Reliving Thumbs Up Integration

Thumbs up-- Well thats the name of the project that I have been
stuck with for almost a year now. The funny thing about thumbs up is that the development phase comprised of 4 months and the support phase went on for around 8 months. About the challenges in the project... well.. its pretty difficult for me to put in words.. But the biggest challenge so far has been to act like you are busy, cus hardly any work comes up. Work apart, thumbs up was an unforgettable experience cus I got to meet a few wonderful characters, each unique in their own way. The team comprised of 19 members at offshore and here I go citing my funny experiences with a few of themJ

Character 1: The Lion: Lion is one of those funny charcaters that I have ever met. Even the most serious of things, he puts it across in such a way that u wonder whether u r expected to smile or hold a serious expression.

Lion: innum evlo naal dhaan inda mokka vela panradhu?

Me: hmmm....

Lion: hey, Himesh Dramatikkal chance e illa da... romba nalla PM.. namakku evlo nalla role kuduthrukaar paren...

Me: Semma strategy da he has. Step 1: Accept to be the PM of a big project.Step 2: Pick three foolish ppl from the team. Step 3: tell them that their performance is splendid and that the whole project is in their hand. Apram, giv a 200 bucks worth
useless passport folder as a gift and get all the work done!Plus make onsite promises! Super la.. If ever I become a PM, naanum inda strategy dhaan follow pannuven...

Lion: hmm... correct dhaan nee solradhu.. nambala paatha ilicha vaai maadri irukku pola...

Character 2: Jay:Well about Jay, he is a very simple straight forward person with an amiable character.

Me: hi!I jus reviewed ur design. Konjam changes irukku.Inda logic use panna mudiaathu.naa solra changes panneedreengla?
Jay: Its ok...
Me( confused).. seri...ungalukku terium la enna pannanum nu? appo changes paneedunga
Jay: Its ok....
Me: mail me once u r done...
Jay: Its ok

I was so frustrated that I went to the lion and said:

Me:Lion, enna da ivaru enna ketaalum its ok nu solraaru? ok illadha naala dhaane naan pesitu irukken.Its wrong nu sonna its ok nu solraaru...

Lion: ha haa! comedy da avroda... verum thanks nu solla maaturu.. eppome thanks indeed dhaan. enga dhaan pudichaaro adha..:)

Jay was a nice man... but it took me a while to decipher that 'its ok' was jay's way of saying 'ok I will do it...'


Character 3: The next funny person am gonna introduce is CVS Kumar. He was the QC/ BA for our project. A guy who lives a life by his own set of self defined principles no matter what others think bout him.

CVS Kumar: Hi! GM ! I have come up with a new checklist. The objective is to keep track of the life cycle of deliverables. Can u fill it up right away and upload it into CVS.
Me(wondering of wat use its gonna be of..): Fine... I will do tht ASAP....

CVS Kumar buzzes after 10 sec...

CVS Kumar: Hey are u done????

Me: errr..... wait....

CVS Kumar: u r pretty slow.... what about the potential problem tracker?

Me... Yeah... doing it.....

CVS Kumar: quick man! Btw can you pls come over to my place and give me the weekly status updates?

Me: Right now?

CVS Kumar: ASAP is the only world in my dictionary!

I give him the updates and get bac to my place.
Hardly 5 secs after I hav settled down at my place.... His name starts blinking on my PC..

CVS Kumar :hi! is the tracker thing done? if yes, can you pls circulate it to the rest of the team?

huh!!!! Thank god he was not a PM! Can u imagine the plight of his subordinates.!!!! :)


Adam: Character 4 is the one and only Adam, my onsite manager... Its highly motivatin to work with him actually...If u want to get somethin done from him, u will have to keep remindin him for a month and finally look for options as to how best you can get it done without his help...

Me: Hi Adam! GM! I guess there is some problem with the PDMR. It shows very high figures for effort and schedule deviation.Can you please tell me how to address this issue?
Adam:ok...
I sit there waiting for his reply...
This is followed by a long pause.
Wondering if he is still on the call, I ask hesitantly
Me: Adam,u still there?
Adam: well... do u hav a solution for this prob...
Me....: ????????

Character 5:

Chinmoy joined our team as a fresher.A nice guy, pretty talkative... A pretty difficult character...

Me: I am seriously pissed off man! see u cannot call this a bug.. This is a documentation error.

Chinmoy: can you justify?

So I go on trying to explain the problem in the best possible way for around 20 mins...And then...

Chinmoy: so wat r u trying to say?

Me:?????? fine... jus leave it!... huh!!!! Thanks anyways!

Sorry Chinmoy! no offences meant!!!Work apart, u r a great buddy!!!:D

Character 6:

Abhiran.. when i say Abhiran.., a smile pops up on my face... funny guy that he is....

Abhiran..: hey... I want to be Adam........thts my biggest ambition...
Me: he heee.. now why is that?
Abhiran.. Are.... kitna kush hai woh... sotaa rehta hai hamesha..tht too with onsite salary...I want to be Adam! I want to be Adam!!!
me: ha haaaa
Abhiran.. cool he is.... when the project was in a critical state... he went off for a month's vacation.. remember?
Me: hmmm... true... am sure he doesnt even know who all are there in the project..
Abhiran.. yaad hai, a few days bac, he sent an important mail to all the ppl who had already left the project?selective amnesia,eh?
Me::)
Abhiran.. Adam! Adam! Adam! I want to be uuuuuuuuu!!!!


Character 7 and 8: An experienced resource called ayini.. Btw Himesh Dramatikkal happens to be my offshore project manager.

Himesh Dramatikkal: well... I guess we should take up the aspect of quality very seriously. I do not want any bugs during the UAT.
the whole team blinks
Ayini: Himesh, I have a checklist that I used to use in my previous project.. can we use that n see if its effective?
Himesh Dramatikkal :Sure ayini. Its always a good idea to reuse ideas from the past. ok team, we will take help from ayini for this. CVS Kumar, btw.. can u jot this down?
CVS Kumar nods and hyper actively starts taking the MOM..
Himesh Dramatikkal continues: well, we should also do something about checkin if all our docs are in sync. does anybody have an idea?
Ayini (loudly): yes Himesh!!!
Thanks to her, the whole team is wide awake now!
Ayini: Himesh, we used to have something like this in my previous project. I will faaarwaard it to u..
Himesh Dramatikkal: Sure ayini. Its gr8 to hav an experienced resource like u in thumbs up...

Character 9 and 10: Teena ... Teena was one of my closest buddies in the team.. Always active, she is that types who can do an effective code review even at 12 in the night. never seen anybody so energetic like her.Himonsho -- well I could speak volumes about this guy.. but in short, he is a hard workin and at the same time mast kinda person. All in all, a nice colleague!

Teena: Are u done with the documents? Can I review it?
Himonsho: We still have time na. I will give it tomorrow
Teena: no.. no... see.... If we do it right away we will get enough time for review na....
Himonsho: yeah... but...
Teena: see.... I will be on leave day after yaar.. isiliye bol rahi hoon....
Himonsho: kitne review comments deti ho yaar.... ek chote module mein pachaas comments?
Teena: Dekho.... we will do our best... fix all the comments.. I will giv u some more....
Himonsho: woh document dus baar review ho chuka tha... kahaan se pakadti ho comments...
Teena: see... humein process follow karna hai.....
Himonsho: Aur Pichle dus baar bhi tumne hi tho review kiya thaaa....
Teena: ab mein kyaa boloon.... its the process na.....


Character 11: Lolitha: Lolitha-- A girl with a ton of attitude. Ms. take it easy policy..One female who has the guts of watching movies in the office in spite of the fact that she shares her cubicle with a big shot. Well, watching movies is still ok, but lolitha has this funny habit of laughin her head off while watchin movies in office.:) funny she is... :)

Me: Lolitha, code fix overaa?
Lolitha: Doda..... po.. po.. poi polappa paaru
Me: edho pannu...wat doin?
Lolitha: chumma... watchin movie
Me: he heee.... seri.. keep a watch!
Lolitha: yen?
Me: Kurjith paatha unakku sangu dhaan!
Lolitha:avan kadakraan! anda aalu ku oru decency ye kadaiyadhu... naa enna panna avanukku enna
Me: he heeeee
Lolitha: Anda subbu paaru.. evlo decent... anda aal paatukku ppt potutu irukkaaru.. edaachu kandukraara..
Me: enakku terium unakku avar mela oru kannu nu... suthi suthi angaye vara paathiya
Lolitha: yabbbaaaa

Character 12: Question Kumar: Well he is as funny as his name sounds. A guy who has this great talent of deriving a hundred questions out of a single question that is put across to him.
Me: Hey, Question Kumar, did u fully understand the functionality of the module that I was talking about?
Question Kumar: wh...wh..which ff..ffunctionality?
Me: well, that XYZ module….
Question Kumar: But what is X….
Me: X is something like this …. Remember?
Question Kumar: ok ok… well… Y….. is….?
Me: Y ….. bla bla… this is wat u r expected to do….
Question Kumar: ok…. Z? wat should we do with it?..
Me: Forget it!!!! I will take care of that…

Congrats!!!! U have reached the end of my write up!!! pat urself!!Ur patience is incredible. Sorry couldn’t find a suitable conclusion line! Anyways it feels great to have worked with u guys. btw, no offences meant!!

Another attempt at poetry!

I wonder where it all began
from lousy talks to future plans
from a hi to night long chats
I know beloved,
we have come a long way!
I ponder how somebody unknown
could become the most important
the transition from a stranger to beloved
jus slipped off unnoticed...
I wish I cud jus go back in time
to re live each of those moments..
right from the day
we became friends..


I remember that day
when u came and sat beside me
u wudnt let me read
a big chatter box that u are..
I looked at u bemused
jus thinkin.. wat a wierdo..
I was unimpressed
I never realised then..
this guy was soon gonna be..
my obsession for life...
my very reason for existence..

My biggest gift in all these years
its u, my beloved!!

I then never imagined
that my guy for life has arrived
who wud drive me desperate when away,
stress me out in his presence,
wud give me a pleasure so immense,
bring in laughter,
wipe out grief,
and bring in new dimensions
to a life that seemed aimless

There is no bigger present
than to be a part of ur present
I wanna be near..
beside u forever..
to see u grow
to see u succeed
to see u make it big
I will be right there ..
smiling back at u from a distance
with joy beyond all bounds..
and screaming out aloud
Thats my man!!

My first take at poetry!

I wish you knew..
How it felt like
To be close to you
and still be afar
To know you
and still not know you
People often say..
with time you get to know someone well
But with me
you were pretty unfair
cus you were close and still made me wonder
if you were anythin more than a stranger..

Its true that I tried to impress
No deed is selfless
I wish I had found a better way to say..
U mean so much..
accept me for life..
But that still doesnt justify as to why
you had to put up that fake pretence
to show that you were heartless
and that nothing whatsoever made a difference
I knew it right then
The more I came close
the more far fetched it seemed
you cant be mine
I then realized..

As days go by
I can't help but wonder
If you were just a passing cloud
I think out aloud
you could have told me straight
It doesnt really make sense..
To blame my fate
was loving you that big an offense?
With eyes wide open
you still couldnt see
my heart,my pain,my love,my anger
you cudnt care less
could you..
well now its a thing of the past
but still somewhere it hurts immeasureably
to have loved and lost....

The Great South Indian Logic!

We as South Indians have our own way of interpreting things. We have this funny habit of making a few rules which actually do not have any basis, no associated theory or facts as proof, but then are enforced on us in such a way that we have no choice but to accept them and associate with some kinda logic of our own, which in the end actually looks as if it was something deeply analysed and hence concluded upon.So here we go!

Logic 1:
If there is an elder brother in the family and he has a love marriage, it will not hav much effect on the younger brother. If there is an elder sister in the family and she has a love marriage, the future of the younger one is doomed.It will imply that u r not from a good family.
Future of the younger sister is directly proportional to the present and past of the elder sis.

Logic 2:
U r expected to have kids as soon as u get married(i mean as soon as possible!), But even before the day of your marriage, u r expected to be a goody-two-shoes.It is wrong even if you go out on a date with the guy you are engaged to.
A female is known to be homely, if she has zero knowledge of sexual intercourse and other related stuff.But boom, after one month of marriage u (I mean the girl :P) should get pregnant! otherwise something is wrong!
The more dumb you are, the more homely you are considered to be! Hopeless logic, huh!

Logic 3:
Complicated relationships(Cheeni kum kind or say some tamil movie with a story line similar to that of life in a metro) and glamour are accepted only in small and big screens. I have to make a special mention of a mallu soap here,which am sure all mallus watch(thts wat my granny told me:P)where all the characters are married and have kids, but there is some confusion about who is who's kid. The whole story line is about which character had an affair with whom, why and when. The whole soap is about sorting out who belongs to whom. A soap which questions the very basis of an individual's existence.The wierdest soap ever.I know, its too wierd to be real.

In reality, south Indians believe that such things dont even exist on earth. Whatever happens on screen happens only on screen. Anything other than what happens around them is either virtual or impossible.

The idea of this write up is not to criticise south Indians. All that I wanna say is that they have such beautiful and out of box perceptions.They are undoubtedly humorous people.There is such a lot of cultural influence in the way they look at and do things, which I should say is truly amazing! I have not seen anybody respect one's tradition and values so much like the south Indians do. Am proud to be a southie! Or shall I put it this way.. May be there is much more to their complicated logic which my small brain is unable to decipher. Come on, we should look at all possibilities!!

First Date

The very first date with the guy you have chosen for life is something everybody looks forward to. Its a very special occassion isn't it? This is because u have just fallen in love and everything around you looks beautiful. You feel the romance even in the hot airs of Chennai.. Tht surely does violate some general concepts, but then when love sets in, everything turns conk. And everything goes berzerk. So the first date is something very special to each one of us. Something that all of us would like to keep remembering and cherish for the rest of our lives. Now, this writeup is dedicated to my best friend who just fell in love with a great guy. And the whole story line is based on what she narrated to me.



X1(Male) and Y1(Female) were on their first date. It was a beautiful saturday evening. A bike ride obviously adds more flavour to a romantic evening. So here was X1 who came to pick up Y1 near a shopping mall. So together they set out on a memorable ride. The first date is also the time when you wanna show the other person that you care and value the presence of the other in your life. So Y1 did have a small surprise present for X1. hmmm.. surprise gift, exciting isn't it? They were just half way through to their dream destination-- a small sea side coffee shop, that something totally unexpected happened. The bike's clutch wire broke! It was as if the lucky cards suddenly went bad.. A typical ass game:(.. The bike was quite a heavy one and X1 did have a terrible time trying to drag it along and look out for a mechanics place at the same time. It looked hopeless.There was a mechanic shop on the opposite side of the road. But of no use! Curse the traffic in the city! Crossing the road and to get to the other side, dragging the bike was next to impossible. So X1 and Y1 just walked along hoping to find a decent mechanic shop near by. After half an hour the weather changed and they found one. But they were too exhausted to even look happy. The mechanic said that it would take another hour to fix the problem.There was nothing much for X1 and Y1 to do until the bike was repaired. So they just went for a small walk on the adjacent road. How romantic can a date get? So Y1 gave her first gift to X1 on a dusty road near the mechanic shop. Though there was nothing romantic about the whole thing, it was a day that neither X1 nor Y1 would ever forget. A candle light dinner, a long bike ride with a loved one is something all of us long for. But at times certain tough moments can be precious too. The evening symbolised that they would be there for each other thru thick and thin. Isn't that simply wonderful?Looking back, it seemed like a funny day for X1 and Y1. After all, such things dont happen often!

Life in a Metro!

Life in a metro... An amazing movie based on the changing attitude of people in the country's ruined metropolis -- Mumbai, where the most important thing is to chase your dreams and make money while the moral and cultural values inculcated in you since childhood take a backseat. A city which has redefined values to make them insync with changing lifestyles and modern day aspirations and priorities. Well, if you are those types who can take in only conventional cinema, I would say that it is not your cup of tea! Obviously not meant for people who believe that nothing more happens in the world other than what what they see and percieve.
For others.. I would call it a must watch.. A beautiful movie which tells you that being emotional does not help and right and wrong are both customised decisions!

Funny Choices!

one of my colleagues is getting married soon... Its an arranged marriage. The wedding is somewhere next month. The funny part is that she has not seen the guy yet.Just one close look at the guy's snap and she said yes!cool rite... How simple can getting married be! My colleague shops at globus for three solid hours to get a good outfit for 500 bucks.She talks about the quality of the product, this n tht so tht she doesnt finally choose something that is not good enough for her..come on, you are spending 500 bucks and you cannot afford to get cheated!
But when it comes to marriage, she chose the guy of her life in just 10 minutes..Without even talking to the guy once..One of the biggest decisions in life, how cool can someone be!I should have been a fool. I couldn't help without asking as to what she knew about thatguy that she decided to accept gim for life!She said that he is from a good family..He has a good background.. I wonder what that implies!I have been trying to figure out this logic since morning:). She tried to convince me by saying that she spoke to guy on the phone as soon as they got engaged and he seemed to be a good guy.It seems that he spoke well. Isn't that obvious? Will anybody talk cruelly to the person he/she is gonna marry.. that too the first time.I seriously couldnt stop laughing!How funny can things get!!