My short term pleasures

My nostalgia has turned to be a reality; being back to my previous workplace. I am enjoying every moment here and love this place and the wonderful people here. Even with a tedious neckbreaker project that had almost taken me to the verge of tears on my birth day, due to some weird decisions of the techies, I still feel comfortable here, compared to the estranged one. My god! It’s better to be here with my tight schedules than to have some scoffing comments and suffer from weird looks.

If you ask me the most interesting part of being here, my reflex would be my eventful evening walks down the street after office hours, something which I really enjoy. My office being far from the bus stop, I need a 15 minutes’ walk to reach there. This being one of the busiest areas of the city, I can see different types of people moving up and down our street. From the high class snobs to the commoners I see a lot of people here day after day, and love to watch certain oddities in a few of them, that brings the element of amusement for others. Even though cars and scooters of my lovely colleagues are ever set for a pick up, I purposefully avoid it in the guise of a health conscious person who makes it a point to walk a few kilometers a day.

The exciting part of my stroll is the bhelpuriwala whom I meet near the junction. His make-shift shop comes to our street by that time, filled with a lot of appetizers and snacks which are incredibly delicious.

There was a time in my life were my hygienic sense measured very much above par that I used to wash my plates twice or thrice before having food. And now I love to have those yummy chats and bhelpuris that I get from him. A wonderful transformation!!! From the utmost to the least, in hygienic sense! But a plate of hot, yummy samosa chat and a cup of coffee, watching the bustling crowd, after my tiring, yet happy days, it gives me some nice moments and hence I never bother to remember that I buy it from the street.

For a change, once I bought the same from a hi-fi cafeteria of our city, but donno why, that doesn’t taste the one which I get from the bhelpuriwala.

......... An interim happiness, till I go back to ennui of the techie world…….

P.S -‘J’, has reached his dream city and draped himself in his hectic office schedules that he hardly gets even a proper sleep. So I don’t make much messy chats and calls.

The countdown

“It’s a two month’s trip”. When ‘J’ told me about his plans, I was thinking about the changes in my daily routine that I need to adopt to make a way out of his absence. This being his usual official trip, every year, it was never a shocker, yet the fact that I would miss his calls and messages, was creeping deeper in to my brain. Well, we hardly meet or hang out; but he keeps in touch with me every moment he can & shares some good moments. (Thanks to internet and social networking sites for gifting a good friendship)

It’ s never a picture-perfect so called filmy sort of relation guys, coz we do make a lot of fusses too; about a lot of things in life, serious arguments at times, that may last for quite some time. However we forget it very soon.

Well, as far as the two long months are concerned, the first idea that stuck my mind was to get a laptop and an internet connection so that I can contact him after my work. But my average bank balance would literally shrink to puny, if I go for an attempt of that sort. What else now? It’s just his phone calls; that too when he is free, and the offline messages in my Yahoo chat.

As he is at the other end of the globe, the timings of the phone calls too almost clashes with my office time. But even in the midst of his busy schedules ‘J’ always finds time to inquire about me and my works. In this snobbish world of snooty relationships ‘J’ becomes unique because of his unconditional care and love for his friends.

Mr: Pride strikes again

It was a BAD MORNING friends,

Another work with the bossy Mr: Pride was awaiting me. A document with purely technological stuffs, codes and things came via my official mail. I literally felt dizzy on seeing the long page of puzzling document. Hesitantly I woke up to ask him about it (a clone of an article already published). Even without looking at me he yelled,"A copy writer is supposed to know everything under the sun or else leave your job".

God! Why am I getting more works with Mr: Pride? Well, I might have done something really sinful for that, because the more I try to be enduring, hearing his smugness, the more he pours offensive remarks.

I have never seen a nastiest person like him. With an irritated shrug he showered that wounding remark at me, sat back and relaxed as if he won an encounter with some one. I forgot about my doubts and walked back to my seat mutely. Later I re-wrote the whole stuff in my own method and submitted it to my superior.

You know why I remain tolerant and silent at Mr: Pride’s words, coz I really feel sympathy for his lack of maturity and professionalism. But how long am I going to bear this? I donno.

Too exhausted these days

I am really getting tons of work these days; content writing & uploading, one after the other that I get really dog-tired by the time I leave my office. I reach my den at the corner of the city by 6.30pm; but won’t even have the energy to walk. Dragging me towards my room on the third floor, the first thing that I would do is to lie on my bed for some time, eyes closed, letting off the day's official and un-official troubles. By the time I regain the energy to walk, I will have to go through the long tedious process of having a bath.

Honestly, I hate taking baths these days even though I know that it can make me a little more comfortable. The thought of going through the long process of cleansing my body makes me feel really lazy. But I have to, at least for my room mate who won’t tolerate the dust and dirt of the city. She has too much of hygienic sense that at times that I get really pissed off. Someway I will finish off the process of bathing and snuggle myself cozily on my bed but the bell from the mess hall would disrupt my comfort. As we get food only till 8.30pm, I set off to the mess hall to satisfy my stomach.

The next agenda is to call my parents; usual call, usual topics and usual timing.

Had your food?

What did u have? …..etc….

Actually the conversation is almost stored in the database of my mind and hardly needs change.
And now it’s sleeping time. I happily switch off the lights and snuggle down on my pillow, but darling mosquitoes start their action soon. Actually I feel they have become really healthier these days as they never miss a chance to enjoy the flavor of my blood.

After a battle with the mosquito army I wearily drift to sleep by 11 or 12 pm.

The Ultimate Sorrow

NEED FOOD FOR THE FAMILY.
GOD BLESS YOU.
WILL WORK.

This was caption of a placard that I saw today, in a leading English daily.The placard speaks well for itself.Well, I am not talking about begging or beggars, I saw this in the hands of a US resident from Miami, Florida, looking for work. A citizen from the country which is considered the paradise of job seekers is begging for a job to feed his family in time! A really painful sight! But he has no other go when he sees his kids crying out of hunger.

The alarming figures from the labor department will distress us, as we find that the lives of several people have been thrown in to uncertainty, by the devastating global recession, the longest since World War Two. The daunting rise in unemployment rate has made innumerable people in deep trouble. The scary part is that, many economic analysts are saying the worst is yet to come. God! Where’s US heading to? Is the answer clear from the caption of the placard that I saw today? No Idea!!!

Heartbreaking ‘Satyam’s

‘Ramalinga Raju Resigns From Satyam Computers, Admits Fraud’

An Indian copy of Enron Corporation with a fraud in the balance sheet and an inflated cash balance, and an Indian copy of Bernie Madoff, What more to say?

The startling revelation from Ramalinga Raju came after the company’s unsuccessful try to buy two construction firms. Moreover World Bank too recently dropped its ties with the company. God! What will happen to the 53000 employees who depend on the company, for their livelihood? The financial fraud at Satyam has left its 53,000 workers in a state of insecurity. Will their jobs be secure or will they be shown the door? If they are given pink slips, it is very difficult to get a successful placement; recession time & the tag of being from a tainted company. Reports say that many of the leading IT firms have advised their recruiting staff against entertaining calls from Satyam employees.

If at all everything turns out fine at the end (rarest chances, experts say) at Satyam, the biggest dent that awaits them would be the ‘trust’ factor of their clients and investors. After such a shocking revelation from the CEO, will any more clients be ready to outsource their projects to the company?

Beware, doubts are injurious!!!

As I told you, I have started getting attuned to my new official dwelling. It is almost getting well-set to my mind and body. Among the petite matters that bothers me is Mr. Pride…... Hazy? Its non disclosure agreement pal, so let him be Mr. Pride coz I want to be on the safer side. He is one among the so called higher-ranking category of techies, the seniors - the most supreme class. But unfortunately, helping others is something missing from his glossary, especially when the person who needs it is unluckily not a member of his team. As I was clubbed in to his group for an assignment, I never felt that I was about to land in deep trouble.

When I ask him a doubt regarding any of the technical aspects, that are totally Greek and Latin to me, he makes me feel as if I have done a heinous and unpardonable crime. With a mockery or a sarcastic comment, he would sadistically scoff at my ignorance, that too among a group, making me shrink to puny. Ignorant me!!! I would remain speechless, what else to do? But now that the information has dawned belatedly, yet without causing much distress, I will be extremely cautious here after.

Yummy Pastries & Some Prayerful Moments...A Joyful New Year Party

My previous New Year Eves were usually filled with those usual, boring TV programs telecasted enthusiastically by the leading channels. Something different this time, in our hostel.

As our hostel warden announced the prayer meeting in the chapel at 11.45 pm, the first thing that I thought about was coziness of my bed that I would miss for those 30 minutes. God! I was feeling damn irritated.

Back in my room, I protested by switching of the lights, snuggling down into my pillow & drifting to sleep. My dear roommate might have wondered seeing this madness, but that’s how my mind goes crazy when I am annoyed.

Reason unknown, but I woke up suddenly at 11.30 and couldn’t sleep after that. My friends were getting ready for the prayer. I languidly woke up and saw a pastry party getting ready in our room. We polished off all the chocolate pastries in no time. Yummy pastries at midnight!

As I had almost lost sleep, I went to chapel with my friends. A long walk in the wintry night! We prayed till 12, went to mess hall and had a small party there too. By the time my mobile was getting crammed with New Year messages and missed calls (except J’s), answered one by one and slipped in to the lap of sleep by 2 am.