Musings of my alter ego

I have an inherent character that constantly observes things happening around me so closely yet unnoticed. To be frank this waste a lot of neurons in my brain . Also it disputes what I think I am and tramples on all the rules I wish to follow without my discretion. Can't help, but that alter ego of mine is brilliant enough to altercate about issues that I don't want to discuss and finally convinces me to look at them. It produces a restlessness which is annoying at times.

Recently it raised the following issues for which I can't think of a way in which I could have helped.

1. Why on earth should "Indian" premier league happen in "South Africa" ? Who are those guys ? Is it helping anyone other than those usurper regime of billionaires aka team owners and the players who think they are GOD (inverse of this word is what they are except that they wag for money). How can someone who can't respect a national award be a captain of our national team. THAT IS RIDICULOUS !!!

But as I said above my real self watches every match without fail. CONTROVERSIAL ME !!!

2. Who are these Lalus , Varuns and Pawars ? How can someone uncivilized, civilize the entire nation. I don't think there isn't anything political in our Indian politics. It is all a gamble. In the pretext of representing their own minority groups there have been swarms of filthy politicians ruining the nation. If India is going to be ruled by those in possession of wealth and power looking to expand their influence for greater bad , certainly I wish I do something.....But I dunno what that damn thing is...CLUELESS !!

But as I said I am here sitting in New York working hard on my course assignments. THE REAL ME AGAIN !!

3. The massacre of classical languages like Tamil. Irony that the people of Tamilnadu hate to speak in Tamil. I am sure that the population of Tamglish, Telglish, Hindglish,Kanglish(*glish is better)speaking people is alarmingly increasing. I am not against speaking foreign languages but when there is no necessity why to stress oneself ?? According to me, our mother-tongue makes us think but a foreign language forces us to follow or accept things as it is. Nobody can refute the fact that their thought process happens in their native language....TRANSLATED VERSION OF MY THOUGHTS !!

Hmm. I am practising Uncle Sam's accent for my survival. THE SELFISH ME !!!

4. This is something I won't forgive myself for. There is a fraternity in my university representing my motherland. Err..probably I should replace the word "represent". They are probably good adopters "than" representatives. There were flyers around propagating the word that "Indian so and so" is organizing "Ball Dance", the event codenamed "Spring Ball". Isn't there anything interesting in our culture to be proud of ??? Agreed that you guys celebrate Diwali, Lohri etc.. That is within us(Can't elaborate on this)!! But when it comes to a university wide event I think you guys miserably let "us" down. Can someone name a single fraternity that did something that does not belong of their culture ?? I am not challenging but curious !!...

I wished to be a part of this not becoz it is organized by "Indian so and so" but for my interest in DANCE. But did not attend because of several reasons.So...EXCUSE ME !!!

I hope my restless alter ego will stay calm for a while as it has expressed what it wished to. I am back to work.

Been a while

It has been a while since I scribbled anything in my blog. It is all attributed to the change in my designation. I AM A STUDENT AGAIN !!! I excused myself by one way or the other to stay away from blogging. I wanted to write about,

1. How I got my visa,
I didn't do anything special here. My parents prepared all the necessary docs and I got it with ease.

2. The excitement I had when I landed in New York,
I am no exception. I had my heart thumping with joy when I landed in New York. I was welcomed by snow storm. First drive on American roads was so exciting that I left my back-pack which contained all the papers, in the limo (Yea !!! Due to the non-availability of normal cabs they sent me a limo :)) I arrived. With the help of few Indian students I got it back within an hour.

3. First day class,
The excitement was all about the American education and how different it is from the Indian system. It is quite different and practical. I love the informal culture here.

4. The culture I observed here,
Way too formal !! I hate to see the artificial Colgate smile. Instead a normal "hi" is much better.

5. Trip to New York city
The most exciting moment of my life. I enjoyed every single minute amazed by the variety of cultures in the city. Be it be statue of liberty,empire state, brooklyn bridge or wall street, they have a history and sense of pride associated with them.

Hm..great...I have almost summarized what I wished to say !! New way to blog !!!

Software Engineers are not criminals!!!

I got a chance to watch two absolutely fanatical Tamil movies that portrayed software engineers as the curse of the human society. I really could not comprehend this negative sentiment. Why such a sick, sinful, highly exaggerated display is required in a filthy movie ???

A software engineer do not cheat around. He does not rob,steal,mug anyone. He is also a common man who works for his living. He has commitments, responsibilities like any other person. Then what exactly discriminates him from common man !!!!

Salary ??? It is all an illusion. The fact is, he is the one who achieves much less and works much more than anyone else. The mental stress, deadlines, sedentary life style compensates for the extra penny he earns. To put it simple, HIS LIFE IS PENNY WISE BUT POUND FOOLISH !!!!I m sure that every software engineer will be looking for an alternate career option than being a couch potato, staying away from his families most of the time.

Lifestyle ??? This seems to be a major weapon for middle aged men to attack software engineers. I absolutely agree that they had tough time during their youth. They started earning only by late twenties and by that time they would have got married. New roles and responsibilities had kept them busy drafting future plans. But each and everyone would have some unfulfilled dreams and wishes of a typical youth. Even a software engineer is like everyone else except that most of them start earning pretty early and get a chance to fulfill some of their dreams. The most notable being the fancy clothes, bikes, bike trips etc. Wake up folks !!!

Most of the people in jobs other than IT live closely with their families in their habitual place. But life of a software engineer is disturbing rather annoying. As the IT companies are mostly located in confined areas, relocating is mandatory rather compulsory. As those places are expensive and highly mechanical his parents decide to stay at their native places. The result, even if any urgency, he cannot visit his home due to the non availability of travel tickets. In my case, there is only one train to my home town and I need to book tickets two months in advance at least. For anyone who was brought up in a conservative, affectionate environment this separation will definitely have some impact on their day-to-day lives.

A software engineer loses so much to earn very less. Every IT company just sucks the hell out of every employee and awards him some peanuts. But each and every person, right from street vegetable vendor, auto driver till people owning shops in big shopping malls, try to wiggle out the hard earned peanuts from him. Is it ethical ? After all he is a software engineer, not criminal, becoz if he was he would have entered "The great Indian politics" !!!!

Kamalhassan -An Unparalled artist

The much awaited movie "Dasavatharam" got released last week. Me being a avid Kamalhassan fan, used to watch all his movies on the day of release. Though some of his movies were not up to the expectations, most of them did. Dasa is not an exception. As a method actor of his own sort, he has put three years of hardwork in this movie, which is so apparent to anyone who watches it. Moreover I really admire his "technical wizardry" (Backed by Sujatha who is no more!!) that is so evident in this particular movie. He has weaned himself out of the traditional Indian formula movies and has elevated himself to a new dimension. No wonder, he has the distinction of being the actor with the most number of films submitted by India in contest for the academy award for best foreign language film.

Unfortunately I did not get a chance to watch Dasa on the first day. But I managed to sneak into the theater on the second day. Kamal has reprised ten roles which according to me is completely unnecessary as the story demands nothing of that sort. To be in sync with the title "Das Avatar" a couple of roles has been nudged in and that make the movie to digress from its main line. The only advantage of this 10 role is that it proves his proficiency in acting. As stated above it proves why he is a "method actor". Being the most expensive film in Indian cinema, I really wonder why they did not take care of the screen play. It really sucks. It is simply a mix and match of some hollywood movies. I dont know whether it is Kamal's fault or director's. But this has attracted worst reviews from the so called critics appointed by every news channel and news paper.

But I really liked the concept in this movie. After the movie "Anbe Sivam" which preached his view on atheism, Dasa preaches his agnostic views. At the end of the movie he says,

"I am not arguing that god does not exist but I think it would be really good if god exists"

And that says it all. Conceptually the movie is really good but the screenplay is not up to the mark. Worth watching JUST FOR KAMAL and to have a vision of how Indian cinema is going to proceed from now on.

Some Joke

Today I was chatting with my colleague. The topic eventually turned towards our college life. He was mentioning about a chemistry lecturer who had "Englishphobia". I found it really funny. Here are some snippets.

In the chemistry lab some guy was supposed to mix some acid with some other. This should be done drop by drop. But our guy tried to pour it at one shot. Lecturer spotted it and the following statement says the rest,

Lecturer : Guy !! Don't POUR !!!! POUR POUr POur Pour pour pou ....!!!! :)

In yet another situation, some guys were disturbing this lecturer's class by making funny sound. Unfortunately the sharp lecturer spotted a particular guy in that group.

Lecturer : Hey you !!Stand up....

A guy in the front bench thought he is being called,

Front Bencher:Sir,me ???

Lecturer : Not 'me' !!!! Behind 'me' !!!! :)

In some other situation he wanted a guy a get out of his class. But poor lecturer,he didn't know how to tell it. So he went out of the class;Stood there;called that guy out.

Lecturer: U stand here !!I go inside !! :)

Hehehe!! Define Love??

Being in India, I had enough theories about love through all these bollywood,kollywood,tollywood,huhh....I am tired...let me put it as *woods. Love sequence is mandatory in every Indian movie without which it will be termed as a documentary and screened only in some film festivals that is conducted by the intellectuals for the intellectuals. Anyway I will discuss about it in some other post. Currently lets focus on the so called divine entity, "Love".

Recently you must have come across an advertisement on TV starring Madhavan and Vidyabalan. They do something cryptic to express their love (Obviously acting!!), to promote Airtel(mobile service provider),whose tag line itself is "Express yourself". For me it is just yet another advertisement. True, they seem to be a good pair but nothing else appeals to my small or non-existent brain.

But one of my friend finds something extraordinary in that advertisement. Let me introduce him as "Lover boy", that is how he is known to many. He is all in smiles whenever he sees that ad. It is so weird to me. I couldn't understand his reactions. When asked, he said he could understand some chemistry that is similar to something that happened in his life..

Me : Hehe Don't lie da!!U flunked in that subject when in school..hahahaha..
Lover boy: Grrr..I am talking about the love chemistry ..
Me : Oh sorry. I flunked in it. So its beyond my understanding.
Lover boy: Ya,you can't understand until you get committed.
Me : Dude !!then there is no chance for me to understand that. You are committed,so can you please define it??
Lover Boy: Its a feeling da..
Me : Oh Ho..Is it similar to the feeling you get when you see Mallika Sherawat or shreya on screen ??
Lover Boy: Idiot !!! Its a feeling form the heart. When you see your girlfriend or when you get a call from her number you feel a jerk in your heart. Some reactions happen in your body. Your heart starts beating really fast;you struggle for words..
Me : Ohhhh yaaaaa!!! Wait wait wait....I clearly understood. Recently scientists have discovered a new disease called "Cardiovascular hemo pulmuno acute deficiency syndrome". I guess you are suffering from this disease. Please meet a good cardiologist. Hahahahhhh!!!

Rest of the conversation,
@###@$$$%%...wait let me explain..you idiot %$$#&&*...no no no...my mistake to consider u as serious **$$#&**#@@@..no past please.. ##@#$%%^##@@..calm down dude... no way %$$###%&&**..that defies logic ha ha...finally bam bush!!!

Though I could not write everything that happened, I would rate it as a good time pass. I know that it is impossible to define love. If it is defined, I am sure that our Indian movie industry's future will be in doldrums.

Shopping online !!!

I don't want to start conventionally by saying "In this era of information technology ...blah..blah...online trading is a new fascination..blah..blah". It happened last December when I came to know about an online shopping website which offered unbelievable discounts on products in my all time "wish list". It was a new venture and no doubt, their offers are certain products were really attractive. I never traded online as I have heard stories of people receiving bricks instead of the expected mp3 player. Now I don't understand one thing.Why these guys parcel bricks.They are heavy hence attract more freight charges right ?? A better idea would be to mail a sheet of paper with a brick diagram in it. Thats more profitable and it really enrages the receiver.

As the main office of that particular website is in Bangalore I decided to give it a try. After verifying that the office actually exist I ordered an iPod. Bingo !!!! I received it within 2 days, well in advance than the promised 7 days delivery time.
I got good discount, reward points, gift vouchers.
Feedback asked - I replied "U guys rock!!" (I was rewarded with one more gift voucher ;) )

After a month I ordered a digital camera which I received only on the last day of the mentioned deadline i.e. the 7th day. Fine, not a problem as long as i receive it within the stipulated time. Not much of discounts and misc stuffs this time.
Feedback asked - I replied "Ok.but you guys can improve"(I did not get any points for this)

One of my friend who had similar online shopping phobia heard about my success and inquired about the latest deals posted. He wished to purchase a digital camera and asked if I could help by ordering it using my credit card. I agreed to that and ordered one last month. It was a long wait. I almost forgot that I ordered one until my friend reminded me of that. I contacted their customer support officer,

conversation()
{
Voice : welcome to "".How may i assist u?
Me : I ordered a digital camera .Here is my order no.Can u update about the progress?
Voice : Definitely sir. One moment.
After a while,
Voice: Regret to say that we couldn't meet the deadline. The item will be shipped by today. You will receive it by tomorrow,sir.
Me : Oh cool.thanks.
Voice: welcome sir
}

But I did not receive anything the next day and I called up again.
conversation()
I waited and again rang up on the third day. I really got irritated as I already received my credit card bill and my payment date was imminent. I still got the same conversation()
On the fourth day I decided to cancel the order.Called them up,

Voice : welcome to "".How may i assist u?
Me : I ordered a digital camera .Here is my order no.Can u update about the progress?
Voice : Definitely sir. One moment.
After a while,
Voice: Regret to say that we couldn't meet the deadline. The item will be shipped by today. You will receive it by tomorrow,sir.
Me : This was the same reply I am getting for the past three days.
Voice : Whom do you talk to ?
Me : I don't remember the names.
Voice : Male or female?
Me : Male voice, I guess.
Voice : Its not me then (Obviously!!!!I am mature enough to identify male and female voice)
Me : But day before yesterday I spoke with a female voice only. Was that you?
Voice : No sir (Why did you ask this question. Is it gonna help me in anyway ?)
Me : What about my order???
Voice : You'll definitely receive it tomorrow.
Me : You know "Tomorrow never comes".
Voice : With us it will come sir.
Me : Hmm. Let me see.
Voice : Sure.Any other thing ?
Me : whats your name ?I have to quote it tomorrow.

I got the name and had two more days of heated conversation with her to cancel the order. Finally I managed to cancel the order just before the due date of my credit card bill. When I visited the site yesterday i saw that the delivery time of all the products has been changed from 7 days to 15 days.

In my opinion this website guys had a really good start. But failed to keep up the momentum. I decided not to shop on that website again. One more lesson I learned is,simply don't use the credit card everywhere. That may land you in worst troubles.