Good Evening, Sir...how may I help you ?!

Good Evening, Sir...how may I help you ?!....so somthing similar is what we all hear when we call any customer care center.....and this is the only thing that will plesant right thro the conversation....U keep telling the guy/gurl ur problem and they listen thro it and in the end ...they either put u on hold or they say they aren't the ones who cane help u with this particular problem....well hey then who can ?!?...ah thats exactly the only thing they do not know !....

I am planing to get out of chennai js for a day on friday....and had to get my roaming activated....so this is what happened !....I called The airtel guys 2 days before andasked them to activate the roaming , and a gurl...{ with a very sweet voice} requested me to mail to their CCare mail Id from my official id....I did....two days gone and yesterday morning I call them and ask if its done....the reply 'its a corporate connection,sir,we do not know how long it will take,'

'well u know who will know this'
'no sir i donot'
'great !....u made my day....well what can u do ?'
' I can check if ur mail has been recieved and if action has been taken,but, can do nothing if it hasn't happened,though!'

'ok...herez my mail id..blah blah blah'

and she put me on hold....
half an hour gone....still on hold....I drop the call...lemme deal with them in the evening after getting back home !

Time 7 :45 PM

I call them back....and a guy answers...his voice is vaugly familiar....and I went ahead and rattled away on how bad the service has been and....tell him the problem...he says ....sir please go to the nearest airtel office and give a letter in ur companyz letter head and it will be done imm.
thas when i loose it...' hey I called u guys 2 days back and u still havent moved ur ass to get it done and ....blah blah blah....'
It was one of the worst conv i have had with a Ccare rep. I usually try to be calm and nice to them ....cause I know how it feels to be in that job...I was working for Sony Ccare for 2 months after college ,for some quick bucks....
the guy was cool....and asked my name three times...where I was working, where I was going ..and my address and all that crap.....he said he'll call after 1/2 hr and comfirm the status....thats funny....why is he asking all these questions ?...they usually don't....

Then b4 hanging up...He said ...'sir, my name is......'...and hung up....why did he say his name again?!?.....I don't know....!

then after 10 mins I got a call.....funny hey they dont work this fast !....
'dei machan....'
oh shit !....I recogonised the voice ...that was my friend 'A' , haven't seen him for a while,....They same voice I was yelling for 30mins straight some 10 mins b4 !

' dei....yenna da....ippadi kaththara ?....how r u !'

' dei.....was that u...i had a funny feeling when u said ur name and I knew I had heard that voice before !....sorry machan !'

' Even I took some time to reco ur voice , thats why I asked ur name again, whee u r going and all that stuff...then i knew it was u !...well....thats why I said I will call back !...and hey we cannot help u on the issue....but i have asked my friend to activate it....jus check...'
Sure enough i had a message sitting on my mobile that confirmed the activation !

Then we laughed for some time on the conv we had had...it was time for him to get back to work !

' Dei machi thanks da !'
'Ok...Ok.....seri machan....see u later over the weekend !'
'Ok da...'

Well u never know when u will come across old friends....so if u donot know whome u r talking
to....be nice...u never know...It might even be Aishwarya rai the next time !....!!!

Torture continues !!

Where did I stop....?.....ah , yes....well The party was turning out to be a nightmare....really borin...! I mean that !....
There is one thing I always do when I am bored....grab a smoke and enjoy it.....but not today..why ?...cause I was outta stock....I asked this secutiry guy where I could get some....' In the bar, sir' he replied....ok...hey wait a minute.. ! BAR did he say ?.....oh yeah....run...run.... !....it was 7 30... there I was at the Bar....it was empty...ofcourse.... !no one would drink when they come to an official party...atleast in my company.....uhmm....atleast I could get the much needed smokes !...I went in and this is what happened...
Me: do u have kings...?
The Bar guy : yes, sir ...only a full packs..
M: ok ,one pack pls..
TBG: 45 ..,sir...
M: have change for 100..?
TBG : No sir....lemme check.....no sir...
M: well...what can we do now....uhmm.....ok...how much is a vodka small...?
TBG : 55, sir...
M: { thinking) 45+55 = 100....well hey one quick one...no one will even notice....
ok....give me a small with LC..
TBG: ok...sir....
and then he did something that changed the whole evening !....
he switched on the TV.... and the song I luved was being played...
''Kavalaiku marunthaanathe....vethangale saagum varai...sogangale kadhal kathai...kaarkaala malargalum yennodu thallaadum....vellai puraa ondru poonathu kaiyil varaamale.......

a really good song I liked....I turned to TBG....
M: u take card?
TBG: yes sir....
M: nother large..
TBG: ...ok...
The one large led to another...and before I knew it....5 larges and one smal down..
swiped the card and came out...life was beautiful....afterall......after some booze ...
there they were...all the femmes...not all that great looking ones though...hey who cares....dancing to some stupid BackStreetBoys song... ,some pairs....doing what they do best....the 'K'....
and....dinner served !!...
grabbed my plate....wasn't in a mood to eat...so filled up my plate with a big heap of icecream....walkd some distance ...to a place where no one was around....lit up a smoke....enjoying the icecream....and humming the song....
'yen vaazhkai vaan veliyil...vellai pura ondru poonathu ..kaiyil varaamale...
neeyum nanum serntha pothu kodai kooda maargazhi...
pirinthapinbu poovum yennai suduvathenna kaathali..
thuduppizhanthathum kaathaloodam...thisai maranthathu payankili..
poogum vazhi nooraanathe...., kanneerinaal seranathe.....illatha uravukku naan seiyum lalaaalaa....
kaarkaala malargal yennodu thallaadum...vellaipura ondru...................'

Its official !!

Hey world !...its official....what is....nothing....jus that my system is 23...dumb years old....ststem as in me !....yeah thats right...I turn 23.....or is it 24...dont really care anymore...born in the year '82..u do the math....well....23 over in to 24 right...ok..

I told my PM that he wont be seeing me on the 20th...why?....cauze I have some personal work to do....hey I didn't wanna work on my day !....
on saturday.....I went to sleep at 11 night and my mom stayed up late and baked me my fav. plum cake..thanks !....and on this day....some 20 people called and wished me....others didn't even care...neither do I....of the 20 some 7-8 were my friends from KG....! they called me on my mobile ! how did they get my number..?..they wouldn'te tell !...
didn't get new clothes...have a load of new stuff and no party this time....didn't feel like havin one...
One thing I realized today....U might know a million people...thousands who respect u....hundreds who admire u....but only a few who care bout u !....and am happy that I have a few .....

Project Parties !?!...

Know what ...I will kill myself the next time before going for a project party ....why?...tjis is why...on friday ...FRIDAY !....we had a Bu party at a resort named GREEN coconut...., a resort on the ECR- east coast road....
on thursday I got mail asking all of us to keep our evening free the next day as we were gonna have a bash ...where...and when...it didn't say....thats what gave me a sick feeling.....that actually was a warning ,which I didn't respect...
That fateful friday morning, my PM walked in to my cube and asked me if I was going.....going where??...to the party....I sheepishly said ' I dont know..'...then he said....I u r goin tell me ,Even I'm thinkin bout it.....what made me go that evening....FATE...

The resort was a sore....on the other side of the road...,that ment that the beach was a good 4kms away....so that plan of mine....down the chute....

they had no plan...and we were ased to do what ever we felt like.....I wanted to hit the sack and sleep...but they wouldn't let me....then I spotted it....a shuttle racket....good....I picked it up....was a bit rusty....but had a good play for almost 2 hrs....and before I knew it it was 7....and time for more tortures !!....

Why me ??

Have always wondered.....is it my mistake ?.....what?.... being the youngest in the family, that is !...I have an elder bro'.....and in my family of four...I am the youngest...and with that come lotsa tortures....when I say that, I mean that.....when u say something ...no one takes u seriously....and ur inputs are always considered childish....hey i am 22 ,for crying out loud !....I am a grown up and I voted in the last election !.....I decide my country's future....but back home...I am still the KID !...
herez why I am jaded....my dad took out my car for a spin....he wanted to try it out...It is a brand new car..clocked jus 1k...and at a signal...some...idiotic @#$#@#** auto guy bumped into the car and that gave it an ugly dent...got it fixed though..he jus came back and said he'd fix it and he did....thats the end of that issue....yeaterday...my bro ( read BIG BRO)...took it out and came back with the front bumper fully screwed.. !...and that happened cauze of some ther idiotic driver (he says someone else...but guess who !)....Its never them !...he says he'll get it fixed....now a brand new car looks real ugly...and I hate it !....my dream has now become a night mare !...

I take it to office everyday...and I drive thro some of the busiest of traffics and not a scratch on it put by me....when I tell them to drive carefully...the look at me and say....hey ...buzz off...don't tell me how to drive......had I done this...all hell would've broken loose....

no one even takes my words serious back home...outside tis totally different...I am the boss...cause people respect u for what u r...that doesn't happen back home...I really wonder why...and this happens only to the youngest of the lot...how sick !....cruel world !...
now when my car gets back from the garrage....I know what I am gonna do...even if its gonna cost me some money....hey ! I am earning ...I can get it fixed....and dont tell me how to drive !!!

Still have a life ...! ...really ?

Something I did yesterday,made me take a second look at the kinda life I have right now....nothin nuch...I jus cleaned my book shelf.....well after a loooooooooong time..and I mean it....
the minute I opened it ,I realised one thing....what was that ?...well the thing I noticed was that I had changed...a lot...right in front of me was a pile of old books ,covered in dust....this is the same shelf I treasured when I was a kid,the reason why it was soooo dirty was because of a simple fact that I never allowed any one to open it,not even my mom...not even to clean it ...well...that was how much I ....how do u say it...love it?....guarded it?...possessive about it...what ever....U get the point right ?!...

It has all the books I've read...all my paintings and sketches,my pen collection,cricket card collection,toys ....it was my shelf, my music books,my comics...everything in there was mine...I mean MINE....and for quite some time I haven't even had the time to look at them ....

I pulled out a few comics and now have them right besides me at my office desk.. ! the hot wheels cars are now perched on my CPU !...a brigt red Parker in my pocket, a tweety bird -pencil crown on the pencil stand....and a cool sketch of charlie chaplin pinned up on the soft board near me....

how I miss the days when I was a kid...reading books...painting....playing old classics ....my toys ...filling ink into my fountain...collecting cricket and WWf cards....humm....

Still love the life I have...jus that I has changed a lot....for the good or bad,I dunot know....
one thing that hasn't change is that I still love to be a loner...'yen vazhkaye brindavanam ,naanagave naan vazhgiren'....
okie...........

Have decided to do one thing after going home today....clean up my cupboard...lets see whats stored up in there !.....

Whatever !!.....

Tell u what !....today has been the longest day in my life.....I mean it....at office from 6 :30 till.. god knows when ........

Jaded
Thats how life is right now....dunno whats happening to it....its taken a life of its own...what did I jus say ?!?....life has a life ?... one thing is pretty clear..'I' dont have a life !....I know I don't make sense...cant expect more from a guy whoz had jus 10 hrs of sleep in three days....rest gone in work and on my stupid bike...up and down...home to office...office to home...in a loop...performed every day...till I die I guess....

this is exactly what I did not want my life to become....stuck with a stupid job of coding...to top it all...did I tell u I hate computers... !....we dont get along well.....If not for my MBA aspi'ons ...I wud've quit this job loooooong back.....the company gives me a brand name....can u belive that.....but anywayz the tunnel sure is long....but can see light at the end....hope I get there soon .....

to end it on a positive note...my friend jus called...going out for a smoke...oh...u ...how much missed u ....I was actually talikng to my cigarette !...can u belive that....

I am going MAD !!!...help me please !!!

Necrophobia- Fear of death or dead things.

Tis almost 9 in the night...still in office,asusual....have to write this...jus now a mail came in from my friend in the states....was my college mate...some attachments in the mail...some pics that we had taken when in college...

The picture goes like this...4 of us giving faces to the camera with the most beautiful of beaches in the BG....the pic was taken some time in dec 2002....final yr of college....a nice pic taken at a place called 'Saamiyarpettai'....somewhere between Cudaloore and chidambaram...the white sand...blue waves that lashed non-stop ....the vast steach of beach was practically empty everytime we went there...close to our college in CDM...we usedto hang out in the beach at odd hours ....

Time : January 1st.
Day : New Year.

this was the first time I missed the new year cake at home....why ?...cause I wasn't home...silly !
where was I...Back at Saamiyarpettai...not for a party...but for a totally different thing....
on 26 th..ye all know what happened....tsunami...this place was nothing like what I remembered it...in a jeans and a loose cotton shirt....my friends and I were at the sea shore...helping the affected ..
even after 3 days the shock was still there....the white sands ,were now...all brown,...the clear blue water ...was now muddy....bodies and old people all around...and infants crying and people sleeping on the road....thats when I ....for the first time...thanked god...for atleast giving people the heart to help...rather than party on that day....There were many smiling helpers all over the place....working thro the night...and can u imagine...we...some 7 guys were able to mobilise stuff worth almost 1.25L...contributions pouring in....everyday from all the near and dear...

thats one picture I want to forget....but never will be able to !...

even in this fast paced world ,there are some ,who atleast try to make a difference....

I have to really leave now....
signing off :

"Kadal manithargalai kondu,
manithathai vittu sendru-irukkirathu;
kadalukku nandri, manithathukku nandri " - KAMALHAASAN.

"the sea has taken humans and left behind humanity,O! sea I thank thee and .......thank thee- humanity "

Cyberphobia- Fear of computers or working on a computer.

Yahooo !!...Actually ...whatever !...

I sucessfully compiled the dumb piece of code that'd been giving me trouble for the whole of yesterday !....wasn't all that complex ...but it took me a day to get it done and fixed !

Right after I did that ...guess what happened....

All thro life ,situations are the same.Yesterday,at home, mom had cooked the veggie I hated the most...the 'yukkiee' snakegourd...u cant imagine how much I hate it...anywayz...right after she put the 'stuff' on the plate...I gobbled it down ,like I always do...guess what happened next ...!

She rewarded me with another helping....things always back fire , dont they,right when u least expect them to :(

Now coming back to the story at my office...right after I yelled...my PM came in and he was pretty pleased that I had FINALLY finished it....yeah u guessed it right !....he gave me another tough request to analyze and code !.....deja vu !

People never get the point ,do they ? when some one asks for a sip from the drink u having and u get frust' and give them the whole drink...they r actually happy !...can u belive that ! very few really read between the lines and understant...the rest ....a pain u hafta live with !....

and by 12 noon today...all my hopes of a great weekend....poof ! vanished !

I am really starting to hate my work...

And as the Mentor of my company N R Nrayana moorthy once said :

"love ur work.....not ur company !" - very true ....Mr.NRN,totally with u on that !

Anuptaphobia- Fear of staying single

I caught myself thinking this morning !...can u belive that ?!?...really I tell ya !
twas this stupid fwd,one of the hundred stupid fwd mails that I get every day, from by friend from the b'lore branch of my office.Guess hez still on bench...{thats when u have no work to do !}...
The mail goes thus...
men are like appeles on a tree,the rotten ones fall off first only to be picked up first,but the good ones stay on the top and will be picked by someone whoz patient enough...hummm....really...lets see...

I had been thro school , college and now at work...whu does my my profile say that I am still single?....Because I am a good apple ?...or did the mail really mean I look like an apple ?...hey wait a minute... !
and another point....why does this logic work only for guys....the best apples on the other side get picked upbefore the bad ones....right ?....I dont know....need help on that....will hafta ask some one...

mystery solved :

I saw a friend who jus walked in...and viola whats on his Tee'shirt..
in bold !

"I think Therefore I am single "

now remember what I said when I started ?....that I caught myself thinking....mybe I've been doing this for a long time....aahhh...I hate myself for doing that !!!!