Need for recognition

Hi All,

The topic itself is self-explanatory. Everyone of us like to be appreciated, be it a simple word of appreciation or a grand occasion in our honor. We love to be appreciated.

Which is why most companies, try to boost employee morale by having contests such Anthakshari, Dumb Charades or in my case "The best looking workstation hunt " :)
Being so particular and choosy about the dresses and items I choose, thought .. why not ? I convinced myself thinking that i have enough aesthetic sense to decorate my workstation :)

Registered my name at the last day of nominations .

And instantly regretted the decision. On a floor of 400 ,how does it look if one (only one)stay late so that she can decorate( ???????? ) her workstation. People were highly amused at the stuff , rather the range of articles I brought from home. They kept shooting glances at my direction, wondering what I was upto. On top of that my good friends were kalachifying ( kalachifying is word in Tamil. Meaning to tease in a funny manner which generally doesn't hurt) at my interest. I had second thoughts to remove all that I made and go home. But some part of me held on. ( The truth was, having come this far, I didn't wanna turn back. Also didn't wanna lose face by being a spoil sport)
Just thought, what the heck (!!!) let me participate.

The next morning I got early so that I can buy flowers to place inside a crystal bowl. ( Made the flowers to float inside the bowl ) But Murphy's law proved true . Once more :) Came late to office. The moment I entered office, was astonished, happy , overjoyed and dismayed at the same time. (In the same order) Astonished because there were others like me, who gone to even more lengths for decoration :) Happy because of the same. And dismayed too because of the same .:)
I had competition :(((

But then the entire Iobi-Web came to my rescue.

They helped me by contributing all the articles they possessed , right from Lakshmi Ma'am 's Vinayagar(s), to Marina's scented candles (hmm if I am to mention all of her contribution , it will take the entire space ), Raja's watch to Seshadri's mobile stand, Srini's calendar and greeting card, to Sesh's candle holder(s), and of course Sam's elephant and angel to Asheed's and Rajesh's pens.Everybody pitched in and contributed whatever they had :) Felt so good to have people helping me out :)
And above all my lead Wudali's awesome handwork. He made football(s), an ink-pot, a gift box, all out of thin paper. So deft with paper :) It caught everyone's attention and is worth a special mention :)

Then came the make-shift ideas, tied a bow around the gift-box made by my lead, the letter box made out of a poster. The collage of my school photos . The last minute adjustments and speech preparation. He he. It was awesome. Definitely one of the best day at Verizon.

Time for the judges
Two judges came and asked me the routine questions. What was the idea behind this ? Was this made by you ? How many items here, do you have on a regular basis ? Does having these things beside you help you to relax ?
Answered all questions truthfully. Didn't feel like lying. :)

The moment of truth.
After hours of waiting for the results, during which time, all the parvaialargals( the spectators) curiosity as to whether I won a prize could not be sustained.
Decided no point in waiting .. Let me go and have some snacks :) While I was in the cafeteria, one of my friends called up, and told that I got SPECIAL ACCOLADES in the Best Looking workstation hunt :) the my instant reaction was who won the first ( All along , ten eager faces were waiting near me, the faces expectant because of the call I received ) And yeah , I mentioned all three (Un-Intentionally, of course) winners without revealing that won a special prize.

Then I struck me. I did win. Even if its a special prize. On hearing it my friends broke into an instantaneous applause .:) I was really really happy :)

And hence the title.

As a blogger , the need for recognition is satisfied by the a single line comment .
As a poet, when the beauty of our words is appreciated.
As a programmer, when our code executes without any "object reference not set" kinda errors.
As a teacher , when we are able to inspire,
As a friend , when we are trusted and confided with,
As a philosopher, when the thought process is appreciated,
As a musician , when our sounds enthrall ,
As an artist, when our art work is beyond boundaries,
As a kid, when the innocent look places a smile on the lips of others,
As a inventor, when inventions rock the world,
As a human, when we live and let live :)

( There I go again :) Sentimental fool :) )

This post is dedicated to all those who helped me, encouraged me. It takes more than a good heart to let a person step forward when he took the only first step.

THANKS A LOT :) For the encouraging words and act.

CIAO :)

Sounds

Hi All,

I am posting this in the middle of night, well over 1 AM (!!!!). Read an article, and just loved it.
Wanted to share it with all.

Wait a minute, finish this article before you click to view the other (!!!)

Ever wondered how sounds are produced ?
Ever wondered why we are able to hear only certain sounds and not others ?( Its because the human ear is capable of hearing only frequencies in the range of 20Hz to 20 kHz. Frequency is nothing but the number of cycles per second, or the number of repetitions per second)

Just struck by one thought..
I have heard many saying, "vaai irukkunnradukaga, enna venna pesalama? "
By nature, human ear can hear only certain frequencies.. ( a limitation)
by nature the eye can see only till the LOS (Line of Sight -again a limitation)
Whereas we can speak anything as long as we learn the language. There aren't any natural limitations.( Hmm one can ask whether we can produce sounds in the range outside of 20Hz to 20khz? Dunno the answer to that. But even if we do make it, we sure can't hear it :D )
Why is it so ? Perhaps is it to see how much of a self control we have over ourselves ?
Or perhaps whoever/whatever created us wanted us to find out for ourselves. ( Well the answer to this question of the universe , the life and everything is 42. ( Source- HitchHiker's Guide to galaxy, And the question to the answer- find out for yourself :D)

Don't wanna continue further with this mad talk. Here's the link.
Sounds. Hope you love it as much as I did :)

Ciao

Long time

Hi All,

Its been long since I posted. Infact don't find anything to make a post on, unless you are interested to read about the astronomical hike of gold rates or a detailed account of the most boring book I have ever read, or if you are remotely interested in one of mokkai's, do leave your comment . Will write about those if I am totally jobless or totally .....huh, some things are better not said.

The truth is, two of my good friends are getting married by the end of the year, and I wish them all the very best . They will shine wherever they go. (Hope they don't read this). Its a huge commitment and responsibility. Glad they made the right choices at the right time.

On a different note, listening to Paartha mudhal naale from Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu.

Amazing song, beautiful lyrics. Hope the visual doesn't disappoint like Vaseegara. Thamarai is one very gifted lyricist. She captures the dreams & fantasies , life & love so poetically. All I can do is sit and wonder , be amazed at the similies and metaphors she draws in her songs.

Sample- Un alaadi anbinil nanaidapin ninaidapin naanum mazhaiyanen.

Meaning..

From the moment I got drenched in your endless love, even I became rain. AWESOME. BEAUTIFUL. Feel unworthy to even praise such brilliance.

On another different note, working on what I was good at few years back. Gives immense satisfaction.Will write about it that , once its all over and done. Might come as a surprise ( or shock) to many. :) Gotto go now. Other commitments demand attention :(.

Will post my next soon.

Till my next post...

CIAO

Shruti meets Monkeys

Hi All,

Disclaimer :

All characters in this story are entirely my imagination , and bears resemblance only to me (In certain cases to few people whom I know ) . Any incident that resembles something else is purely co-incidental)

Before I start , few clarifications about SHRUTI.

Shruti is not a super hero,

Shruti is not a guardian angel,

Shruti is not a Joan of Arc,

Shruti is just a normal girl unique in her own way.

Now that the disclaimers and clarifications are out, OVER TO SHRUTI.

It was a warm summer day. Summer in Madras can be unbearable, especially if there are six more souls sharing the same space. In this case, the six being, Shruti's grandparents and her two elder brothers, Shashank( alias Sashi ) and Santosh, and her thatha's Sister and Brother ( Tamil for grandpa).

Santhosh, the eldest had nicknamed thatha's sis as Inni. The name had no meaning, it was one of those mazhalai mozhigal which everyone adores. The name stuck and even the relatives started calling her as Inni. As it so happens, after few years everyone forgot her real name, and by the time Shruti was born ( after 4 and 1/2 years) she knew her to be Inni.

Similarly Santosh coined the term Othatha for grandpa's brother. Othatha was very fond of Santosh , and loved him as his own grandson.

The scorching heat burns everything that comes out in the open. Even the birds which swoop and soar , seemed quiet. But nothing not even the blazing sun could hold Shruti from playing outside. Her quest was simple. If her brothers can play in the sun, so can she.
She always made it a point to do what all they are capable , and thus ended up being a tomboy in her early years.

It was weekend, therefore no school. And it was her parent's visiting day .

Every weekend her parents visited , though they lived only a kilometer away. All three wandered near the gate every few seconds for the sound of footsteps. After an hour's impatient wait, they heard it.

Ammmmmma Shruti started screaming at the top of her voice, those standing nearby souls have thought her vocal chord might snap, but they were also used to this routine. She went to the gate to open the main doors. When she opened, instead of her parents, there were three monkeys on top of the mango tree, plucking and throwing mangoes at Sashi.

Mesmerized , Shruti could hardly take her eyes of the monkeys. She hadn't seen one, all her life and was fascinated too see it. When the monkey turned to face her she realized that, a baby monkey was holding its mamma's tummy. Shruti was oddly reminded of herself , she pushed these thoughts aside and continued to stare at her.

By this time Sashi's screams had awoken granny , who had retired for the afternoon nap. She came out and saw what was the source of all commotions, and shied the monkeys away.

Patti ada thorathada, paavum, adu veyila enga pogum. ( Granny don't shoo them away, where will it go in this heat ? ) questioned Santosh.

Aaama, inda madiri paavum partha un sapada adu eduthukum replied Granny.

( If you pity it, then your share of food will go the monkeys)

This thought seemed to terrify Santosh , who was a sappattu piriyan, and thus fell silent. But none, not even the crying Sashi would stop staring at the monkeys. To their delight and fear, the monkeys were staring at these three. The usual noise that was routine during Sundays , was missing. Not even when Amma turned up, did the three leave their posts. Fed up of calling them inside , granny started serve the meal outside.

And suddenly it happened, halfway through a mouthful , Sashi exclaimed,

Patti adunga jump panradungo, inga poguthu ? Poga venanumnu sollu.

Thatha was secretly glad to get rid of this nuisances. He preferred a disciplined life, but was open at the same time had hoped mapillai sir( Shruti's appa) would have called the officials, but mapillai sir was busy trying to draw attention of the kids.

Thatha's hope was in vain, because the monkeys promptly re-appeared in the backyard, where there were more trees and thus less hot. The three kids were delighted to see the monkeys again.

Inni , on noting all the commotion quipped, moonu kurangu, innum moonu kuranga parkaradungo. ( Three monkeys are seeing three other monkeys ) Othatha guffawed on hearing this.

Patti who was always wary of Inni said, kuzhaindagala appadi solladel Paavum nallikki thiruppi schoolukku poganum Avalavu books thookitu vera.

Meanwhile , the three monkeys seemed bored of staring at three kids, especially since, they seemed to be doing nothing other than staring back at them. Soon they fell asleep.

Atlast Patti persuaded them to come inside, and the three realizing that the monkeys wouldn't be awake so soon, decided to take a nap themselves.

After few hours of blissful silence, Shruti's ear- shattering scream woke everyone.

Kannum, adungala kaanum. Appovae sonnen thoonga mattennu, ippo parthiya, adunga poiduchu. Seeing this Santosh and Sashi joined the hue and cry.

Po, inime naanga yaarum un kooda pesa mattom, they chorused .

Patti tried to pacify them, neenga samatha irundeengana naan ungalukku ravaladdu senju tharuven. All three became quiet, because all three loved to eat Patti's special RavaLaddu.

Thatha was glad. He had wanted mapillai sir to make the call, but since mapillai sir, made no signs of calling, thaytha himself had alerted the Zoo officials. They promptly came and whisked the monkeys away.

By night time, all three kids bid their goodbyes to mom and dad,troubled granny to tell them a story ,and went to sleep.

That's the first part. Hope you all like it.

Be sure to give your feedback in the comments section.

Time for me to sleep.

CIAO.

Thanks

Hi All,

As the title suggests this is Thank You post to Vadivel.
For those who don't know about him, (Non-Verizonites) he is a senior analyst, in my company.
Go through his blog, you'll know why he's one the most respected in my organization.

I remember the day, when he sent a mail to all of us, asking us to go through his blog in the ITWB site. :) He had mentioned in the mail, he feels honoured that Shadman Zafar , SVP ,( I hope I have got the person right) took time to go through his blog and comment.
I couldn't help but draw similarities here :)
It feels the same way to have guys like Vadivel, Deepak, Ramesh go through my blog. (Especially since, I have been doing non-techie posts, most of them being silly) .

Though we( Srini, Vicky, and me) are just fresher's, he was magnanimous to make a post about us My Buddies are blogging.

Thanks a LOT. It means a lot to all of us. Felt good to read about ourselves from a senior person point of view.

P.S. Some more Iobi-Web fresher's are blogging ( Sethu, Vasanth, Seshadri, Ashutosh) Think I have mentioned all people whom I know.

If I have missed to mention someone, pardon me..

Till my next post..

CIAO

Coming Next- Shruti

Hi all,

Keep watching this space, for Shruti, The Kid around the corner.
She's six, smart , cute and adorable.
Planning to write a series of incidents , about Shruti.
( Shruti, is a figment of my imagination, close to me and reflects me )
I am going to relive my childhood, through the adventures of SHRUTI.

She is that part of me which was always waiting to happen.
She is that part of me , that never was, but always there.
She is my break out area.


Coming Soon.

Till my next post...

CIAO.

Life and Death

Hi All,

One simple question..

How can we die ? What are the different ways to die ?

The replies come out spontaneously.

Hanging by the rope (ah- gruesome and bad),
Consuming poison (slow and painful, unless its cyanide),
Getting Heart attacks ( multiple ones, you are a goner),
Jumping into deep sea. ( If sea is not accessible, then probably the old, rotten well in the backyard would suffice)
Accidents ( sure way of a rendezvous with Yema-Darma Raja)

Simple isn't it.

Another simple question.

How do we live ? What are the different ways to live ?

Not so simple , isn't it ?

The normal person says,

"What an absurd question. We live. We exist, therefore we live.
How can there be different ways of living. Do you mean work and lifestyle ? Don't confuse yourself and concentrate on the bigger things in life"

And I ask .. "What more bigger or important than LIFE ?"

Says the cynic,

"Life's is, but a journey towards death. All things perish.

Life's wretched ,
A wretched life is meaningless ,
A meaningless life amounts to nothing,
And therefore life itself is nothing.
Therefore going by the premise, life's an illusion, which dreamers chase wantonly. "

And I ask,
Isn't your own wretched life making you to jump to conclusions ? Isn't the fact that others are happy because they are simple, the foremost of your worries ? Don't you at least get some insane pleasure watching others suffer (This is a question only to the cynics and misanthropists. )
In that case, how can you claim that you aren't happy, at least once ?

Says the scientist ,

"biologically, as long as heart beats ,and human body is capable at least one of the six senses, we live".

And I ask,
In that case, even batteries live. They exist , and they expire. (We have rechargeble batteries now, so someday can we bring back the dead ?)

Says the philosopher,

"Thought provoking question. Various theories can be put forward, with each theory subject to different interpretations. It is not simple , otherwise why would it elude meaning for so long? Life's a continuum. If its to die, then why do we have to live ?
If it is to exist physically , why do we feel .
Why do we have emotions ?
Life's better if unanswered, because years will be spent in knowing one's own self. Then by the time we understand life, we would be nearing death."

And what do I say to the philosopher ?
I say nothing.

And what do I say about Life ?

Life's everything. A bit of all of the above. Life's a continuum. Our life doesn't end with us. We spread the wisdom,knowledge,experience and happiness to the next generation.

Life's one BIG bundle. A BIG bundle of emotions.
Care, jealousy, love, lust, agony, ecstasy, sight-seeings, fear, anger, affection, depression, hatred,happiness, loneliness EVERYTHING.

Everyone, will undergo all these emotions, some in abundance, some in trivia. We may pretend that it doesn't exist, we may shun it, we may overlook it, we may feel scared to reveal the nature of ourselves, but yes, they exist. This is life to me.
Experiencing pain and happiness, knowing that no day is alike, awaiting a brand new day, and a brand new beginning , everyday.
Firmly believe in the theory of relativity. Nothing is absolute.
Hatred exists only because love does.
Satan exists only because God does.
Lies exist only because of truth does.
But life ? If I go by the same premise, Life exists only because death does.
So if death kills our body, perishes our soul, then to live implies to CHERISH our soul, to love our existence, knowing that we will never get back this moment.
What we did or didn't do this moment, cannot be reverted .
But still we live, and as long as we exist, we owe ourselves the happiness of existence.
Never letting our spirits die( He he, one mokkai, when we die, we become spirits).
To get a LIFE in short.

To end, I quote one of my favourite quotation,

Life,

A little pain, a little pleasure,
A little heaping up of treasure,
Then no more gazing upon the sun,
All things must end that have begun.

CIAO.

P.S. This post has no connection with the earlier one.