Thursday, May 26, 2005

Is there an end?

After a looong time, i read the news of another woman burning herself on her dead husband's pyre. After reading it, i really dont know whether i feel sad or not. Rakes up the whole debate in my mind again, why would someone willingly want to burn themselves? the answer probably lies in the same truth as holds for why child marriages still abound, why dowry is still prevalent and so many other whys which lead the deeply ingrained values sytems that our culture carries. while i am still honing over how many generations it would need for these things to be present only in history books..you guys can check the news out here

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

TIME Part II

Awlright, coming back to me story...here goes Part II (you can find Part I here)

Now that i had joined a wknd batch, i promptly reached there at the designated time. The room in which my batch was assigned was huge enuff to allow 30 ppl...but TIME had been nice enuff to allocate around 45 instead. Lemme explain the room here once...around 15-18 benches, two fans on the ceiling and one side-fan near one of the walls. Since i had not been wise enuff to come at 4 30 in the morning and reserve a seat for myself, i got one of the left over seats where the absence of the fans' effectiveness in that 'seat by the window with the sun shining bright' made me realise how people die of sunstrokes. anyway, someone closed the window and i thought that may be if i breathe very hard, the guy in front of me would get some relief. At once i thought i should just get up and go back to their office and demand if THIS is the kind of infra they are providing for all the money they are charging. but then, being used to mediocre service levels all around, i decided to keep my trap shut knowing no one else would probably bother to go take them by the collar for this sheer rip off...and just when i was kinda settling down in that bench, few more guys entered the class and two of them decided to choose the same bench as me (not like the poor things had a choice)...and to top it all, one sat to my right and one to my left. i was feeling like a prize idiot...no ..a 'sweating' prize idiot sitting there in the 'too close for comfort' physical proximity of two guys and that too in the middle.

my mind was constantly thinking whether i shud really do the taking by the collar thing now. but then, i was there for another purpose..and decided i would try to concentrate hard and not let either those guys whose every small move would surely result in some physical contact (trust me its yukkkkkkk when this happens) or by the sweat drops running down my back and forehead...small price to pay for some gyan which can help me to crack CAT. a coaching institute is a temple of education and we should not bother about petty things now isnt it! .

Class 1: supposed to be something on logic. to top the ongoing torture, the teacher did not turn up for a half hour, while i was reading thru the rules list they had handed over, one point in which mentioned that if a student was more than 10 mins late, he would not be allowed into the class. (i have intentionally not written he/'she') in the preceding sentence cos majority of people DO have different set of rules for the HEs and the SHEs. i once again reminded myself about the 'gyan factor' and the sanctity of a place of education, even if its short on sanity. khair, so what, the teacher did come in 35 mins late and mumbled an apology for being late. with the expectation setting i had been having with TIME so far, that mumble seemed like the biggest gesture of professionalism in the world to me at that moment.

having had the grim satisfaction of hearing an apology for lousy service, we got along and he started off with his teaching. i found him good...concepts and all ..though i found him a lil fast for comfort, but then all of us have our styles, and then he did give some good examples. he distributed some handouts with examples to explain the concepts. it was THEN that i realised what Shoaib Akhtar had been missing in his pace. The teacher picked up so much of speed i could only hear, but not listen at all. i looked at his lips hoping he would get tired and slow down, but trust me he could have given Mr. Scatman a run for his money. he just wouldnt slow down. as i looked at his mouth, i pictured the Rawalpindi Express in my mind. and guess what, when he did slow down, i realised the class was about over and he had covered all that he wanted to cover...material planned for 90 odd minutes and delivered in under 60 ! who ever said education was part of service industry and is a professional thing today!!?? i would like him to come and attend a class with me at TIME.

no harm done, its just one class...and we get a break of 30 mins. (30 MINS!!??...comeon..its a wknd batch for ppl who dont have time..plus the excellent infra wasnt making every minute easier anyway).

Class 2: a class on RC. some lady arrived and started explaining the stuff. RC is one thing i like so for a moment i just forgot about the worldly troubles and started concentrating. aah..did i mention that after the break i had gotten up and moved to the first seat in the middle line / column whatever you wanna call it. i just didnt think that the RC teacher could be a lady. feminists - before you start preparing to jump up with your clubs..picture this (and i bet any guy who has been in a similar situation would understand what i am talking about). You are a tall guy sitting at the first seat in the middle column...there is not much room between your bench and the black board and on top of that the teacher is a female who is standing right in front of you between you and the black board. put yourself in that situation and tell me what do you see? and i mean 'see' literally here. its a 'view' which is not very comfortable (unless the person on the other side is really HOT, which was not the case here, or you are uncouth enough to stare anyway). so there we were, she and i, and being the decent guy that i am, i had to look another way. To my left there was a girl sitting. Needless to say looking constantly in her direction would have surely sent out wrong signals, and on the other side was a guy...comeon!..two guys in a day was already too much. i didnt want to look at another for 90 mins. so i found the most comfortable angle that i could, and focussed my eyes on some point on the wall, trying to keep my ears on to her voice.

she started with the usual things about RC, its importance and all. though i expected all Junta to already know rc IS important (why would they otherwise pay so much and sit there in the torture chamber on a HOT summer afternoon), but then, backgrounds are needed and so we went on with the ritual waiting for the real stuff. what did i know that this 'real stuff' was on the teachers mind too. (pervs pls dont race your brain too hard here...just read on). During her lecture, she used the words "real stuff", "hardcore stuff" and "the thing" so many times and sometimes in such really funny manner that i started getting disgusted with myself for even entertaining non-rc thoughts at that time. but she was incessant, and the usage of such words increased in frequency. i was wondering if i was the only one thinking that way there that day...and i started asking myself WHY!?....WHY IS SHE DOING THIS!?WHY!? ...and just then i heard her say "If i reveal everything right now, you would see and understand". trust me, just by the mere fact that she had sprayed couple of times on my bench as she spoke, i DID NOT WANT TO UNDERSTAND!!...even if it did or did not mean whatever i was feeling disgusted for thinking she might be doing there.

By this time, my neck had already started yelling with strain, so much that my itch to take objection to one of her examples (she mentioned some situation where a group of guys is standing and a girl passes by ...and blah blah blah. I immediately remembered a college scene where a male teacher had been taken to task by few female students for quoting the same example...apparently they thought it was sexist and encouraged objectification of women...my protest here would have been that it is sexist and shows men in a bad light in general

ppl...i have already spent around 10-12 mins on typing this. just wanted to do this before rushing into a meeting which i have to do now...the episode ends normally with no harm done..just that my neck felt a lil uncomfortable that whole day . i think i have written a bit too much ...hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as i did recalling it.

until next encounter
quipster

TIME Part I

Over the past couple of days i have been posting at pagalguy.com about my experiences with a training institute by the name TIME. I had approached them for an MBA entrance exam coaching and really amusing stuff happened. I thought i d provide a link to that forum from here but they sometimes let threads 'die'?? and the posts become unavailable. So i am pasting what i had posted there in two parts...Part I: before joining the institute and Part II: after joining. Enjoy....

Part I (before enrolling)
---------------------------
I called up TIME on the phone and asked for details on the courses available which were promptly provided, with a non-stop voice reciting all the courses available, the fee structure etc etc...so far so good, though this could have been an Automated Voice Service cos i tried to ask something twice but the woman just wont stop and kept on reciting. somewhere reminded me of the poems i used to learn by rote as a kid and was always nervous that if someone wud interrupt me, i wud forget the rest.
Anyway, the real fun started when i landed at their Ameerpet Center. A counsellor asked me to sit in one of the demi-cubicles they have and asked...
Counsellor(C): so what do you want to join sir
me: classroom coaching for CAT, preferably wknds
C: (here came the recital again..but this time i was determined to ask my doubt no matter what)
me: but you see, my job requires a lot of travelling and thus my availability in Hyd. is always questionable..even on wknds. do you have a postal course ?
C: YOU DONT WANT TO ATTEND CLASSES!!??
me: of course i do, but knowing my circumstances, it might be a challenge for me to do that regularly. So if you have a postal course where i can get all the material without having to attend the classes, that would be really good for me.
C: that is impozzible sir.
me: ok...since you dont have a postal course but i do need the study mtrl, can i join your wknd classes and then take the material and attend only if i am in Hyd.
C: Sir your intention is to just take our material.
me: i dont get your meaning here...i am joining your course and paying for it too. anyway, whether i attend the classes or not would work good/bad for me..so lets not waste our time discussing that. tell me something, since you guys distribute material in classes, can i call your office occassionaly to check if you have circulated some material for my batch and if yes, i ll come over and collect from the office.
C: it is impozzible sir.
me: impossible!! why? thats a simple piece of information i am asking for.
C: sir actually our telephones are only meant for official calls. we cant make personal calls.
me: (hello!!...whos gonna make YOU a personal call!) but i would think this wud be counted as an official call, since i am only calling to ask about the course material.
C: that is impozzible sir!
me: i really dont get it. i believe yours is a professionally run organisation. i am sure you would maintain logs of which material has been circulated in which batch. it wud hardly take a couple of minutes for someone to tell me over the phone if matrl has been circulated or not.
C: it is impozzible sir
me: ma'am...why wud you want me to come all the way from my house to your office only to be told you have not circulated anything at all. wouldnt it save a lot of time if you could just let me know on the phone, yes or no.
C: it is impozzible sir.
me: but this is illogical now. y is it impozzible..sorry impossible.
C: thats our management policy sir.
me: can i request someone from your management to pls consider the situation and make an exception.
C: it is impozzible sir
me: let me atleast try...could you please put one of your policy makers on the phone pls (hand out my mobile to her)
C: it is impozzible sir
me: what!..is it a secret?
C: it is impozzible sir
me: please say something else
C: you are the only one asking like this sir
me: so?
C: your intention is only to take our material and not attend classes
me: you find my intention wrong in any manner?...i mean you got something against it?
C: no sir its impozzible sir

now thats mostly how the conversation went. somewhere in between there was a sequence of me trying to take the example of a movie and explain how if she had to watch a movie, things would be really easier if she could find out about ticket availability from home itself rather than having to go all the way to the hall only to find house-full, thus putting some analogy. nothing seemed to work and impozzible anyway was the word of the day...

well, thats that...despite everything...i still joined TIME ameerpet. the story doesnt end there.
rest in Part II (after joining)...

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Why Blog?

OK!!..so why write a blog. its easier to say "i dont know i just felt like it" and probably thats trew to some extent. of course there are other advantages i can think of..like ranting on and on about how life suxx, poking fun at ppl...no lemme word it better..just jotting down how amused i am by creatures, besides i always have something to say about everything, even if i am a zillion miles away from even knowing what that is. other reasons could be...
thinking objectively, the possible reasons that come to mind first...
1. i need to get a life (doing this!!??)
2. there are a gajillion ppl doing it, why not me. 'herd mentality' has its own fans. you always have everything and everyone else to blame but yourself.
3. so that ppl like you who dont have a life either and are reading this can have some TP.
4. so i can share useless information with equally useless ppl

the politically correct ones:
1. so i can share my thoughts and opinions with ppl (this thoughts section would be mostly empty i can foresee but opinions / judgements should be free flowing)
2. create awareness about issues that bug me (mostly of very trivial nature)..and may be find like minded ppl
3. appreciate things and ppl i admire (or lets say flatter ppl who matter)
4. so i can give my 2p worth of advice to everyone for free.

the ones my frends think hold good..
1. i dont have anything better to do
2. me too me too
3. avenge the fokkers (just stick the label LOSER on my head!!...so much for frends!!)
well rest is for you to decide if i manage to hold your eyeballs long enough. (please go and rinse your eyes with distilled water..i dont want no dirty germs in my hands)

100 Things Bout Me

Some time ago a project was started where people wrote a 100 things about themselves on their blogs. Well i missed the project but i quite liked the idea. Imagine first people take the pain to think about a 100 things to write about themselves and then they expect others to read that too. People came up with really nice things about themselves. Couple of em i remember vividly are "I have a mole on my bottom right cheek"..NOW, this guy must be deep in geometry to be explaining his right hip like the first quadrant of a graph..and of course that is some really useful piece of information about him. ANother one read "This is one point just to fill the list"...sure reminded me how i used to fill reams of sheets during my school exams.Well, i wanted to see how many things i could come up with and so i started making my own 100 list. After prolonged torture inflicted on my tiny brain, it came up with this...

  1. i hate hypocrites
  2. i am a bathroom singer (or shall i say "performer" as many singers like to call themselves these days…wonder what that would mean)
  3. i have tons of perseverance but very little patience
  4. i hate people with the HOLIER THAN THOU thing going on
  5. I am proud to be an Indian
  6. i can be poisonously sarcastic if i am mean.
  7. i am not mean.
  8. i find it difficult to answer when people ask where i am from – was born in Rajasthan, am a Punjabi who has grown up all over north india, now living in Hyderabad (south India for any northee).
  9. I think any occassion is a call for a couple of beers.
  10. i am an aquarian cusp.
  11. i dig indian food.
  12. i hate observing all kinds of days be it mothers' day, fathers' day or any damn kinda day for that matter. (is there a mens day???)
  13. i hate girls who act dumb...many of them dont do it by choice though
  14. i make the mistake of getting emotionally attached to my work..again and again.
  15. i hate it if i get a middle seat in a looong flight. ( i am 6'2"...see what i am saying!)
  16. i value my privacy too much and guard it fiercely.
  17. i love it when i get snail mail from someone.
  18. i enjoy sleeping in the library...its so peaceful
  19. i am prepared to accept sponsorship to be a world traveller.
  20. i am attracted to girls who have grace, are beautiful..but most importantly...are funny.
  21. i can be very intimidating for people who dont know me closely.
  22. i am a fan of F.R.I.E.N.D.S
  23. i have two left feet when it comes to dancing.
  24. it is sometimes very easy to annoy me, some people do it by merely existing.
  25. although i come across as fairly guarded, i ll likely answer any direct questions.
  26. i love gadgets..but not to the point of obsession.
  27. i hate people who make promises but dont bother to keep them
  28. i love sunsets and sunrises
  29. i am a nightbird..sometimes an insomniac too.
  30. i have resolved not to comment on religion and politics in public.
  31. i am a very difficult person to embarass
  32. i would love to join some secret society (especially after the whole THE DA VINCI CODE thing)
  33. i love to laugh..and enjoy the company of ppl who can make me.
  34. some things i have wanted to be at different points of time in my life ...a singer, a scientist, a philosopher, an actor, a restaurant owner, a gym owner, a radio program host...the rest are kinda racy ;-)
  35. i shut down my tv after i wake up...ya ya i have had enuff of those save electricity lectures...so shut up already
  36. have travelled to US, UK, Austria, France and Indonesia...Australia/New Zealand are next on my list.
  37. i am in the IT industry ..... I HATE PROGRAMMING
  38. i hate managers who dont realise they have the power / responsibility to shape the careers of their Direct reports.
  39. good looking female = sexy. good looking modest female = sexier. good looking modest female with brains = even sexier. good looking modest female with brains who cooks well = never heard of one.
  40. i love the beach
  41. my worst enemy ...my brain.
  42. my imagination works much much more than i do.
  43. it ll take a real assload of alcohol to get me to blurt out what you cant get me to say otherwise..alcohol is wasted on me.
  44. i will try almost anything once.
  45. i hate bosses who are slave drivers...the ones i am talking about would know who i am talking about if they read this.
  46. i have been at the verge of saying F@^K IT ALL and walking out of my job couple of times, but worse sense has prevailed in the end so far.
  47. it ll probably take a few hundred years for me to accept that i cannot do everything i want.
  48. you are still reading this??...you need to get a life pal!!
  49. i think Nancy Friday needs to get a grip...apart from whatever other toys she might be having.
  50. i think employing girls (or for that matter boys if that has happened anywhere) just to dress up the sex ratio suxxx.
  51. i am a diehard optimist inside
  52. it still amazes me how many ppl per sq.km can have the name Srinivas in Hyderabad.
  53. i hate it that Delhi is the Rape Capital of India today.
  54. Being in Hyderabad, i hate to miss all the action happening in Delhi ... so you see what i mean ;-)
  55. i am not a narcissist, though i am expecting ppl to read 100 things about me.
  56. i hate to have lied about my marital status to be able to rent a house in Hyderabad.
  57. Contrary to what many Hyderabadis might believe...bachelors DO need a decent place to live too!!
  58. i love to think i love cooking. My speciality dish is my Special Instant Noodles!..anyone who has had the patience of reading this far without pulling your hair out is welcome for a treat.
  59. i think my 10 yr old nephew is much smarter than i am…he agrees
  60. i hate SHOW OFFs
  61. i was early till college..always couple of years younger than my classmates..then i hit a truck and everything changed.
  62. i tend to nitpick while watching TV serials/movies..like how the glass moved from empty to full after just a closeup of the actor's face
  63. i hate the saas-bahu soaps
  64. i love standup comedy
  65. if being a smartass was a paying career, i wud be filthy rich
  66. i love my parents and would die for them.
  67. i think more ppl are in love with the idea of being in love than there are those actually in love
  68. the first rupee i earned on my own was at age 15. i tutored few kids just so i could show my parents i didnt need them.
  69. i did my first job (no one believes i taught 'logic') while in second year of grad.
  70. i started my first business at 24 (while pursuing masters in computer appl)..ran it for a profit and sold it off at 25.
  71. I changed 14 schools doing 12 grades. NO! I didn’t flunk and was made to leave…we just kept moving.
  72. i tried my hand at chemistry in college, quit for a bachelors in management, did half MBA, dropped out and did masters in computers. am thinking about MBA again!!
  73. i think you are thinking i dont know what i want to do in life.
  74. i think you might be rite.
  75. I dream of having my own business someday.
  76. i have often contemplated becoming a ‘sadhu’ someday (of course i would have to bend the rules about money and girls!)
  77. i have been backstabbed real bad few times...i still trust people.
  78. i believe in Karma.
  79. i have been a national level player (anyone heard of Handball!?...no not that one you pervs…there IS a game by that name)
  80. i dont follow sports anymore. The cricket matchfixing thing broke my heart
  81. i am learning to play table tennis. Mr. Neel, i ll beat you 5-0 in a best of 5 one day.
  82. my last wish would be to be able to come back and haunt the people who pissed me off when i was alive.
  83. i love kids, as long as they are a few feet away ....and are somebody else's
  84. some people dont agree with me because i like calling a spade a spade...they can kiss my ass.
  85. My favorite quote.. “No that is NOT a pencil in my pocket…..would you STOP staring!!??.. Please”
  86. I think Austria is the most beautiful place on earth.
  87. I have started learning French, Spanish and German at different times and never built a decent level in any.
  88. I am going to learn all three of em some day.
  89. I HATE stupid questions
  90. I hate men who make all that AAAAAAAAAH...AAAAAAAAAAH groans while taking a leak in the mens room. Kinda makes me feel deprived of whatever pleasure they might be deriving out of the whole exercise.
  91. I am a workaholic
  92. I think INDIA ROCKS! ..the very fact that it has so many cultures all living harmoniously (well…almost) is amazing.
  93. I f*#@# ing hate lies
  94. I actually enjoy public speaking…I know I know it’s a weird thing.
  95. My fav position is do$$y ishtyle
  96. I think having an ego is very important. That’s the thing which makes you wanna beat yourself at everything you do. (pervs please don’t race your mind)
  97. If I have a short fuse with you..i consider you close to me
  98. Me angry = things flying around
  99. I suck at remembering birthdays and anniversaries.
  100. I can do anything for friends. I am known to have done some really suicidal things.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Why are you here?

OK! now if you are a first timer to my blog, may be you just happened to get lucky, so i ll give you the benefit of innocence. if you were referred..man i am getting POPULAR! welcome, make yourself at home, have some coffee and read along.
if you are a return visitor, there could be many reasons for your returning here..
1. you like mud being slung at other ppl
2. you like mud being slung at you
3. you really dont have a life
4. if you know me in real life, you want to see if i have written something nice about you too
5. you like mental sleaze, and are here for your doze of it (dude / dudette i am sure you have other sources too...lets share! :)
6. you are here to tell me how emotionally disturbed you are after reading what i have put up, how it has hurt your sentiments, how you feel violated (and as Chandler says "not in a good way") and all that crap. take my advice, jot down what you got and i ll throw something back in your face...i am sure you enjoy that kinda thing...dont you :))

In either case, please do take a moment to put your pin my my guestmap (the left button right above the ME ME ME part) so i can come and stalk you :))
Despite all these warnings..if you still find something you dont liek, please feel free to send me hate mail or post your stinker comments. If neither vents your frustration out....well i can only say...EXCUSE ME!

Mind Boggling

Now this incident is something which can aptly be called MIND BOGGLING. Remember those stories u were told as a child where the villain's life would be linked to a bird somewhere and if someone would twist the birds neck, the villain would choke too. It seems some of our government servants still havent grown up out of those. In a rather bizzare incident, mass murder of birds was carried out to break down the villain. IT HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA !!
http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?id=73215