A new life

Jan 09, 2010

I didn't blog on Jan 08. That's a first for this year. But this is for yesterday. A long overdue visit to Pennsylvania to see some good old friends yesterday. Although I'd have loved to spend some more time with them, I had to come back to NJ to take care of left over business from the week.

It's amazing how a child can bring joy to a household. Babies are all about new life, new hope and joy. You know before hand that you are going to see a new one and you are going to be happy, but every time you see one, it never ceases to amaze me how brilliant the baby made me feel. This is the first time I've met Young Akhil Pillai, and he's a bouncing balloon.

I had originally planned to drive back in the night, and I had to change my plans coz Akhil dude was sleeping when I reached Penn. I'm glad I stayed the night and saw him in the morning. He's a model in the making. I'll put up some pictures very soon and he was such a joy to behold. He gave me so much joy first thing in the morning, and he never cried on seeing a stranger. Some babies are so whiny, but this one is a cool rocking dude.

Wish you well, Mr. Akhil pillai. Also extended wishes to Anbu and Savitha, and congratulations on the bundle of joy.

On the way back, I took the long winding US 202 Local Road back to NJ, and I was amazed at how good the US roads are. The number of sign posts on the road side to keep you on track is akin to the promise of Abraham's descendents on this earth. It was a real pleasure driving lonely in the morning on a long and winding country road, listening to old music from my Ipod. Thanks Jincy, for the Ipod touch.


Plans for tomorrow/today (Jan 09, 2010)

Work. Eat More Dosai. Work. Work. Work.


Youtube link of the day

Watch this in Youtube

I heard this song while driving today morning, and I can't believe how much I liked it before and now. Don't leave me now.

A graceful degradation

Jan 07, 2010

How do you react when you were told that you did shit after you have struggled manfully for over an year in a project giving it your best shot?

Feel awful? Feel angry? Feel rebellious? Feel like killing the accuser? Feel like giving up? How about actually smiling through it as if nothing has happened, not reacting to the politiks and loathsome innuendo and gritting your teeth to actually do the ridiculous activity that you were asked of? Well, with a little help from the friends of course.

Sometimes, we find a inner mettle within ourselves that surprises us. We think that we know everything about us, but then we find that we can run that extra mile when the time comes and grow in stature. And we did grow in stature. There are times we think that our work is not fully appreciated and how we are all unhappy at work. All the more surprising that we are able to take all that shit and sift it through and get the job done.

All in all, should we take pride in not reacting to the shit thrown at us? Where is the spirit of going all guns blazing? Is it worth being a Gandhi in the face of vultures? Can't we just a big fuck off and go our own way? Why be a pussy and allow people to knock on our heads and tread on our toes? Have we been reduced to play the role of the peace makers and shit takers because we get paid?

Is this the graceful degradation? Is it worth it?

To see someone walk out with head held high and with integrity and dignity intact, I would say, Yes. It was a bigger 'Fuck off' with a blatant middle finger in the face of the doom mongers.

Plan for the day

Fucking horrible day. Didn't do anything as planned. Missed the Grocery store visit for 2 days in a row. Just need some sunshine tomorrow. It can't get any worse than this, seriously.

Youtube link of the day

Watch it in Youtube
Hullo, I'm Johnny Cash.

P.S I think this P.S is boring and I'm running out of things to type in this line

Interesting Characters I've met - Part I

Jan 06, 2010

It's already 5 in the morning and I don't really feel sleepy. I'm alert and I'm alive and I feel fine without sleep in nearly 20 hours. Sure, I'll have a hangover tomorrow, but what the hell? As a creature of the night, I deserve the right to pick my time to sleep. As I'm typing this, I'm receiving some outrageous PJ's from SOC (From Orkut). He's in the form of his life, sending PJ after PJ, and he has declared Jan 07th, as the World PJ day.

Here are some samples.

essohcee: One guy proposes to a beautiful girl, she declines. Then the guy appears for a general knowledge exam and fails. Why?

"Ab jee ke (gk) kya karenge, jab dil hi toot gaya"

essohcee:

A telugu family. The daughter is having an argument with the father on their terrace. One point she gets so angry she wants to kill him. So she plans to push the father down from the terrace
Whats her name?

Stanley: how do i know lol

tell the name

essohcee: Pushpa Reddy


Someone said to me recently, that my blogs nowadays doesn't appear to have a point and just a collection of events that occured in the day. So I'm trying a new idea today. In all of my days, I've met some interesting people. Some of them likeable, and some of them not so much. I'll try to write about some who have managed to stay in my memory.

My Piano Teacher

When I was 11 years old, My father wanted to make me an organist in the church, as we had none available at that time. He asked me take Piano lessons. I used to study in a school which is more than 40 kilometers from my house in a nearby town. I was a Day Scholar and I had to travel almost 100 kilometers daily.

With all these in mind, My dad met a couple of Piano tutors in Trichy (Where I studied), so that I could take Piano classes after my school is over and then travel back to my hometown. Which kind of made my life a little bit harder than it already was.

We met the first tutor and after the introduction, the tutor came to know I'm only 11 and that I didn't have a piano to practice in my house. He basically turned me down saying I'm too young and I can't practice because I had no piano. He asked me to wait a couple of years before starting Piano lessons. He may have had valid reasons to reject me, but he came across arrogant and petulant.

Naturally, I wasn't all too pleased to meet the second tutor on the same day after this rather disappointing experience with the first one. As I made to his house with a lot of trepidation, I found the guy to be very gentle, humble and brimming with talent.

His name was SDR Samuel. To this day, I maintain that he's the best Piano player that I've ever seen live. His teachings were nice and mellow. He was a patient guy, a devout Christian and a great teacher. I've heard him play organ in a couple of church services apart from teaching, and the music was heavenly. If you are from Trichy, and you played Piano, there's more than a 50% chance that you've been taught by SDR Samuel. And his students usually played pretty well and they all loved him. I'm no exception.

Although I must say that I started cutting Piano classes and stick to playing football in my school, which incidentally was my favourite pastime ever till my father caught me red handed one day, I still have fond memories of SDR Samuel and his piano classes. I led my Church choir for well over 10 years when I lived in my home town.

Now I miss my church, my choir, and sometimes my Piano teacher.

Here's a word of prayer to the man who taught me Piano. You must be playing in God's choir, Mr. Samuel, your students are testament to how brilliant a teacher you were, and how melodious the music you played.

Plan for tomorrow

Sleep now, Work later, Attend Meetings, and play Guitar.

Youtube link of the day

Watch it in Youtube
Queen, Enough Said. I Want to Break Free.

Extremely satisfying Peccadilloes

Jan 05, 2010

Vicky, Cristina and Barcelona.

There's something contagious about the rebellious feeling. It's such an adrenalin rush to break a rule and be rebellious about it. We all have to live with the after effects, but for a while, it felt that I'm the king of the world.

After another tiring day at office, with a bundle of leftover work, I came home stressed at 7.30 PM. I was contemplating on missing the Indoor football match that I had to play in, to compensate for the work. But then, my rebellious Siamese twin Stan the man, won the argument defeating the Stanley BePolite and not only did I play in the football match, but I also came home, unwrapped the NetFlix DVD and enjoyed Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

I ignored the offshore calls till I could enjoy and appreciate the movie, put my work on hold and lived the three hours for myself. I ran as much as I could in the football match, and I relaxed and enjoyed the movie as much as I can. I had played with a freedom, as if I've run away from the issues at work. I laughed more than I actually would have in the movie, and I was being appreciative of little things that I would have missed.

I'm sure that I'll have to face the music tomorrow at work for missing a deadline, but what gives? I'm ready to face it as long as I have this urge to take the time and live for myself. I'm quite proud of my escapades and I'll forever love these extremely satisfying Peccadilloes. They are like a hidden water stream on a mountain hike. Sudden, refreshing and heartening.

I love the joys of life. However stressful it might be, I refuse to be pessimistic and I'll look for these joys.

Plan for tomorrow.

Go to Subzi Mandi, Get Rice, Eat lunch in Taco bell. Do the pending work double time, because of my discretion with adrenalin.

Youtube link of the day

Watch in Youtube
When I was a kid, My Mom used to sing this song to me. Every day. She used to sing in Tamil.

"Karthavai nalla bakthiyaale

Eppothum nambum neethiman

Etheengilayem avarale
Anbaai kaapatra paduvan

Unnathama kartharai

Sarnthorukuavar kanmalai"

P.S The Indoor football match ended 1-1.

The first hectic day of the year.

Jan 04, 2010.

Boy, I need to take a breather.

It was a bloody long day, and it still hasn't ended. The first working day of the year, turned out to be quiet a nightmare. It started at 9.30 AM and except for an hour break playing my brand new FIFA 10 in PS3, I had quiet a handful to deal with.

One word about FIFA 10, It's awesome. I still haven't played the manager mode, as I've restricted myself to a couple of exhibition matches, but it's very nice to play. Another word about it, I suck at it. Both the matches I played, had to be settled by Tie Breaker. Come to think of it, I'm not all that bad. I can tackle, I can dribble, I can short pass and I can move the ball near the goal. But unfortunately, then I become Arsenal. I can't for the life of me, shoot the ball. In training, I shot from all angles, but in real life, I can't. So, I can never score a goal. More practise tomorrow might just do the trick.

The work shows no signs of letting up. This January is going to be hectic. I need all the help that I can get from God, Managers, Developers, Testers, Bugs, Bug Tracking Systems, Functionalities to pull me through.

Plan for tomorrow

Hard hectic Work as usual, Get the Blu ray disc from Netflix and watch at leisure in the evening. I think I had ordered GI Joe Cobra whatever. Need to watch it tomorrow and go catch my Indoor soccer for the first time this year. I will try to take pictures and upload somewhere.

Yes, I'm getting a break from work and getting some kind of recreation in between, come rain, sun, heaven or hell.


Youtube link of the day

Watch in Youtube
Heard this song as I was going to Lunch today. I remember that this song used to be a favourite song of one of my friends, who lost her best friend to an accident. Not sure if she likes it in his memory, but I thought about her and her best friend whom I don't even know. I hope he's at peace and she's happy.

P.S I tend to put too much spices when I cook.

The first disappointment of the Year.

Jan 03, 2010.

I was hoping that the weekend would pass off peacefully and the disappointments and frustrations will start from Monday at Office. Alas, it was not to be. Waking up at 8 in the morning and looking forward to a much hyped up match and All it took was one insipid performance from Man Utd. You'd think that playing Leeds United, with all their venomous chanting and violent history would inspire the players to produce a fighting performance, if not a result.

But what followed was terrible. We never got started with the match. We did not create a lot of clear cut chances and we were generally outplayed by a side assembled at half the price of Vidic. Poor team selection, players underperforming on the day made sure that the first match of the year would end up in a huge disappointment. Thank you Man Utd. Turn off the game and watch the last game of the Giants this season, and they get absolutely murdered by Brett Favre and Vikings. Thank you Giants.

The Holiday Spirit

Since all my positive energy had been already drained away, I could not conjure up enough gaity to cook fish. In fact, we didn't cook anything fresh today and just put up with what we already have. I had already postponed enough work to last for a lifetime and I had done absolutely nothing over the weekend, and which I'm sure is going to come back and bite me in the arse.

I can see the holiday spirit ebbing away from me. There is no more wanton recklessness in postponing work, laundry and cooking. Life is again returning to a preset order and we are slipping back into the machine world of work, office, food, work and sleep. I'm not going to bitch about how tight my work is, as I'm getting stuffed in the wallet with dollars. But I'd like to do something refreshing for a while, stuff that I actually like at work.

Here I am, watching Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King in TV, reading Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Rings in the computer, and keep baulking at the work in my pending queue. How long does it generally take for the Holiday spirit to wear away? While I was a child, I used to remember the month of January being filled with holidays andthe new year charm remaining almost till the end of the month. With local festivals like Pongal, we used to be in a mellow mood, enjoying and minding our own business.

February usually means the year has finally dawned on us in right earnest. I wish I could take that break now and worry about things in February, rather sweating about deadlines on January 5th.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Plans for tomorrow

Office, Work, Lunch, Work, Travel Home, Work, Dinner, More Work, Sleep a little.
Find time for blogging and keep doing it.

Youtube link of the day

Watch in Youtube.
I hate remixes. But this is well done. Genius stuff.

P.S I love Gulab Jamuns.

The Second day of the year.

Jan 2nd, 2010.

The second day of the year has been the most crucial for me (us) in many ways. In the recent past, most of my resolutions have been broken on the 2nd. I don't know if it's an indication that I set very hard resolutions or I'm very poor at self control. Either way, once a resolution is broken, it's just a matter of time when the resolution is moved to recycle bin from Desktop.

This year turned out to be a pretty boring affair. I spent most of the time sleeping. Watching the FA Cup third round and Lord of the Rings - The Twin Towers aside, eating lunch and dinner were the only activities that I took part in. This year, I have been loaded with work and I've also done some work on the side. Pretty uneventful day, Liverpool drew with Reading, the 20th placed Championship side with most of their stars playing. Can't wait for Man Utd vs Leeds tomorrow morning, it's been 5 years since we played them Yorkshire baddies.

I need a blazer, if anybody wants to present stuff to me, you've been notified. I'm also waiting for the 'God of War' and ]Fifa 10' games for PS3 to arrive. I also saw a film called 'Broken Bridges'. Pretty ordinary film about a country singer and his troubles by Toby Keith. Give it a miss.

I miss my folks back home, and I wish I can meet them pretty soon.

Predictions for tomorrow.

With the amount of work yet to be completed, I'm expecting a very hectic tomorrow. I'm disappointed too, that my first blog didn't get a single comment. I think I should advertise my blog so that people actually read this trash. I wish Man Utd beat Leeds Utd black and blue.

I have plans to cook fish tomorrow. If I do, I'll have the recipes put up here.

Youtube link of the day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c7x2JD_j-0

I've long admired Freddie Mercury's voice as one of the best ever. When some singer does a Queen cover, it hardly ever lives up to the hype. But George Michael has done a commendable job, with a very difficult song to boot.

P.S I've kept my resolution, and in a way, this 2nd day of the year hasn't been that bad.

A Brand New Year

A very happy New Year to everyone in the World.

As always, it's time for new resolutions that can't be met, new ideas to pursue, new changes to everyday life and new hope to go further. And we march on forward. I hope my teams to win trophies, I hope I do well at work, I hope I love my near and dear and I hope I'll grow spiritually.

But I refuse to divulge my resolution. It is my resolution, and it will remain mine. I know this makes me a coward and also gives me an easy way out, coz nobody will know If I break it, but I'm going to keep this as a secret.

I hope all is well with everyone, and I hope this new year brings fresh hope and joy to every one of you. Good luck and God bless.

Methods of Punching.

When we were kids, I had an obsession with superior fighting techniques and antique Oriental Fighting movies. I would forever be thinking about the eagle technique of delivering a single knock out blow by the flying eagle pose or the tiger claws.

I've been involved in few scraps while I was a kid, but after a couple of them, I noticed that none of the Jackee Chan, Bruce Lee or Jet Li moves really helped me out. By the time I got my tiger claws move up and running, I was usually knocked out with a solid punch or jab. Further painful injuries led to increased reasoning that fighting is injurious to health, and I should really give up fighting with Japanese methods. And so I owed to fight with tried and tested Indian methods.

While we discussed strategies to throw punches, we finally decided on two fail safe methods. Nothing like the solid close fisted punch with the intent on making the contact on the opponent's face with the knuckles of the fist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scheme_human_hand_bones-en.svg

But far more devastating is the second technique. Reserved for the worst of enemies, this sacred and secret method of punching has been passed from generation of Indian kids to another. This involves placing your thumb between the middle finger and the ring finger pointing in the direction of the opponent, in such a way that the tip of the thumb is visible to the opponent. This thumb kind of acts like the pointed arrow in the punch and all the force of the punch resides in the thumb.

We had agreed that the second technique will only be used on the baddest baddies of the planet and the scum of the earth. And with me mastering these techniques, my fortunes in fights rose alarmingly well.

Looking back.

Although I never questioned the validity of the punching techniques at that time, looking back, I'm mystified by the placing of the thumb. While I initially thought that this was probably a regional thing, or even a local school technique, I was taken aback when comrades in North India reported that they had followed the 'thumb' technique. I had not asked about the punching techniques to Americans or Europeans, but I'm pretty sure that everybody at some point of time have practiced the sacred art of thumb punching.

Now that I look back, the placing of the thumb sounds even stupid to me, as by exposing so little of my thumb, I'm only going to injure my thumb if it makes meaningful contact. I have tried to find an answer to this conundrum, but so far I'm yet to find a suitable explanation for it. Is there some sort of a Darth Vader and the dark side effect that can be achieved by placing the thumb in between the fingers while punching?

Is there a mini big bang explosion that could happen when the thumb makes contact with the opponent? I don't know, but I'm eager to find out if you ever resorted to the using the second technique while punching? If you did, did you ever try to understand why you used the thumb?

Comment please.

Youtube link of the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n-c9qTbBJg
I'M A DISCO DANCER.

Total Eclipse of my Heart.

The Tri-Cycle

My parents were blessed with only one child, and that one turned to be a handful. I did have a sister, but unfortunately, she left us while she was one. But since being the only child, I never had competition in my house for anything. We did not have an awful lot, and I never had lot of toys, but whatever there was, I was the sole owner.

My uncle (Mother's brother), was a civil Engineer. It was way back in 80's when Engineers were Engineers and were rather rare to find. By the time I was born, he got a job in Water board of my state. He loved my mom and me a lot, and for my 1st birthday, he got me a 'Bobby' Tri-cycle.

Well, Bobby Tri-cycle, with a pillion. That's an awesome present. I never valued anything more then. Even when I went for my summer vacation to my granny's place, I always insisted that I take my tri-cycle with me. The cycle became my best friend. I used the cycle for intra house transport. From bedroom to bathroom, to reading books on the portico, the cycle became an integral part of my life.

Then I grew up and I was almost 10 years old. I must have outgrown the size of the cycle. Or, I rode it so much that one day it broke. Either those two, or it was creaking with old age. It was almost 8 years and one dreadful day, my tri-cycle broke. I felt like my right arm was broken. I missed my tri-cycle very very much. I loved it so much, yet I had no idea why I never asked anyone to fix it for me. I guess I did suffer from a broken heart because of my cycle.

After the cycle broke, my father set it in the attic, and every time I look at it, I used to feel real bad about it. The attic became my favourite 'Mending the Broken heart' place. Every time something happens which made me feel sad, I used to climb up the attic and sit beside my broken tri-cycle and escape into my own world.

5 full years passed. On my 15th birthday however, I received my best present till date. My grandfather had taken the tri-cycle and fixed it for me. He had fixed it and left it by my bed and when I woke up, the first thing I saw was the tri-cycle. That day, remained the happiest of days for many years. My Granpa said 'I saw the hurt in your eyes'.

I guess I really loved the cycle so much.

I'm interested to know how you folks deal with your own blues and sorrows. I did try to speak with the Big man upstairs, either I pissed him too much, or I've turned deaf to his answers.

As Bonnie Tyler says here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=840B27zYfOk

Nothing I can say,

Total Eclipse of my heart.

Football mad World.

After doing justice to my blog url of rarely blogging, I'm restarting my blog with everybody's favourite. Football.

Two matches into the new Premiership (BPL as it is now funnily called), some teams have already been written off, and one team has been made the overwhelming favourite to win the darned thing. Surprise, Surprise. It's not Man Utd, the defending champs of England and Europe, it's the Chelski.
And apparently, Arsenal have been doomed to failure. Who would have thought?

Just a look at the big 4 this season might just explain how messy the whole situation is.

Arsenal.

Wenger has lost his marbles. After Arsenal lost Henry to Barcelona, at the start of last season, everybody including me, predicted this might be the year Arsenal might be out of Champs league places. They proved everybody wrong and led the table for much of the season. The fact that they ran out of steam at the end should have been a good indicator for Arsense to add to his squad.

Hell no, At the end of last season, Wenger said his priority is to keep his squad together. Duely, Hleb, Mad Jens Flamini and Gilberto were goners. After a lengthy squabble over wages, Badge kisser Ade's services were retained, even though, Wenger had to relax his wage structure for the player.

Even better, Armand Traore and Senderos goes out on loan, Justin Hoyte sold to Boro, and young Barazite is sent to Derby on loan again. Who's going to play the Carling Cup this time Arsene?

The In's aren't great numbers. Carlos Vela recalled from loan, And the signings are 17 year old Aaron Ramsey snatched right under the noses of United, Big money spent on Samir Nasri and the even injured and untested Amaury Bischoff, and the biggest surprise of them all, Mikael Silvestre. Yes, that forgotten at man from United.

After a bizzarely poor performance against Fulham, when it was evident to every tom, dick and harry that Denilson and Eboue aren't the answer to other heavyweight midfields in the Premiership, Wenger boldly gave a press release that he will not be unduely worried if he doesn't sign anybody new.

So are the rivals, Mr. Wenger. So are the rivals.

Liverpool.

'This is our year', started right after the signing of Robbie Keane. But other average signings like Dossena, Degen, Ngog and a Brazilian keeper whom we know nothing about, brings the spinning world to a halt. More so, considering Crouch, Riise, Kewell, Carson and Guthrie were sold, in addition to other loans.

If reports are to be believed, Rafa is keen to offload Alonso as well, to sign Gareth Barry. And no, now he has targetted the mighty Albert Riera who spent 6 months on loan at Citeh, doing absolutely nothing. Maybe Alonso will be retained, after all. But how will Rafa play Torres and Keane up front together? Is he going to adopt a 4-4-2? Will that mean, he will have bench either Masch or Alonso. If Alonso is benched, won't it be nice to be devoid of one man who could spark the team with a raking pass.

Man United.

To be fair, What more can you add to the team that won Europe and England last year? But unfortunately, Chelsea have strengthened and United haven't added anyone to their squad yet apart from the Brazilian twins at full back positions. Possebon, Campbell and Manucho are expected to play their part in the first squad this season.

Retaining Ronaldo has been a major plus, although him injured till October is a bummer. The two matches so far highlighted the need for another striker. Campbell is nowhere near the finished product. He needs at least another year to hone his skills and Manucho is out for another 3 months. He's inexperienced at best. One game Man Utdmissed Tevez and lacked ideas up front.

A fourth striker seems to be a necessity, but is Berbatov the fourth striker? Not really sure.

Chelsea.

Chelski ran out of the blocks with a 4-0 demolition of Portsmouth with a samba style display. Sheva, Ben Haim, Pizzaro, Sidwell, Makalele were all shipped out along with other youngsters. Three signigs made so far, Bosingwa, Deco and Paim. All three look promising, especially Bosignwa who is pacy. Deco has taken to Premiership like duck to water.

They have a strong squad, they look motivated after the debacle last season, and the most important signing seems to be Big Phil. A guy who has won the world cup with Brazil, he is an experienced coach. But Premiership is all another pond, and he has to pit his wits against Sir Alex and Wenger (who has lost his marbles now)

All in all, it's very interesting. Opening bouts of sparring indicate that Chelsea is the team to beat with United running a close second.

Predictions for the Big 4.

• Liverpool - No Silverware, a mighty scramble with Arsenal for the 3rd Spot.
• Arsenal - No Silverware, 3rd spot.
  
• Chelsea - 1 Cup maybe, but not the league.
  
• Man United - League and a cup at the minimum.
  

But my pick for the season is United. Have a hunch that Man Utd might splash the money on Berbatov and win the treble this season. After all, I might get married this season.

*I'm a Man Utd fan, I'm allowed to be biased. :P

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