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

Height of (whatever)...

Lost in translation...

Hindi: kaisa chal raha hai tera college?
English:how is going ur college?

Hindi: yaad rakho
English: keep remember

Hindi: sir/madam to mere peechhe hi pad gaye padne ke liye
English: sir/madam is at the back of me for studying
__________________________________________________
Do you find anything common in all these sentences? These are the examples of true translation of people’s mother tongue to English. People do not realize that the way words are placed in each and every language is very different from each other. But still, they think in their mother tongue and then very happily and skillfully translate the entire sentence into English. Little do they realize that by doing this the entire meaning and gravity of the sentence changes. Instead of the tone being serious it becomes funny (for those who understand English properly). Had Shakespeare been alive, he would have died so many deaths each day.