Time for some Manager-Bashing!!!

As the title suggests, in this post I'm gonna do some serious manager-bashing...I'm sure it'll make me feel great at the end of it!!! Hehe...
So, I've got these two managers who are absolute idiots (that's a very decent word I've used here for both of them!!!)...One of them is my People Manager, a concept prevalent only in IBM I guess...And the other is a Project Manager (not mine thank god!!!) who's been incharge of us since we joined IBM...We are his responsibility, he tells us n we keep getting him in trouble all the time!!! That does feel nice especially when we are being given the firing of our lives...Now this guy is a freak I tell you, an absolute weirdo...Maybe being in the IT industry for so long does this to a person!!! So anyway, this chap is the moodiest person I've ever come across I think...You never know what's gonna happen next with him...One minute he's very nice to you n in a jovial mood n the next he's lost his temper n is blasting you away!!! During that time you can't put in a word for yourself because he just refuses to listen to you or even to reason...So the best way to handle him then is to let him blow his steam n once he cools down to present your side of the story...But this sure as hell takes a lot of patience (which I sorely lack!!!) n it tends to irritate everyone around...He's also a very bad communicator n atleast I, most of the time, hardly understand exactly what it is that he wants me to do!!! I dunno how the people in his project cope up with all this...Two of my friends are working under him and everyday they are either pulling out their hair in frustration or cursing their fate!!! Poor girls...
Coming now to my People Manager....She's the one who does my reviews, approves my leaves, does my appraisals...In short, she's the one who can screw me up big time!!! And that's exactly what she's doing I think...First of all she gives me bad reviews...Then she rejects my sick leaves too!!! Tells me to take paid leaves as I have lots of them...Thanks to her, I now have only three n a half PL's left!!!! Grrr...And all this she does sitting in Mumbai!!! Can you believe it??? As my friend says, she's good...N mind you he wasn't being sarcastic at all...He was just saying that as a manager she's good, because she knows how to screw people!!! Thanks to her and some more of this obnoxious breed called managers, I'm still on bench, waiting for a project to come my way...Sometime back, they wanted me to shift to some other city too!!! They pressurized me a lot, but I was pretty adamant about not going so it was dropped...
So there!!! That actually felt very good!!! Now the next time I'm frustrated n angry wid my managers, I'm again gonna give vent to my feelings in this way...It's a really great way to destress n clear your mind too...I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it...Cheers!!!

One Night at the Taj Blue Diamond

I sometimes like going to pubs n discs here in Pune...You get quite a nice crowd n the music is generally good...Last Saturday night, I'd been to Taj Blue Diamond's disc, Polaris...What a letdown it was!!! First of all, the crowd...I felt the majority of it was 28 plus and a crowd like that sucks when you want to have fun n let your hair down...Not that people over 28 years don't know how to have fun, it's just that with a crowd nearer your own age group it's way more exciting!!! Then there was the dance floor itself...I think it's the tiniest one I've ever seen so far...When we first entered the disc (at 10.30 or so I may add), it looked more like a lounge than anythin else...Plus the dance floor was absolutely empty!!! So, we sat down for sometime grumbling, complaining about the place and giving gaalis to the person who suggested it in the first place...BTW we still don't know who was the wise guy who wanted to come here!!! So anyway, the mavericks that we all are, we said what the hell??!! An empty dance floor shouldn't stop us from not enjoying ourselves right? So we got on the dance floor n started grooving away!!! The music was pathetic in the beginning and everybody else absolutely refused to come on to the dance floor...Ours was the only group who was there n we were enjoying ourselves thoroughly...Slowly, as the music started getting better, the dance floor started filling up...The DJ started playing hip-hop numbers in between and the floor could still accomodate everybody without anyone having to jostle for space...Then he started off with the Hindi movie songs and just about everyone there wanted to dance!!! It was as it is pretty hot n stuffy there n with the addition of more people and the dancing, everybody started sweating like anything!!! Soon there was no space to even move a hand or a leg forget shaking them!!! So, all of us were just jumping on the spot or moving our hands vertically...We must've danced for 2 hours atleast n the music was at last stopped at 1 in the morning...After a photo session in which all of us look tired, hot n sweaty, we decided to go home...N since the next day was a Sunday, most of us took that full day to recover before Monday morning took us back to work n back to our routine...

Thank You for the Music

As most of you people know, music is my life...so I thought why not write about something that actually runs in my blood!!!
So, music...as the song by ABBA goes, "What would life be? Without a song or dance what are we?" If you actually sit down and think, what would life be like without the beautiful sounds of music? How would countless number of people express themselves without this absolutely wonderful gift of nature (and man-made instruments of course!!! But the basic premise lies with nature itself)? Because with the help of music you can express any emotion you feel, be it happiness, sadness, wooing someone, being in love, getting ur heart broken, patriotism and many more...Music makes your heart sing along with it and it can lift up your spirits even wen you're really down in the dumps...Kickass songs can make you feel good about yourself when you've been rejected or whatever (I personally love those songs!!!)...You've got songs by Avril Lavigne which are odes to individuality and then again you have songs by Evanescence which are deep, dark and sometimes quite disturbing...Classic rock songs can be heard even in this day and age when genres like death metal and trash metal are so prevalent...I personally can't listen to heavy metal as I feel it atually trashes the sanctity of music...
One of my all time favourite bands is ABBA...now here's a group who knew how to make music...their songs cut across generations and are popular even today...Both my grandfathers were fans of ABBA, my parents still are and I will always be!!! I can't exactly pick one song which is my favourite but I love Fernando, Chiquitita, Eagle, S.O.S, The Winner Takes It All and lots more...I can't exactly give the list out here!!! And now for the paradigm shift from pop to rock...Evanescence is another all time favourite with me...Its lead singer Amy Lee has an amazingly powerful voice and the songs which they write and compose are all about hurt and pain...Their music is Gothic in nature and it somehow appeals to my more darker side (yes I do have a darker side)!!! Avril Lavigne is another artiste whom I absolutely adore...Her devil-may-care attitude shows in her songs and I can listen to them again and again...Then there are songs by Nirvana, Guns n Roses, Eagles, Eric Clapton and other classic rock gods which I love and can identify with...
Then of course who can forget our very own Hindi movie songs? Some of them rock I tell you...My current favourites are Ajab Si from Om Shanti Om and Saawariya from the movie of the same name...There are a lotta other Hindi songs I like from various movies...Can't really write all of them here so it'll suffice to say that there are loads of them!!!
Anyway, I think I'll sign off now...Took me two days to write this post and frankly speakin I'm a bit tired of it now!!! So, till the next time...Adios!!!

The Final Frontier...

I haven't posted anything in a long time I know...I lost my maternal grandfather last week...It was a huge blow to all of us...It happened just so suddenly that we were hardly prepared for it...On Sunday he was with us, hale and hearty (apparently), and on the intervening night between Tuesday and Wednesday he was gone...Just like that...When I saw him in the ICU on Tuesday I couldn't hold back my tears...He was put on the ventilator and there were all sorts of pipes and tubes going in and out of him...He looked so frail and so helpless, it was heartbreaking...But he wasn't conscious so he wasn't aware of all the pain his body was having to endure...My Mom was not here when he had to be admitted to the hospital...I called her and she reached on Tuesday morning...I feel he hung on till then and when he sensed she'd come, he slowly gave up...
Death...It has such a finality to it...There's of course no escaping it, but the emptiness it brings to the people around is heartrending...My grandfather, at 81, was the life of the family...He used to always be cheerful, whatever the circumstances or how much ever in pain he may be...He was an extraordinary human being who had tremendous willpower and an undying zest for life...His whole life is a lesson for all those who knew him and admired him for it...I don't think I'm ever gonna come across a more principled man who was also a big inspiration to all the people around him...It's been a week since he's left us, but not a day has passed when someone or the other has not come to give their condolences or called up at home for the same...
So coming back to the topic of death, the final frontier...The most terrifying of all aspects on this earth...everyone is afraid of losing their near and dear ones be it suddenly as in an accident or slowly as in an illness or just plain old age...It is very scary...The thought of not being able to see someone again ever is downright horrifying...What happens to a person after crossing over to the other world? Does the soul really wander in the real world for three days thinking that it is normal and not realizing it has left the body it lived in? Does reincarnation really take place? These are just some of the questions that come to your mind but whatever may be the case, in the end everyone wants their departed to rest in peace and be happy in the nether world...That is all that matters in the end...
I have so much more to write...So many memories (I was his 1st grandchild)...He was so proud of me when I got a job in IBM...I'm so glad I could give him that happiness...But i think I'll stop now...Its not possible for me to go on...So until the next post...Adieu n may god bless you!

New Beginnings

This is my first encounter with actually writin a blog...it may turn out to be a miserable effort but please bear with me n be kind in ur comments!!!
So, as the title suggests, this is a blog about new beginnings...in my life...that is from the time i left the protectiveness of my parents n the easy life in Nagpur to come n join a company in Pune...the city of IT dreams!!! I joined IBM on 13th April 2007 n since then life has never been the same for me...the whole process of joining such a big organization was overwhelming...
so anyway..we were 10 people who had been placed in the Oracle Apps module...8 girls n 2 guys(lucky guys I must say!!!)...as time wore on, we got to know each other better n soon groups were formed in those 10 people...girls as u kno can be very catty n love to b in a group...the poor guys were caught in between...one of them was weak enough to b swayed but the other guy was quite diplomatic n saved himself from all the politics taking place!!! I'm not too interested in politics myself so it was really amusing to see all this happening from a distance...I have mostly maintained my status quo wid everyone in the group though I tend to hang out more with one of the groups formed...but here thankfully I've been saved by my "friend making" ability!!!
I commute to office everyday by the company bus...and it's here that I've made some of the most lasting friendships ever...the first friend that I made via this media was Somnath...he's my friend's elder brother n we live in the same building...now when I met this guy for the first time, I was under the impression that he's a serious character who's absolutely the no-nonsense kinds...but it just goes to show how bad I am at judging people in the first instance...he's the most fun character I've ever met n has me in splits most of the bus journey from home to work n back...He's also very mature(well he has to be considering he's 27-going-on-28!!!) n he's my sounding board these days whenever I have a problem or just feel like talking...He's especially good at giving relatioship advice n has become my "agony uncle" now!!! We've also started going for walks together now since both of us feel we need to lose some weight...that we yak more than we walk is an altogether different story n can be told some other day...
The other friend I made on the bus is Nirmal...now here's your quintessential nice guy who's very seedha saadha n doesn't get most of the jokes somnath n me crack(which are most of the times not for decent ears!!!)...so nirmal n me have these chai sessions everyday in the cafeteria where, over a nice hot cuppa we talk n discuss stuff like books, movies, songs, love, life n laughter...I try convincing him to get a girl for himself n he keeps trying to convince me that he values his freedom too much to actually be at the beck n call of some girl(as if all girls are like that!!!)..but we've stopped talkin about this since we are always at loggerheads when this topic comes up...in the bus, he n somnath most of the times team up against me n keep teasing me either about inane stuff or something that I say...it really gets to me sometimes n I then blow my fuse n refuse to talk 2 either(which is a bit immature...but what the hell??!!!)...but still...he's a very sweet guy who loves food n drink(no wonder we get along so well!!!) n weird books n songs since I've never heard of the books he's read or the songs he likes!!!
There's one more friend I made in the bus...her name is Samidha...now here is one really nice girl whom I also admire a lot...she's gutsy n confident n doesn't shy away from speaking her mind...the best thing about her is that in a very few days' time she's also proven to be a true friend...even though i kno her only for the past 3 weeks or so, it's like we've always been friends...n like a true friend she introduced me to a cute guy too who almost amazingly also works in IBM!!! now that is amazing because the guy crowd here is pathetic n even if you do manage to find a decent looking guy he's married...most of them are computer geeks who'd actually quake in their pants if they had to talk to a girl!!! so anyway, back to Samidha...she's fun to be with n usually the four of us in the bus do a lot of dhamaal(inviting loads of glares n stares from the other commuters but who cares??!!)..she's also a great dancer n sings pretty well...I can talk about almost anything with her...
Because of Samidha I've made another good friend(yeah the cute guy,but trust me he's just a good friend!)...he's Kartik n he's damn cool what with an Aussie accent n all(he was in Australia previously)...he's very funny too n has a great sense of humour...whenever all of us are out he'll be cracking the maximum number of jokes n till the time we go back home we are all laughing...we have to sometimes tell him to stop cuz either our cheek muscles are hurting or our tummy is!!! but he's an absolute gentleman n a sweetheart...with him I can be totally at ease n be myself without ever scandalising him nor be afraid of him ever judging me...oh n there's one more thing about him that's different...he never ever speaks anything bad about anyone!!! I find it extremely intriguing n endearing too...
I'm writin here about new beginnings n they've mostly been on my professional front...n after writing so much I now realize that I've hardly said anything about my work!!! well there's not exactly much to talk about since I'm on the bench for the time being...but soon I'll be put on some project n then i dunno whether I'll b able to find the time to write blogs...lets think about that later...for the time being, I'm proud of how much I've managed to write since I had no idea at the beginning what I was gonna write!!! I'm gonna sign off now before I make an utter n complete fool of myself by typing in more than I can chew!!!
Ciao!!!
PS: Do post some comments...would love to hear from you guys...