Am fine..."
"Can you do a screening for me today?"
"Today I'm quite busy. Can you get someone else do it?"
"No Praveen. Tom wants you to personally do this interview. It's an urgent requirement and it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to screen."
"Well... I'll let you know by noon"

Let's walk back to my office as we talk. See... Didn't I tell you? Unbelievable arrogance. Until I say "Tom" he wouldn't even say anything close to a yes.

*Cell phone rings*

"Hello..."
"..."
"Yeah this is Shreya..."
"..."
"Hey hi... I just spoke to the developers. Have you sent me the resume?"
"..."
"Oh... Ok! Let me know whenever you are ready."
"..."
"Thanks Bye..."

*hangs up*

"you idiot!"

It's at Mottayyan again. God knows who named him! Says he's got a doctor's appointment that he forgot and he'll not be able to attend the interview today. What a lame way of saying "I have another interview to attend"? I'm sure he'll call back tomorrow and I should go begging one more time.

Good God... Why wouldn't I hate this job when I work for a boss who knows nothing but being a boss, trying to find arrogant freaks with zilch programming knowledge who will end up giving the "I'm too busy" crap to me? I hate this job so much and the day I get out of this job will be the happiest day in my life and this office would really go bonkers when that happens.

*phone gargles again*

"Yes Tom"
"..."
"Sure"

One minute. My boss wants to boss over me for some time. Dilbert time. I'll be right back.

*Ten minutes later*

You know what? The a-hole fired me. Says I'm not doing much work and they can manage without me. And you know the worst part? People have complained that my attitude is not good. How untrue and unfair? He didn't even think about my family and kids. I've been so kind to others. Never said a word about anyone. I so loved my job, you know!

What are you laughing at? People have become so selfish, disrespectful and disloyal these days. I just can't put up with them. Why is everyone...

*Door slams shut... voice fades*

Onsite - Short Story

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:39:00 +0000

12th floor of Elements high raised apartments in Bellevue. My clock says it's 7:30; but now that the Americans have manually displaced time by 1 hr, forcing it to run faster; the time is actually believed to be 8:30 PM. You know... like a lie that's universally believed. I could see almost the entire town from my patio and in the nights, the view is at is best. I should admit it gives me the "I'm on top of the world" feeling; though the reality is that the world is sitting on top of me and in fact, crapping all over me. I'm an onsite coordinator in a consulting company here. What do I do? Oh well... that's kind of hard to explain in one sentence; but let me give it a shot. I talk to the dumbest people on earth, frequently termed as clients; and then pass on my version of their expectation from our company to the silver medalists - the offshore team. In this process, I would've to make sure that my boss makes money and I also come up with a lot of documents explaining what, how and when things ought to be done with a clear conception that nothing is going to go on the way I've explained. And yeah... I also interview people who are willing to be crapped on, train people with zilch programming knowledge and convert them into programming gurus (or at least make them believe they are one). With these believers, I ought to deliver above and beyond client expectations without thinking about any increase in pay, as recession has affected the job markets here. What? Coffee? No no no... I don't supply coffee; and in fact none does. Heard it's against the US labor laws; and the employees are supposed to brew their own hot water... err... coffee!

Enough said about me! Let me try to make a Memento (as in the movie remade in Tamizh as Gajini; not a token of remembrance, that usually comes down to a soap box or the cheapest trophy in the market) out of my moments.

5 years back... Chennai, India

Manager (Imagine a middle aged, wheatish, stout person with a head balded akin to a Samurai, dressed in an apple green shirt and a brown pant with a black belt and brown shoes): What are you going to do getting a promotion? Trust me it doesn't help. Will you take a word of advice?
Me (5 yrs younger and 15 kgs lighter): Tell me.
Manager: I'll initiate your US visa. That's the way to go buddy!
Me (Rolling Eyes): Oh!
Manager: So, we are settled here. *Grins*

1 day back...

Me: I just did a comparison of the client working set with the repo and I see a lot of differences
OTL: Yes. Looks like I didn't check in some changes into the repository.
Me: But you said it's all in sync.
OTL: Yeah. My local copy is in sync.

3 years back... Chennai, India

Manager: I tried really hard for your promotion this time. It looks like you would've surely got it if you joined our company a couple of weeks before.
Me: But...
Manager: Don't worry! I'll surely get it for you next time.
Me: (Thinking, this has become a fable now) What happened to my visa?
Manager: It's on its way. Embassy takes its time you know...
Me: When do you expect it to be done?
Manager: Pretty soon. Don't worry! So we are settled here. *Grins*

2 days back...

Client: I'm not going to pay for this month. You guys have done absolutely nothing in the past couple of months and you don't even know how to set up a basic repository.
Me: But I heard from the offshore team that everything is setup and working. There should be some communication gap somewhere. I'll personally look into it and address it.
Client: You better do it!

Same night

Me: What is happening? Why can't you even setup a repository correctly?
OTL: Everything is fine in our checks. I've compared my working set with the repository and everything is in there.
Me: Did you always keep your working copy in sync with the client working copy?
OTL: Yes.
Me: Sure?
OTL: Yeah. 100%

2 years and 1 day back... Chennai, India

(There is this group called immigration team that's supposed to help us out with Visa processing and other stuff; but what they do best is to scare the crap out of you and perhaps make you think that you need a special petition to continue your Indian citizenship)

Immigration Team Member: These are your documents. It contains the project description too. Keep it by-heart. If you don't answer a question right, your visa will be rejected.
Me (Beginning to sweat a little): Looks like the description doesn't meet the actual project that I'm going for.
ITM: I know! But this document is your bible. If you don't know it in and out, you are doomed! (dialog from "Full Metal Jacket" echoing in my ears... "This is my document. There are many others like it; but this one's mine. My document is my best friend...")
Me: Ok. Thank You.

1 year back...

* Outlook notifies an email from client *

"... A school kid will do a better programming than you guys and you completely failed to be of any value to us..."

* Sky is filled with darkness and night announces its presence *

Me: I've repeatedly told you how to fix these issues. I've presented the solution. I've given you the specifications. I've been there staying up all night long... What else do you expect me to do?
OTL: I know! But it's working in our local copy.

1 year, 11 months and 2 days back... American consulate, Chennai, India

* Mixed voices in fast forward motion *
"Your appointment letter and passport"
"Your documents"
"Join this line"
"Is this the correct document for H1-B stamping?"

Finally, in front of the immigration officer.
Officer: Good Morning! How are you?
Me: Fine. Thanks. My documents...
*Officer seriously typing something and I was wondering how she found out it's not the right project in my petition request *
Officer: What is your skill-set?
Me: Oh skills... Yeah... Java, J2EE, err... Smalltalk
Officer: Your petition is approved. You'll get your visa in 1 week.
Me: Huh?! Thanks!

1 year, 4 months back...

Me: "Looks like the build is completely unstable. There is nothing working"
Offshore team lead: It works in my local copy.
Me: Ok... Let's try to figure out what went wrong; and have our discussion tomorrow.

1 year, 6 months and 1 day back... Travel desk, Chennai, India

(Travel desk is a bunch of guys who help you travel from India to other countries in the longest possible route)

Agent: We're working on your tickets sir. Please wait.
* 3 hours pass by *
Agent: Don't be in a hurry sir! See... This gentleman has his flight tonight. We are working on his ticket and you have a full day left! Don't worry you'll be in US day after :)
* Dumbfounded and back to the lobby *
* 3 more hours pass by *
Agent: Here is your itinerary sir. Your destination is Seattle; and you will go from Chennai to Mumbai, Mumbai to Bangalore, Bangalore to Delhi, Delhi to Beijing, Beijing to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to San Francisco, San Francisco to...
Me: It's ok! I'll take care!

1 year and 6 months back... Sea-Tac airport, USA

* Telling myself * At last...

1 year, 5 months and 29 days back...

Boss: Hope you have settled in here.
* continues without waiting for an answer *
You have been assigned to project A and project B. You may have to do some development in project B; but project A is primarily coordination. Talk to Arun and he will give you all the information needed. Ok? Take it easy man! * smiles and leaves *

4 hrs back till now... Soliloquy

Is it really worth working with these guys?
Am I really doing the right thing?
Is this what I'm destined for?
* Questions flooding my brains *

What? Why am I not going back to India? Well... That's an interesting way of looking at it. You know... Hey just a sec. Offshore call guys. BRB!

The largest continent!

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:49:00 +0000

I'm not a big fan of gyms; but recently I was contemplating joining one primarily for diversion from this world of computers that I'm living in. As usual, the Libran in me chipped in and I was confused if I should make use of the apartment gym/swimming pool - though they look more like a store room and a water tank respectively - or I should pay like 30 bucks a month and drive 10 miles to get to the cheapest gym around. I didn't come to a conclusion, quite as expected; but I had an interesting experience.

Anyone who's spent some time in US, especially the US gyms would be able to tell the difference between the way a desi guy works out (I'm not talking about fitness freaks here); and an American works out. Most of the desi guys hardly have a clue as to what they should do next and they most often end up in the next available equipment! :)) It's kind of weird to describe but extremely funny to watch - like a pregnant cat trying to decide the place where it's going to deliver! When I went to the gym to do my case study, there was another desi guy there looking around and trying to figure out the best workout strategy. That made two of us and I was happy to know I had company... You know... You don't really feel all that silly when someone else is also doing what you are doing; even if you are doing the dumbest thing on earth! A feeling of being with the community :D

So I ended up in one of the treadmills (just so I don't like like I'm picnicking there :D) and started to walk at a snail pace; quietly observing the other guy. There was a TV at the far end of the gym and some night mode shots and a sand boa were combined in an attempt to scare the viewers. I decided not to look stupid and I stuck to my treadmill while this guy was cycling, weight-lifting, walking and jogging within 15-20 mins; and just as it goes with desi guys, we hardly exchanged smiles or names.

After a while, I felt I walked too much (the meter almost approached 0.5 miles which is too much :D) and I was just about to start back home when this guy started a conversation...

"Are you in C block?"

"No... E block"

"There are many desis in C block"

"Oh..."

"Which part of India are you from?"

"Tamizh Nadu"

"I am AP" (like Gounder saying I yaam Mekanikal bullet jaaki) "My name is Raju"

"Oh..."

"Where are you working"

...Told my office name...

Which technology, which client, how long have you been here and all other de-facto questions followed and I had no choice but to answer them all. Then came the most interesting part of the conversation.

"Did you see the program? They were showing big big snakes"

"Yeah" (Paamba paatthu dhaana bayandha)

"What was the name of the program... Big konda... no no Megakonda" (Konda = Mountain in Telugu :D)

"Yeah"

"Here they have big big snakes..."

"Yeah! African snakes are quite large" (Thinking that he was talking about Anacondas)

"US and Europe snakes are also big."

* continues curiously *

"In Africa, is it big?"

"Yeah. Those snakes are supposed to be the largest"

"No no... I'm asking about the size of Africa"

"Yeah... It's quite big. After all, it's the second largest continent in the world"

"The largest is Europe?"

"Err... No Asia" (I thought Geography was mandatory till X grade)

"Oh... Next"

"Africa" (Adhaan sonnaenae da)

"Next..."

"North America and it goes all the way till Australia" (vittaa paadam nadattha cholluvaainga paola irukku)

...A short pause...

Me: "How long have you been in US" (out of curiosity and badly wanting to change topic)

Him: 6 years (Super la :D)

On a normal day, I would've extended the conversation to have fun; but I was in no mood the other day and the entertainment session ended there. I know that a vast majority of the American people (no offense meant) are ignorant of such basic facts; but for the first time I met an Indian who thought Europe was the largest continent in the world.

Indian Cinema - Any Takers?

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:00:00 +0000

I've always been a movie-freak and there was a season when almost every post of mine was a review on some movie! The only change to that in the recent days, is that I've started watching a lot of international movies. and the more I watch them, the more disappointed I get! The reason is pretty simple. Many or almost all good scenes that I've ever enjoyed in an Indian cinema, (Tamizh cinema to be more specific) have been lifted from elsewhere. Sometimes the whole story, sometimes the important scenes, sometimes the concept... One way or the other, we're largely influenced by the works of other film makers and we either copy them or make 'junk' masala movies. I don't say masala movies shouldn't exist! As one big fan of superstar, I will not say that, as most of his movies fall into this category. Entertainment is and should be there in every film industry and one cannot always expect a movie to be dead-serious. But I get really pissed off at the stereotype, unoriginal crap that a lot of actors/directors try to impose on the audience in the name of entertainment. When you look at the parallel line of cinema - the serious/art/impressive movies department; how many great films have we made to show-off to the international audience?

Look at this snapshot from the movie "About Schmidt" for instance.

Absolutely no dialogs from JN. But you could see the aversion, the hatred, the "take your hand off my shoulders" feeling; just by his looks. How many of our actors can enact the same scene; subtly without any exaggeration?

If we look at the stories and their screenplay, we are miles away from international standard. At this juncture, I should appreciate the works of directors like Bala, Manirathnam, Radha Mohan, etc and people like Prakashraj who strive to elevate the levels of our films. The cinematography has also greatly improved in the recent days and I see quite a lot of movies that are just so beautifully presented. The only glitch there is that the audience might not understand a movie like "Naan Kadavul" today; and making a film like that which is very high in standards and very low in collection would only discourage producers from making more films like that. The biggest responsibility of a director today is not just to make a great film; but also to make the audience appreciate a film and bring them along to the world of better movies. Just like any other field, I'm sure that we have a lot of youngsters and talented folks interested in movies, striving to become the best in the department they love. Perhaps they are not getting the opportunity that they deserve or that they are bound into the labyrinth of circumstances and social dignities. I hope and pray that this changes pretty soon; and we get to that golden era of Indian films.

You better die...

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:36:00 +0000

Recently, I heard a news or rather a rule that instantly got on to my nerves. In India, a kidney transplant isn't legal unless the donor belongs to the same family. I'm pretty sure this would be the case with other organs as well. Let's take a moment to think about the implications...

People who have kidney failures have three options - first one, obviously is to die; second - to do dialysis on a regular basis and almost everyone will know the cost involved in the process (which means a poor man will have to resort to option 1). The third option is to get the kidney transplanted from a dead/brain dead patient; and the best part about this is that every hospital has about 1000 kidney requests in queue. You know what's even better? Every hospital has a tentative "wait time" for a request. In other words, they have their own mechanisms of guessing when 1000 persons would die! Looking at this matter from the other side, this is actually a survival race where every patient is waiting for another to die! How pathetic!

The scope for social evils is another point to be considered. Reminds me of a dialog in "The Untouchables" - "People are gonna drink! You know that, I know that, we all know that, and all I do is act on that." Anyone with a survival instinct will try to get the organ transplanted at any cost. Then what is the whole point in making it illegal and opening a black market? The only logical counter-argument could be that this prevents the poor and needy from selling their organs for money. But there is no way to prevent this from happening illegally! Is there?

Oh... The second year is over :)

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:15:00 +0000

Just when I had this spectacularly long break in blogging, I got an email from the Clustrmaps that said my map has been reset; indicating that my blog is turning 2. :-)

I've been giving a lot of thought about resuming blogging at the pace I used to; but somehow one thing or the other kept me away; leading to this predominantly dormant year. I'm just hoping to see a change this year, possibly one blog a day at least.

So what I've been up to these days? A question that people who get to know me exclusively through my blogs (trust me there are a few :D) would be having in their minds. A few quick things that I could think of...

A loooooooooot of movies

This is perhaps the first thing I would say, though there were other serious stuff going on; because of the sheer time I spare for them and the interest I have in watching more and more of them. Today for instance, I'm on my 3rd movie (Vinnai thaandi varuvaayaa, American Pie - The book of love and Theeratha vilayaattu pillai 'now running' :)) The interesting part is I've been into a lot of foreign language films as well (German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, you name it :D) and the sad part about it is that most of the scenes that I enjoyed in Tamizh/Indian movies seem to be a straight lift from elsewhere which makes me sick.

A loooooooooooooot of work

Anyone in a desi consulting company would vouch for this. If you get paid a 1000 dollars you usually work for approx 2495 dollars and 35 cents :p The end of last year has been horrible at that and I've been working like crazy for 3-4 months straight. Now, I'm still working like crazy; but the better part is that I'm at a client location in a "developer"/"dev lead" role (I'm leading myself, you know :D) which kind of restricts work to office as opposed to the way it used to be before. I'm expecting another hectic season; but hopefully it wouldn't be as hectic as it used to be a couple of months back.

A loooooooooooooot of travel

I'm going to an office 15 miles from my place as opposed to the one 0.5 miles away; but that's not the only thing I'm talking about. Took a welcome break and went to India on a vacation; but the vacation was more than tiresome. 3 weeks and I just kept spinning all the way. Couldn't meet many or do much about anything. It was like around the world in 21 days :) I know some are upset that I couldn't meet them; and I'm sorry about that!

A looooooooooooooot of boredom

I've been doing quite well at work; and recently, I even got a client appreciation; but somehow it doesn't help me get over the void that is omnipresent in my life... I somehow feel I should try something different (a lot of things in queue as usual); but at the same time worried about a secure future. Typical Libran indecisiveness one could say; but it's not all that bad after all. As much as I want to do something I love, I also need to make sure that I'm not being accused of being irresponsible. Kind of working on this right now, trying to figure out some plans and arrive at a balance; but don't know how long it's going to take before my life turns into a Hindi movie (following your dreams is kind of the trend in Hindi movies these days if you didn't notice :))

So... I'm quite happy that I made it this far and authored "The Crux of My Invisible Days" and I hope I wouldn't have to write any such summaries in the future.

Time to blog...

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 22:46:00 +0000

Somehow my writing/blogging frequency has come down a lot. The script that I started almost a year back is still on hold... I don't remember the last time I came up with something creative; and I promised to give a short story to my friend which I couldn't keep up. It's not intentional or voluntary; but it just happened. When the mind doesn't hit equilibrium no matter how many years you have; you just can't think in a creative fashion.

Until December, work was my priority and then came the welcome break - my vacation. Though it was the busiest I could fathom, keeping me busy every moment and in fact cutting down my online access a lot; for the first time ever in these three years, I'm missing India so much. Somehow, being in my apartment, sitting on the same couch I sat on, a month back is now feeling strange. For the first time in two years I'm feeling lonely; but I'm in no mood to even step out of my apartment. Everything seems just so meaningless and my mind remains turbulent all through the day and even when I sleep. Simple things sound complex, everything seems to be irritating and even movies sound disinteresting! I just hope and pray that I'm out of this phase pretty soon.

Haircut special - part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:42:00 +0000

People who have been reading my blog for a while would know about the great haircut I had back in Mississippi. I had a haircut sometime back here; but that was a typical gentleman crop where the only thing you lose is 15$ and your hair more or less remains the same :D So there was nothing so fancy about it.

But a month and a half later, my hair was back to its terrific form and pretty much resembled a bonsai when uncombed. So, after a loooooooooooong wait (I'd rather call this India special wait as I thought of having this round of haircut back in India during my vacation and in fact, I'd say I've been delaying this more or less like people who grow hair for offering in Tirupati), I finally decided to get my haircut today. Thanks to vadivelu I was smiling while actually laughing my heart out during each phase of the haircut.

Step 1: Explaining what I need

Me: I would like to have a close cut on the sides and back perhaps 2 or 1 and gradually go up to a 3 or 4 or the front, long enough to brush.

Barber (staring as if I said New Delhi is the capital of US): But that will be too short.

Me (mind voice): Idhu adhu la!

Step 2: Barber being courteous

Barber (after trimming my side burns): This is number 3. Is that ok to have it this short?

Me: Doesn't sound that bad! Yeah! (mind voice: avasarappattuttaenao)

Step 3: Mowing

Just before I realized, she shaved off a semicircle from the back of my head.

Me (thinking): Aaahaa! Kelambittaaingayyaa... Kelambittaaingayyaa... I was also reminded of this comedy where vadivelu goes to a hotel and describes how perfectly he wants his ootthappam (for about 5 mins) and the waiter says "Master oru ooooooootthaaaaappam!" in the end.

Step 4: Step cutting

This was the most hilarious phase of the haircut. With all my hair gone more or less like Sethu Vikram, She was trying to trim the hair on the sides with a comb.

Me (thinking): Yeiiiiiiii... Yenna vacchu comedy keemidi pannalayae :D

Step 5: Feedback

Barber: Everything looks ok? (with a broad smile)

Me: Of course! (sarcastic obviously!) (Thinking:) Innum motta adicchu kaadhu kutthiru. Panksan remmmmmba sirappaa nadakkum! :))

So, there I was with a horrible haircut but smiling my a** off; thanks to Vaigai puyal. But one good thing as with all these horror experiences is that I need not think about a haircut for the next couple of months.

Monologue

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:20:00 +0000

What time is it?
3:45 AM

Don't feel sleepy?
Yeah. But not much!

Are you sure?
Kind of... But I feel a bit sleepy too!

Then go on with your sleep!
No... I think I've slept enough. Marinara sauce and vinegar have caused a bit of acid indigestion. Perhaps I should take some Omam and water...

But, you've to brush your teeth!
Is it? Hmm... Let me think... WTF! Let's brush.

Why so yellow?
B-Complex

You look like a mess. Don't you think you need a shave?
It's 4 AM and I should get a shave? Well... why not?

Hmm... Much better. You need a haircut too!
Yeah... But couldn't get one at this hour.

So, what are you going to do now? Write a story perhaps?
Nope.

But you had a few good themes that you wanted to write on...
Yeah... But I'm in no mood for that!

Why not?
I said... NO!

Ok... Extjs?
Uff... Never!

Call someone in India? Home perhaps?
Yeah... Sounds like an idea.

But you didn't pickup your phone!
I know. Just giving it some time. I'm in a leave me alone mood now.

Go online? Orkut perhaps?
No. I don't want to stare at a computer screen now.

A Movie perhaps?
I said, No Computer!

Then what now?
I got an idea. Don't you think this conversation is worth a blog?

But you said you don't want to go online!
Did I? We can always make exceptions. Let me log into Orkut, skim through OI and VM; and then blog about this conversation.

...Silence...
You there? Did you take a look at this post in OI? Someone is having a problem with his Sambar! Should I become the sambar Samaritan now?

...Silence...
Never mind! Let me start blogging...

Birthdays... :)

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:58:00 +0000

I didn't change my Orkut first name, last name for a while and since it reads "Yogaesh blogs regularly", quite often people ask for the quantitative description of "regularly" :) It's indeed been a long break this time; and though I thought of writing about a lot of things - movies I saw, my workload, mood swings, thought process, etc; I never got the time and the yearning to write together. To be more precise, I got both of them a couple of times, but I used those wildcards for continuing with my script which has been on hold for a longer duration than my blog :)

Anyways, today is my birthday and thanks everyone who wished me over mail, phone and Orkut. Unlike the usual b'days where the Indian version would be an early wakeup, sandhyavandhanam, temple visit, semiya paayasam and some sweet words; and the US version would be midnight get together's that last for about an hour or so; this birthday was extremely unique. Only one of my two roomies even knew it was my b'day and I was busy with some project work at midnight. I slept only by 5:45 and that pretty much ruined the rest of my day too. Some of my regular wishers missed my b'day; but I got some pleasant surprises from a few. So it's been a quite unique b'day in a lot of ways. Despite all this, there were a couple of things that this b'day had in common with my other b'days - temple visit and thoughts. The former is nothing new and anyone who know me faintly will be aware of my theistic thoughts; so I'd rather not get into religious philosophies now :)

Coming to the second part, every b'day is a natural alarm that rings in your mind, reminding you about your age and handing over the key to the world of thoughts and retrospection. The alarm has gone off every single year and this b'day was no exception. Career, personal life, relationships, philosophies and a million other things crowd my mind and somehow my mind finds out a way to ponder over every single thought that comes up and give its judgement. My blog would become a trash can if I pour them all out... So let me not do that! :) But this time the processor was quite occupied all through the day; and let's see if these thoughts turn into any positive change :) Fingers crossed in all possible combinations... :D

Across US in two and half days...

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:26:00 +0000

When I first came to US, I had a stupid dream or rather a wish that I should cover all 50 states in the nation before I go back to India for good. I always wanted to do a coast to coast road trip for this purpose and time and again, I couldn't do that partly because of laziness and partly because of practical limitations. But this time, it became a necessity and though it's not technically a coast to coast drive, this 2700 miles drive did take me through a many parts of the nation I've not been to, before.

Ironically, as much as I wanted to do this trip before, I didn't really have the mind to drive all the way this time because of several reasons. First of all, I was driving my own car and I didn't want it to break down or get damaged during the long and almost continuous course. Second, unlike a trip with a group of friends (or at least one good looking girl :D) I had to travel all alone and third, I couldn't really enjoy the trip or halt at different places. I just had to rush from end to end and reach the destination by Saturday (Jul 4th) in the worst case, so that I have a day to relax before I get to work. So as much solitude lover as I am, I thought that the trip wouldn't let me enjoy it.

But the trip eventually turned out to be pretty interesting; and I took away a lot of memories from this trip. Usually I drive at very high speeds and my objective would be to cover the distance in the shortest time possible. But this time, I was averaging 80 miles may be because I'm getting older; or because I was too cautious not to add any more direct/indirect expenses because of speeding :)

Before I talk about anything else about the trip, I should definitely appreciate the US government for building such a neat transportation system. I've travelled about 2700 miles which is more than the distance between Kanyakumari and Kashmir; and this I was able to do without any sort of pre-planning. A printout of the route and I'm all set. I sincerely wish Indian roads were as organized. (Fortunately for us, we have the railways and we could really boast of our rail network :))

The drive through the North-Western states was unbelivable and the scenaries were awesome to say the least. Uploading a few photographs that I managed to click on my way... Wish I had more time to spend clicking. :)

Apart from these, a lot of thoughts/ideas were going on and off in my mind; and to recollect them all or write them in a blog would be an impossible task. But sure enough, I'd say this would be one of the most memorable trips I ever made - thanks to my stallion which was smooth as silk throughout the journey, the police department for not noticing my ocassional speeding :D and of course God for well... everything! :)

An interesting cycle...

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Generally speaking, I hate being institutionalized (courtesy: The Shawshank Redemption :D). I mean, if I'm asked to do the same thing over and over again, in a fixed cycle; then it wouldn't be long before I get fed up with the system and give it up. I'm into once such cycle now but lo and behold! I find it interesting. :)

Let me try to describe the routine...

09:30 AM - Wakeup with (a complete sleepy head and) the faintest interest to do so; and get ready.

10:00 AM - Come over to office and allow the system to take a deep breath and show me the desktop in about 7 minutes and 23 seconds :D

10:07:xx AM through 11:45 AM (xx denotes variable seconds depending on my system's mood and state of mind on any given day) - Complete pending craps if any. Answer stupid questions that come up in office and once through with the whole process, sit down with gmail and orkut. Mostly, my best friends would be online and time flies away.

11:46 AM - 2:00 PM - Power lunch and if possible power nap. (Indha baadi evlo thaangum nu kanakku vacchukkura vaenaamaa naanu :p)

2:01 - 5:00 PM - Repeat the tasks listed under 10:07:xx AM through 11:45 AM. :)

5:01 PM - 6:00 PM - Short nap before the long workout.

6:01 PM - 7:00 PM - Chat with roomies, ensure schedule and get ready.

7:01 PM - 10:00 PM - Volley ball or tennis depending on whether there is a group or just a few.

10:01 PM - 10:30 PM - Get home, take a shower, complete my prayers and start cooking

10:31 PM - 11:15 PM - Cooking and setting up everything for dinner. Meanwhile, make sure a movie is buffered.

11:16 PM - 11:45 PM - Start watching the movie and eat.

11:46 PM - 12:45 AM - Continue watching the movie and have a discussion on the movie.

12:46 AM - xx:xx AM (again xx denotes variable time) - Wonder if I should sleep and stay awake until I get yes as an answer (from within :D)

Now, I know some of u might be fuming reading this schedule :D Don't worry, this won't be on for long and just like all good things come to an end, this will too and that day is not far off (a week away may be ;) :))

Roger that :)

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:07:00 +0000

At last, the champ has managed to conquer clay too... Definitely, he'd be much relieved now and as he said "Now nobody can say he never won French Open" :)

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Nadal is definitely a lot more sportive than him. But when it comes to the game, I can't think of anyone who impressed me as much as Roger. Let me try to think of the top few reasons for this... :)

Alligator spirit:

No matter how the game progresses, he will be hanging around until he breaks in. That's something that defines a champion.

Versatility:

The variety of shots, strategies and game plans he could put to use is just unbelievable.

Style:

Lot of players play the game well, but not everyone gets the style. Even the simplest of his shots will look like the most elegant shot one can play :)

Demoralizing the opponent:

Once he gets his rhythm, I couldn't imagine anyone except Nadal who can handle the pressure. He just blazes through and makes the opponent's life miserable.

Playing full-court:

Unlike many other tennis champions, he can play virtually everywhere in the court with the same level of comfort and dominance. With other players, they remain at the top of their game only in their comfort zone. Nadal for instance, collapsed against Soderling because he was constantly deploying top spins and that was a piece of cake for the opponent given his dimensions.

Painting the line:

The way he hits the ball just along the line (especially with the single handed backhand), pitching just on the baseline is a treat to watch. As simple as it looks, it is an unbelievable shot and one needs enormous control to play that shot. :)

In short, I concur with the statement that he is the greatest tennis player ever! :)

That said, let me a few videos where the champ is at his best... :)

And before moving on to the videos, let me congratulate Leander Paes for winning the doubles cup. Unfortunately, we never publicize that or encourage anyone except cricket players. Let's hope for a positive change just like any other department in the current state of affairs...

I can just keep adding more and more! Let me stop here :D Way to go champ...

A quick catchup...

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:42:00 +0000

Memorial weekend, tennis matches and movies succeeded in keeping me away from blogging for a while and I thought I should just sum up whatever I wanted to write over the past few days.

Haircut:
People who read my blog regularly (or atleast once in a while just so the count would increase a wee bit :D) would know about my haircutting experience here. With the first hair 'mowing' effective for 3 months, I had to trim my hair again; and living in a great metro like Clinton, I had no choice but to go to the same shop again (I should get my clippers and try 'suya sevai' once). This time, I made sure I sat on a different chair; and I did succeed in dodging the big mower :D This lady, a typical red neck seemed to understand my description better; and the way she explained it (just blend it all the way to the top, etc, etc) I believed she would do a better job (nammmmmmmmbi okkaandhaen :D). Everything looked fine until the machine almost reached the centre of my head. I was thinking "aaaahaaa... Wanted a vandhu vaangaayittiyaeda" (digging my own grave); but fortunately she wasn't as dumb as the previous mower. As she set a virtual boundary almost at the center of my head and started playing around, I thought I'd end up in the infamous Beckham style; but she had some soft corner for the right side of my head. So ended up having a cap of hair at the center of my head with my left portion completely mowed and the right portion cut as I wanted it to be. Hmmm... At least I was 50% close to what I wanted. :)

A trip to Arkansas:
Long weekend usually means a trip; and memorial day weekend was not an exception. We were out to the nature state on road and pretty much covered all of Arkansas. Needless to say I took a lot of photographs and I'm trying my hand on post processing now. One of the them turned really well... A pic that looked so ordinary appears exceptional now. Let's see how it goes. Highlights of the trip -
1. Met my friend Karthik after a long time, 2. Rode a boat :) Not a hand motor boat; but a pontoon with a steering wheel. That was fun to say the least, 3. Visited some excellent spots. Usually, we would be going in search of such spots. But the whole Ozark area was splendid when it came to the view points and scenaries. In short, enjoyed the trip. :)

Some movies:
Saw quite a few movies over the past few days... New roomie being a gulte, I was catching up with a few Telugu movies too. Of the ones I watched, I liked Sarvam. It's not an exceptional movie or something; but the concept behind the movie (butterfly effect) was awesome; and it's definitely worth a watch. Newtonin moondraam vidhi was also good; but one should forget logical aspects to watch the movie.

That's all we have for now... Stay tuned as we come back with more updates shortly. (Itthudan indha seidhi arikkai niravadaigiradhu :D)

Hail Democracy!

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Well... I'm not sure how to start this one, to be honest. I just couldn't digest the fact that India has chosen THE WORST party to the nation one more time. 60+ years of independence and the nation has moved from good to bad to worse; completely under the spell of this party; with the heights of its impotence reached on December 26th, 2008. No development whatsoever is possible under (pardon my language here) a bunch of old brats lead by an Italian!

I can keep writing pages and pages about this without any reduction in my irritation; but let me share a few points that are quite interesting and annoying.

1. Election malpractices reached a historic high this time; including rigging, bribing the voters and rejection of electoral rights for lame reasons. For instance, in Madurai (my home town), Tamilnadu; the polling % was 70+ when many of my friends and acquaintances didn't get to vote; and out of that Azhagiri (the corruption king's son) won by a margin of 2 lakh votes (the entire constituency has only 7 lakh voters). Further every home in Madurai was given 500 Rs per vote.

2. The polling % in Mumbai was in the lower 40s. Probable reason - Long weekend; and everyone planned trips to Goa and other nearby spots. In one simple sentence 'Shame on you Mumbaikers'. It's not sufficient to just talk and compose sentimental emails about blasts, insecurity and the loss of lives. What did you actually do to save your butt? Nothing! Even worse, Congress has won all the Mumbai constituencies; while the home minister shrugged his shoulders and told you that he has no idea about the nation's security.

3. I can't think of any improvements in the past 5 years; and in my view this was one of the worst Governments India ever saw. Corruption was at its peak; and in Tamilnadu alone thousands of crores were swallowed by MK and co.

4. Rahul Gandhi, except for his surname has no business whatsoever in Indian politics. IMHO there are a million other deserving youngsters fit to rule India better than him.

5. This is an illustration of how stupid the system of democracy can get. Reminds me of Hitler's lines in Mein Kampf where he says democracy will never allow a great person to raise up to power, purely because of the impedence mismatch between the brilliant few and the masses. This result just testfies every word of that sentence.

In a nutshell, I sincerely hope that the sanity of the Indian masses improves in the future; and that they get out of this silly sentiments of electing a party just because it has been ruling us for a long time. My dad's history book read "India is a developing country" and mine did too; but even if my son's book doesn't read "India is a super power"; let it not read "India is an underdeveloped, poor nation in the clutches of hunger". May God bless Indians and save the country from this destructive path. Jai Hind!

P.S: The ONLY thing I like about this election result is that the commies have got a nasty blow; and they've been castrated this time. At least one news to be happy about. :)

Elections...

noreply@blogger.com (Agni) — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:11:00 +0000

Elections - One term that will be lingering in Indian hearts (at least in those of the politically active/responsible citizens) for the past month or so. With the final phase of elections happening today, the fate of the nation for the next few years would be decided in a few more days.

I'm not a political expert per se; and given that I'm in US now (and that the Indian Govt provides no options for people like me to cast their votes), I don't even have my name in the electoral list. But I just wanted to share a few thoughts about the way things are poised; and I'd also like to take this chance to cross verify my ability to analyze political strategies depending on the similarities/differences between my analysis and the actual proceedings.

Congress doesn't have anything to boast of as an achievement save the fact that a puppet PM compelted his term and that they signed the nuclear deal. Whether the deal is good or not in itself is a mystery and a highly debatable topic. That said, the Govt has a lot of negatives against it, primarily lack of internal security and absolutely no development whatsoever. In Tamilnadu, its allies (DMK) have taken corruption to a new level and they are setting role models for how one family can loot thousands of crores of taxpayer's money by controlling and distributing power among its members.

So does that mean the BJP will sweep the polls? Definitely not. Several reasons can be attributed for this fact. 1. Single party majority is almost becoming out of question in the current decade. 2. National parties, though known across the nation, aren't particularly strong in all states. Classic example being Tamilnadu; where the the Dravidian parties take the lead role in controlling politics. 3. The pseudo secular media (almost all the Indian news channels are under this category) and parties have always tried to portray BJP as some Hindu fanatic organization that will gun down everyone from the minority if it comes to power.

Personally I feel (1) is going to be the deciding factor in this election. BJP doesn't have a real strong alliance in the southern parts of India; and almost in all four states save Karnataka (where BJP actually commands some vote bank) BJP is almost deserted. In the north, I feel BJP will do quite well especially in states where it is in power. Even otherwise, there isn't anything that prevents people from voting for BJP; unlike congress that has a bunch of negatives tailing it. So assuming that the BJP does well in the north, all it needs is some solid support from the southern states; and I believe they have a plan in place - the third front. The third front in my view, is more or less like a short term parking place and honestly speaking, it has absolutely no sense in it because the parties cannot contribute to each other in anyway! So the whole point of the third front is to get some MP seats and then trade them on either sides depending on individual interests and profits.

That said, ADMK in TN and TDP in AP are likely to join the NDA; and the notable point there is BJP didn't even contest in many constituencies just to make sure that the anti-congress, anti-DMK vote is not split. With ADMK+ winning a large number of seats in TN; and TDP winning at least 50% seats in AP, added to the fact that BJP itself will get something out of Karnataka, the party doesn't really need to struggle very hard to cross the magic number. If at all my assesssment is right, Advani has taken this political game into a new level of post-election competition, which is kind of new to our setup. The party is seemingly very weak in the south (encouraging the opponents and giving them a relaxed mindset); and down the line when everything is finalized, all the silence might pay off and the lotus might bloom in the center. Let's wait and watch :)