Peppy Talk

Travel Industry Meet - Call for volunteers / founders

2011-11-27T17:10:00.001+05:30

What constitutes travel industry?

Airlines, hotels, cruises, rail, bus, car, attractions, packages, leisure markets, transportation, logistics -- All these constitute travel industry.

You are part of travel industry at your work? Then, this post is primarily for you. Whether you are a developer, tester, business analyst, project manager or any role - doesn't matter. Read on.

How many travel industry related forums / conferences you have attended in India? Taking a step back, how many such forums / conferences actually exist? As far as I am aware of, there is "Eye For Travel" that happens once in a year, for which the entry fee is Rs 25, 000. Affordable? Depends. But, don't we need many such conferences that keep happening at regular intervals for FREE or at an affordable cost?

I was thinking deep - How about starting a travel industry meeting platform in Bangalore?

But, why to start something like this?

First things first - its NOT for money. This conference will run like an NGO / non-commercial, its written on stone. Then what's this all about? Its about knowing your work industry (travel in this case) better, simple. We can meet people with varied domain knowledge, with varied technology, working in different travel domain companies, with a third dimension thought process, with out of the box ideas, we can organize travel industry experts talk show, product idea showcases, networking and many more.

At a high level, what I visualize is this: Lets form a team of volunteers, this team will run the show. In the conference - we can have say 10 travel industry speakers of varied skill sets, invite travel enthusiasts to attend it, we can have stalls (in which they can showcase their products) from travel industry company. We can call for innovative ideas well before the event - screen them, handpick the winners - reward them and ask them to demo it or explain it on day of conference. And, ALL these are going to be run by the team of volunteers.

Am sure every person in this organizing team is going to be a full-time employee. So, are we going to spend office time doing this? NO. We need to dedicate our free time / weekend for this. But, what YOU as an organizer is going to benefit from this? Yeah, I heard you. Organizing something of this magnitude isn't easy. To invite 10 elite travel domain speakers - you have to shortlist at least 50 speakers first. This simply means, your networking of travel domain people increases by many folds. You as an organizer get to know these people a bit close, this always helps professionally. This is just one, and there are many other benefits that I would leave it to you to think about.

So, that's what it is at a high level. You get the idea.

What's next? By now you would have got a glimpse of this conference idea. Remember - even the name for this event isn't finalized - its an yet to be born baby. If this interests you and would like to be in the organizing or founding team - please write to me at dkarthickprabu@gmail.com or give me a call at +91 9535-041-561, lets discuss and take it forward asap. If you aren't interested - please share this post in your twitter, facebook, email and let your friends know about it so that they can be benefited from this.

Input Output Solutions - For College Final Year Projects - Thumbs Up!

2011-11-11T17:50:00.001+05:30

One of my friend's bro wanted to do a final year project in IT. I was referred by an another friend about Input Output Solutions that's in Chennai. I googled and got the company contact information. Had a chance to accompany my friend and his bro to the office in Thiruvanmiyur.

After a brief intro on the offerings (final year project), they took us on a office walkthrough. Was really surprised and impressed to see many final year students teaming and working on projects. Few were at the whiteboards, few at the computers, few at the office couch discussing about projects. Could hear words like - "QR Codes, Android based apps, iOS based apps, making Ubuntu as mobile platform OS". Was really surprised to see the enthusiasm of the students in exploring the IT sector.

Also noticed the staffs who was helping the project teams by providing solutions and being in their shoes. Overall, I felt very pumped up after being to this company. A dedicated system with 24/7 broadband computer, technical staff for giving ideas and guidance, a floor full of final year students discussing and implementing projects - a great atmosphere for product innovation. How I wish I had something like this during my final year in Engineering.

For all students who are in their final year and looking for a good place to do your final year project with proper guidance and documentation - Input Output Solutions is the place.

Facebook's UI Design Mantra

2011-09-24T20:43:00.001+05:30

Disclaimer: This is an imaginative post.

This post is about Facebook. I don't have to give any introduction to Facebook, given the fact that nowadays as soon as a baby is born, they first name the baby and immediately create a Facebook account. Note: The baby name would be finalized through a "Poll" in Facebook even before the baby was born, that's a different story.

I am pretty sure you would have noticed the frequent design changes in Facebook. Every design change leaves the user confused. Agree? No? please agree (for the sake of this post). Ever wondered how Facebook changes their site layout? This is how it is done:

Original Design

After a design change

User Reactions

What Apple could do to the U.S

2011-09-10T20:02:00.001+05:30

Disclaimer: This post is purely imaginary and just for fun. Nothing in this post is true. Any resemblance to an existing person/company/anything is purely coincidental :)

Let it begin.

By now, everyone would have read the fact that US government has USD 73.8 B cash in hand as compared to Apple's USD 76.2 B (as on Jul 28 2011). Given this fact, what all can happen? Read below:

1. Let Apple govern the the United States government

2. Apple's board of director - Head, Steve Jobs can become the President of US. This presidential oath
ceremony can be done in the "Keynote" style. No videos allowed. Only packed 5000 power journalists.

3. Apple can rename the US to "iUS". Whenever the iUS bounces back from an economic slowdown, Steve can call the iUS as "iUS 1.0", "iUS 2.0", "iUS 3.0" and talk about them as Keynotes. The timeline of these updates could also be kept in sync with the iOS updates.

4. A permanent resident of US is identified by his/her Green Card. That can be replaced with "owning an Apple product". You own an iPod Nano? You can become an iUS Citizen.

5. SSN (Social Security Number) can be replaced with "Apple ID" that you use to sign-in to App Store. So, when you file your tax - you give them your Apple ID. Simple.

6. All Adobe offices in the US can be moved out of the country. There by ensuring iUS does not have any Flash company in it.

7. All 50 States of the US in the Map to be reshaped to look like the iPhone/iPad App shape. Refer the iUS Map below.

8. Remember the "Home" button in iPhone? You have to reach the Home button to goto other Apps. Similarly, Sao Palto (Home location of Steve) will be the Home button for iUS.

9. All App Store buildings in the US can be converted into "Grievance Centers" where citizens can walk-in and report their problems. A "Grievance App" can be available for download from the App Store for FREE. By default, citizens problem can be solved in < 1 week. If citizens want their problems to be solved in 2 days, then download the "Advanced Grievance App" for 0.99$.

10. The sky region in entire US can be renamed as "iCloud", there by the hurricanes can be named "iKatrina", "iPaloma" etc

11. You cross the speed limit / bypass a traffic signal / break traffic rule - you will be given a ticket in the US. But, in iUS - the next version of iOS updates will be blocked for your Apple ID. All upgrades are blocked. When you try to upgrade, you get this error - "No Apple for you." [in style with "No Donuts for you" in Orkut]. All of your Apple products will be downgraded to previous version. If you own iPhone 4, that will be retrieved from you and given an iPhone 3G. And, this downgrade continues for every mistake you make. If you keep making mistakes, all your products will be downgraded and at the worst case you will not have any Apple product and you are no more an iUS Citizen.

12. Last but not the least - people who jailbreak can be sent to jail.

The Fear of Death

2010-12-11T09:15:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer: This is just my thought, not an advice from me and I am not going to die :)

Yes, I fear death. I accept.

Sometimes, I take a step back in life and think - "What happens after I die?". This single question triggered a torrent of unrelated questions for which there are no answers. What happens to the soul that powers my body? I will never be sure that I will have a rebirth to see this world again. Even if I get a rebirth, will I still get THIS current life? I cannot be physically and mentally be present with my loved ones, they will be lost forever from me. The entire world shuts down for me. My website, my social media presence will remain forever with friends writing "Rest in peace KP" in my scrapbook/wall and there will never be a reply from me. My GTalk will permanently have "Offline" as status. I know how much it pains when I see one of my friend as "Offline" in my GTalk, as soon as I see that name all the happy moments I spent with that person runs in my mind in a second. I know my friends and family will also feel the same. There will be someone in family to take care and preserve all the things that I used. Will I be an invisible soul watching all these?

Above insane thoughts brings some sane thoughts as well. As Chetan Bhagat rightly said, "Everyone's life is like a prepaid sim card with limited validity". How I am and what I do in this validity period is THE thing. I have read enough forward mails/sms saying "If today is your last date in this life, do this do that blah blah". A person can't practically act this way, but s/he can always have the thought that there is a validity and act accordingly. But, what is acting accordingly - To do the things that is pending in mind for years/months/weeks/days, to live a life with no hatred, to live life with a person of your choice (a person missed in this lifetime is missed forever), to go ahead and buy that thing that you stopped from buying considering the cost, to do the thing that you stopped from doing considering the society, to think life as a game and enjoy playing it.

Now, read the disclaimer again please.

Tamil Heroes Requesting For 1 Day Leave

2010-11-19T15:23:00.004+05:30

I was just thinking - how will Tamil heroes ask for 1 day leave to their managers if they are working in a (IT) company. Just an imaginative dialogue.

Ajith: Sarithiratha konjam thirupi paarunga, naama vaazhanumna, ethana naal venumnaalum leave edukalam. Athu!!

Dhanush: Dhivya... leave kudu dhivya.. dhivya.. please ma..please.. one day leave kuduma.

Kamal: Mr. I G R Maarar… unga project management control la irukura project la ye naan anju edathula code eh comment panniten. Neenga enaku oru naal leave kudukala na naan oru oru code ah check in panniduven.

Captain: Oru varushathukku naan 300 naal obbice varren, weekendu kooda vara solreenga, athu oru 25 naal, night out podren…athu mothan 40 naal….aagamotham naan varusathukku 365 naal vela seiyuren. English la enaku pidikaatha ore wordu 'leave' thaan da.. enaku vidumurai kudu da.

Madhavan: Naan leave edukanum nu ninaikala, ooru suthanum nu ninaikala...aana ithellam nadanthidumo nu bayamairku. Leave kudu Shakthi.

Karthi: Enna maamaa.. sowkiyama… Enaku ore oru aasa thaan. Oru naal mattum leave kudu.. naan andha central jail munnadi utkaandu jammun oru photo edukanum… athu adutha naal pathrikai la varanum.

Vijay: Anna…vanakam na… oru nimisham….ore oru naal thane leave kekuren.. ennangana neenga ithuku poiye. ada pongana leave kudungana

Simbu: Ava Avan love panradhuku America ve poran naan Allepy porathuku leave kekuren. Indha ulagathula ethanayo company irundhum naan yen indha leave kudukaatha company eh choose panninen? Aaaromale…

Satyaraj: Ennama kannu… naan oru naal thane leave keten, kuduka maatengra, unaku Alwa kuduthaan saripattu varuva. En character eh purinjuka maatengriye ne...

TR: Yeyy dosai ku araipaanga maavu, nee yen katchiye vittu vera katchiku thaavu, un veetla vilum saavu, yen thangachiye paaka ponum nee enaku kudu da leavu.

Rajini: Naan oru thadava leave keta, 100 thadava leave keta maathiri. Indha kathiye neeye edutha nee leave kuduthuta, naan edutha naane leave eduthupen. Kathiye nee edukiriya naan edukatuma?

Surya: Hi sir, I am Krishnan, naan idha soliye aaganum….. naan idhuku munnai ippadi oru manager eh paarthathae illa… I am in leave with you. Munthidam leave eduthene innikum leave kekurene….

I like Surya and Simbu's dialogue the best. Was laughing my head out while writing it.

"Our Life Is A Prepaid Card With Limited Validity" - Chetan Bhagat

2010-05-10T22:22:00.004+05:30

I received the following content in a 'forward mail'. Actually, these are few lines in a speech given by Chetan Bhagat at Symbiosis. I have read N number of forward mails in 10 years, but, nothing have created an impact like CB's lines. Loved every word of the below content. Worth copy pasting here for many people to read.

Don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.

There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

"Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up?

It's ok, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, fall in love, little fights with your spouse. We are people, not programmed devices.

"Don't be serious, be sincere."

Going Green, Improving Infrastructure: Awareness Is The Key

2010-04-04T09:07:00.008+05:30

Turn the clock two months back. I was at Shanti Nagar Bus Stop (Bangalore) to board my KSRTC Bus to goto Chennai. Clock read 10 PM. Bus departure time is 10.30 PM. I booked the ticket online at KSRTC website. Had a really busy day, so forgot to take printout of the ticket. I thought I can open the booking confirmation email in my iPhone and show it to the conductor. I waited for the 10.30 PM bus. It came at 10PM. I was happy.

Conductor announced the boarding. I walked straight to him and told him that I didn't take print out as I was really busy. Here goes the conversation between me and Conductor (exact words)

KP: Sir, is this the 10.30 PM bus?
Conductor (Con): Yes
KP: Eemm... I forgot to take print out of the ticket. But, I have the booking email in my phone...and.....
Con: (interrupts me) I need the print out.
KP: Sir, but I have the exact booking page in my phone. See here (I show him the booking confirmation page)
Con: Hmm.. But, I need the print out.
KP: Ok, you can also check whether my name is in your travelers list. My name is Karthick Prabu. I used my PAN card to book it online.
Con: (He checks the list) hmmm.. your name is there and your PAN number is... (says the number)
KP: Yes, you are correct. That's my PAN number. See, this is my PAN card (I show him my card)
Con: But, I need the print out, else you can't travel today.
( I was very irritated and pissed by his ignorance)
KP: Sir, tell me what you are going to do with the print out ticket.
Con: I will see it, verify it and circle your seat number and give it to you.
(I became furious)
KP: That's it?
Con: Yes
KP: Ok sir, but you can do all these in my phone itself. Here, you can see the full ticket page itself. This is exactly it will look in paper. Printing this is a waste of page.
Con: But, I need the print out.
KP: Fine, is there a browsing center near by? I am new to this area. I will get the print out.
Con: Its 10'o clock. So, all centers are closed. You can't get any print out.
KP: See you are saying that no browsing center is open now and you are asking a print out.
Con: But, see others are showing me the print out ticket.
KP: Sir, please, consider this phone ticket. I really need to goto Chennai tonight.
Con: No, I need print out.
KP: Please sir, you should help me.
Con: I need print out. Now move, other passengers are coming.
(I am done with this guy)
KP: Hey, fine. Give me a new ticket. Book me a seat. I will pay for it. Tell me how much is the booking price. You are making me pay and buy a ticket which I have already bought. I know how to deal with you.
Con: Sir....I am not forcing you to buy. I need print out ticket.
(a near by passenger walks towards me)
Passenger (to me): Brother, I was listening to you till now. Why do you want to buy another ticket. Take this road, walk straight for 5 mins, left of the road is a browsing center, take print out.
KP: Thank you man.
(I ran to the browsing center, took print out, paid Rs 10/-)
KP: Hello, here is the print out.
Con: Ok
(He circles my seat number and gives it back to me)

While sitting at my seat, I was thinking what to do with these guys. India is talking about going green, improving infrastructure, curbing deforestation etc. But, here we have a guy working for the government who says only 2+2 is 4 and 1+3 is NOT 4. I realized that educating people towards all these initiatives (of going green etc) is the first step towards achieving it.

24Cricket.com: Result of Typing Fast

2010-03-12T21:02:00.001+05:30

I was watching the live score of the first IPL 2010 match, KKR Vs DC, in www.24cricket.com. When I read the post (refer the red compounded area in screenshot), I was confused what 24cricket.com is try to convey. I was confused who is batting. Their post title says, DC elects to bat and the description says DC elects to field. Let me wait and see when they are correcting this error in their site.

This reminds me of the scene in "Chennai 28" movie where Premji asks "So, we won the toss. Are we going to bowl or field?" :)

KSRTC Bus Booking: Giving Birth In Bus!

2010-03-05T17:55:00.001+05:30

Context: I was trying to book a bus ticket in KSRTC from Bangalore to Chennai.

KSRTC gave me 4 options. See the above screenshot. All is fine. But, they have not given description on the terms - “Lower Birth”, “Upper Birth” :) I can interpret in many different ways that will get censored in my brain itself.

KSRTC, please change the spelling guys.

‘How to Google’ – In Google

2010-03-05T17:45:00.001+05:30

Can we call this height of stupidity? The search term “how to google” is being googled in google for 549,000,000 times :)

Website of a Chennai Auto Driver

2010-01-22T16:12:00.005+05:30

I was browsing my FaceBook account and found a very interesting status update from my friend Jaggy. The status update is about a website being owned by an Auto driver in Chennai. The site is: http://www.tuktastic.com

First of all, I salue Samson for thinking out of the box. ie., coming out of his hardcore profession of driving an auto and making a presence in web.

The content in the site is really good. Anyone who want to tour Chennai will give him a call for sure. I like the thought of organizing the site into different sections that talk about what you can do in Chennai. In every section, he makes a statement that he can guide / take / suggest / help in doing anything the customer wants. One more salute.

Above all, he never calls his vehicle as Auto. He calls it 'Tuk-Tuk', this is cute. This relates to the tuk-tuk sound the tuk-tuk makes :) Nice thought Somson. Now you are one among the group that make Chennai proud.

Crazy Wishlist

2010-01-22T09:22:00.004+05:30

Anyone will want to earn money in an easy way as possible :P Here is my crazy wishlist to earn money. I wish somebody pays me for doing the following from morning to night:

Enjoy Twitter through out the day. I love reading the tweets of the people whom I follow. Its as refreshing as drinking a strong coffee.

Enjoy FaceBook through out the day. The funny, meaningful, leg-pulling status messages and comments are the best part. Esp, the comments, Oh my god, you could see one's creativity in the comment section. But, a few are spoiling the fun by 'like'ing these type of status - "Got up now", "Going to office", ".....". F The W.

Listen to songs non-stop. When I am down, listening to songs make me feel really better. When I am in super excited mood, listening to songs make me feel like I own the entire earth and 100 girls surrounding me :P

Travel. Yes, travel from anywhere to anywhere. Traveling always keeps me high. New place, new people, new culture, new pictures, new food, what else one needs to make life interesting.

Watch new movies in iNox with Tomato-chilly-popcorn in one hand and Sprite in another. Wow, what an experience. The last time I did this was at Avatar 3D @ iNox Jayanagar.

Dinner'ing @ Kebab Magic. Whichever country I go and eat whatever food, Indian food beats them all and Ranks No. 1 in my mind. Esp, the combination of Chicken Shawarma Roll + Chicken Tikka Roll + Grape Juice in Kebab Magic is mindblowing. I enjoy every second of eating it :) Sometimes I say "aahh haa.....aaah haa chance ae illa" while eating this combination.

Blogging. My favorite. My darling. There is some kind of happiness when a post receives a comment (be it +ve or -ve), when people follow the blog, subscribe to it, discuss about it. I do have lot of Blog friends. Have never thought Blogosphere will be this much fun.

P.S: Lets get connected in FaceBook, Twitter. The "Peppy Connect" widget is in the right side.

The Great Indian Arranged Marriages

2010-01-08T11:36:00.003+05:30

Most of the marriages that happens in India, specifically Tamil Nadu (:P) is 'Arranged'. Fact is: Many people like love marriages, but because of so MANY factors the poor youths have no other choice other than settling for an arranged marriage. I am NOT saying arranged marriages are bad and love marriage is great, not at all. That is totally different and debatable topic. This post is all about: What all happens in a typical arranged marriage. Please don't take it serious :) Please Please.

Arranged marriage is a 4 step process.

Phase 1: Project Opening Ceremony / Initiation

Scenario A: Broom House..oh sorry, "Groom's House"
Typically when the guy is at 26 or so, a popup reminder flashes in the parents brain and auto-snoozes every month. The reminder will say: Your son has reached the marriage age, start looking.

Scenario B: Bridge House.. oh sorry, "Bride's House"
When the girl is 21 or so, the same reminder flashes in the parents brain, but snoozes daily, that’s the difference.

Parents decide to take steps to get their son/daughter married. First step is to inform their closest relative that they have decided to get their son/daughter married. Parents will be all happy on that day, they will not sleep on that night. What they will do without sleeping - Dreams. They dream about the bride/groom, where and when to have marriage, whom all to invite, post-marriage activities etc. Their life never stays the same after this day. They communicate this decision to their son/daughter, and you could see them blush, but they won't express it out. Natural. Understood. Fine.

Phase 2: Project Kick-Off
Parents ask the son/daughter about the expectation from them. This expectation requirement will be communicated to that closest relative and few others as well. Mobile phones usage goes to the peak during this definition period. "You know, my son needs a girl of 5'10" height, beautiful, working, especially in IT, should be working in a company where she gets bonus every year, increment every year, modern blah blah and blah" and the list goes on and on till Vodafone cuts the call. All the brokers will be in high demand during this period and will be in full swing action. Parents will schedule for daily status update with all the brokers, closest relative, closestt relative, closesttt relative.

Phase 3: Project Implementation
In this phase, the beneficiaries are photo studios. They make good business by offering marriage-photo-package. I know a studio in Chennai that charge 5K+ for few marriage snaps. What’s next? Yes, all the brokers receive a copy of the photograph on the same day. The courier companies also make good business. The parents start seeing the photos of bride/groom. This first round is called “Photo-Screaming” round. Only at this time, their vision will be extra powerful and crystal clear, even the Sankara Nethralaya doctors cannot assure such a clear vision. The subtle points on the looks will be promptly noted by parents and they reject photos one-by-one. The photo that they think is the best goes to the second round, it’s called the "Astro-Mastro" round. In this round, the family Astrologers are invited to the house and the paper in which the squares are drawn in random (called Horror-scope) is given to the Astrologer. He looks at it and tells loud all the planets name he remembers – “Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Uranium, Benzene, Chlorine etc and etc should come in one line, the day it comes, the marriage can happen”. Also, the astrologer compares the Horror-scope of girl and boy and gives a comprehensive review and a match score card. If the score is more than 70% then the Astro declares that the couples are a perfect match. Don’t be surprised if the Astrologer says the score as “268 for 3 wickets” if he is a cricket fan. The next round is the “Desktop-Background-Verification” round. In this round, the parents hire a secret agency as freelancers, that’s their relatives. The message passed to them is “try to find out whether the boy/girl is of good character, no bad habits, their wealth, health, etc”. The secret agency feels proud of this assignment ad in-turn outsource the work to many small groups. I really don’t understand what these secret agents will do. After a week, these agents send a report to the parents. The probability of these reports to be at least 5% correct is ZERO. Parents asses the details like as if they are reading Gita / Kuran / Bible. If this round is also cleared, then this indicates the completion of the Technical round, now it’s the HR round that will be conducted by the son/daughter. “What is the name, education, work details, date of birth, height, hobbies” – few questions asked by the HR, that’s the son/daughter. Parents don’t answer these questions, instead they show a white sheet in which all these details are documented, the Marriage Resume. If the person fails to clear the HR round, then the parents start the Technical Round afresh with the “Photo-Screaming” round. Point to note is – HR interview happens by not seeing / talking to the candidate, that’s the rule of the project set by the project managers (parents).

When the person clears HR round too, it’s time to initiate the joining formalities, that’s the time to talk about marriage. Boys side parents, relatives and the boy go to the girl house for the 1st time. They are treated with Kg and Kg of sweets, some special dishes which the girl’s mom have tried for the first time. Irrespective of the taste of the food / sweet / un-named dish, the boy side says it’s the best food item they have ever had; the digestive system manager hears this from inside of the body and just cries and the person immediately asks “where is the loo”. The girl usually comes after the parents called her name “name_of_person come come”. The girl comes with dozens of coffee tumblers (even though there are only 2 people from the boy side) with her eye sight perpendicular to the ground. While serving coffee to the boy, there is a 2-second extra wait deliberately made by the girl. All four eyes meet. Romance. A full length Manirathnam movie with AR Rehman score completes in 2 seconds. Boy like girl and vice-versa. Boy asks parent “can I talk to the girl for sometime”. The parents react as if they heard “can I goto Bombay and do a sex-change operation” and immediately stare and say “No”. Pity the boy, also the girl. The talks like – date of marriage, place, budget etc are discussed and they come to a mutual agreement by exchanging two copper vessels in which saree, flowers, fruits are kept. This is the “Sar-Flo-Fru-Treaty”. Everyone puts the first gear and moves ahead for marriage related work. Marriage happens.

Phase 4: Project Maintenance
Post-Marriage!

Too Much Of Anything Is Good For Nothing: Technology

2010-01-05T09:46:00.004+05:30

Birthday wishes, passing messages, playing pranks have taken a new dimension in this 21st century. The preferred mode of wish - in person, telephone, letter, email, pigeon, anything else?. But, the TV and FM media came out with a mind-blowing concept of wishing for birthdays through TV and FM. This is the height.

For the benefit of people who haven't been gifted to watch / hear these programmes:
There is a FM programme where in people can wish others on any occasion / pass a message. This is how it works: Lets say there are two people - A and B. A calls the RJ (the one hosting the programme) and tells the phone number of his friend / relative(B). Then the RJ dials in B. Now, A, B and RJ are in conference. Now, A passes a message to B. The message will be like - say Hi to your dad, How is your new shirt, Are you coming to Vijaya Hotel tonight for dinner?A can also wish B for whatever occasion. Then the call is closed. The RJ feels proud as if he closed the deal between India and Pakistan on Kashmir. There is a TV programme that does the same thing explained above in FM station.

What is this? Guys (the ones involved in these programmes), don't you have brains? Common sense? If you want to wish a person, why not to call them directly? Do you need a middle-man even in this? There are people who listen / watch these programmes, that's the best part :)

Operation Eunuch

2010-01-04T21:41:00.006+05:30

How many of you have felt irritated when an Eunuch stands right in front of you and demands money? Ok, I can hear you screaming "Me, Me, Me!". Hands down.

Sometimes the way they demand money from us make us think for a second that we are debtors to them. Why should we give money to them without any reason?

Eunuchs have specific location in Bangalore (JP Nagar Phase 6) where they roam in gang of 5+ and loot every individual who is waiting in the traffic signal. Also, you could easily notice an Eunuch demanding money in the Chennai - Bangalore train. You can even forget your train ticket, but don't forget to carry 5 or 10 rupees with you to 'donate' it to Eunuch. Long live the E's.

Last week, I was waiting in the JP Nagar 6th phase signal.

Eunuch (E): Give money.
KP: Huh?
E: Take money (lends out her (err..his?) hand and almost reaching my shirt pocket)
KP: Wait, I don't have change
E: Give me the money, I will give you change
KP: Ohh..hmm... I already gave money to another person. (there were 4-5 Eunuchs conducting a mass raid on the public, probably they should join Income Tax department)
E: Don't lie bhayya
KP: I'm serious. I already gave money.
E: (she calls another E, lets name the person E9)
(E9 arrives on spot)
E to E9: Did he give money?
E9: (Looks at me) Hmmm.... NO!
(My heart stopped, I can't manage one Eunuch only. Now, there are two Eunuchs right in front of me)
KP: I gave money to another person, not to this person.
E: Today is Jan 1st, first day of the year. Don't lie.
KP: I gave.

Signal was Green and without giving anything I escaped.

Long back, I was traveling in the Bangalore Express Train from Chennai to Bangalore. I was reading a book - "The Google Story". For the first time in life, a teenage girl sat right in front of me in my compartment. Train started. I was fully into the book. Suddenly, there was a clapping sound and heard the jingles of the bangles. I looked up for a second and immediately put my head down in reflex. Eunuchs arrived. Time for damage I thought. Since then I was acting as if I was reading the book by placing my forehead parallel to the train floor, but my mind was thinking whether the E's will come to me and demand money and create a scene there by embarrassing me in front of the teenage girl. And in the next second, it happened. The scenes I imagined were executed perfectly by the E's. They walked straight down to ONLY me and placed their hand on my book. I felt yuck. Gave Rs 10/-. Don't know for what. Was really embarrassed.

Again, the same question - Why should anyone give money without any reason? Soft terrorism?

Five Point Someone --> 3 Idiots. Which came first? Answer is simple!

2009-12-31T13:44:00.008+05:30

Now, almost everyone know that the Hindi movie "3 Idiots" is a movie version of the paper book "Five Point Someone" (FPS).

Now, a question for all of you - Who is the author of the book FPS? Answer: Chetan Bhagat

Yet another, When was this book released? Answer: 2004

This being the fact, the makers claim 3 Idiots is an original story. I am an ardent fan of Chetan. Come on, FPS is his kid. The DNA of the book belongs to Chetan. No one can / should claim false credit. But, strangely, the "3 Idiots" did.

Please read, Chetan Bhagat's view on this issue here: http://www.chetanbhagat.com/blog/general/a-book-a-film-and-the-truth

Anger: Extension of Anniyan, Unnai Pol Oruvan

2009-12-30T11:39:00.004+05:30

This post is an extension of the Tamil movies "Unnai Pol Oruvan" and "Anniyan". These two movies deal with the hero's(Kamal Haasan, Vickram, resply) anger towards the society in general.

I am cool at most of the time. Sometimes, I get very angry in the below mentioned circumstances. I get angry when -

i see a food item that was priced Rs 30 earlier (a year back), now costs Rs 100. The same applies with – Cinema tickets, house rents, land rates. All credits to Software Engineers. Anyone disagree?

airtel introduces the ‘Unlimited GPRS for mobile’ plan in a week and withdraws the plan in same week. This has happened at least 5 to 10 times I think.

i don’t get the 50 paisa, 1 rupee or 2 rupee change from Bus Conductors and Auto-walas. Alternatively, if we give 50 paisa or 1 rupee less than what they charge, they don’t accept it.

i ask for Aalo Parantha at Upahara Sagar (@ Bangalore) and the in-charge refuses to give Chutney (that I see in a 100 cm diameter container right in front of eyes) and says pointblank “We give only some gravy with Aalo Parantha. Won’t give chutney!”

i buy an item (say 250 ml Maaza drink) inside a Bus Stand for price higher than MRP. I got a water bottle for Rs 25, MRP was Rs 20. I showed that to the shop owner @ Koyambedu Bus Stand (Chennai) and told him “don’t sell like this to a honest lawyer, (s)he will sue you”. The reply I got is – Sir, this shop is inside bus stop, that’s why costly.

i open the gate door of my house compound at 2 AM and my house owner switches ON the compound light and gives me a dirty look like she has seen a thief. What the hell, I pay my rent, does it matter what time I enter my home? After all, I am a Software Engineer. Again, anyone disagree?

i think every month that at least for this month I will not have any expense and I end up spending all my month’s salary by mid-month itself.

my mobile broadband disconnects automatically without any reason when I am downloading something important.

i see a dirty restroom.

i think I have got the best deal for a product that I purchased from a store and I see another store selling at super cheap rate for the same product. Cheated!

i browse the TV Channels and all I see is TV Serials in which one slaps another OR a crying scene OR a depressing demeaning black hole sad scene

people have “Busy” status ALWAYS in their GTalk. Few of my friends do this :) Really want to know how anyone in this world can be Busy 24 x 7 x 365. Waiting for Dec 21st 2012 :P

the traffic cop catches people for silly reasons whenever they need money and says “take the RC book, driving license, insurance papers”. I have seen ‘N’ number of incidents in Chennai.

the media overplays an unimportant news just to create a hype or fill their news hour.

i see news like “Ranbir Kapoor is the sexiest man now, a latest survey says” in the Headlines. Come on, is this really a news that deserve the Headlines?

my house maid promises to clean my house twice a week and comes only twice a month.

i see people disobey the traffic rules.

i see idiots who honk from the back when there are vehicles in front of mine and the signal is also RED.

i see people dress shabbily and everyone could see everything. Upto you to imagine what this line means.

i see people fight and die just because their name is not mentioned in a wedding invitation.

i see people spend tens of lakhs on a wedding.

It's not the complete list. These are top of my mind points.

Avatar, Bavatar, Vivatar

2009-12-22T22:08:00.006+05:30

Talk of the town....oops.... Talk of the world is now - "AVATAR", a great movie by the Titanic fame director James Cameroon. But, this post is not a review of Avatar. This morning, I got a forward mail in which the Avatar poster was morphed. There are two great 'legends' in Tamil and Telugu cinema industry. They are namely Dr. Vijay and Baalaiya (not sure whether he is a Doctor). The morphed pictures had these two in it. Here it is. Credit goes to the creator of these images.

Yeppa :)

2009-12-11T14:53:00.008+05:30

Paa - A movie that made an impact among audience right from its posters / stills. The reason was - Amitabh's getup. Honestly, I didn't realize it was Amitabh until I read the details. All that is fine. Happy that Paa is running successfully.

This morning, I opened my mailbox and I found a morphed still of Paa in a mail. The photo had TR Rajendran as 'Paa' and Simbu as son. Who will not laugh on seeing this picture. Oh my god, I can't stop laughing. Whoever has done this work - Good creativity. Esp, TR getup is mindblowing. If this really happens in a Tamil movie, I will watch it first day first show no matter what.

For people who don't know who TR Rajendran is - Please goto YouTube and type "TR Comedy" in the search box. Your life will turn colorful after that.

Source Of Interest: Season 1

2009-10-14T15:15:00.008+05:30

Claps! Drum rolls! This is the 100^th post in Peppy Talk. I am so happy J This special post was in my mind for the past 2-3 months, but I had put a speed breaker for it to be the 100^th post. In our life, we do / perform many tasks either by your own instinct / would have inspired by someone. How many times you had liked a song only after listening to a particular singer sing it? How many times you had watched a movie after listening to a animated review by your friend? These were few of the actions that I am talking about. I am no exception. I have also done the same. In the recent past (1.5 years), I have been capturing the actions that I picked up after seeing / being influenced by others. I have been noting it down as and when I do a task. The following are the list of actions that I picked up and the people behind it:

Blog

The mere reason of existence of www.kprabu.com. I have always listened to Vishwanath Surendiran (Ex-MindTree Mind, IIM B Grad as of now) about his blog writing tactics / blog-related-topics. This happened in 2008. This was the trigger to have my own blog.

This blog is still alive and healthy because of Vinay Kudithipudi (Director – IT Global Ops, TravelCLICK). He is one of the busiest person I have seen. I thought – If Vinay has the time to blog, then I should definitely have the time to blog. My blog post numbers that plunged during 2008-Nov-Dec was back into full swing after seeing this person’s blog. You might also read THIS.

Monopoly Game

November 2008. Ezhilarasan Natarajan (Associate Director IMS, MindTree) invited bunch of friends in Schaumburg to his house for the Thanksgiving dinner. After the dinner, we decided to play Monopoly game. I had played this game when I was in 6^th std, was not interested after that. But, this time when I played the game with 7-8 friends of mine, I was so damn interested and was fully into it. I loved the game. Game continued for three hours, till 1.30 AM. We decided to close the game, I had the highest asset. From then on, I nudged my friends continuously to play Monopoly. One such game started at 7 PM and got over at 4 AM the next day. I won J. Yet another day, out of the blue I woke up at 3 AM. Didn’t get sleep. I didn’t know what I do. Finally, I did the craziest thing possible – played online Monopoly game in internet at 3 AM.

Database Queries

I am a Business Analyst, so I thought I need not worry about technical stuffs anymore. Allwyn Satvedi (Director of Enterprise Applications, TravelCLICK), is also an SQL expert. I was so much interested and involved in writing SQL queries (single query more than 1000 lines) only after seeing the way Allwyn structures the queries and explains it.

Mobile Phone

Venkatesh Balasubramanian (Principal Consultant, MindTree) is a mobile fr

eak. He keeps changing mobiles for every season (winter, summer, etc :P). He does not stop there. He explains me about his mobile features and I melt like wax listening to his explanations. Have walked in to Univercell forthe “Mobile Exchange Mela” many times. Have changed two mobiles after Venky’s influence.

Drawing

Nisha Vickraman (Senior Developer, Keane), BEST drawing artist I have met so far. She maintains a BLOG of her drawings. Very creative, committed and amazing artist. I have decided to draw / paint after seeing her drawings.

Twitter

Kiruba Sankar (CEO, Business Blogging) and Akbarsait Noormohammed (Module Lead, MindTree), the two people who inspired me to start my own Twitter account and tweet regularly. To be more specific, I tweet REGULARLY only after seeing Akbar’s consistent tweets.

Travel website, Delicious

Akbar BLOGS about ColdFusion. A consistent and quality technical writer. On seeing his blog, I thought how good it will be if I write about my passion – Travel and Transport industry. There started www.travelhawk.org.

I maintain 30-40 bookmarks in my laptop at home. My lapi crashes often, it runs windows, so do understand. Whenever it happens, I lose my bookmarks and I keep scratching my head for the bookmarked URLs. Akbar explained me that this can be solved by Delicious and from then all my bookmarks sit in Delicious. Have more than 60 bookmarks now. Bookmark-life made so easy.

Podcast

Suresh Gurumurthy (Program Director, MindTree), sends emails on interesting podcasts. Only after reading the mails, I figured out the Podcast world. I learn so much from Podcasts. www.Podcastalley.com is my home for Podcasts.

Sticky Notes

Julie Corbley (QA Specialist, TravelCLICK), a person with more than 50 sticky notes in her desk / documents. She organizes things / get things done very well with the help of Sticky notes. I started using Stickies and it improved my daily activities significantly.

Humour

It’s always better and good to have a humour quotient while talking. Tim Woomert, (Senior Business Analyst, TravelCLICK) does that naturally. I like listening to him and have conversation with him on and on.

Cooking

Mohan Raj (Module Lead, MindTree), taught me how to cook. He taught me to prepare Dhal, Chappathi, Rice, Sambar, Egg curry, Egg burji and right now I excel in these items J. I am very interested in cooking now. After marriage, I have planned to cook many new items (referring to videos, online) and enjoy it.

Monish Mathiaas (Module Lead, MindTree) cooks so damn well. He BLOGS his cooking. The cooking items in his blog acted as catalyst for my cooking spree.

Book reading

I have never read a novel until 2005. It’s after listening to Monish’s explanation on booking reading I stepped into the Book-o-sphere. My current book is: 2 States by Chetan Bhagat.

Drums

Kripal Kavi (Ex-MindTree Mind, ROSS B-School Grad as of now) is an awesome drummer. In 2006, during his leisure time at work, I have seen him drumming with pencils and markers at his work table. Was sparked by this particular action to learn drums and I have my own digital drum pad (Yamaha) now.

Music, Chess Game

Sudarshan Rengarajan (Senior Developer, MindTree), a music fanatic who is so much interested and involved in music. It was Sudarshan who explained me Western and Carnatic music. His explanation is one of the reasons for my interest into drums and pursuing it.

I have played chess in my school days. But never liked it, so I stopped playing. A year back, Sudarshan called me for playing a chess game. Needless to mention, I fell in love with the game. I am a Chess addict now.

Business Analyst Role

Dwijavanti Bharath (Ex-MindTree Business Analyst, now Queen of a home in CA, USA) and I have not worked together in a project J But, my Business Analyst role inspiration was her. I have seen her doing all the tasks a BA would perform and that’s how I understood the different responsibilities of BA and my interest inclined towards this role. I still am very happy to be a BA.

Photoshop Design

Arumugapandian Thangapandian (User Experience Expert, MindTree), THE best user experience designer I have met. Have worked with him closely to design work-UI, morphing, poster creation, backdrops. I was interested in Photoshop only after listening to Arumugam’s explanation on “How to use Photoshop”.

Dressing

Deepak Gunalan (Business Analyst, MindTree), a dressing mascot. Have seen Deepak’s dressing mannerism (pressed, matching, tucked in properly all time, pleasing colour dresses) to work and then I decided “no checked shirt and dull looking dresses to office”. I have never entered office with a checked shirt since last one year.

Brand Conscious

Vivek Srinivasan (Business Analyst, MindTree), a very brand conscious person who uses a Mont Blanc pen and a Tissot watch. I was not a brand conscious guy, my favourites were cheap and duplicate good looking products :D. Only after visually seeing the brand appeal, I was convinced to look for only brands in my purchases. Since then I carried only a Parker pen, and picked up only branded shirts and pants.

Email in Mobile

Until 2006, I was not a fan of checking emails in mobile. Griffith Alfred (Module Lead, Satyam), showed me his HTC Touch and the email checking facility in it. I was so inspired by this functionality and all the phones I had since then was a PDA :)

Consulting

Vineet Gupta (Program Director, MindTree), took a four full day session at work. His talks refined my consulting quality A LOT.

Karthikeyan Ramasubramanian (Program Director, MindTree) and I discussed about Insurance Industry for about 20 minutes in our cab. I must tell you, I learnt ‘how to explain things to others’ in that 20 minutes from him.

Frozen Thoughts

Alaguveda Selvappalam (Senior Consultant, MindTree), reads a magazine called Frozen Thoughts (daily in cab). Have also noticed her passing the mag to few more people in cab and asking them to read a particular page. I was too curious to know about this mag and I bought it in Central Railway Station (while boarding Bangalore train). I must say, I loved the mag. THE best mag I have ever read. Will definitely read all the month’s edition.

Unambiguous English

Krishnakishore Bavaraju (Program Director, MindTree), expects everyone to write and speak unambiguous crystal clear English. I love this. Whenever I sit next to him in cab, I see him reviewing work-related documents and he keeps telling me about the ambiguity in English lines in the document. Whenever he points out an ambiguous English, I keep telling myself “My English should refine day by day, it has to be unambiguous”. I still follow it.

Gogola, India :)

2009-09-28T11:10:00.001+05:30

Been to Besant Nagar beach a.k.a Elliots Beach, Chennai. After two hours of chatting, we went to Pupil for dinner. Stumbled upon a road side ice cream shop – named as “Gogola” (similar to Google). This shop is present adjacent to Pupil. The font and color resembles Google. Hope Google doesn’t sue Gogola :)

Open questions to Gogola:

Are you trying to become famous by taking up Google’s name?
Why did you use the same font and color?
How did you arrive at this name – Gogola? Why not Googla, Go-Cola, Goof-up-gola?
What does this name Gogola mean?

P.S: I am no way associated to Gogola for indirectly marketing them here in blogosphere :)

East Coast Road, Chennai: Weekend Special

2009-09-05T11:13:00.002+05:30

ECR - East Coast Road is well known for its polished, green-rich, beach-side, scenic road. Many Chennaite hail here for the weekend. Out of the 'many', many are youths :) Those many's many are giving a new definition to this ECR road.

On Saturday and Sunday, if you happen to travel from Thiruvanmiyur to Mayajaal, you will at least see one couple in bike. The girl in this set will have her head covered with dhupatta (not sure of the spelling) or any other specially designed cloth. Only the eyes and nose will be visible all time. Sometimes, the lips will be visible and sometimes not. You should understand it why. The face will be totally uncovered only when no human being is there for 1 Km radius. This is pattern 1.

In the midst of romance / hiding-tactics on bike, few of Many's Many don't care of their dressing sense. While driving in my car in ECR, many times the couple(s)-bike have crossed me. Whenever they ride in front of me, I lose my concentration. The reason is just only one word - Exposure. I (trying) being a good boy, will not elaborate on this. This is pattern 2.

Now, lets see the seating position in bike. By far, I have noticed only three positions. Description for the below three pictures – Back Lean, Front Lean, Coupled Couples. While I was driving in ECR, I saw a couple’s bike in the front and I thought they were going to fall down on road. After a second I understood that the hero had exhibited his bike-riding-talent to impress the heroine. This is pattern 3.

I am not against couples romancing on bikes in ECR. I welcome it. Its up to the Many’s Many to cover or not to cover their face. But, for those Many’s Many, please take care of your dressing etiquette and public behaviour when you are in public. Let the ECR stay as described in the first line of this post.

Tag: 26 Questions

2009-08-17T14:28:00.005+05:30

Second tag post. This time, tagged by AV (more details about this person below). You may read the first tag post HERE.

Rules for this tag are as follows:

Link the person who tagged you.
Display award on your blog with these rules
Reply to the questions below
Tag 7 people deserving the award according to you
The Person who tagged you : Archana V or AV or TCG (The Crazy Girl :) )
Seven people I tag are :

Questions:
A – Available/Single? Available and Single.

B – Best friend? There are three. Won't list the names.

C – Cake or Pie? Cake.

D – Drink of choice? Hot Chololate, Lemon juice, Mango juice, Slice, Mazaa, Kool Koko, Strawberry Frappe.

E – Essential item you use every day? Brain.

F – Favorite colour? No favorite, like everything from Black to White. ( I meant the color)

G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Gummy Bears. You know the softness and elasticity in it resembles........... another Gummy bear! What you thought?

H – Hometown? Chennai

I – Indulgence? Internet.

J – January or February? Dumb question of the first order. But, I will chose January as it has 3 days more than non-leap year February. I always want more, no double meaning here.

K – Kids & their names? No kids as of now, nothing in progress too, no plans of creating it in near future too too. Possible names could be : Shruthi, Smitha, Kevin.

L – Life is incomplete without? Gilma and Gilpa. Non-Tamilians, there is no English equivalent for these two words. Pardon. Period.

M – Marriage date? Dumb question of the second order. But, it will be on a weekend only.

N – Number of siblings? Only one brother. God, bless my dad.

O – Oranges or Apples? Apple, I love Steve Jobs :)

P – Phobias/Fears? Fear of Lizard, Snakes. Basically - all reptiles. Did I leave out Cat.

Q – Quote for today? Quote for life time: If you really want something, all the universe will conspire in getting you to achieve it, The Alchemist.

R – Reason to smile? When you are tagged :) When someone writes comments in blog / FaceBook, When I see what I imagined happen.

S – Season? Winter.

T – Tag 7 People? See above.

U – Unknown fact about me? I have been injected only 2-3 times in last 10 years. I will run away if I see a injection needle.

V – Vegetable you don't like? Brinjal. Beet Root, just beat it.

W – Worst habit? Biting nails.

X – X-rays you've had? Should I need to say this is the dumb question of third order.

Y – Your favorite food? Mexican, just love it.

Z – Zodiac sign? Scorpio, the mighty.

'Ignite Chennai' Event: Not Ignited

2009-08-08T22:33:00.003+05:30

Yesterday, bunch of my friends at work attended the Ignite Chennai event organized by ThoughtWorks. All the 5 of us were audience, not speakers. The event started at 6.30 PM, that's a 30 minute delay from the planned time of 6 PM. Now that's not a good sign. The presentation hall was filled with nearly 40 people (that include 20 presenters). I expected at least 200.

Rule of Ignite Chennai: A presenter can present only for five minutes and use a maximum of 20 slides for presentation.

Govindarajan Sundarajan kicked off the event by giving an introduction about the event. Then first presenter took the show, followed by the other presenters. Few notable points:

Out of the 20 presenters, only 2-3 were impressive.
out of 20 presenters, 4 were from ThoughtWorks.
Though only 20 slides were allowed, many presenters used more than 20.
There was a presentation on Google and its suite of products (Blog, GMail, Groups, Reader, Ad Sense etc). I felt really disappointed on this presentation. Why would someone present about Google and its products in Ignite Chennai.
A presentation ONLY on Java Structs, Hibernate, iBatis and a whole set of J2EE suite of products. Man, I was really on the edge of anger. I felt that the organizers should have filtered these core-technical topics out of Ignite Chennai. What would a non-techie understand? In 5 minutes how can a person cover the entire J2EE concepts? Disappointed.
A presentation on building schools in India. This presentation looked more like an advertising / marketing thingy. Disappointment again.
A UI designer presented a topic on E-Learning. First four minutes, he spent on doing a physical activity that was totally useless, all of us in the last row ended up laughing for the whole of 5th minute. In the last minute he rushed up his slides and that was yet another thumbs down presentation.
There were two presentations on ice-breakers. 50% disappointment on both.
All the other presentations were very OK types except for a presentation made by a lady on "How to handle fake products", that was really awesome!

I had actually set very high expectation for the event. May be that's the problem. I expected at least 2-3 totally out-of-the-box ideas and many innovative ideas. But, after listening to the 2.5 hours of event, I was totally disappointed by the content. I felt that the number of entries received for the event was less. Marketing should have been much better, that definitely would have attracted quality contents and presenters. Since Ignite Chennai is happening for the first time in Chennai, we really can't pull negative points out of it. Overall, Ignite Chennai was OK. Appreciate the initiative by ThoughtWorks for conducting Ignite Chennai. Expecting a revamped version of Ignite Chennai from ThoughtWorks next year. All the best in advance.