Dear Miss (or should i call u Mrs) unknown to me,

It was nice to have known you by so many names, email id’s and numbers. It was my mistake to have believed that people met on internet are real and may be they will let you know all about themselves. In most of the cases people online told me who they are and what they do. But as it turns out you were different. You were scared that people may misuse your identity, so you never told anyone as to who you are. You wanted to know everything about me but never told me a single thing about except obscure details like having a large family and stuff.

Just as it turns out i still don’t have much info on you but whatever info i have is more than enough to “think” some of the stuffs what you have told is all lies and thank you for that. I Hope that i will know little more bout u soon and it wont be a bag of lies or obscure truth.

Regards,

Santosh Kumar.

• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• March 17, 2010 -- Just Like that (20)
• February 8, 2010 -- Just Online Wish (4)

Tension is a feeling of worry and anxiety which makes it difficult for you to relax. Noun (uncountable) also N in pl

I am also in the state of the same, though not always but at times.

Some of such moments are/were,

1. It turns out that my killing rate has hit its all time low and I came to know of that while playing Max Payne and During office hours when I have to kill time
2. I am sleeping for 30-45 minutes after lunch @ office where as in past it was between 1 – 1.5 hours.
3. I own 3 mobiles and 5 mobile numbers out of which i am using just one of each.  (these don’t include the one i have lost.)
4. My MBA plan is  down the drain. No B-School is ready to offer me a seat.
5. I used to earn the max among my friends and suddenly i am the least earner among all of us.
6. and another Birthday and the party sharks are already at the door.
7. My drinking and smoking habits are a hard to quit.
8. I am still in search for a GF.
9. and those which i had think that i am good at flirting than actually falling in love.
10. I am losing hairs faster than any bollywood movies are losing viewers.
11. and gaining weight faster than the number of shopping mall opening in your locality.

Those who are thinking when was my birthday it was on 29th may.

PS-> the google talk gadget is now working.

• No Related Post

Prelude: I have been asked by one of my few readers to write about “My take on life” so here you go my “Anonymous Reader.”

For most of you know I was born in a small village in Bihar (we are yet to get a broadband connection in there).  Have done primary schooling from Patna, High school from Dehra Dun and Engineering from Bangalore. Presently working for peanut at a software company in Bangalore.

I have tried to take life really seriously and always thought what to do about it. For instance the time when I finished my class 12 (Yes I used to wear school dress and was still a virgin from the thing called college), I knew that I will do something in Computers but what to do was the question.  Some of the option I had were doing LEVEL ‘C’ course from DOEACC or a B.S.C. in Computers if any college’s form is available after my results are declared.

The above story gives us 2 lessons.

• Lesson 1. Always have a back up plan, No matter how obscure it is. (Like Doing DOEACC in my case)
• Lesson 2. Chances are there that you will chose a plan which is not in the list (I have done Engineering)

Let me tell you guys another story. During the final year in college days  days (don’t i sound like some old learned dork, Though old and dork are true I am still skeptical about learned), it was the time of final project demo to the college. As the chance had our Head of Dept. was there. During our demo he started to screw with us by telling other lecturers that he has already seen project made by us in his previous college. At last i lost my patients and gave him a earful. The result we were allotted the least marks among the group.

Lessons Learnt were

• Lesson 1. Boss is always right
• Lesson 2. If accused, never ever tell the truth and make sure that the other person cant find the truth.

Now comes my last experience in the list. During my first year at my first job. The V. P. (Technical) of my company caught me surfing Orkut. At that time orkut was blocked in my organization. There were meeting and talk and discussion. All filled with accusation and counter accusations. On my part I defended myself by using the terms like lack of motivation, organizational behavior and interpersonal communication (in short all the crap what was fed to me during induction). The final effect, I was fed the crap once more and relived of duties for not including those crap during my stay at the company.

Lessons

• Lesson 1. Never use the tricks on the teacher who taught them.
• Lesson 2. Study the environment before you do anything stupid. (Had i have seen the VP coming my screen would have shown c++ code other than orkut)

• January 1, 2010 -- Puzzle (1)
• July 16, 2009 -- Best Laid Plans. (2)
• June 2, 2009 -- Best Birthday Gift Ever (4)

Just for the records, I am done with two of my interviews for MBA, as you have come to know from last post. There is another one on 30th of this month. I would be needing all the luck to crack this one. cos its the toughest interview & best college that i have been called from.typed on mobile during power cut.

• June 2, 2010 -- Lies, Lies and More Lies (6)
• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• February 8, 2010 -- Just Online Wish (4)

I think there are less than 2 readers at present who come and visit this ever dying website. And the hope taken even deeper plunge that after this post the number will reduce to 1.

So here is the run down of the events of last one month or so.

Let start from January End.

1. I started my night shift. Yes it was the last thing they could have done. I was asked to come to office at 12 and leave by 8 in the morning so none of my team mate could meet. In true worlds of my manager “Without you in the office the whole team’s productivity increase many fold. I never knew that just by reducing 8 men hours (that is mine) I could get extra productivity of 40 men hours.”

2. Around the same time XAT (XLRI Aptitude Test) score were declared. And your truly score a mere 97.06 Percentile in that. For those unknown XAT is entrance exam for the one some of the best B-Schools in India. Yes, I am planning to get a degree in Ymmm Bee Aye.

3. Left my last room which I shared with my class mates and shifted with a colleague. Reason of leaving None!!

Some time in Feb

1. Got a call for college interview from the best place in India, GOA (Institute of Management). Yeah. Party time!! I was so drunk that forgot the close the door of the house. The next morning I had lost 2 phones total worth 17,000 INR. Yeah GOA did it to me. Again. This was the 4^th and 5^th mobile and 4^th theft.

2. Started the regular office shift.

3. Went for the Interview for GIM. Screwed it up big time. Yeah. Again. Bloody Incompatibility.

4. My roomie was sent on exile to Nigeria. Why the heck he was so happy going to such a place. Green Paper still rocks.

5. Got another interview call form worst place to go, Chennai. Interview on 12th March. More updates soon.

6. Was down with cold and Fever so no Holi this year. And no booze too.

Now in March

1. One of my friend’s Friend called, “Hey Santosh me at Airport. I am off to Canada for 11 months. My company is sending me. See you after that.” Bloody Green Paper.

2. Got another Interview call from 2nd Place in India. Mumbai. (NMIMS, the best call). Will in Mumbai for the interview in the month end. IF you are in Mumbai than meet you there!!

• April 26, 2010 -- Stalker or Just Anonymous People? (2)
• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• January 1, 2010 -- Puzzle (1)

• June 2, 2010 -- Lies, Lies and More Lies (6)
• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• March 17, 2010 -- Just Like that (20)

• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• July 16, 2009 -- Best Laid Plans. (2)
• June 2, 2009 -- Best Birthday Gift Ever (4)

So instead of writing about few of them lets pitch all of them against each other.

Round 1: Travel.

I won’t say a thing about the journey but the first hand experience of destination or origin.

• By Train -  Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Home
• By Bus -  Goa, Bangalore
• By Flight – Bangalore, Delhi(Terminal 1-A), Kolkata

I don’t know what’s your travelling preference but i always felt that train journeys are the best. if it satisfies one condition “You have a good company” I leave the choice of the companion to you it may range from sleep depravation to love or from a book to Girl Friend.

So here is quick comparison between the stations i have visited in recent past.

Hyderabad (Secundrabad to be precise):- A small and clean station. They have got adequate security and even though the same station is used for local trains it not that crowded.

Bangalore:- Its been quite some time before i gave bangalore station a visit. It was still the same crowded platform and even crowded ticket counters. But clean and chaotic.

Kolkata:- Huge station loads of people and little security. Its not that clean, though there are people taking care of cleaning but something, somewhere has gone wrong.

Home:- Really small station, not clean, no security, is in process of getting a face-lift. That include a new ticket window, generator, lights and fans on the platform but that betterment is still few years away.

Now comes the bus stands.

Bangalore: Has got a huge bus stand. lots of people. well marked platforms and dirty.

Goa: Medium sized, semi clean, not well marked and crowded.

Airports:- The fastest and (now not so) cheaper mode of transport. I chose this for last for the simple reason that i have been adding loads of air-mile.

Kolkata:- Really old airport. Small, crowded, Really slow security checks, No WI-FI, Shady Buses used for aircarft transfer(Most of them look like old city buses). But they do have a rail ticket reservation counter and post office at the arrival waiting lounge. fewer baggage claim belts and No AC taxi for stand. (One had to call for AC taxies)

Delhi:- Big, clean, with almost no crowd departure terminal. Even though its a new terminal baggage scan is mandatory(as compared to bangalore), WI-FI signal strength fluctuate every second.(In short it sucks, just WI-FI). Lots of shops including a Mc-Dee’s The arrival terminal is too crowded. even though they have 7-8 baggage claim belts the baggage arrival takes a life time. which makes the area even more crowded.

Bangalore:- Big, really clean, little crowded, No Baggage checks (which makes the check in really really swift) The check-in counter itself are dynamic(There no individual airline counter but any counter can be used by any airline. All the counters have a LCD screen showing the airlines name.) 3-4 ATM machine. 8-10 Self-Check-in counters. The arrival area is large and the baggage arrival is really fast max 5-10 min wait time. The only bone of contention is the location of airport. 25 KM from the city limits.

So if you are planning to go to any of these places plan accordingly.

• June 2, 2010 -- Lies, Lies and More Lies (6)
• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• March 17, 2010 -- Just Like that (20)

Note: This post is nothing to do with the book “Delhi” by the author Khuswant Singh  but may refer to both.

Just now I have reached home from a short trip to Delhi! By short it means that i was there for the weekend. Something in tune to a weekend getaway but the trip was more of “Getting In”

The start from Bangalore was both good and bad. Just for the record I left Bangalore on Friday, 20th Of November. Reasons the start was Good

The Goods:

1. My manager was absent on the day. and i was able to leave early

2. I got the airport shuttle minutes before it left.

3. My flight was rescheduled to 7:10 pm (I had a 8:55pm flight)

The Bads:

1. The flight took off half an hour late

2. my friend who was supposed to pick me up at Delhi was also late by half an hour

The Ugly:

1. The reading light was not working in the flight i was travelling

2. The safety jacket for the seat in front of me was not attached to seat and was roaming all through the plane.

Now a quick rundown of my itinerary.

Day 1: Friday

1. 7:10 Leave Bangalore

2. 10:30 Reach Delhi

3. 11:45 Reach my friends home @ gurgaon

4. 11:47 Open a bottle of whiskey and start drinking

Day 2: Saturday

1. Time Unknown: Go to bed after the bottle was empty, our belly full and mind screwed

2. 10:00 am – wake up, get ready

3. 01:00 pm – go and meet one of my online friends @ Gurgaon Central (Yeah i do meet my virtual friends. so next time you are Bangalore and need some one for drink you know who to call )

4. 05:00 pm: Back at friend’s palace. Have couple of pegs and get ready to attend one of my school mates marriage (yeah this was the reason i was Delhi.

5. 07:00 pm: Reach the venue for marriage just to find out the time on the invitation was written in IST. ( IST means that leave the house half an hour after the time mentioned on the invitation)

6. 07:10 pm: Meet with some of my other school mate who were to attend the same wedding.

7. 07:11 pm: Find a bar and order some beer

8. 10:00 pm: has someone mentioned shaddi (marriage).

9. 10:10 pm: order the last round and leave for the marriage venue

10. 10:45 pm: reach the venue to find out the marriage is over. and reception is on

11. 10:46 pm: lets have dinner than we will meet the groom.

12. 11:00 pm: meet the groom. (it was a muslim wedding so we had to wait to meet our bhabhi. They have this tradition that the bride and groom cant see each other till the marriage ceremony is officially over)

Day 3: Sunday

1. 12:15 am: After 3 rounds of deserts and half pack of cigarettes we (including the groom) finally get to meet the bride.

2. 12:30 am: wish the friend and wife happy marriage life and leave for gurgaon

3. 01:15 am: reach my friend’s place to find him with another bottle.

4. 02:30 am: Sleep.

5. 07:00 am: wake and get ready

6. 08:30 am: Reach the venue for IIFT entrance test

7. 12:00 pm: finish the exam and head back to friends palace @ gurgaon

8. 01:00 pm: call up another school friend and decide to meet her at metropolitan mall @ gurgaon

9. 02:00 pm: meet this friend over lunch.

10. 05:00 pm: back to my friend’s place and pack to leave for Bangalore.

11. 08:10 pm: board the flight for Bangalore

Those who have read the above itinerary. give your self a pat on the back (for achieving this milestone) and kick on the ass (for wasting your time). I am sure your jobless self will some questions coming up. So here is a quick faq

• Why there are no names in the whole of the post?

• Do you really wish to know names like tom (not the cat/dog), dick (not the body part) and hairy (nothing related hairs other than the ones on the head).

• Why are the airlines name missing?

• Here is the airline name. For onward it was a jetlite (formally Sahara) flight i was booked in. which was later changed to jet connect. for return it was Air-India (formally Indian Airlines)

• What was the main reason for going to Delhi?

• To drink what else? Rest were just lies created round this truth. I had changed my IIFT exam center from Bangalore to Delhi

• How was the trip?

• Pleasing and left me wanting for more.

Till next time. Where i compare Jet Connect with Air India and pitch BIA (Bangalore International Airport) VS  IGIA (Indira Gandhi International Airport) Terminal 1A.

• April 26, 2010 -- Stalker or Just Anonymous People? (2)
• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• March 7, 2010 -- What a Month!! (7)

I had a trip down the memory… errrr.. home lane. Its was the same old house, same old room, same old computer and the same old pram in which i used to sleep and now my Nephew Sleeps

Here are some more of his pics and his antics. Click on the images for original image.

This year it was again the time for the online game called Klueless. It was called as always Klueless 5. I was able to crack this year’s edition bit late due to the home visit. I hope that i get more time next year to solve much faster. More updates and Klues in the next Post

• April 26, 2010 -- Stalker or Just Anonymous People? (2)
• April 14, 2010 -- Something Serious Called Life (0)
• March 7, 2010 -- What a Month!! (7)