ExpertDabbler

May all of you have a wonderful new year where all your dreams come true!

What are the chances of lay men reading through a management book without dozing off? One in a thousand? Ten thousand? Or perhaps, a million?
Wrong! This business book is simply unputdownable. Primarily because its also a racy novel.

THE GOAL talks about the trials and tribulations of one plant manager, Alex Rogo struggling to keep costs down and improve bottomline. He is given a turnaround time of 3 months failing which his plant will be gone, and so is his job.

During the course of this turnaround, we are given something to think about.
I still have a few things I did not understand clearly in the first read, so i’m planning to read again. I think its worth the time.

I was so impressed that I went ahead and bought the sequel ‘Its not luck’ which was even more absorbing. In short, THE GOAL series is for anyone who care to think and a must read for MBA aspirants.

Sometime last week I had, shall we say the pleasure, of taking the much talked about IT Highway to the Prathyangara Devi Temple in Shozhinganallur. To be honest, the road is really cool from Madhya Kailash to SRP Tools. Never mind the fact that it took them ages to complete that 2-3 km stretch.
But the deal, or rather the ordeal, begins after that point. Regular commuters on that road will agree if I say it has become progressively worse what it was 1.5 years ago.

Certain landmarks remain intact even while new others have cropped up. For eg, I checked out the spot bang opposite CTS in Thoraipakkam, the swimming pool was intact even 2 weeks after the last drop of rain. IT Highway? Oh yeah!

Keerthi once mentioned, “Andha road la bus shock absorber ku epdi behave panradhu ne therila PK. Front right wheel and rear left wheel um kuzhi la irukkum. Mitha rendu wheelum periya kal mela irukkum” It may sound impossible, but does well to communicate the true state of the road.

Perhaps the Government might think now that anyway the road is due for major facelift upto Siruseri, why spend time and money on repairing?

But I can assure you no software engineer worth his backache will live long enough to see the improved version, if the present roads are any indication.

As if this experience was not enough, I took the Perungudi - Pallavaram bypass while returning. Ah, how I wish better sense had prevailed.

What I kinda knew was, the stretch between Perungudi and Kamakshi Hospital is the dumping yard for South Chennai. What I did not know was the fact that one lane of the road being usurped by the dump yard (Infrastructure development?).

It’s almost impossible to breathe. I say almost, because I guess i somehow did and survived to write this. That was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Yeah, never again that road in my lifetime!

And what is the latest I hear? Our esteemed IT majors  has decided to build one of their IT parks exactly at that very auspicious place. Talk about strategic positioning.
And oh yeah, there are a couple of huge residential apartments and it’s rumored they sell about 2000 per sqft!

Read the title again.

Yesterday was workplace decoration day in our office. Man, the kind of sets my colleagues came up with was just mindblowing!

The funda is like this. There are 4 floors, each with 2 bays in our SDCs. There are 3 other SDCs in chennai. The preparation time was like 6 days but like all Indian techies, nothing was really past the discussion stage till the last couple of days.

But came the hour and the work they displayed would’ve made Thotta Tharani proud.

I was in for a pleasant shock when I went to my floor y’day. Our theme was ‘Village’, and the whole floor was transformed to a pukka tamilnadu village.

If the set was authentic, the casting was just awesome. Check out the pics… My bay got the 1st place for ‘Best creativity’. The 1st prize for ‘Best Theme’ went to karthik, monu ,risha and team.

Touring talkies featuring “Ali Baba vum 40 thirudargalum”. I dont know from where they go the CD. :)  

Our ladies decorating the Puthu Kovil set

The village ‘Naataamai’ worshipping in the temple.

‘Tea kadai’ set

‘Veedu’ set.

The only difference between those guys and me was that they worked like hell for the whole week, while i stayed away from this because I felt my floor guys will goof up big time. i was the one who missed out all the fun in the end.

Microsoft IT–India develops mission critical applications that support Microsoft businesses worldwide and manages Microsoft worldwide IT infrastructure. Working on next generation technologies to create software that helps Microsoft and its customers realize their full potential, is a challenge that drives us.

We are looking for ‘Academic Interns’

Internship is a unique programme at Microsoft, which gives an opportunity for young and talented minds to see through the myriad technological innovations.  ‘Academic Interns’ will come on board in Mid-January 2007 for a period of minimum 5 months (as part of fulfilment of their academic degree).

All positions are based in Hyderabad, India.

Selection Process

Students shortlisted for the Test will be intimated by e-mail. The selection process consists of an Aptitude/Technical Test and Personal Interviews.

Eligibility

a)  Final Year Students of MCA / M.Tech(CS/IT) / B.Tech(CS/IT)

b)  Minimum of 5 Months Project duration beginning Mid Jan 2007.

c)  Scored a minimum aggregate CGPA of 7.0. (Till the latest declared semester results)

Please refer your friends/ acquaintances that are eligible for the above position.

The resume can be uploaded at:  http://merittrac.net/microsoftGDCI

The last date for applying: Wednesday, 27th December 2006.

Come december and the mainstream media majors would sure have a special coverage of the year that’s drawing to a close. It would be ‘A year that was’ covering all major events and happenings at the international level, national level, the great movies, the best-selling books, the remarkable personalities, great discoveries, war and suffering, major setbacks and disappointments and how this would all impact the common man in the coming year.

When I think about 2006 on the personal front, the only underlying theme that creeps up is ‘Confusion and Dilemma’. Never in my life have I looked so confused and bereft of clarity for life’s questions. A person who almost did not bat an eyelid before dropping out of college, a guy who had on the spur of the moment decided to venture out to a strange city on his own, the guy who has made major investment decisions in a flash and one who never looks back at his decisions is suddenly feeling the pinch of ‘paradox of choices’ phenomenon.

I think it was Bill G who said ‘some amount of confusion is healthy’ or something like that. Going by his yardstick, I think it’s been quite a healthy year for me :). Talking about health, 2006 is also the year when I overcame GERD – something that literally made me lose sleep for sometime last year.

All this confusion implies that I’m no more the careless/carefree youth that I was. I’m beginning to think more for myself, my career, my personal growth, and my responsibilities, which is good. But sometimes I also feel I’m getting old, and analyzing too much.

Let’s see how 2007 goes as I am in the process of making some decisions which could potentially change the course of my life.

For now, i just keep telling myself that no decision on its own is lifechanging. It’s how we act based on the decision which determines the success or failure.

I never thought google can do anything wrong in technology, until i read this one 

Recently, I entered the Sify Iway in Kasturibhai Nagar, Adyar

As soon as I entered, a lady asked me if i was a member. I nodded yes. She promptly asked me to fill in my details in a register. “Oh! Security” I told myself.

I entered my name, address, mobile number, email id, the in-time and signed near the right.

“Eludhiteengala? ” she asked.

I nodded again.

“Security” she called looking at the middle aged man in uniform.

“Ivar details elllam check pannunga” she ordered him.

That guy started his scrutiny. I was already feeling a bit uneasy about writing down all these details for the sake of print out.

“Sir, ungalukku photo Id irukka?”

I showed him my company ID card. But clearly exasperated by now. It occured to me that getting through the main gates in IIT Bombay even as a stranger was easier.

“Hm. Licence irukka?”

I showed him my laminated licence copy.

“Licence oda number eludhunga. ”

Thats it.

I decided i’ve had enough.

“Irukattum nga. unga browsing center neengale vechukonga!. naan vera edam poikaren”

For a brief moment, I was thinking if I’d entered some Tamil Nadu Government run browsing center by mistake.

For all this information collection, how do I ensure that the guys will not misuse my personal information?

The beauty is, I went to another Sify Iway in velachery and they hardly ever bothered to look at me. Who is following rules and who is overdoing it?

It is one thing to be cautious and alert and another thing to take this opportunity to be bureaucratic! I wish people were sensible enough to understand that.

Maha janangale,

Welcome to my new home. Well actually, it’s not exactly new because I’ve had this domain for sometime. I’d wanted to post on some arcane professional stuff?

What happened? Well naane indha pakkam varlai! leave alone my readers!

So, i decided to move in to this blog completely.

Naan wordpress ku maariten, appo neenga?

Husband and Wife

Husband enters the house with the day’s Dinamalar in hand.

Wife(from kitchen): “paper vangiyacha?”

Husband: “Vangiten”

Wife: “Pudhu varusham calendar kuduthaana?”

Husband: “Kuduthaan kuduthaan” (he was literally pulled out of his PC for this mission and understandably he is miffed)

Wife: “vera enna kuduthaan”

Husband:(in low tone): “Oru ground nilam kuduthaan. naan 2 bhk flat ketruken. tharen nu sollirukaan.. ungalayelam thiruthave…..m”

Wife: “Ennadhu Ennadu?”

Husband: “Onnum illa, calendar nalla irukku nu sonnen.. “