MARRIAGES

Last night at my room in BTM we had a 30 year old guy(unmarried,who stays with us in our PG accomadation) giving us a lecture on the ill effects of marriages which had a lot of humorous underones to it.He was of the opinion that guys must marry by 29 or 30 which would be "ideal" for guys,which was seconded by couple of 26 year old workaholic infoscions. they said that marriage was more of a societal compulsion and a torture that one had to neccesarily undergo ,where the excitement would be only for the first 2 years at the max. These guys ,suprisngly prefer the "bachelor"status than ending up being married.

I agree that one has to first settle down in life ,before which he marries.., but I definetely reject their theory of marriages being a pain.The age hardly matters.As long as the couple have the emotional and physical maturity to deal life and feel the need for each other , even 22 or 23 would be fine ........Infact I know a friend of mine, who is just waiting to settle down ,as he is in his post grads now........and wouldnbe raring to go 4 a job ,as that would mean financial independence...and that would ultimately make him ready for marriage with his girlfriend.He definetely is foccussed towards career ,but at the same time, he hasnt lost that interest towards life,wife etc....... that is how one section of the moder era is .

I just dont understand the system of arranged marriages where one guy marries for the sake of marrying and gives specifications of how his wife should look.One of my cousins ,who is 28 now,is a doctor by proffession(damn brilliant guy ) and is a sanskrit scholar.....who said that he wants a wife who understands sankskrit poems and literature....and is a a doctor too.My question is ,why dont people search for their partner themselves rather than relying on the matrimonial column and other third party info....from "andha theru mami or pakkathu veetu pati " .These days guys and girls find partners at 21,22...and I am honestly suprised my cousin hasnt found one by 28.on similar lines of his requirements.......if a software engineer were to choose a wife by giving conditions,it would be something like "wanted a girl who is a tester ,and has worked in java script,querying in oracle and has hacked into networks". Nothing against my cousin, but other general folk and the software engineers seem to have forgotten the very essence of a wife........and are pathetically guided by "the screwing" mentality.

CONCLUSION: hm..........its not that I am very much interested in a girl right now, but its to bring out the various ways of thinking of men.....about marriage.I wish I could add more , but as of now have to rush back to my lab to learn some SQL coding.......as i have a friend waiting 4 me.

anybody wishing to contribute more on this topic could leave a comment on my comment box or shoutbox below or can drop in a mail at kartik dot kannan [at] gmail dot coom

living alone is fun..........no more do i have ghosts of loneliness cribbing me .....the feeling is slowly sinking that i belong to infy.........as it seems more like a classroom here. tommorow we have one more training session on interpersonal effectiveness and thats the end of enjoyment as of now....after that its back to technical stuff...........

this is my schedule daily

5 30 :GET UP
5 45 : a so called hot-water bath.
6 15 getting ready........
6 30 still getting ready........
6 45 : go downstairs for breakfast.
7 10 :leave my home.......wait at the nus stand:
7 20-7 25: bus comes.......and i switch on radio city........
7 45 am :In infy.....have to swipe my card IN
8 00 am: finish eating a light breakfast and a milkshake
8 30 am: after some roaminga round and gossip , march back to class.....
8 45 am, sign the attendance register and go out........with friends
9 00 am .........still going around the campus on a bycycle.......or chatting with friends/in the library
10 45 : goto the food court at kamat and have sandwiches
11 15 be in time for the session at the auditorium (a.k.a classroom 1 )
12 45pm: head 4 lunch...........and have a milkshake after lunch or head to cafe cofee day/dominos
1 30 pm :back in class refreshed ,class begins.......may sleep sometimes.........but am slowly gaining control over myself.........
4 30 session ends.......i head off to my friend joshy's cabin at block 34, get 2 check my mails.
6 30 : arratai session ends.........bycycle around the campus and swipe out
8 00 :leave campus by 2nd last bus...........
8 25 pm reach my place BTM layout..........

or

8 pm:still with joshy , wud b having dinner at casapicola.......the chinese restaurant
9 pm........wud head for the boys dorm to book a bed and wud sleep off........
1 am :would wake up to study.........with a nice bath in the restroom.......
5 am close my book and get backto bed.
6 30 get up and again have bath.
7 00 am get back to lab and change my clothes there.........

TANHA DIL PART 2


These days I have a strange feeling that runs down my veins……..the very fact that I am a software engineer….and the other fact that I am into a dog-eat-dog world and am not going to be protected anymore by college. I realize I have to work quite hard to achieve success in my field simply because coding and programming isnt’ exactly my cup of tea,but I have no choice…

Currently Life is going on……..at infy…….without any major hitches ,but I have get used to the pace of life here.I haven’t found any like minded friend here,every one seems to be a coding expert here,except ur’s truly :-(

Last night I spent it at the infy dormitory as there was no current in my room at BTM.i must say the dorm was pretty decent with hot water coming 24 hrs . I had my bath twice , one at 2 am and once at 7 am …..between which I had to study RDBMS as we had our first quiz….(more of a test…….which I didn’t fare that well ) .

All of a sudden being at a new place with new people is sure a little difficult 2 adjust ,but being homesick is a lot better than being sick at home :- ) .

I plan to stay in bangalore this weekend,even though it’s a 3 day weekend with Monday off .I plan to come to Chennai for diwali…..on the 11th morning (subject to tickets being confirmed).

life is really cool at Infy. joshy and i are just back from a round of boating at the infy pond here. I have my first test tommorow in rdbms........i plan to do a complete night study to answer the test well tommorow.Joshy had given me a few indicators regarding how the test would be ....he's asked me to go through the manual that infy gave me completely ....Thats a huge book to cover , but life's just started .......so I am pretty positive I'l clear the test.

Tommorow Infy has a general quiz , so I am looking 4 a partner to start my quizzing life ...at infy.

Day 0 :SUNDAY 17th October 2004

I check into my hotel room and find that the room mate that I have been allocated is a hardcore tamil fan ,the one who jumps at the sight of “thalaivar vijaykant” and dhanush.
.This guy is out of the room for quite some time …within which I watch the weekend edition of F.R.I.E.N.D.S ,which I haven’t viewed for quite some time in Chennai due to C.A.S and of course the Chennai test match.
The evening is spent picking my mother from my cousin’s place and dropping her back at the station ,after which I get drenched in the sudden downpour.I reach my hotel late at 11 and settle down with a hot water bath and finally sleep at 1 am .

Day 1 :MONDAY 18TH October 2004

D-day ……..I get up at 4 50 am inspired by the very thought that in am entering into the hallowed portals of INFOSYS and get ready by 6 00 am ,fully attired in my formals.The Bus comes half an hour late that morning and I am caught in the great traffic jam that takes place every day on hosur road.I reach Infy at 9 am ,am astounded by the sheer aura of the campus. But since the bus was late,I have no time to eat my break fast and I have to rush to the classroom,where a video session with Narayana murthy and Nandan nilekani is just over.The class room is very good ,more so resembling a mini auditorium.

The first day we are given sessions on the corporate culture by the higher level management and fire safety drills between which the people from ICICI come and get our details and we are allotted a card each. The lunch that I had was very heavy and tasty.I opted for north Indian thali meals instead of the traditional south Indian samabar ,rasam just for a change. Day one was all about gazing at the campus with awe……and getting ready mentally to belive that I am an Infoscian ….and not any more a Veltechian…

I don’t catch the evening bus,I meet my college benchmate Joshy who takes me to the canteen that is adjacent to the volleyball and basket ball court……more so closer to the amphitheatre an introduces me to his batch mates.We have a nice time discussing our college life,comparing the past and present…….and wow it has been one heck of a roller coaster ride.

I board the 7 15 pm bus to reach the hotel and discover that my other batchmates who had taken the 6 pm bus had rached the hotel only 5 minutes earlier at 8 30 pm ,since they were held up in the traffic jam at hosur road. I get to the hotel and thank god ,that I have been given such an excellent atmosphere to work in and of course,the even more raunchier fact of working at “Bangalore” for the next 2 months .

Day 2 :Tuesday oct 19

The day begins with some lovely music on radio city 91 fm , which is so much better than the machan-machi of radio mirchi—except the fact that I still do miss suchitra ramadaorai’s voice. This time the bus reached at 7 30 in the morning…..giving me ample time to eat my break fast and also making a few local calls.One thing to note is the fact that Infy has phone booths all around the campus ……..for ppl to communicate to Bangalore based numbers .
The not-so-desirable thing is the reccurence of sleeping in the classrooms.Whenever I sleep I tend to sway to and fro and the push back chairs and the AC in the room ,dosen’t seem helping matters at all.I embarrass myself sitting in the first row,after which I retreat to the last few tiers to avoid being caught napping.This slumber of mine stems from the fact that I sleep late at night after doing some roaming around.

That evening I go out with my friend pervez to BTM layout in serch of a PG accomadation,but we are very disappointed with the quality of rooms on display and the people surrounding them . We get drenched in the rain and some how manage to catch a bus to corporation circle……where we are supposed to get down,but since It’s been heavy roaming around in the evening ……I feel extremely tired and doze off in the bus and just miss to get down at my stop ….bcoz the Bangalore bus doors close automatically after a predefined time and I am left alone as my friend pervez manages to get down just in time.I basically had a problem after being woken by pervez to first realize where I am ,and then wading through the crowd ,before which the bus took off.

I get down at the next stop ,about 1.5 kms from the corporation circle and begin a lonely walk ..at around 11 pm back to my hotel and …..as soon as I reach the place….I take a shower at get to bed at around 1 am.

Day 3 oct 20 Wednesday

Listening to radio city on my walkman is so much a pleasure with the day beginning with “oh hum dum suniyo re ……(the hindi version of endendrum punnagai-alaipayuthe) .It’s a new habit these days of swiping in a card for attendance.I chose to explore the campus with cycles that are provided at every nodal point. There are 6 canteens specializing in different cuisines having Indian,Chinese..etc etc. There is so much of greenery around at Infosys ,that one wonders is this a software organization or a place competing with the botanical gardens. We had certificate verification …a GD round and a HR test and so literally the whole day was free ….and I had enough time to roam around. I tried my best at getting accomadation adjacent to Infy,but since the company of persons weren’t that good I had to reject staying at ELECTRONICS CITY, the area around Infy campus,seconded by the fact that I couldn’t get homes easily there without a brokers help and my friend joshy returning home to Chennai , didn’t help making things easy as , if he were there he would have definitely helped me finding an accomadation at electronics city. staying at Elec city would mean getting a lot to save on rent and transport……vut one would have to stay in a pure “pattikadu “ environment as not many shops are there on the outskirts here.
I finally managed to get a accommodation at a place called BTM layout ,where my place is a small portion of a room ,enough to accomadate 3 beds and a couple of study tables…but as of now it’s only 1 person with whom I share the room. I pay a hefty 4k as the rent which included the food in the morning and night. But I am glad that I have a decent room,a big bathroom ,very much unlike the PG’s that are offered generally.
Day 4 ,oct 21 , Thursday.
I still find it hard for the feeling to sink in that I am “working” now and have to fend for myself …and last nights experience of searching an accomadation was sure a new experience. But no complaints …..I have to move on…..the only thing that depresses me is that we have to sign a 2.5 lac bond for a year,so this year’s CAT is only a formality.

We have our training sessions started and the biggest surprise is that I am made group leader………the girls in my group of 8 …..have great fun waking me up With a yell “GOOD MORNING” as soon as a session gets over , as I was sleeping …swaying to an fro……I must admit it was quite embarrassing .The later part of the day was spent checking emails in my lab,with the help of a senior who logged in with his email id.I cant get to use internet on my own until I have an email id @infosys. Its been a great week ,and I am all set to become a software engineer ……..I am leaving tomorrow to Bangalore by car ,to move into my new accomadation and show around the infy campus to my father.

INFY ROCKS

I had just been to the INFY main campus in bangalore and it's absolutely stunning.I have caught quite a few pics on my mobile and shall be transferring them soon on to this site.Last night Kishore and sid came to the station to see me off and after they left...I was on flashback mode for about a couple of hours going back to the college days.I heard that the college felicitation function was preponed from saturday to thursday , and that would mean I wouldn't be going to college to receive my gold ring as I would be at work.

The journey last night was a little cumbersome as I didn't have a pillow and my height was a little longer than the space provided by the side lower berth.I happened to bide away time by having ground nuts...and had a real chill wake up call at around 2 in the morning , when I found my shirt and pant partially wet ,due to the heavy rains lashing from bangarapet. It was a cold and dark morning,when bangalore greeted me ....I pushed my luggage amidst the rain to catch a bus to my cousin's place at basweshwara nagar,having avoided the auto and taxi wallah's who demanded nothing less than 100 bucks(double rate as it was raining then...).

After settling down with some tiffen,I managed to take my mother along to the INFY campus in electronics city ...after a sleepy ride for a hour long journey in the local bus.The campus is spread over quite a large area and the classrooms for training are awesome.The campus layout,the canteen's and the work atmosphere has simply got me bowled over.I will be checking into a hotel tommorow morning provided by Infy at a place called VT PARADISE on devanga sanga road near HUDSON circle. I am quite tired roaming around the huge INFY campus ....so it's time to hit the sack...................

A BREAK FROM ROUTINE

It does seem a lot different that in about 4 days time I am all set to work .It would be a total change of surroundings and life for me. I am currently running out of time ,packing my bags and running through my checklist.I have this habit of forgetting atleast 1 important thing on a trip ,so I am planning to changed this unstated rule of mine , by packing things in a phased manner ......to the extent that I have sacrificed going to the second day's play of the second test match being played here at chennai .

I just received INFY'S physical offer letter and went through all the rules and the various tax planning schemes.....and I am yet to figure outwhere I started,as I dont understand anything pertaining to insurance,banking and related stuff.I need to ask my father ,with regard to the various statistics mentioned in my salary package.

OF FRIENDS AND RELATIONSHIPS


I have always respected the maxim”It’s tougher to maintain a particular thing ,than the toughness in getting there or getting it” .Friendship is something like that.It may take years or minutes to find a friend ,but very difficult to maintain relationships over a period of time,and what is more appalling is the attitude of people in general to lose touch wioth old friends.As far as I am concerned a person with whom One might have spoken for more than an hour or two is a friend for life,even if not a close friend.

I have tried my best to still be in touch with my friends since school and college and It’s a little disheartening when I see a few of them totally having forgotten that they were once friends.People treat friendship as a one-night stand these days and that is really bad.

I somehow feel very emotional that I am leaving away my set of friends in Chennai and moving over to a new place in search of work.It’s a new experience and new set of friends to be with …….but it’s not about getting new friends,but the fact that one has to maintain his contacts . Some how it’s really sad to see some of my classmates who behave as they are really busy after having been employed. I agree that employment does restrict one’s time , but certainly not to the extent that he/she forgets his friends.People don’t seem to realize that a solitary email/sms might really gladden their friend and at least keep in touch.

5 days to go before I join INFY and I am getting nostalgic about college life.I never seemed to enjoy all that when I was in college,as I felt that all I did was to vegetate there and was wasting my time listening to morons who come and lecture us . One such huge moron was my HOD Mr Veeramalai ,who was the root cause to me hating the very mention of college.He is one guy , whom of all the person’s I miss today because I realize that I have no one to have verbal duels and fights with.He with his highly ridiculous behaviour against me ,was solely responsible for developing my aggressive attitude at times.Anyways this is the softest compliment that I can pay that idiot …..

So getting back to the core of this article,I request all of you still be in touch with every one of your friends….(hey that includes me …too .)

NIGHT BIKING = NIGHTMARE

Last night was a terrible experience in my rickety old bike .I had gone to the central railway station to drop my father ,parking my vehicle at the guindy station. I had also managed to drop into my classmate Achut’s place in triplicane at around 8 pm and stayed there till 9 pm. I got into a beach-tambaram local BG EMU train and the train got delayed after waiting for more than 10 minutes at Park and egmore stations respectively.I got so engrossed in thinking about my college life,to the extent that I had missed getting down at guindy station and got off only at the next station ST Thomas Mount , for the umpteenth time.I got a return connecting train that dropped me back at guindy….and this where the story begins……………

My choke wire in my bike had been broken and had fallen down somewhere,earlier in the day.My bike generally starts with the Choke on….especially during the night time.I reached guindy at around 11 pm and tried kick starting my bike for about 15 minutes,It wouldn’t start ……and to compound things was the rain clouds looming large at night,it would become terrible If I were to be stranded all alone in the rain,but thankfully the skies didn’t cry that night.

My abortive attempts at starting my bike went on till 11 15, when I requested a couple of rare passerby’s to help me with starting the bike. The bike refused to start …..And raised the anxiety level in me, whether I would reach home at all last night. After pushing the bike …to a distance I spotted a couple of auto drivers, who were quite adept in the mechanics of biking and helped me start my bike in a jiffy, But there was this unstated clause which I soon found out that, If I slowed down the bike by applying the brakes ,or reduced a gear , the bike’s engine would be switched off.

This was a SPEED like scenario where I had to maintain a constant speed at one particular gear ……failing which the engine would switch off and again starting the bike would be a nightmare. I had to drive at 30-40 km’s an hour speed unmindful of the pits and potholes and the slush that was in it. If I had normally seen a pothole,I would slow down and try to avoid it,but last night ,getting home was high on the priority ,so slowing down was never on the agenda.Thankfully there were no heavy vehicles coming in my opposite direction,otherwise I would have had to reduce my speed and put the brakes on.

I came home,with my legs and bike bathed in slush. I was happy that I had made it home last night …even though I had to endure a dangerous biking journey …..imagine driving into slush filled pot hole at 40 kms/hr …….with the water splashing allover me and my bike…..it was certainly a journey worth forgetting.

TIRING DAY
I am blogging from the British council library.Today I had a really tiring day in the chennai sun,roaming about guindy-chennai central-perambur-central-.........to BCL .I had been to my perripa's place to see him before I scoot
off to bangalore.I happened to see Kishore,to whom I had to give his Motherboard CD. Then I took the train from perambur and reached central,famished by the chennai sun.I was half asleep when the station arrived.I had to then go to the Southern railway booking office to meet the chief supersvisor to have my tickets changed from my father's name to my mother's name...After that I was too tired to walk even a step further, somehow gathered some energy to buy a platform ticket,and had some tiffen at saravana bhavan (chennai central branch).

The Chennai sun literally saps whatever energy that's left in one's body.I am a living testimony to that.Given a chance I would lay myself flat on the desktop here,But since it happens to be a public place ,I have to control myself.I am waiting to rush home.......and hit the sack( go to bed ....that is )

HEALTHY DAYS are BACK AGAIN

I belive my comp's Ok now...jus downloaded the patch from microsoft's website.I need to restsrt my PC and conect to the net again to c whether the changes have been implemented.

well since october was born(thats 96 hours ago ) I have been spending
a high percentage of my hours sleeping or being half asleep when not
sleeping. I have never felt so dizzy before........In tamil terminology
I am experiencing "mabbu"... I have just recovered from a format of my hardrive,
I have lost all important data that was there,so it's strange to start up the
PC and find that my favourite song isn't playing .....

This boredom at home is killing me ...To beat the boredom I
decided to pack up my bags and i have kept the shirts and trousers
required for Infy ..for which I am leaving on 15th.

well I cant browse at home,so i have to waste my time at a IWAY nearby
to check my mails .