Getting Published- Girish Mahadevan

Bachelor housing

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:38:00 +0000

The house is good & the 6 of us do whatever we wanna do. Sometimes, the freedom goes way beyond the expected exploitation. There is nothing stopping me and I am damn vulnerable ;-)

I just shifted to a place in Thiruvanmayur , near RTO a month back & it's a bliss there, its basically the Indian IT bachelor housing- 2 guys from Wipro Tech, 3 guys from Cognizant Tech. & one poor chap doing his M-tech in Sathyabama University (sad but true..lolz). I have become this "happily ever after" type of guy after shifting here.

Just a random day at home

Mornings I rise early and am game for a good 'SP Tea' (Special Tea) at a nearby outlet with a smoker buddy ;-)
Then back home to some half an hour of uninterrupted shower, coz everyone else is sleeping and I am doing what I do best- singing my metal tracks in the bathroom (what did you think? ;-P). Sometimes, I take a newspaper and my player while I take a shit coz that's a good environment to read, really you need to try ;-)
Head to a place I hate (so called office); not by choice but by force, actually life cant be perfect, gotta kill some time and who knows, I might like it as time passes by.
Back home after a hour of Table Tennis with my colleague. Good 14km ECR (East Coast Road) biking with my earphones playing the random radio tracks.Sometimes, I stop by for a good 'Aruna soup counter' for a vegetable soup.
Again a quick shower and ready for dinner, walk to a place nearby and have fabulous food (I never think of money when it comes to food). Then we take a sit out at a nearby park, have a 15min chat and another 'SP Tea'. Tired back home with enough time to do whatever we wanna do. We usually listen to music, read books, pull someones legs (not literally) and finally crash at around 12 or 1 am.
On weekends- sure shot movies, shopping, outing, family visits & other 'have to dos', our life is not mechanical at all, things are going good and hope this just gets better

Cheers to all that I'm experiencing and all that is nothing but bachelor like. Be spoilt and just take everything as an experience.

Bulls eye.

PS: off course, being in relatives house was too much fun...I miss the fights with my cousins & the TV time with Air Conditioned rooms & not to forget the homely, nutrient rich food. But you gotta loose some to have some.

My CONCERT quotient

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:06:00 +0000

Just been from the Woodstock of India. Our Oscar winner a.k.a A.R.Rehman performed with his JAI HO gig, it was a class apart. Around 70,000 people turned up for this show which was for a social cause, just imagine the funds generated (Hopefully, its all in good hands). Around 15,000 car's in the parking lot, so it was like the whole of Chennai was driving in ECR ;-).

My Concert quotient

Concerts are best on TV unless you get a free ticket or your buying the costliest one- We got a decent 300 rupee ticket (the costliest being 10,000/- ... only ;-)) and guess what !!...A.R.Rehman was just a moving dot for me from where I was standing ;-), but the projection screen was good enough (no problems).
Advertise on Parking lots, Tolls & other stops- I seriously feel, its so damn worth the penny. Where on earth you get to advertise yourself for free to 70,000 people. Just printing around 50,000 booklets for free distribution can do wonders to a business.
If you are giving a performance somewhere, you should make an effort to understand the management- lame line, but a guy of that Stature should know how things are organized. The management was good , no doubt, but it could have been better with some good refreshments, parking system & mainly toilets (how can you expect 10 piss pots for some 45,000 penises (no comments for ladies toilet)..lols ;-D)
Crowd Positioning- you know its gonna be a big ticket show, Why not surprise the viewers with something they dint anticipate. A little more expenditure on the crowd placement would have really made a difference.
Know the exact venue, not where its near to- really, this "near to mahaballipuram" was a total turnoff. We started and our drive was never ending, really I pity the guy who drove us (thanks man). If people knew its 30kms ahead of Mahaballipuram, the crowd would have cut down by half (but, on the other side...its a good tactics to mention the address as "near to so & so place")
Song Choice- The concert was in Chennai (no actually it was Pondy ;-)) and people expected him to sing his Tamil hits but everyone got to hear his Hindi hits (Tam guys were blinking for a few). Around 80 percent was Hindi & rest Tamil. Who's the winner? guys like me who enjoy both Tamil & Hindi ;-).
It doesn't matter how much ever you dress at home your going to be dead tired after 3hrs of drive. Its better to carry a perfume/deodorant (man!! I missed it ;-P).
Want an experience, that's the place 2 be- once a while, do go out and shout like fools, its real fun when you get 70,000 fools to shout the same things as you.

No matter what, I just loved it. Shakti Foundation is doing a great job and I am game for the next concert which is coming up next year. Happy Diwali to all those who read it this far ;-P. Ciao

PS: what a fab office, m getting paid for blogging about the concert I attended. hehe

F.Y.I

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:20:00 +0000

Some bullets from a week full of weakness, Nah! If you see it, its just learning all the time. Humans evolve, Funny but true- It takes examples & real life encounters for us to understand some of the very easiest & the obvious things in life.

Boomeranged- I was running after a few things for over 2 months now, my run might have transformed to a marathon or a long walk but truly the effort never goes waste & it comes back for sure, you just need to give it a little more time than expected. Now, I find myself being surrounded by it all the time. It reminds me of a wise line "You get what you give to your life"
It's good to hide certain facts- People go nuts over issues which they consider as ill mannered or a taboo. Of course, "When in Rome, be a Roman" but sometimes its just oh k to let go of what's uncomfortable to others. Lesson learned: Hide facts which others might not like to listen from your mouth. For instance, telling your boss about you going for a smoke/drink is really not a good idea coz during job hours you might surprise yourself with her change of attitude with you.
Just ask man! - Its so true, I tried to implement a principle from a book. It say ASK ASK ASK. I asked for what I wanted to a person and guess what! they have no problems in helping me out. In general, we are afraid to ask a girl out, but why? in the start we don't have her, after asking her out, if we get a "NO", still we don't have her (we don't loose anything, its just from where we started), but what if we get a "YES"...Sigh.
Don't get terrorised by expectations- As dull as it sounds, you don't need to be what others expect of you. If people don't like my beard, that's fine with me even if it looks awful...I am not growing it for them. Just ignore comments which gets in your way. You are expected to be what you wanna be.
Help people make a choice- If I have my product or my idea which I need to sell to someone, I know there are a lot of others doing the same, So, Instead of telling them what my product is all about, Its better to tell them what they are gonna get out of it. I was car shopping this weekend; I visited Ford, Hyundai, Tata, Honda, Maruti & Chevi dealership; For the price range we were looking for, everyone had a good car for sale. But of all the cars i.e. i10, i20, Chevi Spark, Chevi U-va, Indica Vista or Indigo or Punto...Everything is more or less same for buyers who don't care about what German technology is or what engine efficiency is, right now I'd go for Indica Vista (higher end) which I hated in the beginning...Why? coz he (salesman) helped me make a choice & also explain me on how that car can make my life easier (unfortunately, no funds, so drop the car idea).
Easier done than said- just get out of your comfort zone, you will find all that you were missing. Call back a person who you lost in touch with, initiate a thing which you screwed up, face a person who you always wanted to avoid & meet people you hated ;-), try the things which your age group finds childish. You know what? I went out of my comfort zone to experience things which I'd never have experienced. Nobody is evil for long, people change.
Money means a lot to the world but not you- again a dull topic but when I was gambling with all senior citizens/oldies last to last week, We were playing "3 carder", One women said "You don't wanna be the richest in the graveyard, So, Why don't you increase the stakes". . Risks are so essential, but make sure you know how much your gonna loose before you make a move coz that's what is know as calculated risks ;-).

That's about it, its not 7 points in 7 days. Its just random and hope to get a lot more things out of what I am doing daily. Do what you love to do not what comes to you or what you can, coz satisfaction is what you want at the end of the day.

OMG its Monday tomorrow, Shit job!!..;-), K then, heading for a concert from an Oscar winning chap.

PR Weds Reporters

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:28:00 +0000

PR is a good move for those who'd like a mix of presentations/content writing & a lot more on those lines. No doubt, Reporters are news hungry not coz they love news(may be) but coz its their job, they have deadlines.

Who comes to a reporters rescue? The PR people. They are made for each other coz they both make each other's work simpler, they complement each other in all ways.

HOW?
PR: Gets a client ? Say: xyz company
Reporter: Working under a beat: Small & medium enterprises
PR: Needs to build content for xyz company
Reporter: Ready to build content but is looking for resources
PR: Gives the resources to the reporter, suggesting xyz company as a news maker
Reporter: Gets to it & builds a good story/content about xyz company for publishing (scope of getting some bribe from PR ;-), you know why)
PR: Job's done as they are getting other people to talk about their client
Reporter: Job's done as he gets the story for reporting before his deadline

Happy Ending!!

Other things picked up on the way:

Straight jacketed reporting- just go to resource/news makers and write all that is being said
Multi jacketed reporting- go to the resource, look into other relatives for getting a wider view and then compile a story (these guys succeed)
Magazine & Newspaper- Newspapers break news, actually News channels do it before them; Magazines write research articles on the news which is already talked about, it needs to add a little more information than what the newspaper is giving
PR- Public Relations, these guys make other people (i.e. media people) to write about their client, they don't buy column space instead they make clients requirements as news and expose to the people (advertising in a way), it's needless to say that the news is always tweaked to how the clients needs
You can copy paste articles from other newspapers/magazines or even Internet but you cant sell it, instead you can make it as a free circulation material and earn with advertising
Whatever news is published, if it says wrong about me and in reality, it ain't; then, I can go and raise it on court (that was already known)
If you sit and try it out, you can easily find what product (newspaper/mag) sells what i.e. everything is a different product, functioning differently and giving different perspective to news (believe it or not, it's not how things really are, news is to be read not understood coz news might not be facts).

Whatever it takes, it's just too complex to actually carry out a process in any god damn job in this world. Every job has complexities to it coz if it dint then it no longer qualifies to be a job.

Good luck, need a lot more research on PR/Publishing.

PS: Had a 1+ hour meeting with a PR agency CEO (name withheld), truly gyan dispensing

Deccan chronicle- A Visit

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:30:00 +0000

Instead of thinking about it, I finally made it in person to the Deccan Chronicle office to see how things function & its needless to say, I only got an overview of newspaper operations (that too a basic overview ;-)). Its really an exiting job for people who like to track particular sectors of news, for instance if I am guy who loves cricket, I can start as a sports (cricket) reporter and die as one (well, I am doing what I love...that's the juice to the job/life).

Everyone working for a newspaper is a reporter, they need to report news which belongs to their beat (that's a term for department/domain as we say in IT). I am not a cut for being a reporter but still the job seems interesting as its exactly what journalists do, I discovered a very silly fact that journalism is not what I like; I am into Publishing and the two are very very different (that's what the editor told me).
Keywords to publishing/journalism- creation of content (from my visit)

News hungry people- assigned beats
Following TV, Radio & All the possible newspapers (from English to local languages)
Deadlines with submission
From Reporter to Sub Editor to Editor to Chief Editor in Hyderabad (I think so)
Lots of Facebooking, Twittering, Internet research & of course millions of phone calls
No job hours, news is made every god damn minute, so, be there when required
Contacts run the business, reporters need to build a rapport and always be a people person coz they (people) are the once who are making news

PS: Thanks to my mom's contact for giving me a good lead to reach the right people.

PS: It's given me a wider thinking to what my start up can be like and how to fine tune my plans to make it a little less risk prone, so, overall it was a good meet.

Plans need time

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:48:00 +0000

People are all cracked up about noticing the need of the hour, but the main juice lies in the power of execution. We tend to come across a lot of things which might really be an invention or some out of the box thought, but until & unless you broadcast it to others, it remains a thing in our head which is deprived of exposure.

The first thing you need to do about a plan is to summarize it somewhere so that even if it skips ur memory, u have a good document to refer and refresh. You cant judge the power of that plan & u don't want to see some other guy being successful doing the same.

Lately, everything I am going thru or everywhere I've been; I somehow try making some business sense out of it & unless I don't find any, it seems lame and fit for nothing. I have made around hundreds of plans sitting just besides my friends thinking its some million dollar idea but never have I tried to communicate to others and get to action.

I like writing (miserable at grammar, cant proofread though) and digging facts to get to a conclusion is a cake walk (at a rookie level ;-0) but the actual thing which I am chasing is not writing, its writing business on the whole (so just fuck grammar, I dont need it). I don't see myself writing things, instead, I'd like to make a running differential model in publishing and try for some innovation there (everyone thinks the same, but who on earth does it).

You will really astonish yourself when u find out about all that you can do & most of the times we aren't even chasing what we need, giving excuses is a day to day affair. All that we need is ready for the talks but never in our actions, that's just like giving a blind eye to our wants and letting it go to the dogs.

I will always be writing blogs
unless I try to
collaborate & come up with my own creation (say, a
book).

I will just be talking to others
about my business
plans without having any idea of how to execute
it.

I'll retire a IT professional and
end up loosing on my
so called business
plans.

Executing the plan is the IN THING, knowing that something dint work is way better than thinking about how it would have worked out.

JUST GIVE IN TO YOUR PLANS & A LITTLE MORE TIME WOULD MAKE THINGS A LITTLE MORE INTERESTING, Y WAIT!

Still dependent

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:05:00 +0000

I can sense the change of behavior in people who actually don't have anything to lean on, from the kind (like me) who actually have all sort of backups. Just because most of us have their folks at home (parents) as a backup; we seem cool/confident/easy going, but what about those who actually serve as a backup and know that they cant relax as some people have good enough stakes on them.

In the office, In person, anywhere you see, It's really easy to differentiate a guy with a backup and a guy without one. It just seems so unreal when you gotta do all that your doing and know its the last resort. I am shit scared of reaching that state & know that a lot of people of my age & some even younger to me have loads of responsibilities to weigh before they do anything.

It's simply "being Indian" when I spend all my cash & look for luxury which I cant afford (unless my father gives a push, u know what I mean). I'd really like to put an end to it & go on myself. Taking favors do not account for dependence but its just a feeling from within which will make us realise on how dependent/independent we are.

PS: When I hear people like me saying "I m broke", its just being stylish and childish at the same time. Actually when people are broke, they don't broadcast the fact with a happy face.
PS: I cant bring in this change overnight but slowly I need to let go of all my dependence over others.
PS: Backups would be great and I hope to build plenty of backups who would hold me but only temporarily (who else, my friends ;-))
PS: Some statements really upset me today which made me write such a sad post...lol. But, I ain't complaining.

Pre Travel emotions

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:26:00 +0000

Going back home after 3 long months, it gives me the opportunity to get back to a lot of things which got sidelined by the day to day activities over here.The travel day i.e the hours before pre-travel sucks big time, the gamut of emotions would be:

I already feel at home & cant think of anything else
It doesn't matter If I've work or not, just cant wait to start
Travel time is no constraint but somehow it feels sick to even get back to the routine
The day always seem to piss me off with all that I don't expect
The change of mindset is the real turn off

And a lot of other things which has made a big dent on my calm & cool mindset ;-P. The same things will repeat on the day I start from Hyderabad to Chennai. Its just natural, no one to blame.

Only one solution for not screwing up the pre travel day is to keep travel destination a surprise till the last few hours, so that everything from packing to commuting goes without any shitty anxiety. The above idea is just foolish coz if we know where we are going, a lot of things can be planned but what to do, sometimes whats obvious to the world might really not be the obvious for us.

PS: I fear travelling & to top that, today I got email forwards on plane & bike accidents. shit happens.

School seems lame

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 11:34:00 +0000

Schooling is our birthright, we are what we are because of our education (to an extent). But as I am already out of school & even college to that matter, I understand the deeper meaning of our education (& I know I am not the only one).

BTW...

How many of us are doing what we like in the industry we belong too?
How many of us have had change of plans, after graduating & being academically custom fit for a particular industry?
How many of us wait for a Friday night on every day of the week?
How many of us just work as there is no other alternative i.e. some other job or studies?
How many of us are confused of what we want even after a good 16yrs of education?
How many of us wish there were competence based interview and not experience/academic based?

Not necessarily everyone falls in the YES I DO category but the point is most likely people do it. Try tutoring kids from 5th-8th standard, the content seems to the point & right on but the way they are examined is so not wise & justified. Learning some definitions & vomiting the same shit out in the answer paper to score well is not the conclusion to our schooling.Instead making it more flexible for people to remember the facts irrespective of what the textbook/teacher suggests coz when we turn 20 we need to know in general about what is an ecosystem or what is matter or the green house gases, not that we require the exact definition. I was going through a lot of things & was teaching my cousins for their quarterly, all the questions seem perfect but the answers are unnecessarily 2 page long & that's what makes a small concept look like an invention of bulb. I remember the time when I was at school & struggled with these basic/simple concepts, thinking its some rocket science...man! I am not built for this race at all.

Our education ministry has done a great thing by scrapping the boards for 10th graders but now it's time they look into some revamp of what's been taught to the students. These changes are not drastic nor we expect them to be but just as we have Nandan Nilekani for UID, we can get great expertise of other industrialists, actual research people & guys who are determined to bring change on how they would like a student to proceed with his schooling/education.

PS: Schools are so crucial, now I understand as that's what has brought in a good amount of change in my life. Even if some of them ( I ;-)) are academically week, their intellectual capabilities would really surpass those with the so called 1st in the class credentials.
PS: Education systems needs flexibility & some great tweaking for producing some class apart generation of students. An engineer should be allowed to carry with something other than technology & a law student who shows interest in science should be allowed to the enter the field with proper evaluation...m drunk!! ;-D

9 to 6 phenomena

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Food for thought: when I have all the time in the world, I end up doing nothing & when I know I only have a little time, I sandwich all my tasks to get things done & keep moving. On the way, I finish the most important tasks and cut down on extras...that's like the basics of time management, isn't it, happy to be doing that. ;-)

9 to 6 has been a big pain in all wrong parts, not that I don't like going 2 work!! Who would not like my work environment, its great to be there but again when I am the resource left doing nothing, I feel why cant everything be quickly dealt with for me to take a break from the 9 to 6 jinx; I know that's being illogical, but I am just spending time in the office than working in it. Hardly working hours consume a 25% of my 9 to 6 phenomena, rest goes in doing my own stuff. I am not complaining as I am getting paid for this phenomena!! but still is it worth it.

Keeping the trajectory of being busy & getting things done, I tend to keep busy even at the time of joblessness (WHAT??). Keeping oneself occupied brings in enormous amount of satisfaction of having done something...:-)

I was working for one knowledge group, guess what! they dint pay me for what I was doing. Pissed to that, I had to leave it & make sure the time spent on their service had not been a waste of time; So, now I am diving into the world of freelancing, affiliate marketing & of course my second or third or fifth love of life "Blogging"..;-P. That's precisely, recycling/repairing the event which were meant to be productive but turned out to be a little disappointing.

All's well that end's well : problems on the way don't matter as long as the outcome is fruitful

Fab team meeting

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:02:00 +0000

Outlook calender says its dot 12:30pm & its time for us to head to the nearby conf. room (conference room). It's a team meeting, so, a general idea is that its gonna be about the project, its action items etc. but this time it was for some other reason.

Agenda: Where should we go for an outing!! Should it be a 1 day or a 2 day outing?
Duration: 1 hr (i know, that seem long but it was lots of chatting which made it look short)
Result/Outcome: not convinced with the exploration/destination,so, everyone come up with plans for discussing in the next meeting...;-)

This reminds of me asking my father about his office meetings long time back; On asking, what you guys do on a meeting? He said "We plan when & where to have the next meeting"..;-D

Seriously, it was one of a kind, the first one for me. Quiet surprising that everyone wants to get out of their houses on weekends, BTW its been really long that I had a weekend all by myself (at home), I end up going out on every god damn weekend..;-)

PS: Team rapport is cool, people are really welcoming...no age bar, everyone is having the same thing in mind...there are a lot of things I'd know as I spend some more time here.

Grab attention or awkwardness

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:21:00 +0000

We travel around 3-5 days out of the 30 odd days in a month & see millions of people who we don't know and if your working in IT/manufacturing sector or some busy city, add to the millions count who might be acquaintances & friends. So, virtually there cant be a day where you don't see a new person...that's really cool, fresh stock everyday..wow!!

Now where are we heading with this; there are a lot of people who just seem to be attention grabbers and they really do get what they want with the elegance/charm/flamboyance they carry but for some it's just way too reverse, with the intention of grabbing attention they end up grabbing a truck load of awkwardness. We see these awkward people and feel for our eyes which badly wants to see something decent/beautiful.

Again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Something which looks good to my eyes might really be a mirror cracking material for you, so, we gotta be looking the way our crowd/folks expect us to be.....A BIG NO, we do not have to be the way others want us look. It's really sick to adjust your looks for others and feel not so confident about oneself, So, It's always advisable to market yourself (yes I said market!! I am not high) the way you want your kinda people to see you, that's more like it; remember, you cant be everything to everyone. We need to dress & style for a select crowd who we would like to gel with, that not just gets you to who you are looking for but it also brings you to the real you and for the gazillion'th time "you are the best when you be yourself".

Presenting the author to you, he has been ridiculed by almost each and every other family member of his for the terrorist like looks he possess, but still he feels his beard is his asset...get him to reality if you can...cheers

Tried google but no snap for this article, took a 20 odd takes to reach this..;-)..highlights: my terrorist like beard

PS: I saw this guy (yes, a guy) grabbing all the possible awkwardness from the people walking/driving around. O Man!! was he ugly to the extent of being ugly..;-)

Office- an Unofficial guide

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:44:00 +0000

Talking about office has become a style statement, all of a sudden, I talk to my friends and everybody pulls their professional side out of their soul, it's amateurish coz when you speak about your office day in and out, you tend to dislike it for all reasons and victimize yourself for being a part of it. Ohh k, my last two posts were about office...but I am no victim, I am just blogging the facts right!! ;-P

What's reality?..its obvious but not easy just like common sense is really not common

People who work in their respective companies are those who came by choice and not by force, this job is a life saver for them & of course, serves as their so called style statement.
Oh my god! I hate my job is so common that it gives them a feeling of being cool but seriously, whats wrong with them...I find it so uncool (I hate my job but I don't tell it unless asked for)
At times, people do certain things and make it public about how they fooled their company, well!! get this straight, there are a lot of you who come and go, the companies are fooling you always & your don't even know that.
Don't have time, damn this work load- I just cant stop laughing at this!! People who are in the office give a maximum productivity of 4-5hrs a day; how come so less? cant explain, you do the logic/math ;-), just put some insights on employee extracurricular activities ;-D (drinking tea, pissing, IM'ing, news reading, lunch break, calls/messages & lazy evenings, strolling, mail forwards etc)...as a matter of fact, I come home tired, c'mon after all the extra curricular, you certainly will get de-energized.
Cursing their bosses really does it for them, by the way, few years ago these bosses were just like us...cursing their bosses..gotcha ;-) , they might be bullish or a nut case in your terms but whatever it is they did what it takes...they are there and you've got a long road ahead.
Finally, thinking that they are the smartest of the lot/team...amateurish to the core! just know that a person when new has only questions to ask but those guys have to give answers to your silly/stupid question which actually is a little difficult. Try going to "Are you smarter than the 5Th grader? " ;-)

A million more things which people do and remove all doubts of them being stupid, So, if you have some amateurish thing going on, I say! loose it. It's just a job not your life. Tomorrow is a weekend and hell yeah!! Thank god its Friday, I m rolling out for a great outing...fun times are waiting.

IT/Techie Lingo

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Finally, I am into this thing they call ODC (Offshore Development Center), believe it or not, before I thought this ODC was Odyssey. Technically, I am still an Investment resource/Shadow resource for the client but what the hell!! I am working with the team.

Some good lingo a.k.a colloquial language at WIPRO has really got into me and day by day even I've started to take in the legacy ;-)...So, here is how we speak in the office:

Shoot a mail to your manager asking her approval
One process will hit the other parallel process for getting the inventory info
I don't think my bandwidth will be able to handle so much of work in one day
Even the on-site team is on the loop, the agendas will be forwarded to them
You two can sync to finish the task and get the result
What's corporate masking in HR terms, when someone say "nothing personal against you...", most of the times its personal..;-)
Finishing the KT (knowledge transition) is your current action item
Just come to my cube please, I'll show you the mail
Don't CC me in these mails unnecessarily coz I have no say on those
You need to touch base with the IMG (mgmt. group) people to set your VM (virtual machine)
We expose that fully for the remote client to capture
You need to bounce that particular program for the application to work

Nah!! that's not how it is, you can only wish...I m just trying to give a wrong idea.;-)

Sounds cool to me, BTW those points were just the teasers for your kind information; there are a lot more things been used in our team which ain't coming to my mind now. Sometimes, I get a feeling that I am this big shot doing some rocket science but in reality, I am a guy running/programming for a some business sitting in some other corner of this world...IT/Techie life zindabad.

PS: There are a millions of things I hate about my job and I swear they push me closer to saying "Enough of this bullshit"
PS: It's really normal; I had a chat with lots of people, they say, first year in IT is really boring but later u'd roll like every other guy & be a face of the workforce a year later...I don't wanna be just a face after a year, there is surely something better out there...;-)
PS: Breaking news: lots of my friends have been pushed to ENRICH program, what is that? It means " go home, get half the pay & eventually get terminated", ya that's precisely what they mean by ENRICH...;-D..dont worry, we will follow ur footsteps, it's all in the game

INFORMATION which might interest you

WIPRO/IT- Campus Interview- Info Article
WIPRO- Reporting Day- Info Article
WIPRO Training- FRP fact sheet (Fundamental Readiness Program)- Info Article
WIPRO Training- ERP & CRP (Corporate Readiness Program)- Info Article
WIPRO Training- TRP (Technical Readiness Program)- Info Article
All my WIPRO articles- Articles Thread

Its Swine-flu time

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:47:00 +0000

Reading about Swine-flu really makes me sick. For every small reason, I suspect people around me (sometimes myself) to have swine-flu. If a person just sneezes continuous or has a flowing nose or is always tired, I simply avoid them or just deal with them quick and get away.That might be foolish but at least I am following the preventive measures as listed in trusted sources.

A lot of people die because of food contamination or deprivation or jaundice or some infection, that doesn't scare us coz we know, if that were to be then most of us have funds to cure ourselves but there is no escape form swine-flu coz the medical institutes are still trying to make a vaccine for it. So, once you get it you gotta be caution & live with it, till you get some cure/medicine or till you die.

Fact of the matter is: it's pandemic and the source of infection could be anyone, So, just make sure you be a good citizen, protect yourself from swine-flu & take precautions towards the spread of any kind of germs originating from you (probably from your cold,cough or fever). Still, nothing is guaranteed...it's just fate.

If you have come this far, then you can surely go through these articles (trusted sites & content), scan them:

How much time will the vaccine take to come for public usage?? CLICK HERE
Symptoms & preventions...some phone numbers for help?? CLICK HERE
H1N1 separating myth from facts?? CLICK HERE

BEST RESOURCES FOR SWINE FLU ARTICLES/INFORMATION (INDIAN STATISTICS INCLUDED) Click Here

Whatever it is, do yourself a favor...surely visit the last YELLOW INKED link (it's essential)

Got Bangalored

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:36:00 +0000

Back from our kinda silicon valley, really a master piece (courtesy: Electronic City, Bangalore). Three days of ALSB/OSB (some ORACLE console) training is totally off my mind coz this trip was more like a paid getaway.

Not that it's my first time but ya it was my first office tour with my team. Anyone who goes there for a short stay, loves it; mainly those who have office to attend & other loads of work.

3 jam packed days:

Hardly a 4hr/day sleep on these 3 days.
At Wipro guest house- great hot water shower & good bed spread... & ya it's free!!
Office Work- sprawling campus, lots of scenic beauty (diversifying/multi cultured girls) & mind blowing architecture/management.
Not to forget- trainer was really learned & had superb presentation skills
Commutation- cabs, new AC volvo buses & the cruel autowalas (this is one small problem)...but again, its free right!!

Its a cloudy afternoon on the left, My teammates & I at EC 1, WIPRO, Bangalore

Worked hard, partied harder

BRISTO 85- A Koramangala theme restaurant, famous for hookah & food. Had a good time, but I still suspect one thing!! do they have their own kitchen or do they get food from other restaurants..;-)
BRIGADE ROAD & PECOS PUB- brigade is by far one of the best shopping/commercial areas of India, great crowd & flooded with chinkies (Chinese/Japanese). I bought a cool Aviator Ray-Ban (actually Red-Bay..;-P) glasses & headed straight to PECOS which had a superb ambiance, great music (full Bob Marley & Pink Floyd types) & good food with beer. Really, time well spent.
OASIS MALL & SANJIV KAPOOR's food outlet- OASIS mall is awesome but heard that GARUDA MALL scores over this, had a quick dinner at SANJIV's food outlet. This was thrilling ;-P as we were getting late...had to rush to check out from our guest house & head back to Chennai.

Good travel & great first time experience. The place is amazing and worth a weekend,I just dint feel like coming back coz I badly wanted to visit HARD ROCK CAFE (never mind, some other time). The highlights would be: Superb weather, Superb location & of course everything was free..;-)..cheers bye.

Can men & women just be friends?

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:48:00 +0000

First of all, Happy friendships day to all you readers!!

Its not a closed question, don't come up with a YES /NO answer to it coz whatever you think is correct. I've experienced two different worlds; one is the westernized crowd and the other which is trying hard to westernize & get in sync with the current times.

I THINK!!

At this point of time i would really not agree to that (I say NO), I think it's way to difficult for me to have a women as my friend and just be friends all the time. I am not being a pervert here, but you know men are from mars & women from Venus, interplanetary friendship don't exist & there are always these hormones to blame. It seems that I am obsessed with women (actually, it's with everyone..;-P), I always end up mixing sexual involvement and friendly gestures.

We are just friends

I fall in lust around 5-10 times a day...;-)..nothing to LOL about but that's just how it is. I am encapsulated with women wherever I go, I am talking about the desirable crowd not just women in general. Any of you who know me (girls), yes i feel the same about you too but the post is not over yet. I'd say:

Such emotions/feelings are clearly valid to my part/to guys in general.
I ain't being immoral, its just how I (most of us) am..men of my age & of my type think of sex 24/6 (one day rest..;-P)
I've been in such situations more than often, I know what to do to avoid it...just maintain a one arm distance..;-) or accept the other person as your freaking sister you looser (that should be enough).
If you think she is your friend then more than often you end up wanting her bad
Attraction & Romance is unavoidable, so don't even try
This relationship is a sport, you have a winner/loser & the injured

I have good 2 great friends (girls) & the secret to success is not some formula but it's just that I've already had a lot of it & now I have a good control over my emotions...I know whats what & how not to rush into anything & how to just move on sometimes. If still it's uncontrollable, I do what I always have been doing...I just do!! (do what? you know what!)

PS: It's not an issue, if you've got someone with mixed feelings of you being just friends with her...do what I do, accept it!
PS: Just be devoid of what is going to happen with you & her in the future...enjoy the moment, be a carpe diem baby!!...you might not have her tomorrow
PS: What a coincidence, I was just talking about this to one of my friends yesterday.
PS: I lost some of my friends for some shitty reasons, what are the odds but if your reading this (please come back, I m sorry!!, I really am!!)
PS: As I end this post, I feel; YES!! men & women can really be just friends!! Y not!! ;-)

I am SOCIAL- my ERGO article

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:32:00 +0000

The final edition of ERGO magazine invited readers to write on ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING, how could I miss out on this!! I gave a 200-250 word article which dint get published exactly the way I penned but got proofread (sort of) & summarized before getting published.
Authoring an article somehow gives me a high...;-)..silly but worth a space in my shelf.

I AM SOCIAL (my article)--the last/rightmost article (if you've got some time- enlarge by clicking the image for a good read)

PS: When I went to scan this article in my office, I tried telling them it's not personal, it's official..but how? ;-P
PS: I wonder how many people might have given their articles...Fact: ERGO is circulated to every other big shot office (IT for sure)...so invites would easily cross a 50,000 mark if not a lakh..you know what I am trying to say right!!...;-P
PS: Another fact: nobody gives a damn, who wants to write!!..I want to ;-)....ERGO is safe as long as there are people like me...but no use, bye bye ERGO

Defining IRONY

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:01:00 +0000

Dedicated to a guy in my office
There is this person I know in my office who just talks logic & tries to be a scientist in his conversations (not literally). His modesty can sometimes drive people nuts, never listens to anyone for his work issues coz it's always his way or the highway. At times, he acts as if he is listening to you but he might just be nodding without understanding a word...he usually does it when you talk negative or if it's a drag, that's how he flushes the unwanted.

Whats the irony?
Morning he comes to the office, eats good healthy breakfast & listens to some soulful music to calm himself, then he would search google & webmd.com for insights on men's health & other such health related articles, apart from the usual work. Then while returning home he smokes a couple of cigarettes & pours in some booze in his system. Again, the next day morning, the same healthy breakfast & health article reading.

Who is he trying to fool? It's like being a leader & not being properly led by that leader, at the same time! But, he doesn't do this everyday, I guess it's just this one time. Whatever it is, people like him can be very vulnerable as they are full of themselves, follow what is going on but dare not get influenced for any reason.

Life is never SETTLED

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:11:00 +0000

If you are looking for logic & reality in the menu then you've come to the right place but if you want proofs or the so called expert comments then try some other blog...;-)

When in school-- "He got a 90, his life is settled", "He got in so & so college, his life is settled" When in college-- "He got that amazing job, his life is settled", "He has his father's business, his life is settled"
When in office-- "once you get a long term project, your life is settled", "He got an MBA from an ivy league college, no problem for him, his life is settled", "He gets a pay of 30 thousand per month, his life is so damn settled"," 5 years you mint money in the US, leave the job & come to India, your life is settled"
On life-- "just get married to him, your life will be settled" ...sigh
Talks on a big shot-- "He has all the money in this world, his life is settled", "How talented is she, her life is settled"

Can your life ever be SETTLED at any point of time??, I don't think so!! This settlement is something which is never gonna happen nor it's meant to, so stop making that as your soul meaning to life/work. What ever position you have reached or whatever things you have accomplished, you will never be settled because of that, every accomplishment pushes you to a different league for you to chase different other accomplishments...so, that's the same cycle all over again.

Lets be realistic, which nerd who scored 99% throughout his academics got settled straight away, which super star got settled after he got the required fame or which rich man stopped working as he got financially settled. Now, don't start to point out a few anomalies in this human race who were settled in their life. I am sure there might be a few. But, make it a point not to get things done to get settled in life i.e. settlement should not be the main reason for all that we do.

Life never gets settled & if you think it has got settled already then it's more likely to be an illusion...Settlement is used here in the same context as balance/fulfillment in life...get it!!

'dont have time' Really!!

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:19:00 +0000

Would you please shut the F up!! People use this line 'don't/dint have time' quiet often, it's just a part of every god damn conversation. Do your shitty stuff all day & then run short of time to do what you gotta do on the first place.

I am no saint but I am self complacent with the way I spent/invest my time..;-)..wise ass!!
Needless to say, the main cause of the line 'dint/don't have time' is improper prioritization of work. We tend to do stuff which is the easiest then head towards what sucks the most (that's really who it is right!!); In the same line, we do the least important things first and save the most important ones for the last...that's really sick,really really sick.

Don't procrastinate!! (hah!!...you pervert, I know it sounds funny), if you do procrastinate (again!), it's all because you don't prioritize. Whatever it is, prioritize man! That's really a life saver, it takes time but the time is really well spent. How to do it? use a to-do list or set proper reminders in your cell phones to get things done (million other ways, needless to discuss).

So, just make it a point to make that stupid/silly line as a taboo in your conversations. Cheers to a prioritized work life. Oh k guys, beeper says 10 minutes is more than enough for this blog entry (just kidding, I ain't that stupid)...;-)..prioritize as hell oh k, bye.

'IDEAS' no big deal

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:16:00 +0000

Everyone is this freaking planet has an idea about something or the other, advises & ideas are in plenty. Each one of us can relate to a subject/business & put in some effort to make it lucrative. So, there is nothing jaw dropping about someone having a business plan & the so called Idea, as a matter of fact even I've a couple (actually more than a couple) business plans in my mind (some even on paper).

let me repeat it for the 7 millionth time!! every possible thing has been there and done before, so, these ideas have already been pondered upon & realistically it brings out no earth shattering stuff from within. What really matters is executing or at least simulating those ideas to bring it closer to reality.

Have an IDEA (no big deal)
Know how to execute it (good)
Really make people to get some sense
out of that execution (eureka)---this is the climax

Of all the things I read about business, I clearly see that 'out of the box' thinking is not what gets you to the top, it's knowing how people can make sense out of what your idea has to say gets you where you wanna be.

PS: again, there might be millions who know this from birth but truly, this was a eureka moment for me to have blogged it.
PS: whatever is that you do, your not alone...million other are doing it or have already done it.
PS: enough of gyan dispensing for a guy who himself needs gyan in plenty...ciao

IT -not that bad

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:55:00 +0000

I just don't wanna make any point (no wait i do, but in the end ;-P). More than often people get drawn into things they dislike , which reminds me of some thing like

"if you stay at one place for long, you become that
place"
- Rocky Balboa

It's so damn true that there is no going back i.e. even if you stay/hang out at a place you dislike (if not the most) for long , you eventually grow into it & end up liking it. Of all the people who know me, I've actually had a phenomenal drift in my thinking...I kinda like what I'm doing (I've started to like IT/Software job profile)....I know!! I hated it the most but now I say this (stability issues...even with jobs ;-P..lol)

One of those off days for my brain. On the phone- "whatever it is, do all that you can..you will do good...just don't worry about anything and never let go of your interests, keep your prospects safe & keep preparing....you never know, the thing you thought of doing today...you might end up executing it some years later"...(my father said so)

PS: whatever it is, even if it's just for a day...I like IT (rare line)
PS: I am a new entrant (to this IT field), I think i might like it as we proceed
PS: I am a man of my words...interest comes first (journalism & print media will always be given higher priority when it comes to a carrier move)..my dream & aim is still as healthy and active as it was..;-)

Everything Overpriced

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:43:00 +0000

It's a first weekend of the month, today as usual the newspapers are full of ads (just like any other day). But why did "The Hindu" have a solid 8 pages+ 5 pages (extras) on SALES, DISCOUNTS & the so call SAVINGS?? Its an easy one, coz people have just got their pay which is ready for disposal...;-)

Consumerism is in our blood, faltu ka kharch is really a part of life.

Now, it's not that I JUST realized about what I said above (just to make things clear). Its just that today in the store, I couldn't push myself to buy those discounted stuff even after cutting that 40% off the so called actual price tag, it was really not worth it. Why suddenly does a price tag matter to me? that's coz whose hard earned money is put to use (my own), for around a year now; from when I started working, there is nothing which is branded in my collection...back in time when my parents purchased everything (they still do), I really dint care about the price tag & just went on with what I liked. Being from the IYER/BRAHMAN clan ;-), I boast of being very hardheaded with economics, I see economics in every god damn thing...literally everything ;-), but again, I am thrifty but not a saver who saves for no particular reason.

So, the bottom line is

Everything is overpriced, Doctors relate it to health but I think it applies everywhere that "Awareness/Knowledge is the best prescription", be aware and don't just burn your cash on overpriced stuff just to give you the feel of how grand u've become, ur still the same no matter what.

ERGO- Partners in crime

mgirish_87@yahoo.com (Girish Mahadevan) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:42:00 +0000

Not a milestone but what the heck "I got featured in an IT magazine"...isn't that cool!!
But, this time we voluntarily gave our picture for getting published (how desperate??). ERGO is an amazing newsletter (duh!!...I was kidding, it kinda sucks) but one good thing about this magazine is that it's free in all big shot corporates (to my knowledge,it's there in all IT companies) & the Indian mentality goes like "Anything which is free is more than welcome" (so, it's got a huge readership...;-)).

Thats our gig in the column PARTNERS IN CRIME (Do read the excerpt below it) (click 2 enlarge)

PS: its not my first time, I've already got featured in the national newspaper & ya a couple of hyderabad magazines...;-) (what crap!!)