Ouch that hurts...

Are love games always so enjoying???????
Sometimes no!. Not when I am playing with my husband and "very playfully " I end up getting a box on my nose. My nose throbbed and it pained whenever I sneezed. And the worst part was my dear was absolutely unapolegetic about the whole incident and termed it as an accident.
Why are men so sensitive about cars, gadgets, football, bikes and insensitive about their wives?

Eternal Love: Cartoons

People say all sorts of things. But I still havent stopped watching "these". Well these , ladies and gentlemen are called cartoons. They say you are grown up watch some serious channel why cartoons? but I feel this is something which is 100% pure enjoyment.

I know its not at all real, but then its my own world. Here even if your favourite character falls from a 20 feet high building nothing happens to him. Here you can apply vanishing cream and be invisible, have a scientific lab of your own underneath your house and your parents would not even know of it, have weird animals come out of pokeballs, a small child can beat a man, 100 times his strenght, live in toy land, an becomes your neighbour and girls are born out of chemicals, emotion, love and an unknown element "X".

All through the day I watch them as in repeat telecasts and still do not feel bored. I simply love cartoons. I wish one day I would open my eyes and find all these characters living in my house.

Is there a better way to put that across???

But instead of snow (as snowfall does not happen here), students want something close by, of that nature.

Copyright Bill Waterson

Height of insensitivity

Mumbai, known for fashion, hi lifestyle, clubbing, celebrities and above all Bollywood (the Asian Hollywood). But All of us have, in the past week have definitely gone through the gruesome saga of blood and violence in Mumbai.

Now wait a second, I am not here to re-enact the whole episode, rub salt on those people's losses who have lost a precious someone nor am I going to lambast the government for having a laid back attitude (as always) or the security guys who probably goofed up the entire thing. But I am writing this to understand the depth of "human sensitivity erosion".

A very popular producer of bollywood went with state head and his family member to the blast site not for charity or false show of emotion but to see with his own eyes how actual dead bodies look like, how destruction presents itself in its many ways, how gruesome can death be, how blood get spattered all over the place when a bullet enters a human body. This producer; all he can think is how to show more hatred , more violence, make an hit movie and extract money .
Such a waste of human life and all those values that we teach our children.

Have people forgotten humanity or is this a new fantasy park for jerks like him. I means he is so insensitive that he has to personally visit the site and then doesn't have the guts to admit his doing. The state head, upon asking tells the media that since I was coming he also tagged along. Now how ridiculous can this get? Is he trying to fool the country or himself?

Hope to get my hopes fulfilled

Jaane kya dhoondta hai, ye mera dil
Tujhko kya chaahiye zindagi...


(I sincerely hope I knew what Life wanted from me or what I wanted from life)

Don't Worry... Be Happy

Sometimes when you want the best to happen in your life, everything just keeps going wrong. When you want to say something, but eventually say something which means something else. You try to plan your life in a certain way, but suddenly an error occurs (could be your own miscalculation or whatever), your entire life goes for a toss. Things that you have built up with so much of care, just comes down tumbling all at once. You are so annoyed with yourself, your life, your near and dear ones and everybody else. You feel life is so damn unfair to you and it has always ill treated you in so many ways that we would not even want to talk about. What does one do in these situations? Where does one go? What does one do? Whom should you talk to and whom should you avoid? Do you really can avoid people?
Avoid Negativity
Don’t let people who demoralize you, stay in your life. I don’t say throw them off, but maintain a distance; a distance enough to keep their thoughts away from you.
Let them say whatever they want about your present situation, listen to them, evaluate them but take your own decisions after considering the pros and cons

Have patience
Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances (Source: Wikipedia). Everything will be alright. Remember, every dark cloud has its own silver lining.

Improve yourself
Use this time to improve your skills or whatever you are lacking in. Learn something, keep yourself busy. Don’t just lie down thinking about yourself in a negative manner.

Believe in yourself
Always believe in yourself. There will be times when you will be questioned, but don’t worry and remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions and to keep your life focused on believing in yourself.

(This piece of writing is my own and original)

The Broken Wing

I saw her
Trying to hold her hold.
A color among colors;
No... I think it was,
An angel in colors.

Lost in her world
Trying to find some nectar
In flowers, bright and new
washed in the morning dew.

she hopped from one to another
but went never too far
I wondered what was wrong!!!
But couldn’t make out at all.

This colorful angel could not fly,
No matter how hard she tried
She could not fly
For she had a broken wing
A beautiful wing,
a wing made up of yellow and orange stripes.

But alas a broken wing

(This is an original piece of thought. These lines are not begged, borrowed or stolen. I took this pic when I was going to my office. I was sitting in my office and typing whatever came to my mind. I would not call this a poem but a thought put into a few lines.)

Why does it rain?

This is small story which I heard from an old man while I was traveling in a bus from my college to my home. This story is about “why does it rain”.

“Once the sky was out, strolling in the gardens of his palace. Suddenly from a distance, he saw the earth. He was stunned to see the earth; so beautiful. It was colorful. It had the widest variety of colors spread across her. It was many shades of blue where the rivers flowed, shades of green where there were lush green gardens; warm shades of brown and many more. Sky fell in love with the earth. He wanted to come down to the earth and stay with her forever.

Gods grew worried. For if the sky was to descend on the ground, where would the birds fly and the sun and the moon and the stars shine?
There would be darkness all over and the earth would not be able to survive. There would be no life!!! Sky was unyielding and he told the Gods that his demand be met. Later he started pressurizing the Gods.

The Gods were terrified and went to their king for further consultation and suggestions. The king was a clever man and he devised a plan to avoid this situation of mass destruction completely. He asked the Gods to let the matter continue for some more time.

So the Gods requested the Sky not to come down on earth. But the Sky was adamant. And now he wanted to meet the king of Gods, at any cost. So the king of the gods said that they would be allowed to meet only once and that too during the time when there is no night and no day. If he did not succeed, he could never try again. The time to try out his dream was pre-dawn and post night. Sky was very happy and immediately agreed to this suggestion. The whole time, he kept waiting for the night to end. And when he was prepared for the biggest moment of his life, one of the gods took the form of a cock and spoke “cock a doodle doo”. The dawn had arrived. Sky’s most awaited dreams were shattered. He was a broken man now.

Since then whenever the sky comes out of his palace, he looks at the earth, he feels sad and lonely. Since he cannot come on to the ground, he feels miserable for his love and so he cries, cries and cries.

And we asses call it rain.”

What You See

If you look for good, you’ll find good.
If you look for bad, you’ll find bad.

In life, you always find what you look for.
Only thing that matters is - what you choose to see.

If You Think You Can...

If You Think You Can

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don’t;

If you want to win but think you can’t,

It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost;

For out of the world we find

Success begins with a fellow’s will;

It’s all in a state of mind.

Life’s battles don’t always go

to the stronger and faster man,

But sooner or later the man who wins

It the man who thinks he can.

What is Love?

Is it the feeling of being-in-sync with the other being?
Is it the desire for his /her overall well being?
Is it the feeling of responsibility for his/her protection?
Is it the guts to overcome anything and everything which comes in the way of love?
Is it the desire to be with him/her, even when the other person does not want it?

Luv is giving some one power to destroy YOU completely. but still trusting he/she WONT.....

Kumar Sanu Night

30th Oct 2008, was the night for enjoyment and merrymaking. We had amongst us the very famous Kumar Sanu and his troupe. They came to Hyderabad on the request of Kalibari Puja Assosiation along with Raktima and Annie. Kumar Sanu (born Kedarnath Bhattacharya) is a leading playback singer. They started the show around 9ish something at the Bhavan's Cricket ground in Sainikpuri.He started with Saanson ki zaroorat hai jaise amidst loud cheers and a thunderous applause. between songs, he was also telling small incidents which happened with him in the industry. he wore black trousers and a heavily sequinned shirt to go with it. He sang many of his hit numbers from saajan, HAHK, Humraaz, Ashiqui etc. I had fish curry and rice apart from chicken roll and fish pakora.

(have more to say, running out of time so will post later; the remaining part)

Fire at Lal Bunglow

Lal Bungalow is situated at Ameerpet, in Hyderabad. It is at the heart of the city and is a shelter to many offices in Hyderabad. Early today the call centre in the building caught fire as there was a major short circuit. people ran here and there to save their lives. many wew found sitting on he window sills, haging out their legs and watching the whole scene of rescue and action.

While going to office I saw 3 fire engines which were trying to extinguish the fire. Though it was almost done, still black sooty fumes were seen emanating from the building. people took shelter in the next building and were seen standing, huddled together. the whole palce was swarming with policemen and firemen, trying their best to keep the over enthusiastic crowd away.

Let's stay in love...forever

Rock On - A refreshing movie

Cast
Farhan Akhtar - Aditya Shroff
Prachi Desai – Sakshi
Arjun Rampal - Joe Mascarenhas
Shahana Goswami - Debbie
Purab Kohli – KD (Killer Drummer)
Koel Purie - Devika
Luke Kenny – Rob
Nicolette Bird – Tanya

LUKE KENNY - ROB

SHAHANA GOSWAMI - DEBBIE

Rock On . is the story of 4 friends Aditya, Joe (the restrained Arjun Rampal) , KD (Purab as KillerDrummer), Rob (Luke Kenny – after so many years) who have a band called “Magik” . They love rock music & dream to make it big in this field . But then, egos start to tumble in & ends up separating them . Their dreams are put to an end abruptly , they go their separate ways to lead mechanical lives and some even throwing the music they loved out of their life .

NICOLETTE BIRD - TANYA

Rock on is a movie which is about 4 friends and their dream band “Magik”. This was the band they had created and it was their life. During a shooting there was a fallout and these guys broke up for ever. Or that is what it seemed to the whole world and even to them.

PRACHI DESAI - SAKSHI SHROFF

PURAB KOHLI - KD (KILLER DRUMMER)

10 years later.

Aditya is married to Sakshi. Joe is married to Debbie and has a son named Andrew. Others are just doing their own thing. Rob makes jingles for ads and all. Sakshi feels there is something missing in their life. She goes thru her husband’s old thing and finds out his past. There on begins her little journey to make her husband get the smile back on his face. She reunites the gang the this makes them realize that they have to give themselves and “Magik” a second chance to realize their unfulfilled dream.

FARHAN AKHTER - ADITYA SHROFF

ARJUN RAMPAL - JOE MASCARENHAS

My favourite gift

These are the sea shells which I and my husband collected all through the beach. This is the best gift that I cud have given myself. It will always remind me of the wonderful time that I had. It was a beautiful experience as I had earlier never been to beaches.

Kerala Visit

Our journey started from Munnar and we went to Thekkady (Periyar),Kottayam (Kumarakom),Alappuzha (Alleppey) and finally to Ernakulam (Cochin)
Munnar is situated at the confluence of three mountain streams namely Mudrapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundala. Munnar is a small town. Places to see include some natural lakes and some artificial ones formed by dams, plenty of tea estates, some hill top viewpoints and Eravikulam National Park. The weather’s pretty chilly. 5pm and you close the doors and windows of your room as all you get to see outside is mist, fog, clouds whatever.

The next morning we took for Mattupetty dam, around 10kms away from the town. The dam forms a large artificial reservoir around the hills and looks beautiful early in the morning.

Pullivasal Tea Estate
The very name Pullivasal which literally means "temple door" conjures up a vision of beauty and peace. This estate is situated 4 km short of Munnar and is the gateway to the Company's holdings in Munnar. The first hydel electric project and Power house station were situated here. The main tourist attrations here are the Athukad waterfalls and the Allah Kovil. The estate's record yield/ha was 3396 kgs/ha which is the second highest ever obtained by any estate in High Range . The old CTC factory which was destroyed in a fire in 1981 was rebuilt in 1982. The factory produces premium CTC teas for auctions and fetches one of the highest prices in South India.

This hill station, located at an altitude of 1600 m above sea level and it has sprawling tea plantations, picture book towns, winding lanes Among the exotic flora found in the forests and grasslands is the 'Neelakurinji'. This flower colors the hills in blue every twelve years. Last time it bloomed in 2006 and will bloom next in 2018 AD. Munnar also has the highest peak in south India, Anamudi, which towers over 2695 m. Anamudi is an ideal spot for trekking. The initial part of the journey was dry planes that gave way to shrubs, and as we climbed higher and higher, we saw more greenery. Anaimudi, South India's highest summit is inside Eravikulam National Park. Our plan was to climb this peak but unfortunately we were denied permission since it is in the core area of the national park. We were hoping to see some Nilgiri Tarhs(mountain goats) and the forest guy said it is at the other side of the mountain. There is not much forest that is left in and around Munnar. You drive for hours and hours all around Munnar only to see tea and cardamom plantations.

We were supposed to go to Thekkady but due to a transport strike we were delayed. Instead of reaching at 3pm we reached at about 8:20 pm. totally sloshed we hit the bed , ate dinner watched a movie on HBO called the "The Red Eye".

Nest we went to Kumarakom Lagoon and spent a day in the warm Kerala backwaters. Kumarakom Lagoon is a place out of this world. it’s a place for 100% relaxation. Open your eyes and you can see the sun as if its palying in your neighbourhood. the resort guys sent us a boat to take us to the resort from the land.

The houseboat was a beautiful experience. it was a lovely ride and we had a cook and 2 boatsmen on the boat at our disposal. Our boat was a single bedroom AC houseboat. It had an attached bathroom too. All thru the journey the waves gently rocked the boat as we passed the lovely palm trees, fishermen , women washing their clothes and utensils, children playing in the paddy fields and a few people having a generally good time.

The houseboat was a beautiful experience. it was a lovely ride and we had a cook and 2 boatsmen on the boat at our disposal. Our boat was a single bedroom AC houseboat. It had an attached bathroom too. All thru the journey the waves gently rocked the boat as we passed the lovely palm trees, fishermen , women washing their clothes and utensils, children playing in the paddy fields and a few people having a generally good time.

Finally I get to see a beach
Alappuzha beach in Kerala is located on a thin strip of land, sandwiched between the Arabian Sea and the Punnamada backwaters. We shopped for packets and packets of the very famous "Banana Chips", "Colocasia Chips" and "Jackfruit Chips" from Kalarickal chips Shop on Jetty road in alappuzha.

Finally a flight and back to Hyderabad.

And finally I got married to ...(you know whom)

Our Wedding Card

The Face of the Wedding card

Actual Invitation

Route Map to the Wedding Venue

My Wedding Invitation Email

This is the email invitation to all my orkut friends and friends not from orkut. I was searching for a beautiful message which conveyed all the feeling without sounding over-the-top. All that decoration work was my handiwork and I felt great about. I know one can do more but that’s what you can do when you have 5 minutes to leave the office and you are getting calls asking/requesting and finally scolding to send an email invitation.

Love beyond life

I don’t know which of them is male or female. But what I saw was that one of them was on the road and struggling to get those last few snatches of life. But alas, it failed.
And very immediately the other one came and sort of gave up its life.
A very small incident but very touching and it showed me a very natural example of true love.

Birdies are born... Hurray (will keep you posted)

A small little birdie at my Office

Vikash's Interview at STAMania

This interview was taken for the in-house online publication pf STAM Multimedia. Each month, the editorial team responsible for the publication picks up a team member and traces the employee’s journey in STAM and tries to capture the employee’s spirit, his growth and the different shades of his moods. This time it was my sona. And I could never believe that he has given such a wonderful interview. Man I am so proud of my baccha. Good job !!!.

We always see you working very hard, 24x7. How does it feel to work 24x7?
Wow!!. You do.
I will take that as both a compliment and exaggeration. I am a human, I can't work 24x7. However as I work with both the US and Indian teams, you probably feel I work around the clock. I must accept it is exciting, but sometimes tiring

Usually encountered challenges in Project Management.
Many!!!
Deliveries, Aggressive deadlines, Scope Creep, Lack of manpower could be a few. Initially when we started, STAM was more people dependent. We realized that organizations flourish only when they are system dependent. We worked relentelessly to make STAM one.

How do you manage time for yourself and at the same time work with great stability?
Sleep at 3am and wake up at 8am (Laughs).
Assume complete ownership of tasks
Make the right delegations
And Obviously Party hard and go on long drives when I find time

Would you like to tell us about a few situations in which your work was criticized?
Why Few?. There a lot of such situations.
Being responsible for 50 odd resources and close to 7-8 projects, subjects you to continuous criticism. But the very catch is you need to have the wisdom to absorb what is needed and discard what is not needed. I think I have learnt to do that

What motivates you to do your best on job?
Rich experience, inclination towards my job, learning from past experiences and and being a part of ever growing company.

Tell us something about working under pressure.
I would say it is a blessing in disguise. Have you heard of “Adversity is the touch stone of character”. When you are under pressure, the best in you comes out. Remeber !! Life is not a bed of roses.

What steps would you like to give your colleagues to improve their creativity
Organization grows along with the people. Technology, Infrastructure, Facilities are all supporting aids. It is the people who make / break any organization. We need to nuture a culture of knowledge sharing, team work, commitment and most importantly task discipline even in absence of supervisor.

What are the different steps you would like to take up to uphold the organization and motivate the team to work creatively and more efficiently?
Organization is investing in employees for its own growth and this will happen till we grow to an extent. We need to keep ourselves abreast of the latest happenings and see to it that we pass on the best practices to all our peers.

What do you think about the company’s operating policies? Should they be stable or flexible?
Both, rigid and flexible. Flexible for employees and rigid for core ethics of company. There is no standard rule for operating policies. You always fine tune your approach to attack challenges that come your way.

Would you like to share your hobbies and interests?
Cricket, Snooker, long drives (or rash drives).If not Project Manager in STAM, what would you like to be?Huh.. Never actually thought about it!!. I have been here for 8 years. I initially started my career in Sales and Marketing. Today I am where I always wanted to be , Project Management. If not here, I would be Project Manager elsewhere in the e-learning industry.

Your motto in life.
“Live life King size”.

Tell us about your journey from 7 member organization to 50 member one.
I was working with Lanco Global Systems and STAM Multimedia was our client. I was only a Support group there. Jayant had approached me with an idea to start a full fledged multimedia company. Even I wanted to take a break. We had a modest beginning, worked on 50 odd projects. It also worked out well because of good personal relations. Over all it was eventful and memorable one.

What is your view of job satisfaction? Are u satisfied with the way its going on now?
It’s the bridge between you and the organization, personal and organization aspiration, There is nothing called job satisfaction. It is purely subjective and perceptional. In my case, I would say “ YES”. Four and half years is quite an amount of time.

What is the most difficult situation you have ever come across
Each day you face. All through out. These are pains of growing organization.Do you like to compete? If yes, what way? Compete with others or yourself.There is no existence without competition. It is among equals. It brings out the best of you. For me, scenario of equals has not come here. I compete with my past experiences and learn.

In your work experience, what have you done that you consider truly creative?
Building STAM Multimedia.

Difference between success and strength. How would u relate them both?
Success and strength go hand in hand. Inner strength is responsible for your success.

How would you take up a most important suggestion or idea given by any junior employee? Have you ever received any?
Yes, numerous. Always from everywhere. Everybody is learning everyday. One person can’t absorb everything. Suggestions duly considered, all suggestions from TLs , ELs , from everyone.

After a big tiring day, how would you handle stress and get refreshed.
Very passionate about driving, long drives 5 days a week.

Do you believe in hard work or luck?
75% Smart work and 25% luck.Which of the two played an important role in your career?Both played. They are like your two hands. I would say smart work is your right hand.

Any suggestions to the new joinees?
Own up the job you do and be proud that you are a part of a growing industry and growing company. While most of your friends in other industries have already seen what success is, you are yet to unwind the suspense of success. This should push you to be smarter and harder and most importantly, never wake up dumber than the day before.

What is your mother tongue?
I am a true example of National integration. My mother is a Bengali and father is a Tamilian and I can’t speak any of these (Laughs aloud)

What language do you speak at home?
Hindi ( Again Laughs)

Interviewed by Sravanthi and Amrutha
Sravanthi is an Instructional Designer at STAM. She is an ECE Engineer from Srinidhi College of Engineering and Technology . STAM is her first job and she is on the editorial board of STAMania

Amrutha works with the storyboarding team. She is an ECE Engineer from Aurora’s Scientific and Technological Research Academy College. She is a member of the editorial board of STAMania.

for the original content
http://www.stamhost.com/STAMMANIA/JUNE/takehome.html

Mehndi hai rachne wali...

Right Hand

Left Hand

Before Hyderabadi rains in 2008