Akil's Scribbling

Switch Over III

2011-08-19T00:34:00.000-07:00

Hi...
Hope All is well.
Well, I dont want to apologize again and again for my dormancy. This quiescency has become an 'inadvertent habitual' to me. Taking for granted that you would forgive me, let me jump to what I wanted to say....
The content of this blog is also related to my previous blog "Switch Over" and hence titled as 'Switch Over III".

Fine Let us get into the crux.
Not all are assigned a new project from scratch when they join a new company, but there is a high posibility of getting assigned to an existing project. In fact there are special cases where the candidate is interviewed and offered for an existing project by the Project manager.

We gonna hear some tips from "Mr.X", a baseless character who fell victim for the 'inadvertent habitual' of shifting jobs.

1. Do not carry over the credits
You may be a well established and known person in the existing company, but you should realize that the same thought cant be carried over to the company
you are getting in. You should never forget the fact that you are yet another new joinee for the existing crew.

2. Suppress the Ego
You may have had the privilege of having the inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others in your previous company based on your proven records.
That will work against you if carried over in the new company and provide ample space for others to easily stamp you as an Egoist.
Hence, You are not allowed to have the consciousness of your own identity in the new company till you prove. (The time to prove depends on person to person)

3. Underplay with peers
Though you seem to be a subject matter expert in the project domain you are in, it is always better to underplay among your peers in the new company.
Not asking to pull you down to the level of novice, but exposing your expertise should not look like a "Show-off".

4. Dont share personal matters
Try not to share your personal matters to the peers, or managers having the wrong connotation, doing that would provide a room to mingle with others. This might backfire at some situations.

5. Getting a grip
Damn sure the project would require your additional efforts to have a control on the project.
You should put in more efforts
to understand the work assigned to you,
to get a grip of the project,
to jot down your role and responsibilties and
to know expectations set by the stake holders.

6. Practice patience
Possesing more yrs of experience may help you in bargaining your CTC, but that can no more be an advantage in the project you are assigned to, since you are just a new comer to the project.
Even less experienced who had a longer stay in the company / project will have an higher say than you.
You might be introduced to the team as one of the key resource, but may not be invited for important meetings.
You will not be informed about the happenings, but would be asked to follow up on the happenings.
You may be asked to put forth your thoughts, but your view points may be sidelined.
Though not intentionally done, these happenings will make you feel like a scapegoat.
Practice patience. That's the only solace that will get you out of these plights.

All the above 6 points might look like threatening, but following these things in the initial 3 to 6 months will definitely provide a conducive environment to settle down in the new company which decides your longer stay.
And once you get a hold on the project and the team then (I am not sure whether) you can do miracles as you did in your previous organization,(but) can take a deep breathe and can be as you are.

Thanks
Mr.X

And now... To my view , Unlike his character I dont think Mr.X's points are baseless..
I agree with the above points... How about you ...?

"....DDubbughhhhhhuuu........."

2008-04-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hi, How r u doing.
Back after a long hibernation.
Fine this time I just wanted to scribble about baby's talk.

Think of a baby, you will forget all other things in the world.
If a baby starts speaking, nothing would compete to it in the universe.
Baby's infantile behaviour and babble will enthral anyone in the earth.
Even Stonyhearted are no exceptions to it.

I was totally captivated by my daughter's speech. She started speaking two months ago and there seems to be a remarkable improvement in her speech. Heard that normaly girl baby grasps in a fast pace than boy baby. Experienced the same with my daughter who is one yr and 9 months old.

My entire family got totally excited when she started addressing everybody by their relationship.
Every parent should be thankful to THE ALMIGHTY for have plied such a wonderful parentage. I attained the cause of nascence by hearing my daughter calling me 'AAAppppppppppaaaaaaaaa.....'

My daughter also calls me with the other word which makes me totally astounding.
She calls along with an expression of mirth and that most surpassingly amazing word goes here..

"....DDubbughhhhhhuuu........."

Switch Over II

2007-03-07T23:47:00.000-08:00

"Ha Ha Ha... vaadi vaa... adichaanaa aandavan aaappuuu ... You should have stayed in your prev organization where you lead a happy life.. Its okay, its your decision, live with that and suffer with that" - conscience
...Got totally trapped in an ongoing project. Though aware of the fact that getting into an ongoing project is comparitively tough than a new project,I took it since I was not left with any other options. Just travelled to bangalore to get the feel of the project.
To my surprise, I found the project in a very bad shape with goofups in estimations involving emerging technologies with team of deficit skillsets. No one would show interest in taking that crap along with the location change as another hurdle. I put forth my dissidence and blatantly exposed that I can never handle the project from Bangalore.
Fate - an indelible friend made me stick to the project by bringing down the team to chennai.
I really had a tiresome time in my career that I have ever had. Each and every day my slog reminds me my wonderful relaxed life at prev company.
One point of time, I made up my mind to put my shoes down to finish up the assignment. Who in the earth leads a felicitous life without hardwork? who in the earth stays away becoming a participant in the race of outgrowth? If you wannu be chosen to get more benifits , you dare be prepared for that.
At the end of the day one should deserve what he desires for. Am I right ? These things might appear for you as a "No other go" man's thought. Yes I m right I had no other go and took the burden on my shoulder.
Is this happening to me alone or for any one who shifts. Dare to give a response to this ? My conscience comes for rescue again "Everybody should cross a long way in his/her life to grow and undergo several scenarios.The one who tolerates and overcomes the obstacles is considered to be an achiever. Dont be dejected, its very part of life? Go ahead try, do it and the fruit of success will definitely be reaped by you at the end"
Struggled, toiled for 4 months and at last finished the project successfully and got a pile of appreciation mails from my superiors. All the pains and annoyances vanished by the appreciations.
Yes every body passes the same bridge while shifting. Initially one has to undergo interim pressures and hiccups to establish himself/herself in the new organization which would really be a mammoth task.
Make up your mind to face anything (boldy or pretend to be boldy) before you think for a switch over.

Switch Over

2007-03-05T01:57:00.000-08:00

Gone are the days people glued to the organization...!
Gone are the terms seniors & juniors in a concern...!
The boom in the market (IT) has made one to go for numerous job shifts.
Of late, no surprise finding the years of experience and the number of companies almost coincides in resumes.
Okay lemme break the ice.. I m not here to discuss about why this happens, being me the victim for the same its not advicable to debate an eye opening session on the topic and dont wannu be too smart too.. but just wannu share my personal experience about my recent shift.
September 2006:
Thought to go for a change.
" what change?
Do you really feel the work as boring ?
Are you taking a overlook that you reached a saturation level at ur job ?
Do you think you have delivered the 100% on what you are expected to do ?
Is the company unable to quench your thirst of workaholism you have ?
tell me whats the reason behind your thought " - asked my conscience.
"No Its not that way , but u know... u know ..? Things should not be fixed and rigid all the time ?", I replied.
"Hey Arent you moving out of your place.. I dont see you sitting at your place for more than 10 to 15 minutes altogether..? " - conscience.
"Okay okay I want a change just because I want a change thats it. I may not be able to give you a clear cut reason on this" - Me.
" I will tell you what u run behind. You r running behind money. Its all the basic calculation that any average IT guy would do on shifting to other company 20% to 30% of what you draw now.. and ofcourse you dont want to travel abroad due to family constraint... right ?" - conscience.
"Yes.. you are absolutely right ?" - Me.
"Ada che idhu oru pozhappu.. how long will you keep jumping companies for money you moron.. Havent you got a good recognition , acquired emerging technical knowledge here. I bet this is the same that you gonna get in the other company too. " - Inner conscience.
"I am no more gonna listen you. All I want is 20% hike and quiet stay in my home town with my family..."- Me.
"Okay No one can change your fate.. go ahead " - conscious.
Done with the exit interview with the current company.

October 2006:
Joined the other company , Done with induction and awaiting for project allotment.
"Akilan , we want you to take Technical Architect role in this project.." - Supervisor.
I thought that as a good chance , well settled with the expected hike and a good technology oriented project".
"You may have to travel to bangalore since the team sits in bangalore..." - The next statement from supervisor totally switched off my power.
"Adapaavame idhukku pazhaya companylayae US poi irukalaamae...?" - my mind boggled.
"Ha Ha Ha... vaadi vaa... adichaanaa aandavan aaappuuu ... You should have stayed in your prev organization where you led a happy life.. Its okay, its your decision, live with that and suffer with that" - conscience

to be continued...!

Expedition

2006-09-27T05:01:00.001-07:00

Once in a year we used to plan and execute an outing. One such an outing to Gudalur and masinagudi, theppakaadu goes here with narration.
Thiags – the hero of the trip initiated and made all arrangements for the trip. It was really an awesome trip he arranged at the same time I shouldn’t go without saying the “sodhapals” he made on booking the train tickets to the location. He booked the ticket on friday morning 7:15 AM instead friday evening 7:15 PM. Somehow we got it cancelled and started the journey through bus. The Crew was 14 in number and Aru (our Ex colleague) joined us in bangalore with tempo traveler. Landed on the spot (masinagudi) at 8:30 AM unveiling our enthusiastic penchant towards the nature.

Got a good accommodation with the help of Aru’s friends and refreshed ourselves to go for the first spot – Maravakandy dam. We were described about the generation of electric power from the water stored in the tank by workmen over there.

It was really a good view we clicked on top of the dam. Enjoyed there about 30 minutes and passed on to take a look at Winch. We are not allowed to take snaps but as usual our defaulters clicked some of the snaps presented here.
We went to a distance view of waterfalls and immersed ourselves in the free flow of river which carried ice flowing as water.
Then we had our heavy lunch where Aru arranged specially for us which consists of 3 kgs of chicken with a good meal including sambar, rasam and two porials. That really filled our stomach served hot and mirchi prepared in log house at masinagudi. The gourmet group includes Durairaj, Rajkumar, Aru and me.
We then ended up in elephant camp where we saw a peculiar mammal.
Magna - Elephant neither a male nor a female (50/50) known for its ruthless amok. The pachyderm has killed 14 members at its demonic behavior, but now got tamed by the camp.
We were then taken to safari in the woods. That was quiet interesting and an event at the ride was breathtaking. We were looking at wild elephants there. The driver under the eager or showing him off raised the accelerator without releasing clutch to irritate the elephant. At one point the furious elephant started chasing our van. We had a great escape and then heard that was the strategy the driver follows to cover the safari riders every time.
We also watched some of the animals such as bison, and deers. We were taken to view Mayur falls amidst the dense woods.
We ended up on the most important event in the evening – nothing other than boozing. Our guys enjoyed the drink and dishes provided by the resort people. Being a teetotaler (at present) I was put to judge a lots and lots of usual unreasonable altercations. It was nice to be a non drinker among drunkards.
The next day morning we went for trekking for a Murugan (deity of beauty and tamil language) temple. There were shrubs and herbs on the both sides of the path forming a fence. We guys spent there around an hour enjoying the hot vadai’s and samosa’s (sponsored by Ganapathy).
We finished our breakfast with good food items which we had long back when we suffered from fever. Yes it’s nothing other than bun and tea. It simply gives a good reminiscence. We then went to falls. We took a nice bath there for an hour and heard by a volunteer that bathing is prohibited since the water is used for drinking purpose.
The team started to Gudalur and finished our lunch (again with chicken biriyani and fish fry). The climate got totally changed. It was raining and our van moved amidst the drizzling. Some of our guys wanted to take a ride on motorbike and they got a chance too
We went to a famous view point where we need to walk a while to reach the same. We guys stepped for a 10 minutes walk where the leaches sticked and climbed on our legs without our knowledge. We enjoyed the view point and botanical gardens, and glass house that hold some plants of medicinal value.
We returned from there towards bangalore to catch up our train to Chennai. In the mid we noticed blood oozing out o Aru’s feet. We stopped the van and made Aru to check for the mishap. For our surprise we came to know that’s due to parasite which sucked the blood without any pain to the host. The issue got revved up and all are expelled from van to check for the leach.
Everyone had their own shares of leaches on their body sucking the blood. We revealed atleast two to three leaches from everybody’s body. The leach was sticking to the thigh of my brother who fell victim to the parasite joining us in the tour.
After separating leaches from us we started our travel. All in the van had the thought of leaches crawling all over our body till we get down at bangalore station. We had our dinner there opposite to the station and entrained leaving Aru and tempo traveler on the spot.
We reached Chennai the next day morning with usual blues about office and work.

For more snaps browse to http://www.flickr.com/photos/27959298@N00/tags/gudalur/

Jumbled words

2006-06-12T00:35:00.002-07:00

Hi pals....... How r u doing..

Came out of my own imagination to feel the nuances of the jumbled words in certian circumstances.....

In a footwear mart, Customer looks for a foot wear. Nevertheless less the amount customer pays he will never compramise with the quality.

Customer : Will it serve me ' life long '.
seller : Sorry Sir, I am not sure but will serve ' long life '.

A Project Manager enquiring about the team member to Project Leader

PM : Is he ' working hardly' ?
PL : Sorry , he 'hardly works'..

Customer complaining some calculation mistake in the bill to a Shop Keeper, The shop keeper questions his subordinate.

Shop Keeper : Hi is the ' Error calculated '?
Sub ordinate : No its again a ' Calculated Error'.

The engineers contrast between two blue prints.

Eng 1: Hey I figured out.. The ' Difference is same' ?
Eng 2: No its the ' Same Difference ' that you were observing, watch it again

Hope enjoyed....

Tax Planning

2006-03-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

Hi All how r u doing...

Its quiet a long dormancy I have taken My apologies for that,
bit busy with work ( Its real thing Okay Okay... I could see a sarcastic grin at me on this stmt )..

Okay me back with the social awareness topic .. Yes its going to be an abstract on "Tax Planning" facilitated by my friend srikant .
Here it goes....

“Tax” the word creates a stir among salaried employees that too IT employees at the end of the financial years. The stress is given on IT employees because of inadequate knowledge about tax planning due to rapid growth in the package with in the stipulated period. The other sectors acquire a fair amount of information on tax planning due to the slow and steady growth and that is the fact too.

As Swami Vivekananda says “We are the makers of our own fate...We make our own destiny”.

So let us discuss some rudimentary artifacts of the budget 2006-07 in a way conducive enough to plan for our tax payment.

No major changes in personal income tax. If you are planning to buy a car (of length not exceeding 4,000 mm and with an engine capacity not exceeding 1,500 cc for diesel cars and not exceeding 1,200 cc for petrol cars) or if you are planning to eat packaged foods or if you are planning to quit smoking, you will get a remarkable gain.

The other things that come to our interest are, removal of the limit of Rs.10, 000 in respect of contribution to certain pension funds in section 80CCC, has also been proposed subject to the overall ceiling of Rs.1, 00,000. Investments in fixed deposits in scheduled banks for a term of not less than five years included in section 80C of the Income tax Act

The increase in service tax (from 10% to 12%) will affect most of us rather I would say all of us. If you trade shares you should think about the increase in Securities Transaction Tax.

As Roosevelt said, Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society, and some body said, I am thankful for the taxes I pay because it means that I'm employed. So be employed and be the member of the organized society but with a plan of not paying more than we have to.

Though the companies make ease the burden of tax payment by practicing a mandatory collection of TDS which effects in our pay slips, the deviation between the declaration and the actual proof makes the huge difference in salary in last two months of the financial year. Let us cultivate the strategy to bring down the high percentage of deviation which would enable us to breath free with the mundane expenses across the financial year.

Above all we do have few so-called ‘Brahaspathis’ who evades tax with a false conviction that they took an illegal waiver from the process, we have no say on those.

Interesting fact: Tax collecting process will be foolproof.

The Departments of Income Tax and Customs and Central Excise to undergo Business Process Reengineering (BPR). Nationwide networks to connect 745 income tax offices in 510 cities and 550 customs and central excise offices in 245 cities, creating national databases.

Permanent Account Number (PAN) is the critical element in capturing incomes and expenditures. Scrutiny of Annual Information Returns (AIR) on high- value transactions reveals that 60 per cent of the transactions are without quoting PAN. In due course, more transactions to be notified for which quoting of PAN to be mandatory.

To culminate, be ware of tax planning, it is part of our life.

A Fabulous treat

2006-01-04T01:55:00.000-08:00

Hi All,
At the outset,My New Year wishes to all...

" Personal rapport among team members is a must above official bondage"
Dont know how many of you put up ur red flag against it. I believe in the above stmt and so as my team.
We people use to chill out by organizing treats among ourselves. Normally we use to go out for a dinner that would cost around Rs.3000.This time one of our team member (Siva kumar) fell victim.
Unfortunately, two other pending treats of him also got added up.So the accumulated amount made us to plan for a stream out rather usual dinner. We decided to visit a theme park and the day also has come.
Since I am newly married, the team offered me to pair up with my wife. Fortunately the sponsor ( Siva Kumar ) also was allowed to pick up his family ( his wife and his cute daughter 'Tharunika"). Atleast let him get some breath by this offer.
Fortunately that was a sunny day and we stepped into QueensLand located 15 kms away from chennai.The sponsorer also arranged for a good meal over there for us. So kind(sad) of him. (Its all part of life...... what say ?)

<--- Our first participation was Free Fall game. The plate took us up slowly to height and pulled down in a great speed. Was really amazing... Next we stepped into an Octopus resembling wheel. Had a nice take off and withstood the rotation to some extend. The minute it started to move back and forth myself and TVS ( TV Sivakumar ) one of my team member who sat with me felt the giddiness. TVS has never joined me in the walk after that ride.May be he thought I would persuade him for other games too.But he was unknown that even I felt a sort of fear after getting into second game. I was filled with enthu and asked people to get involved in all games.I also kept my wife away from some of the game since she is conceived.
TVS & Durai ( two of my team members) though possesed audacious outfit, were totally away from other giant wheels.
<---The charisma of Tharunika ( Sivakumar's daughter ) carried me away and that made me to carry her all the way till end of the treat. Our next venture was cable car . A tranquil travel free from hectic traffic's....... Though the travel was calm, pairing with my wife has not made it so.... ----> ( jus kidding ) Thank God she should skip this line .
Followed by cable car we went for boating.
<--- We guys on water.... We went for Himalyan Ride, where we were put in giant tube floating in running waters. We were passing caves, and animal of yore ( Dinosaurs's ) and monkeys on the way Mean time Durai started " Akilan pasikudhu Akilan" the usual dialogue and we went for lunch. Finishing our lunch we took battery card drive.. and ended up in swimming pool to enjoy water sports.
we played there for more than two hours and
started from that place.
A group snap after a huge wave ------->
After having nice tea and samosa's we took a ride on go karting. One can even manage Tata Safari or Sumo.. its really tough to control karts.
We experienced Fun house, Dark Room and Glass house on the way and finally endded up in a giant wheel which does not lookl. There were nobody around it . Thinking that it would not be so dangerous we stepped into it.
The wheel started slowly and gradually increased its speed. We never expected that this would reach a high speed which we had not experienced in any of the giant wheels.
We were pulled by the centripetal force since the wheel rotated in a particular direction for a long time in high speed.
We could not even open our mouth or hands. I could not even raise my fingers to make a whistling sound.
Thank God we stepped out alive from the wheel and were unable to balance our weight for some time. That was really a terrible experience..
After a good rest we went into another giant wheel where we all had a welcome drink. That was quite simple and then we enjoyed battery car drive dashing each other.
Last but not the least we participated in folk dance for some "kuthu" songs played there and entrained in a small play train which took us to the outskirts of the park.
And that was the end of our fun. We came out of the park by giving our heart felt "Thanks" to the sponsorer and sharing new year wishes to one and all.

Hi Siva "THANKS ONCE AGAIN FOR THE FABULOUS TREAT" ......

Will scribble more
Akils

Click here for further snaps of Queen's Land trip

Face/Voice - not the index of mind

2005-12-14T03:40:00.000-08:00

If anyone boasts that he can judge a person by voice or face, its an absolute bluff, do not believe. This narration of mine makes clear about my statement.

I just dropped a cheque in renowned bank's drop box. That was a nationalised bank's cheque from LIC on my five year commencement of premium towards the money back policy. A week passed. I was bit skeptic since my account has not got credited. Enquired and shocked to hear that it would take 18 days to process an outstation cheque. It was a quite long period for a bank to process an outstation cheque in this hi-tech world.

Shucks...! I do have fault on my side, the cheque was dated 28th nov whereas I dropped it on 14th nov. But then I wanted to know the process status. I waited for 18 days and atlast I found no credit to my account. Got irate and called them up again to get a very bad reply that the cheque has not been recorded for processing at all. I was shocked and planned to drop in the place where I dropped the instrument.I asked the person who addresses the enquiries. That guy took his time to gather the details. But all his tries went vain. At the end he got all the details about the cheque from me and requested me to keep patience for two days till he reverts. Ofcourse what can he do other than this if the cheque is missing.

I expected the call from him after two days.My expectation was ditched and I stepped into the bank again. This time I made up my mind to speak to Branch Manager for a plausible response.I entered into the bank and caught hold of the same person for the status. He also replied that same. In mean time I heard a vociferous voice yelling at a staff for his odd behaviour. I prayed the Branch Manager shouldnt be the owner of that voice to whom I wanted to enquire about the cheque. Since I was fed up with the response I had putforth my point of meeting Branch Manager to discuss about the issue. He pointed out his finger.

Oh no it was the same room where that audacious voice came out from. My fate plays. Thought I should explain BM ( Branch Manager )the scenario right from the begining. Normally these things may be trivial to higher authorities. But to my surprise, he started to narrate me about all the scenarios with details in his bold voice. To my part I also questioned them to check the records of cheques dropped in their branch on 14th nov ( the date I dropped the cheque ).He replied they dont maintain the records for the cheques that go through drop box. I lost my hope and my temper got raised. "Then whats the hell you maintain in the bank" -a vehement voice from me this time. I also want to prove that I do posses a bold voice like BM.

The next question from him was terrible."Okay Whats the proof you have to say that you dropped the cheque in this branch" - a question from BM side.I was reactionless since the cheque hold the amount of Rs.40,000.00. I was forsaken and was just thinking whom should I need to contact next to solve the issue. Making up my mind and poising my temper I responded to him in a normal tone..." Your renowned Bank looses its good will by your question ". and I added "Your high pitch hurts..." .Dont know what happend. I hope my lowered tone should have turned down his temper. He murmured "Boss I m not intentionally.........Okay give me 10 more days and I will get back to you in person."

But I lost my hope and walked away. Suddenly got a call ," Hi Was it a post dated cheque that you dropped on 14th Nov.... Its me.. Branch Manager". How will I forget that voice, but surprised to know that he is totally engaged in culling out more details of that cheque. Thought that BM would never take any steps immediately like any BM would do, But to my great surprise he totally drenched himself into the issue that too after hearing my distressed comments. I felt a second that I should not have made that comment on him. I replied " Sir I will be there in a minute to discuss". I sat before him to get to know all the process and details what normally the bank does on a cheque processing. He explained me the entire process with a great patience and traced out where my cheque would have gone by this time but in his own style of high pitch. He asked me whether it has got courired back to my address. But since I shifted my house I had no idea about it.

He convinced me to very long extent and asked me to wait 24 hours to take further steps. Fluctuation of my restless mind gradually decreased. An attender came inside , BM said " Dey Raja andha Xerox copy eduthuttu vaaamaaaa" . It was again the same vociferous voice and then I understood that our BM's voice sounds strong but not the words. And heard that was his normal tone and thats the way he
addresses every one.I reminded his words "Okay Whats the proof you dropped the cheque in this branch ?", If interpreted in good mood thats a normal question, and the question also states the procedure carried over in any bank. He also wanted to make that they dont have any proof on the dropped cheque and it would take some time for them to trace it out. I felt bad about my instant interpretation and my comments on him.

The next day he called me up " Thalaivaaaa cheque- a trace out pannitaen neenga inga vandheenganna adha paathuttu marupadiyum processing anupalaaam. I will take full responsibility this time ...". I was ashamed for my words I had put before him. I dont know what to respond . " Kandipa varen sir " that was alone my repenting response to him. I went to bank and he again took half an hour to explain what had happend. The cheque has been couriered to my old address since it was a post dated one and got returned due to my absence. I bent my head as a reply to him on the return of cheque. He did all the formalities, prerequistions for the cheque process and gave a copy of the same with his sign. I was really pleased at the same time ashamed of my comments I made on him. Again I said " You proved that face or voice is not the index of mind" . He simply replied " Sir oru oru muraiyum edhedho solreenga ponga sir......!"

I just told him "THANKS......!" from my heart and left the bank.

Meet you in next post... Till then
bye

House Hunting - II

2005-11-02T01:22:00.000-08:00

That was really a bitter experience to my family and our dreams ended half way.
My brother who showed immense interest in owning a house got disappointed to the core. In mean time six months got over and the sanction order crossed its span.I contacted the person through whom I got the sanction letter.He replied me that the letter could be turned on by paying the reprocessing fee of Rs.2000.00 . ( Remember already I have paid Rs.8520.00 + Rs.2000 additional for its renewal ..)

I totally abandoned the process of buying a house and slowly stepped in to car purchase. Being a mechanical diploma holder my brother gave a good support in getting a car wherein my parents were equivocal. I ditched discussing this with my sister since she is too young..Got a second hand Maruti Wagon R without any second thought. Days rolled on.. on and on and made me to tie a knot.

"Kalyanam panni paar... Veettai katti paar..." Somehow the first part got over in my life. She is quite cool girl and salaried.
The car was of big use to accomplish my marriage activities. My family then appreciated the purchase of car after enjoying it. Three months after my marriage, papa slowly injected the desire of house hunting to my mom and they both instigated the feel to my wife too..The matter rev up and again my papa started hunting for houses though left out with the scar of previous experience.He contacted house brokers and took us to number of houses. This time the budget ranged between 20 - 25 Lakhs. My wife lighted her part in raising the budget with the thought of putting her earnings too...Overflowed with the enthusiasm she was even ready to sell her jewels to form the down payment.

Though the aspirations of owning an individual house tempted, my inner conscious calculated about the routine expenses and other expenditures to run the mundane life. My brother complied with me and we both thought to pick up an idea which would be conducive enough to get a house without disturbing the routine happenings.
We took a look at a house built in 2400 sq.ft. ( one ground ). That ranged between 24 - 25 lakhs. Entire family was pleased and they induced me to purchase the same. In mean time we came across another house for Rs.23 Lakhs ( 1800 sq.ft ). No commitment was given from my side for both. One fine day I yelled at my family explaining the financial income and the expenses that we face. Made them understand about the situation and then, they came down to half a ground house.
Finally we decided an half a ground house (1200 sq.ft). The build area may be around 700 sq.ft. The house was well built but too small to have 6 members into it. We made up our mind and thought of purchasing the house. We sat with the house owner for further rate discussions. The owner requested the amount of Rs.10000.00 as token advance.He wanted to grab the party and needed to catch hold of people who escapes by giving the token
of Rs.1000 and Rs.2000. So he demanded for Rs.10000.00. We agreed with him as we dont have any second thought of buying other.
My father showed his unwillingness in blocking that huge amount as advance. We returned home discussing about the bargainings that we had to bring down the purchase amount of Rs.17.5 laks to 16 lakhs.. My wife and mom praised me for have reduced the amount by 1.5 lakhs. But my father was uninterested with the happenings. We went for HDFC bank since the processing fees is comparitively low and the interest rate is less than the IDBI bank. After a weeks period we got a response from bank that a loan of Rs.12 lakhs alone can be sanctioned.

We again ran behind the house owner to get our advance amount. He strictly informed us that he may refund the amount only if other party pays the advance for the house. Second time our money got blocked.... This time the victims were my mom , me and my wife... My father hollered out like anything. His turn to shout on us. We kept quiet. "Yaanaikku oru kaalam vandha poonaikum oru kaalam varum....!"

Still more to scribble in part III ...

House Hunting

2005-10-07T04:02:00.000-07:00

Cool..
Working in a software concern with a good remuneration,
Got a good two wheeler,
Enjoying life to the fullest with decent attires, shoes and other accessories...
what next ?

A house .....

Yes this would be the desire for every one in IT field who crosses 4+ years. These four years of his service would have fetched him enough name , fame and money which makes him to think or aim high to buy a own house. The huge amount of tax that we pay towards Government can better be redirected towards the interest and principles of housing loan repayment. Moreover you own a house at the end of repayment.

To be frank If you ask me I would say its better to live in a rented house...

But then my parents insisted me in getting one. They have no other work except packing my lunch and preparing food. So I could understand the free time what they enjoy made them to think buying a house.

I first showed my reluctance ..and their continous pester made myself to go with them.

" I am interested in buying an individual house "Eli valai aanaalum thani valai venum .." - this is my papa's penchant. The meaning goes here.. Even rat should have its own burrow. Thats because he was fed up with tortures from house owners which made us to take number of shifts.

Basically we root from a village , a fine individual house surrounded by evergreen garden, with all time available crystal clear water and other facilties. I brought my family here since I m working here in chennai. So I thought they can never search such a house in chennai which they like for..

My papa started his hunting first. At the outset I told him the affordable price (14 lakhs).This happend an year back. He searched in the same place where we were dwelling (Valasaravakkam ). I used to get bored to hear his stories on searching houses. He performed his hunting for 2 months and atlast ended up in an individual house ( half ground ).

We visited the house and it was very nice. we bought the documents by paying owner the token advance of Rs.1000.00. I opted IDBI bank for house loan and submitted the documents by paying the sanction amount of Rs.8520.00 (which is valid for 6 months). This is because I wanted to block the availabilty of floating rate of interest at that point of time, under a strong belief that we would purchase the house.

In mean time My papa came to me and discussed about the other party who tried to book the house by paying the advance. He adviced me to make a sale aggreement with an advance payment of Rs.30,000.00 to avoid the property owner allowing others to view the house. He had the presumption that he had finalised the house for lesser amount and he did not want that to pass out of his hands.

Due to his pressure I also complied with his point and made the sale deed as he insisted before getting the approval from the bank. I was under strong belief that I would defintely get the loan since I had the sanction letter for Rs.14,00,000.00.

We all were very happy and felt proud of my papa who took right decision at right time.

But after two days I got an unprecedented response from the bank person, heard the house is in minor property and cannot be sold without a court order and the bank cannot process the request anymore. All our family members anger turned towards my father. My mom cursed my father for his ignorance ( that happens often..)

My father enquired facts about the documents to the self proclaimed owner. But he got a good response " You dint question me so I dint reveal " ( Neenga edhuvum kekalai adhanaala naan edhuvum sollalai ...). Then my papa walked thousand times to get back the advance payment.

That was really a bitter experience to my family and our dreams ended half way. In mean time six months got over and the sanction order crossed its span.

still more to scribble ( why not in my next post as part II ).....

Shopping desire...

2005-09-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

I was totally fed up hearing my sister requesting me for her churidars purchase for the 100th time.I wanted to listen to her since I dont want her to commit the same next time. My mind turned towards her and my head nodded up finally for the
shopping which she requested for...I thought of taking her to some local textiles. She demanded her purchase only at Pothy's. My inner conscious assured me " kanna kandippa oru 1000 rubai edhuthhu vachiko maa .....!". This happend in the evening..

The next day morning "Ennayum kooda koottittu poveengala ? " murmured my wife in a mild tone. I liked the way she asked in a lowered tone with a totall acceptance for my response whether its positive or negative..Thought she loved to do some purchase for my sister and gave a positive reply. She was totally excited and slowly mouthed " Enakku kooda oru pattu selai vaanganungaaa ....?"

I suddenly experienced electrocution. Unrevealing my shock I asked why she require a silk saree. The reply from her was plausble. Answering me she left the room for preparing coffee. I brushed my teeth with a restless thought revolving with the calculation of anticipated expenses. After a long musing, it looked very silly to calculate these expenses which are unavoidable.. Made up my mind to give a prestigious "Yes" for my better half. " Appa... Saaamy pochi oru 3000 ruba...!". Purchasing Silk saree requires extreme heed which I lag and that made me to take my parents too...

Pumped petrol for Rs.500 ( It was 12.16 litres for Rs.500 a month ago.. My fat, it has raised to 47.23 per litre and my WagonR's tank could get only 10.53 litres now, so sad....) for our travell and we reached Pothys at 2 PM. I ordered them to take only 2 hours for the purchase and they accepted. I was happy for their acceptance and got a sort of head weight on my family obeying my order.

Parking car in the busy roads of T Nagar in the peak hours seems to be a tedious process and somehow I accomplished putting 20 minutes of effort. Entered into the show room after catching 5 minutes walk in the hot sun from the parking lot. The centralised air conditioning in the shop brought down my temper and made me cool.. Reached my kins at ground floor and got my temper raised to see them selecting sarees for my mom which is not in the schedule.

Yelled at my wife about the unplanned activity and shes quiet cool to give me a good reason for the purchase.. I have no words to speak and kept mum for their actions. Thought "Ayya, Raasa.... eduthu vai da innoru 1000 ruba.......!" .

The next purchase turned to silk saree in first floor. I felt really happy to notice that the wavelength and frequency of my wife's and sister's match at a high percentage. Yes they both short listed the same saree costs around 6000.00 which raised my blood pressure. Thank God...! my parents played the trick game by pulling out their aversion towards the saree selected by my wife and sister and made them to choose the saree that costs around Rs.3000. That looked pretty decent too ( which saved me the rest Rs.3000 ).

Churidars purchase was next in our agenda.. We went to 2nd floor. After a long contemplation my sister chose a rich look churidar costed around Rs.500. My wife came near and whispered " Enakkum indha madhiri oru churidar kedaikumaaa...?
".. My conscience chuckled at me " Dey machi yaar moonjila da muzhicha innaikki..". Ofcourse I starred at my own face when I woke up in the morning... I replied her in a low voice about my dislike towards the stictching style of the ready made material
and assured her that I would get her churidar cloth assuming the cost would be omparitively low.

Amidst all these commotion I watched my father who kept selecting the materials for my mom, wife and sister without even asking for a single hand kerchief for himself. Hats off to him..

Next my sister jumped to jeans and tops section to select one which is again an unplanned activity. I shouted at her about her caprice of getting jeans. She reciprocated with an audacious voice revealing that getting a jeans was her long lasting desire.. I turned towards my wife and saw her with my red hot eyes... Though my parents were not interested in getting her a jean my wife sighed and came near me to convince me in all possible ways to make me fullfill my sister's eager. I understood and wanted to respect my sisters desire by joining them in selecting jeans and tops. But my pressure went to higher extend when my wife requested for a jeans too. I abruptly said "NO". I know that could have created a strong dissapointment. But this time I dint mean the cost of the material, I really dont want her to wear jean and tops which would make others to take a look at her.

She kept quiet empathizing my feeling and we went to ground floor to choose churidar dress material. Purchased for my wife and sister one each and swipped out my credit card for the final billing. It came around Rs.5500.00. The clock struck 5 PM. I realized that my order ( alloted 2 hours ) was totally ditched. They took 3 hours to finish their purchase. I vehemently screamed at them signing the bill. I got back the credit card and all the materials were delivered to us. Suddenly my wife held up my arms tightly and asked me a million dollar question...
" Ungalukku onnumae vaangaliyaenga ...?"
My parents and sister joined her and insisted to purchase something for me.. I was totally in a memorable bliss when I realise that my kindreds take immense care in getting me something amongst their own desires. I felt the money which I spent tillnow for them worths a thousand time... Yes they deserve it.......

Will scribble more....

Regards
Akils

My OCD

2005-09-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

whats OCD ?

Below stated are some definitions for OCD....

i) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a disorder characterized by the presence of obsessions and compulsions.Obsessions are repetitive, unwanted thoughts.

ii) An anxiety disorder in which a person has an unreasonable thought, fear, or worry that he/she tries to manage through a ritualized activity to reduce the anxiety.

iii) Frequently occurring disturbing thoughts or images are called obsessions, and the rituals performed to try to prevent or dispel them are called compulsions.

.... and there are so many definitions available in internet where I can get the complete details of OCD.

But the pathetic scene is that these things were not known to me at the age of 14 when I became a victim of this OCD. I used to touch the objects three times which is near to me or which I hold at that point of time. The object may be anything like, cap, glass, chalk piece, pen, notebook, foot steps ( touched three times by my foot ), shoes, car, cycle, wall ,
bag.. and what not.

Quite a many times I used to get totally disgusted and sickened by this activity of mine.

Why Should I be vulnerable to OCD ?
Would I be susceptible to any major disaster or mishaps due to this OCD ?
What would others think of me if this continues in my life ?
Why cant I be normal as others without this OCD ?

...My conscience raised thousands of question and suffered without answers..

These thoughts were considered crucial initially... later on the habit has become a domestic chore like combing, shaving etc
Now I m least bothered about this OCD.. Nevertheless trying to get rid of it...

Okay whats reason behind this...

This OCD started from my adhulthood when I was put in hostel at my 9th standard.
Due to immense love towards my parents I wanted to see and be with them all the time.
Since I stayed 100 miles away from my home I pray for them all the time all the day.

I pray for them whenever I cross a temple or idol of God at the street ends.
But sometimes if I think of my parents and find no temples around or to my reachable view
I used to touch some object presuming God exists everywhere and in all things.

Gradually this prayer turned to be an abnormal habit which ended up in touching anything which I have at that moment or which is nearby for 3 times with a false conviction that it would save my parents who are away from my vision. Day by day it aggravated , Initially I had a count of things I touch 3 times but later it went countless.. The member count whom I pray for, also has got increased from 2 ( parents ) to 4 ( brother and sister ) and now its 5 ( including my wife ) and now all the things I handle is touched 3 times by me..

Also If I want to get some work done without hurdles.. I use to follow the same way of touching any object 3 times. I had a belief that If I touch the object 3 times then the task would get completed without hassles...

Its totally ludicrous .. I do accept., but then I continue....

Though grown up , settled in a good job, staying with my parents and married too…
the intensity of this habit has never come down..instead increased…
The only solace I have about this OCD is, its not easily noticable by others , but then this troubles my dears and nears...
Hope one day or other I might get rid of this OCD….

Wannu know much about OCD then get into
http://www.ocfoundation.org/ocf1010a.htm or
just google "Whats OCD".....

And quite a many persons suffer OCD and guy named 'Brad' has dedicated his entire blog to his OCD... Check out..
http://ocdbybrad.blogspot.com

Will scribble more...........

Reachable Deities

2005-09-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

If you ask to someone who is his/her favourite deity, They might say Vinayagar, Murugar, Kali amman or some Goddess name.
But there are two deities that we have very near to us.
They are the reason for our origination,
They are responsible for our unique appellation,
They taught us our first step to walk,
They enlightened our life eradicating the darkness of illiteracy,
They fed us with all the knowledge to survive in the world,
They provided us with food, shelter and accomodation and what not..

But we use to take them for granted that these divinities will undergo any pain for us.
we never value them much when compared to the respect that we pay to our cute friend of opposite gender.
we even ditch the desires of them or consider it trivial.

I agree with the famous maxim ( I dont remember right now but like to write down the essence of it )
"Easily reachable things loose their values soon though inevitable"...

Now I bring down the count of my sins by introducing my deities M.G. Arunagiri ( appa ) and Koteeswari ( amma )

Note : May be I have used 'we' in lieu of 'I'. If this persists in ur life too leave it.. else read the 'we' as 'I' .

Cheers.
Akils......

Informal Contractions

2005-08-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

English learners are often puzzled by expressions like GONNA or WANNA that they often hear in movies or perhaps read in comic strips. If they look up these expressions in a dictionary, they may not find them, which increases the puzzlement even further.

In fact, these expressions do exist and can be found in good (big) dictionaries. They are "informal contractions" or short forms of other words that people use when speaking casually. They are not exactly slang, but they are a little like slang.

For example, GONNA is a short form of "going to". If you say "going to" very fast, without carefully pronouncing each word, it can sound like "gonna".

Here are some of the most common informal contractions, with example sentences:

GIMME = give me

* Gimme your money.
* Don't gimme that rubbish.
* Can you gimme a hand?

GONNA = going to

* Nothing's gonna change my love for you.
* I'm not gonna tell you.
* What are you gonna do?

GOTTA = (have) got a

* I've gotta gun.
* I gotta gun.
* She hasn't gotta penny.
* Have you gotta car?

GOTTA = (have) got to I've gotta go now.

* I gotta go now.
* We haven't gotta do that.
* Have they gotta work?

INIT = isn't it

* That's smart, init?
* Init strange?

KINDA = kind of

* She's kinda cute.
* Are you kinda mad at me?

LEMME = let me

* Lemme go!
* He didn't lemme see it.

WANNA = want to

* I wanna go home.
* I don't wanna go.
* Do you wanna watch TV?

WANNA = want a

* I wanna coffee.
* I don't wanna thing from you.
* Do you wanna beer?

Please remember that these are informal contractions. That means that we do not use them in "correct" speech, and we almost never use them in writing. (If you see them in writing, for example in a cartoon, that's because the written words represent the spoken words or dialogue.) We use them only when speaking fast and casually, for example with friends, and many careful speakers never use them.

Also note that the sentences above may be rather artificial because when we use a contraction we may also use other contractions in the same sentence, or even drop some words completely. For example:

Do you want a beer?
Do you wanna beer?
D'you wanna beer?
D'ya wanna beer?
Ya wanna beer?
Wanna beer?

- Josef Essberger

All about me

2005-08-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

Hey, Am not such a big shot or well recognized prodigy to narrate about my historical moments. But would like to share some info which would help you guys to know about my cranky mentality and to feel free to take me as your guy next door.
Born as a first small boy baby ("small" word is added up since my pals comment on my height as ‘porandhu valandhiyaa illa valandhu porandhiyaaa‘. I m 6.2 now..) to a body builder alike structure bearer ( such a physic my papa has ) Arunagiri , and his house wife koteeswari in Manickavalli village..
The village has only one street surrounded by mountains filled with “Aacha” trees. I could hear your surprise “Aacha whats specific about it ?“.
Here the description goes…

The tree really has a unique feature. The tree will bend and lift down the climber if he/she has climbed very high. The tree totally pulls out the fear of a person to get down after reaching high. It bends down to earth to leave the climber safe…such an unbreakable, flexible, tensile character the tree has possessed.
Spending my child hood in beautiful village, I stepped in to my schooling. There was an elementary tamil medium school in my village (which remains closed now) where I loved to study. But my fate took its incarnation through my mom who interested to start my studies in a convent.(Cluny convent , Devikapuram . 4 km from my village ). In mean time I got a brother to play .I was admitted in the school and I completed upto 3rd. But the convent has got permission to have only upto 3rd standard. I was one among the toppers in the school till I did my studies there since my mom worked out a lot to make me poise the rank, at the same time never allowed me to play also…
I was forced to come out of my village leaving my parents and sibling for my higher studies (don’t guess MBA or MCA just for 4th std) to my grandma’s house in cheyyar.
Yes I was totally out of the warmth of my parents, out of lovable hugs of my parents, out of the natural scenes of my village and out of all other things which I thought that would continue …My path changed due to lack of love in my grandma’s house…In a way felt happy to have got freed from my mom who use to pester me to read.
I lived the sad days of my life there for 4 years. The only happiest moment was the presence of my mom with me at her mom’s (my grandma’s) place for more than a month for the birth of my sister.
In my eighth standard I was put in hostel (Desia Matric schooling and boarding, Vellore). There started my introspection, started to know the seriousness of studies and from there on it was a gradual improvement in my studies. Come on don’t over think about me. I was never been a first rank holder but some how could manage to come within 5 ranks. That gave a complacence in me compared to the previous marks I scored when I was in cheyyar.
Finished till my higher secondary and moved on to Bsc Computer Science in Voorhees college , vellore. Nothing special to narrate the happenings in my college life. Finishing my under graduation I entrained with an yellow bag in my under arm to Chennai (kakathula manjaa paiiiii) with colourfull dreams to get a job.
Joined SSI , completed IMPACT EP course and started walking into streets of KK Nagar and Vadapalani searching for startup companies with a green bag full of photo copies of my first formatted (not a well formed) fresh raw resume.
Got thru with a company by name Murugan Computers for doorstep education. Continued the work for a long term of 72 hours (yes just for three days) and gave a VRS since I got the offer from Bitech. As a Technical Executive( Chumma posting peru dhaan appadi hi fi –a irukku but naan senjadhu faculty vela dhaan ..hehehehehehee ) I served there for 1 and half year and joined Polaris through my students referral who worked there.
Spent my 5 years there, got an MCA degree side by side and shifted to HCL Technologies. The dislike towards support and maintenance made myself to pull out of the renowned organization within 3 months span and now settled with Birlasoft.
I brought my family to Chennai two years back. Got married to a girl of 24, a financial analyst who has become my life Analyst too…

Cheers....
Akils

My debut to Web log

2005-08-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Hi All....

Atlast I entered into the ocean of web log a.k.a blog http://www.blogger.com which enthralled me a lot with its own individuality. Donno whether to thank or blame my friends ( Mali & Durai ) who made me to enter into this arena doggedly.. Nevertheless I bend myself for the inducement that these two guys has made to stand on the podium. Thousands of thanks....

I assure writing blog will definitely deplete my time ( either in office or home ) which would drastically disturb my mundane happenings... But then the desire to publish my own blog made this ransom deal.. Hope The Almighty might bless me with a good control of mind not to get addicted to this fascination....

Would stop my intro blog with this.. Hope to update the same up to date...

Cheeerrsssss......
Akils