26th January 2005, "The temperature in Delhi now is 12*C". Captain Anshuman announced over the transmitter, while everybody onboard Jet Airways Flight 9W 812 fastened the seat belts for landing.
I just picked a chocolate candy and did not notice the ear plugs(cotton) when the flight assistant offered a tray full of candies of different flavors. This was to avaoid flying sickness if any.
The flight was losing altitude faster then before and my ears started paining. Thats when i wanted some ear plugs badly. After circling Delhi 4 times due to foggy conditions on the runway, the flight landed at 23:00 hrs. We were late by an hour and twenty minutes.
When I got out of the plane, it was very cold. 12 degrees. In minutes I was going in a pre-paid taxi to Hotel Marina(where my company had a room for me). 20 minutes, and I was in the hotel. 00:00 hrs, I checked in and was disappointed to know that the restaurant was closed. I ended up having two masala omelettes and a coffee. Dinner, I guess.
27th January 2005 08:10hrs
I woke up with a surprise to see the time. Shit ! I am late for the interview. I came here for that.
When I reached the American Embassy New Delhi, it was 09:35, ten minutes ahead of my interview time. After the initial check of documents, I was let inside. I was in a queue, just 4 people ahead of me (lucky me, I have seen people stading till the outside gate of the Embassy in Chennai). The colored female, said a mechanical "Hi" and asked for my passport and application forms.
"Place your left index finger on the scanner please...good"
"Now place your right index finger", "Thank you"
This was for the new procedure of Compulsory Biometric Scanning for all US VISA Applicants.
After 15 minutes of questioning like a rapid fire round, she said with a smile ..
"Your Visa is approved, please pay the Issuance charges at the TT Services counter to your right"
I could see myself in South Beach Miami that moment.
I had nothing else to do after 10:30am, when I went back to my room and checked out at 12:00 noon. I made my way to India Gate and Rajpat, also had a look at Rashtrapati Bhavan(fotos will be sent to Mavs group email soon, anybody else wanna see the fotos email me).
I had a good lunch of Chilli and Podina Parantha and some Chicken Lipatwana in a Punjabi Dhaba, bought Michael Crichton's latest book - State of Fear (which actually is not as intersting as other MC books I have read) at a book shop in Palika Bazaar.
I took an autorickshaw and made my way to the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 15:30pm. I guess you know now what happened later ......
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Terminal
“Bhai, kitnee der lagegi?”
"There are no flights departing from this terminal to Bangalore". I was glaring at the Indira Gandhi International Terminal’ Security guard's SLR (Self Loading Rifle) when he said that. "This is Terminal 2. Domestic flights leave from Terminal 1B which is 12KMS from here" he continued. "Ek taxi lelo bhai saab, tees minat mein pahunchoge".
I looked at my watch, 16:23. The Jet Airways flight 9W 811 from Delhi to Bangalore was scheduled at 17:15. I was supposed to check-in at least 45 minutes before scheduled departure.
It took me ten minutes to get a prepaid taxi ticket to Terminal 1B. 16:33.
“Bhai, kitnee der lagegi?”
“Jyada nahi saab, bas bees minat lagegi, lekin traafik hogi tho ganta bhi lag jata hai kabhi kabhi”
For a moment, I wished I was Superman. I could jump out of the taxi and follow the auto-rickshaw which dropped me in the Indira Gandhi International Terminal 2, and smack the driver to death for dropping me in the wrong place, ironically 12 kms away from the right place.
The taxi was easing through the Delhi-Gurgaon NH8. The Construction of the new 6/8 lane traffic over-bridge was increasing the traffic in the area, the driver said.
16:55, twenty minutes to departure. The Indira Gandhi Airport Terminal 1B was crowded. My heart nearly stopped while I reached to the Jet Airways check-in counter and the Ground Crew gave a wierd look at me when they saw the ticket. I thought they were going to say that the boarding was closed. This was the first time I am traveling by flight (although I once traveled in a Cessna – 4 Seater Private Jet of one my family friend from Pondicherry to Coimbatore).
“I am sorry sir, the flight to Bangalore 9W 811 is delayed by 45 minutes. Expected departure is at 18:00 hrs. You could continue for the Security check please”.
After controlling my anxiety and temper after this adventure, I was sipping a coffee which I badly needed. The security check was done. I wondered if they expected to find 50kgs of TNT in that small backpack, that they sent it through the big scan-box (I call it so because I don’t know its name) twice.
One more hour for the flight to depart. I was feeling sleepy rather than excited to get back to Bangalore. I was tired, after the busy day which I haven’t told you about yet.
I guess I will leave that part for my next blog.
"There are no flights departing from this terminal to Bangalore". I was glaring at the Indira Gandhi International Terminal’ Security guard's SLR (Self Loading Rifle) when he said that. "This is Terminal 2. Domestic flights leave from Terminal 1B which is 12KMS from here" he continued. "Ek taxi lelo bhai saab, tees minat mein pahunchoge".
I looked at my watch, 16:23. The Jet Airways flight 9W 811 from Delhi to Bangalore was scheduled at 17:15. I was supposed to check-in at least 45 minutes before scheduled departure.
It took me ten minutes to get a prepaid taxi ticket to Terminal 1B. 16:33.
“Bhai, kitnee der lagegi?”
“Jyada nahi saab, bas bees minat lagegi, lekin traafik hogi tho ganta bhi lag jata hai kabhi kabhi”
For a moment, I wished I was Superman. I could jump out of the taxi and follow the auto-rickshaw which dropped me in the Indira Gandhi International Terminal 2, and smack the driver to death for dropping me in the wrong place, ironically 12 kms away from the right place.
The taxi was easing through the Delhi-Gurgaon NH8. The Construction of the new 6/8 lane traffic over-bridge was increasing the traffic in the area, the driver said.
16:55, twenty minutes to departure. The Indira Gandhi Airport Terminal 1B was crowded. My heart nearly stopped while I reached to the Jet Airways check-in counter and the Ground Crew gave a wierd look at me when they saw the ticket. I thought they were going to say that the boarding was closed. This was the first time I am traveling by flight (although I once traveled in a Cessna – 4 Seater Private Jet of one my family friend from Pondicherry to Coimbatore).
“I am sorry sir, the flight to Bangalore 9W 811 is delayed by 45 minutes. Expected departure is at 18:00 hrs. You could continue for the Security check please”.
After controlling my anxiety and temper after this adventure, I was sipping a coffee which I badly needed. The security check was done. I wondered if they expected to find 50kgs of TNT in that small backpack, that they sent it through the big scan-box (I call it so because I don’t know its name) twice.
One more hour for the flight to depart. I was feeling sleepy rather than excited to get back to Bangalore. I was tired, after the busy day which I haven’t told you about yet.
I guess I will leave that part for my next blog.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
I am Gaia
"Speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee" - Biblical proverb.
I am Gaia, the Earth Mother, the planet you live on. Not just a ball of mud and rock and water, but a living organism, more intricate and mysterious than anything that your sciences and your technologies can ever conceive of.
Seen from afar through space cameras, I am beautiful beyond words. A radiant entity of blue and green, the colours of peace and tranquillity.
But this benign loveliness is one of my many manifestations. As I have shown, I have another manifestation of unleashed fury and unimaginable destruction.
I was born 4.5 billion years ago out of a womb of swirling matter, fathered by a universe that itself is 14 billion years old. I in turn have given birth to myriad species — some say 30 billion and others as many as 4,000 billion — which include everything from lichens and microbes to dinosaurs and the blue whale. And of course you, Homo sapiens, the Johnny-come-lately on the scene who’s been around for a scant 1,00,000 years. Some 99.99 per cent of all the life forms I birthed are extinct. Yet you believe yourself immortal, the apex of creation.
How little you know of life. Or of me. Think of this: You would split the atom, invent television, nylon and instant coffee before you finally figured out how old I was. You know even less of what’s inside.
To begin with, I have not one but two hearts, two cores: An outer core of molten matter called magma, and an inner core which is solid. These are cased in a mantle of hot, slithery rock which is enclosed by a rocky crust. How exactly these interact, how the huge plates of the mantel move causing entire continents to drift and collide and throw up towering mountain ranges, largely remains an enigma.
Beneath the oceans — these are 1.3 billion cubic km of water on Earth — there could be even bigger megacanoes ticking away. Humans have not studied more than ‘‘a millionth or a billionth of the sea’s darkness — maybe less, much less’’.
You’ve cruelly exploited and polluted it, but you know very little about your Earth Mother, the only sanctuary you have. So who needs whom more, Earth or you? You have nowhere else to go to. But who else do I, Gaia, have to help me discover who I am, and why, how I was born, and how, one day, I myself must die, as must all my children?
Courtesy: http://in.indiatimes.com
I am Gaia, the Earth Mother, the planet you live on. Not just a ball of mud and rock and water, but a living organism, more intricate and mysterious than anything that your sciences and your technologies can ever conceive of.
Seen from afar through space cameras, I am beautiful beyond words. A radiant entity of blue and green, the colours of peace and tranquillity.
But this benign loveliness is one of my many manifestations. As I have shown, I have another manifestation of unleashed fury and unimaginable destruction.
I was born 4.5 billion years ago out of a womb of swirling matter, fathered by a universe that itself is 14 billion years old. I in turn have given birth to myriad species — some say 30 billion and others as many as 4,000 billion — which include everything from lichens and microbes to dinosaurs and the blue whale. And of course you, Homo sapiens, the Johnny-come-lately on the scene who’s been around for a scant 1,00,000 years. Some 99.99 per cent of all the life forms I birthed are extinct. Yet you believe yourself immortal, the apex of creation.
How little you know of life. Or of me. Think of this: You would split the atom, invent television, nylon and instant coffee before you finally figured out how old I was. You know even less of what’s inside.
To begin with, I have not one but two hearts, two cores: An outer core of molten matter called magma, and an inner core which is solid. These are cased in a mantle of hot, slithery rock which is enclosed by a rocky crust. How exactly these interact, how the huge plates of the mantel move causing entire continents to drift and collide and throw up towering mountain ranges, largely remains an enigma.
Beneath the oceans — these are 1.3 billion cubic km of water on Earth — there could be even bigger megacanoes ticking away. Humans have not studied more than ‘‘a millionth or a billionth of the sea’s darkness — maybe less, much less’’.
You’ve cruelly exploited and polluted it, but you know very little about your Earth Mother, the only sanctuary you have. So who needs whom more, Earth or you? You have nowhere else to go to. But who else do I, Gaia, have to help me discover who I am, and why, how I was born, and how, one day, I myself must die, as must all my children?
Courtesy: http://in.indiatimes.com
Friday, December 31, 2004
The Water of Life.
"Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." - Jesus Christ.
I was standing there, alone looking at the ocean. The big blue which has always astonished me. How big it is, and how great of it to stay calm inspite of being so huge. How many lives depend on it for they say there are more specie in water than on land.
But what happened last week, has shaken the world. How many lives have been lost. How many people made homeless ?
When I look at the ocean now, makes me think - "Is this sobre giant capable of such a destruction ?"
I guess from now on, I might fear to use these words - "God Speed" !
I was standing there, alone looking at the ocean. The big blue which has always astonished me. How big it is, and how great of it to stay calm inspite of being so huge. How many lives depend on it for they say there are more specie in water than on land.
But what happened last week, has shaken the world. How many lives have been lost. How many people made homeless ?
When I look at the ocean now, makes me think - "Is this sobre giant capable of such a destruction ?"
I guess from now on, I might fear to use these words - "God Speed" !
Monday, December 27, 2004
Existential Angst ?!
DCP, Gateway, VoIP, ATM, Primary Database, Backup Database, Replication ... these are some (the only) words I get to hear at work these days. Gone are the days when I used to teach internet troubleshooting. Ah ! my technical capabilities have grown manifold. But is this what I wanted to do in life ? I think today, of the days when i used to dream of being an airforce pilot. Whew, things have changed.
But one thing is not clear yet, why do I have a wicked smile when I see the Times Ascent every wednesday ? Why do I wish I had a bigger pay check. I had a small pay check, in CVG, then a bigger one, now an even bigger one. Still there is one part of me asking for more. Probably I should stop drinking Pepsi (Sorry Naveen, I took your role for a second with that PJ).
Is this what they call an Existential Angst ?!
But one thing is not clear yet, why do I have a wicked smile when I see the Times Ascent every wednesday ? Why do I wish I had a bigger pay check. I had a small pay check, in CVG, then a bigger one, now an even bigger one. Still there is one part of me asking for more. Probably I should stop drinking Pepsi (Sorry Naveen, I took your role for a second with that PJ).
Is this what they call an Existential Angst ?!
Sunday, September 12, 2004
adios !
“Put me on to your Supervisor” a busy east coaster yelled through the plantronics headset about 13 months ago, when I told him he had to do a ‘parallel’ install of his operating system. That’s how it all started here, and growing along with the project from Wave 1 seeing till Wave 14 who would hit the floor tomorrow has been a great, truly great experience. It has been truly splendid; learning, challenges, opportunities, milestones, deadlines, news, information, environment, and above all the people I have been around with in this past year at Microsoft Windows XP.
Now, I had to make a tough decision to go out of here and take up something which I always wanted to do – Systems Engineering. Before I leave, just wanted to salute all of you who supported, helped, and some of you who have walked the same road I took, along with me.
Tomorrow, 13th September 2004 would be my last day here.
Adios, people. I am leaving and would keep in touch.
Now, I had to make a tough decision to go out of here and take up something which I always wanted to do – Systems Engineering. Before I leave, just wanted to salute all of you who supported, helped, and some of you who have walked the same road I took, along with me.
Tomorrow, 13th September 2004 would be my last day here.
Adios, people. I am leaving and would keep in touch.
Saturday, September 04, 2004
The Root Quits
Thirteen Months with CVG has been a really challenging and beautiful time and now i am leaving. For better opportunity with another company as a Systems Support Executive where i would be working on high end servers and databses. Of course better than what i do here; after that long argument with Nishant to get him sign my resignation letter. Ah, i know it felt bad, i felt bad too but i have to move on and CVG is not where my life is going to end.
He wanted me to stay back until we beat Atria, but i know the offer will not wait until we beat Atria.
I would be with CVG until 14th September 2004. I am supposed to join there on 15th.
He wanted me to stay back until we beat Atria, but i know the offer will not wait until we beat Atria.
I would be with CVG until 14th September 2004. I am supposed to join there on 15th.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Mailbox.
Mailbox. Something i hate when i come back from weekends, when i came back today i had 40 unread items. I had to read and respond to the mails which took me approximately 2 hours.
Sometimes i feel i never should have had a weekend, atleast for my mailbox. Alas, i dont have a VPN at home to read and respond to office mails.
Back to work, hectic schedule again. Have to catch up with some work.
Will blog later ....
Sometimes i feel i never should have had a weekend, atleast for my mailbox. Alas, i dont have a VPN at home to read and respond to office mails.
Back to work, hectic schedule again. Have to catch up with some work.
Will blog later ....
Monday, August 23, 2004
Weekend !
Weekend !
Aaah ! Weekend is back. I am planning to do hell a lot of pending work this weekend, (which also includes a major portion of sleeping and finishing Michael Crichton’s Sphere which is with Mercy right now) Harish said he bought Michael Crichton’s Disclosure for gifting me on my birthday but the idiot never gave it to me, I know he is also impressed about Crichton’s books and he is gonna give it to me only when he finishes reading it.
I also have plans to visit the CMS centre to discuss about my MCSE ! Don’t know if I am going to come back to work on Thursday with the same deadly feeling I normally have when the week begins where all the monitoring targets come back to my mind and I have a very serious sense of completing them in the week but in vain.
I am going on weekend hoping that Harish will attend the War Room tomorrow. Well, I am much concerned about the war room rather than the weekend now, holy shit I don’t know why I am becoming possessive on SP2 now ! It is not something out of my workshop in the backyard though (well, I don’t have a backyard, thought it would look good if I put it this way)
Harish is going to have a good time at home, Happy Onam Harish. Get those chips when you come back.
I have started feeling sleepy and I am hungry now.
Breakfast anyone ?
Aaah ! Weekend is back. I am planning to do hell a lot of pending work this weekend, (which also includes a major portion of sleeping and finishing Michael Crichton’s Sphere which is with Mercy right now) Harish said he bought Michael Crichton’s Disclosure for gifting me on my birthday but the idiot never gave it to me, I know he is also impressed about Crichton’s books and he is gonna give it to me only when he finishes reading it.
I also have plans to visit the CMS centre to discuss about my MCSE ! Don’t know if I am going to come back to work on Thursday with the same deadly feeling I normally have when the week begins where all the monitoring targets come back to my mind and I have a very serious sense of completing them in the week but in vain.
I am going on weekend hoping that Harish will attend the War Room tomorrow. Well, I am much concerned about the war room rather than the weekend now, holy shit I don’t know why I am becoming possessive on SP2 now ! It is not something out of my workshop in the backyard though (well, I don’t have a backyard, thought it would look good if I put it this way)
Harish is going to have a good time at home, Happy Onam Harish. Get those chips when you come back.
I have started feeling sleepy and I am hungry now.
Breakfast anyone ?
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Work is Hectic !
Work is getting hectic ! Especially with SP2, we are bombarded with issues. I am attending the global SP2 War Room (thanks to Harish ;) he knows what i am talking about). Following up with the issues in the war room takes half of the time i spend at work.
I have always been having a mood swing regarding my job, sometimes i like it and sometimes i do not, especially when iam monitoring. It is good when iam learning things on the job like for example managing to move ahead with this beautiful polished team of Sai's ;)
I am happy for what i do sometimes but i am not happy about the night job. Really getting on the nerves.
My plan of taking the MSCE 2003 Security+ test is getting postponed too which is frustrating me.
Anyway, i am closing for now and will come back hopefully with less work load on the next blog.
I have always been having a mood swing regarding my job, sometimes i like it and sometimes i do not, especially when iam monitoring. It is good when iam learning things on the job like for example managing to move ahead with this beautiful polished team of Sai's ;)
I am happy for what i do sometimes but i am not happy about the night job. Really getting on the nerves.
My plan of taking the MSCE 2003 Security+ test is getting postponed too which is frustrating me.
Anyway, i am closing for now and will come back hopefully with less work load on the next blog.
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