This page has my posts from July 2002 to Dec 2003 in reverse chronological order. Thought I will clean up my homepage a bit - and make it more readable!!

Dec 29th - Returned this morning after my trek to Coorg. Had a great time. We had a plan - and NOTHING went according to plan. But then, thats the beauty of a trek; If something doesn't go according to schedule, it is okay - the world doesn't come to an end. The first night, we ended up at the top of Tadiyendamole - with just 3 liters of water between 22 of us. There was no water to cook/wash. So, we had cucumbers, tomatoes and fire baked potatoes. Actually.. there is a lot to write about the trek - so will defer the trekologue for later...

Dec 21st - Just returned from Tirupati. Thanked God for the stupendous year I have had. Tirupati has transformed rapidly over the last few years. Gone is the squalor one has come to associate religious places with. No smoking, no spitting on the roads. The place is clean and beautifully landscaped. I travelled by the Karnataka state roadtransport bus. This public service has also improved tremendously over the last few years. Travelling is now a wonderful experience with tiredness associated with travel being a thing of the past... Thats it for now.. Merry Christmas folks.. I am off for a trek to Coorg - from Wednesday night thru Monday morning.

Dec 14th - I AM HAPPY! DELIRIOUS ! Since this is site is open to public, it is not possible for me to put down the reasons for my happiness. If you happen to see me in person, I am sure you will find me with a nice smile. Don't count on me to detail to you the reasons. If I consider you in the family and close friends category - you already know. So, in case you don't know why I am happy, you are still a bit wiser ;-) .

Bangalore Habba is coming to a close this evening. I regret I have not been able to go to any of the cultural events. I was to go to a Harisprasad Chaurasia concert last evening - but couldn't make it due to some last moment glitch. BUT I WAS STILL HAPPY. Yesterday I banged my car into another car while reversing. Damage of a couple of thousand bucks which I had to pay. Thankfully it was a Maruti and not a Mercedes. BUT I WAS STILL HAPPY.

Now let us see how long this newfound joy will last. But, I am enjoying it while it lasts. Come on folks.. Smile!!

Need to draw up a list of priorities for the next few months. The CFA Level 1 examination in June 2004 will occupy a lot of my time in the June Quarter. Had a look at the study guide - it is not all Greek and Latin - so, I feel much better. Also, physically, I have taken a pounding over the last few months. Have lost over 3 kilograms and have not been exercising regularly. Need to start running regularly again (I did 13.5 mins on the treadmill yesterday - but that was for an ECG!). My BITSAA activities have also taken the backseat during the last couple of months. The new edition of Classnotes for the 1996 batch is long overdue - and as the editor, I need to get started on that. Also, for BITSAA Bangalore, the last event we had was a fundraiser back in July. So, something needs to be planned there also. Then there is the new RECI-P campaign of Janaagraha. If all Non Governmental Organisations were run with the passion and professionalism of Janaagraha, we would have a completely different world. But then, it takes all kinds to make a world. Each interaction with Janaagraha leaves me a much richer and inspired person.

Dec 7th - Bangalore City is wearing a festive look. Bangalore Habba is on this week. If executed properly, this can be Bangalore's answer to the Goa Carnival. Ethics in life - this topic has been troubling me recently - even figured during a discussion I had about the scandal that has hit the investment management industry in the US. Ethics I think reflects on a person - I have seen ethical digressions ranging from hypocrisy to cheating. One could say hypocrisy is not an ethical digression - but how different is it from Yudhisthira lying about the death of Ashwathamma in Mahabharata. While I recognize the fact that we aren't incarnates of Dharma, I think it sucks to PLAN to be Janus faced (no allusion to another of the funds impacted). I am the kind who believes in speaking my mind - though there have been times I have had to compromise in favour of being politically correct - but I know somewhere, a small part of me dies out each time I do that... ah!..

A friend of mine sent me this link - called The Interview With God - Very thought provoking. Have a look if you have the time..

Dec 4th - The last few days that have gone by have been very positive and exhilarating. I have a new spring in my step. Don't know whether it is just the Bangalore weather or is it something else!!
My plans for the future seem to be on track so far. I need to learn how to slow down my speed of articulation (man - I hate these words!! Obfuscate a simple thought!!). This entry stops here. Brevity is the soul of wit!!

Nov 22nd - It is almost a week since I returned from my trip to Himachal. The week has passed very quickly. Last night, I met up with the person who took care of me at Fontainebleau. A couple of my friends from the BITS-INSEAD-Bangalore group joined me and we had some good Thai food and chatted away. My former boss from INSEAD has sent me a box of handmade french chocolates. Each chocolate in the box is unique and there is a brochure which gives details of the origin of cocoa of the chocolate and the ingredients. The brochure is in French, mais je lis Francaise. C'est ne pas probleme

I had thought that my trip to North India for my friend Anil's wedding would be exciting. That is what I call an understatement. The trip was truly mindblowing. The love and affection showered by his family and relatives was boundless. We were made to feel like we were the only guests they had and were looked after dotingly. It was the first north Indian marriage I attended. If you haven't attended a North Indian marriage, you have missed something!

We (Subhash and I) left Bangalore for Agra on 7th night. Landed up in Agra, and went to the beautiful Taj Mahal. Many people have tried to describe the beauty of the Taj Mahal in words. I shall not commit that folly. You have to see it to experience the beauty of Taj Mahal. Pity the pollution there is eating this fabulous monument away :( .. The visit to Taj Mahal was quite eventful to say the least. I got caught twice by security guards during random security checks. The first security guard seemed to have decided that I wasn't a tourist but a terrorist in disguise.. (I shall put up select trip snaps here - you can decide). My driving license issued in Bangalore came in handy to support my claim that I was an Indian!

We then went to Delhi and took the night bus to Manali. The bus was 4 hours late because we had a flat tire en route We reached Manali at mid-day. I had booked the office holiday home for a couple of days. This is just off the Mall at Manali and faces a reserve forest. Johnson's Lodge is a beautiful wooden building, the likes of which I had never seen before. The fire place, the balcony, the lawns, the views of the mountains. Fantabulous!

Manali was choc-a-bloc with honeymooners. We were quite an odd twosome roaming the streets there. We did a trip to Naggar palace(a huge wooden palace) and to Rohtang pass (a very plateau on the route from Manali to Leh). Then we started off on the bus journey to Shimla

Boneshaking - the word must have been coined by somebody who did the Manali-Shimla journey on a Himachal Road Transport bus. We reached Shimla at 4:00 am, teeth chattering in the cold. We quickly got to the hotel (a special word of thanks to Deepak a wingie living in Delhi who walked up to the main road inspite of those temperatures).

After a quick nap, it was time to start off on our baraat experience. We went over to Anil's house for breakfast. He had 'left' his house the previous night after a ceremony and was now staying in his uncle's house. (This was part of the rituals of marriage). This was the first taste of the enthusiasm of people in that region. The band that was part of the baraat had just finished testing their instruments, and people started dancing to the music. Since I consider myself to be the proud owner of a pair of left feet, I didn't quite shake a leg that morning.

After breakfast, the baraat formally commences. Anil was astride a horse. With lot of music and dance, we walked 200 meters from his house to the main road. Traditionally, the groom is supposed to go to the bride's home on horseback. However, since the bride's home was more than 100 kms away, and Anil wasn't a very accomplished horserider, better sence prevailed and he was tranferred to a car. All of us (Subhash, Deepak, Himanshu - all friends from BITS, Dinesh (Anil's colleague) and I) got into different vehicles and started off on the journey to bring home the girl. Oh yeah - I forgot to mention, a couple of days before I left Bangalore, I found out that marriages in North India are a very formal affair, and everybody dresses up well. So, I had to find apparel suitable for the occasion. I got myself some Indian formal clothes for the marriage and decided to go with western partywear for the reception.

Now back to the baraat journey from Shimla to Nahan. We stopped at a couple of places on the route to just soak in the scenery. Also had a pit-stop to grab some chai, pakoda. We reached Nahan at around 5:00 pm. We went straight to the hotel where the baraat reception was organized. After feasting on different spicy and sweet items, it was time for the baraat to go to the location of the wedding. Again, there was lots of dancing and lots of music. Like the Taj Mahal, the exhiliration needs to be experienced and cannot be described.

The wedding was at a tank bed that had been converted into a playground. With the help of a lots of shamiana the playground had been converted into a marriage hall. The moment you stepped into the venue, you forgot that you were in a small, remote town in North India. The arrangements beat anything I had seen in Bangalore. (Till then, the best marriage arrangements I had seen was at an acquaintance's marriage at the Bangalore palace). The venue was lit with exotic chandeliers, decorated with different kinds of flowers. The food and refreshments just kept coming. Liveried servers served everything from tea/coffee to cold drinks to different kinds of fried food. For those people who couldn't watch the marriage ceremony from close, there was a huge screen on which the ceremony was shown live.

The high point of the evening was the dance floor. The floor had lights below the floor (more like the discotheques in Indian cities) great music system and strobe lights. The DJ played a good collection of Hindi, English and Punjabi numbers. 60% of the songs were Punjabi songs, stuff I had not heard before. But the enthusiasm levels were so high, by the end of the evening, I was comfortably grooving to Saddi Rail Gaddi Aayi

The dinner spread was very extensive. I don't remember much, coz I spent most of the time dancing and neglected the buffet. No regrets. ;-)

The next morning, we went off to Shree Renukaji. This is a huge lake, about 30 kms from Nahan. Mid way, we stopped at a small waterfall. After a nice climb across the rocks, we got very close to the waterfall. After a photo session there, we went to Renukaji. Renukaji is a holy lake where fishing is prohibhited. There is a Parashuram temple here. (Renuka is the mother of Parashurama in Indian mythology). The lake has huge fish and the devotees feed the fish. We fed the fish some rice flour. There is also a small zoo with lions, bears and leopards. By evening, we were back in Shimla.

The bride and bridegroom had been married in Nahan and there was a reception at Shimla. Like the previous day, the reception was again lots of dancing. This time, the age groups of people who danced was between 5 and 75 with the median age of around 35. (The previous day. Range was 5-40 with median around 23.) I learnt the Nati dance. Nati is the local dance form in Himachal. We had difficulty in moving our feet to the tune, while most of the local people were dancing in free form, but perfectly to the beat. I will learn how to dance. One day!

On our last day in Shimla, we went to Tattapani. This is a very scenic place on the banks of the Sutlej and is known for its hot springs. Its quite an experience. You can have one foot in the cold water of the Sutlej, while another foot can be in boiling hot sulphourous water. We had a long soak. Subhash and Himanshu collected some colored stones. We had lunch at Suni. Nikhil Ahluwalia, (Anil's classmate in school) was our local host and was the epitome of Indian hospitality. He was really caring and ensured that we had a great time visiting Naldehra on the way back. That evening, we walked on the Mall road, the ridge and did some shopping. After having dinner with Anil and Ira, we returned to Delhi. This was the wonderful end to a fantastic trip.

At Delhi, I met up with some friends I hadn't met for years. Thanks Minu for the fabulous continental lunch. Evening I spent at Himanshu's house at Noida. We watched the cricket match and I saw tons of photos of Himanshu and momentoes of Himanshu's dad who is in the army. Within 30 minutes, Himanshu's mom conjured up a variety of stuff to eat. Thanks to my appetite, I was able to sample everything.

We returned to Bangalore by the Rajdhani express. Ofcourse, that was after I spent some anxious moments in the railway station coz Subhash who had gone to his aunty's house returned a few minutes before the scheduled departure time of the train. (Usually, I am the cause of anxiety, this time I was at the other end ;-) )

In summary, Anil's marriage was a wonderful experience. Like Subhash rightly said, In North India, marriages are a celebration, while in South India, they are a ritual. Isn't India wonderful! This whole experience was possible coz my boss was kind enough to grant me leave - a special word of thanks to him!

Nov 5th - Happy Birthday to me! I am not 25 years old :). Thats quite sometime I have been around on this planet.. While I was about to wallow in self pity for having wasted so much time, I got hold of a beautiful book - "Confessions of a Street Addict" by James Cramer. I then realized that there was still lots I could do - and will do! Thanks to all those who sent in their greetings and to those who didn't. I know your wishes are with me - and I can empathize with you since I tend to forget birthdays - more often than not.
Preparations for my vacation are on in full swing. I shall leave on Friday (7th) night and return on 17th morning. Promises to be an exciting trip and I am looking forward to it

Oct 25th - Deepawali - The festival of lights is here. However, I lack the fire to celebrate in a boisterous way.. (wow... that was some sentence - conveyed a ton of meaning - while keeping it crisp!). Yesterday went to a few friends' homes, with another friend to invite pple for his marriage... the same marriage thats going to happen at Shimla..
Last Sunday saw me at Janaagraha again... I remember starting off at Janaagraha - more on an exploratory note - and now I feel I am actually able to help in a small way, while developing myself as a person.. The location last weekend was Mount Carmel College (my sister's college). I remember the last time I had been in the college was during the summer of 1996. The AIIMS entrance exam was held there. By then I no longer wanted to be a doctor, and we had some guests coming home. I finished(?) the 3 hour exam in 45 minutes and was out of the exam hall. Just for kicks, I told all those surprised parents waiting outside that the exam was a sitter (my parents never waited outside exam halls - they know me too well to do such things)
I have been reading this book - 'The Art of Innovation', by Tom Kelley. This book has been an eye opener. I have been a vocal proponent of function over form; This book has forced me to rethink this belief of mine.
This morning(27th), I visited 'Atmosphere', a new upholestry and draperies outlet on Vittal Mallya Road, in Bangalore. This is the first of its kind in India, and soon there will be outlets all over the country. I had a small vested interest in visiting this place - but I shall not delve into it. The outlet looks more like 'Body Shop' than 'Kapur and Sons, Furnishings'. I expect this to catch on like a craze across the country - what with the rise in disposable incomes across the country. 'India Shining' as the GoI insists!

Oct 16th - Phew! Thats all I can say. 2 more weeks to go!
Am planning to take a small vacation during the second week of November. A friend's wedding is to take place in Shimla, and I have never been north of Delhi.. actually, I have been, Joshimath may just be north of Delhi. Prague and Paris are surely further north!
Last few weeks have seen me liberally burn the midnight oil.. today is just another of those days.. Yeah.. last Sunday was spent at Janaagraha.. Second workshop where we found solutions to issues we had identified earlier.. This workshop had a smaller crowd - but the people present were more committed and passionate..the standard quality, quantity tradeoff!

Sept 28th - The last 2 weekends have been one rollercoaster. One weekend I was at Janaagraha - leading a meeting of 50 participants, steering them towards identifying the problems and issues in their area. This was the first time I was running such a big meeting - among absolute strangers (and I was the youngest person in the group by a wide margin). We had a wonderful group getting together to deliver the first workshop. I was the volunteer coordinator for the ward. Five hours of shouting left me a bit hoarse. However, the experience was strangely fulfilling. Reminded me of the joy I got at Seva Mandir. Understanding issues people have - and helping them find solutions. Ofcourse, here we had people complaining about stray dogs barking at night - while at Udaipur, issues were more basic - like sustenance after 3 years of consecutive drought.. End of the day, it is all India! Or is it Bharat & India ? :)

Last weekend I was down with a terrible flu. I was the volunteer coordinator for another ward, but had to back out at the 11th hour - coz I was confined to bed. Fever + Cold makes you feel awful. And to compound matters, I travelled to Mumbai on Tuesday. Never ever fly with a cold/blocked nose. The experience was near traumatic. Thankfully, it was just a day trip - so I was back at home that night and spent the rest of the week under the watchful eyes of my grandmom.

Sept 10th - 10 days since my last update.. and my essays haven't moved one bit...waaaaaaah... Now, I need divine intervention + oodles of committment and determination to meet my deadlines.. that we will discuss another day!!

The last weekend was an extended weekend (Monday was off due to Onam - the harvest festival in Kerala). Sunday morning saw me at a Janaagraha workshop. Janaagraha is a participate governance movement in Bangalore - started by a guy called Ramesh Ramanathan.. (a BITSian ofcourse ;-). It may be a good idea to interview him for the next issue of Sandpaper).. We are targetting ten wards in Bangalore (equivalent of the boroughs of New York) - and aim to generate a Ward Vision document by the end of 2003 for these wards. This document will outline the issues in the wards, the solutions for them, the costs and the priorities... Simple! I am a faciliator for a ward close by.. and work starts on Sunday - 14th September.. Promises to be exciting...

Thanks to this homepage, I got in touch with a BITSian who graduated during the mid-80's.. now, is that BITSConnect or what ? maybe, we should have an alum website BITSianConnect.. we could use the software I put in place for INSEAD 3 years ago..

August 31st - Boy.. that was a long break from updating my homepage... :).. Without delving into the reasons for my laziness, let me just put in the details...
Today is Ganesh Chaturthi... the biggest festival of the year for us... for those of you who don't know the Indian ethos.. Ganesha is the God with the elephant face... India probably has more Gods than the rest of the world put together.. anyway, religion is not one of my strengths.. I am still perplexed with my identity... am supposed to be a 'Smartha' - which means a follower of Shankaracharya... (as against 'Madhvas' - who follow Madhvacharya)... some of my friends are very knowledgeable about religion.. I propose to acquire this gyan sometime... someday...
The last 3 weeks have been as exciting as ever... Attended a workshop in Chennai that saw ideation on how to differentiate between channels... well, we aren't talking of Zee TV and Star Plus here.. ;-)... A very interesting experience... I am beginning to like the stuff people in Sales do.. (I was there representing IT)... My firm is famous for its strength in Sales & Marketing - and I really enjoy interacting with these folks...
A few days ago, I went to a village near Bangalore.. this was a visit to understand people who stay in villages and look at how we can make products to address their needs... The visit was a blast.. went to the fields.. had some corn.. (straight off the plant).. the high point of the trip was the visit we made to the village school... since we had not disclosed our identity and had a entourage with us - the teachers + principal thought we were somebody from the government/aid agencies and gave us a warm welcome. They took us through the workings of the Akshara Dasoha scheme. This is a hot mid-day meal scheme launched by the Government to increase attendance in school and reduce the drop out rates..
Visiting the villages gives me a real kick.. I wish one could live the same life more than once.. and try out different things... (a bit like the movie Run Lola Run).. I would have a. Studied Law at the National Law School instead of going to Pilani b. Studied Medicine instead of Engineering c. Chosen to work in a technology company after my engineering d. Chosen to work for a non governmental organisation and work towards protecting the western ghats
But I realize, the reason I am what I am today is because of the decisions (calls ? ;-) ) I made along the way... think of it, if I had decided to take Commerce in my pre-university, I would probably be a bean counter somewhere... I would have a completely different group of friends, a different set of priorities... ah. one thing won't change - my family and the support they give me...
Family reminds me... 'What matters to you most, and why?' - that I need to finish by end of week.. phew.... miles to go...

August 10th - The past week saw me get back to work.. Have been taking the car to work.. But since I don't know driving yet... I have a driver...(Not a device driver or a golf driver!! One who drives a car) Being in India has these fringe benefits I guess.. Can't see myself being able to employ a driver if I was somewhere in the western hemisphere....
Met up with a couple of friends last evening.. one of them is doing his masters in the US and has come down for a vacation... was good catching up ...
My doc said the jaw was healing quite well.... Removed most of the stitches.. The remaining will dissolve I think... I have been checking out the internet for details of the kind of surgery I had. My surgeon is at the cutting edge of orthognathic surgery.. I wouldn't be surprised if he among the top guys worldwide for this.. The kind of cases he has handled makes my condition look like child's play.. And yeah, he is one cool dude.. I always thought surgeons are people who leave you in awe, but he is eminently likeable..

August 3rd - I must make it a habit to update my homepage more frequently. The frequency has dropped to almost once a month :(...
To ensure that I don't miss out on anything, I will put the update atleast weekwise. In reverse chronological order -
The last week was spent at home recovering from the orthognathic surgery I had the previous week.. My surgeon tells me I had a pretty speedy recovery.. Time was spent watching TV and sleeping..
Week beginning 20th July - Hectic week.. had to wind up lots of work.. got admitted to the hospital for the surgery.. and had the surgery also.. Friends came visiting.. I was all swollen up and unable to speak..
Week beginning 13th July - Pretty interesting week. Went to Chennai for a sales strategy meeting. Met up with my american friend and her boyfriend for breakfast.. was interesting catching up after almost 3 years (we first met when I had been to Udaipur for my stint at Seva Mandir).. the sales meeting was at the Park Hotel in Chennai... this is a boutique hotel.. very impressive.. I think it is among the best hotels I have been to in India..
Got my Treo.. now I have a PDA!... it is a nifty little device... I hope life gets organized now :)

12th of July - A long overdue update is finally here. Last Sunday we had BITSConneXion03. What an event! Foot tapping music, lots of people I knew - felt really nice to see all the effort culminate in a grand finale. We raised a sum of Rs.3.5 million for the BITSConnect project. The Director was there on this occasion and told us that there is already a BITS-Pilani, Dubai and by end of next year we will have a BITS-Pilani, Goa... I wonder whether the current campus will be called BITS-Pilani, Pilani :) Since I work in a company that defines marketing in India, I think it is extremely sensible to stick to a unified BITS-Pilani brand for all campuses. Now, somebody needs to define a brand key for this, put together a slick PR campaign and the sky will be the limit! Amen to that.

It has been a shade over three years since I started work at Levers and it seems like yesterday! It has been a truly memorable experience. If I were to turn back time and do things again, I am sure I would choose this start to my career.
Three years ago, one of the criterion I had while deciding on my job was it should enable me to stay at home. Considering I was away from home for almost 4 years, it was a reasonable requirement. I have been able to do that - and have had a great time.
On Wednesday, the 9th of July, I took delivery of my car - a stone blue colored Indica. I am taking driving classes. I estimate it will be a month before I am on the road with a license and am comfortable driving the car. For those of you who dunno whether the Indica is a small car or a stretch limousine :) - click on this link to know more The Tata Indica

While I was researching investing styles I found this wonderful site Street Stories. I believe the key to managing money well is to be aware of your investing style and work on the shortcomings. Eg. In the recent bull run in the Indian markets I sold a triple bagger when it had appreciated just 50%. And I found that I had done this consistently in other stocks too. While individually it might sound like a one-off case, seen in totality these "mistakes" have the potential to significantly alter ROI.
While on the subject of investments and returns, a distinguished person once made this comment - "Return on investment is important - But return OF investment is more important". Priceless!!

27th of June - The three weeks have seen me put in quite a few late nights at work.. And the next few weeks promise to have more in store! There hasn't been too much of travel after the couple of trips to Chennai.. Lots of work happening on the BITSConneXion event... Looks like we are gonna have one of the biggest alumni shows of all time... ONE THOUSAND alumni congregating for an evening - more than 2000 kms away from their alma mater

Last week, an absolutely amazing person from France had come down to Bangalore.. (I don't use names - coz I am afraid of the European Commission's laws on personal information/privacy)... a few of us - the BITS-INSEAD-Bangalore group had been to the airport to receive her.. as a surprise.. then we had a nice evening reminiscing about events like the car we had crashed in Fontainebleau.. (it had become a landmark of sorts - till the police towed it away!)... those were the times..!! driving down to Bois Le Rois.. picnics at Samois Sur Seine.. ooh la la!
I placed an order for a Treo90 organizer. It should be with me by the middle of July.. while I was on this shopping spree, I also decided to buy a car.. It is going to be an Indica(as Indian as it can get!) - Diesel... Now I need to learn driving.. talk of putting the cart before the horse :)...
Otherwise, life just goes on... quite a few people have mailed me after seeing this webpage of mine.. Given that I just love meeting and interacting with people.. - I feel thrilled that this is one more avenue for me to connect..

8th of June - Am tapping this out sitting in Chennai.. The past week has been really hectic and fulfilling. The high point being the BITS Awareness Event a set of us conducted in Bangalore - with the twin objectives of increasing awareness about BITS, and increasing the number of people going to BITS from Bangalore. Okri was my partner as we began this initiative - and as we went along we were able to expand the group to more than 15 people - all passionate about our alma mater. When we started off, we expected that around 30-50 pple would attend this talk. Our wildest expectations were beaten and we had over 250 people at the venue. On our part, I must admit a lot of effort went into organising the event(considering that all of us had full time jobs to do!) - ofcourse, the fact that folks at my workplace were very supportive helped a lot. A special thank you to Chaitanya, the RJ on Radiocity who put up this event on the Wassup Bangalore section. He was singularly responsible for the massive turnout. A thank you is also in order to TOI, The Hindu and Deccan Herald who did not carry this in their engagements column - inspite of them being informed sufficiently in advance. I say this sincerely, since we had booked a hall for 150 pple - and 250 landed up. Had the newspapers mentioned carried the event info - we would have been in trouble!! :) In summary, the whole thing was an excellent learning experience in event management.

Started my french classes again yesterday. Am now in the 2A level. Had to miss class this morning becoz I had to come to Chennai at short notice. We have a new teacher for this course.

Good Morning, its the 31st of May - says the ever cheerful Sunaina Lal on RadioCity - and it is a sunny Saturday morning.. another weekend is here! Promises to be a busy weekend... what with all the prep for next week's event to be done... the radio publicity part of it is stitched up - thanks to Chaitanya - the friendly RJ! The copy for the news item in TOI/DH/Vijay Times should be given by end of day tomorrow. That leaves us with the task of putting up posters in the various schools and colleges. The aim is to triple the number of students going to Pilani from Bangalore - and my gut feeling is we are going to beat that easily...

On the work front, things are going on fine... however, the spark and excitement is missing.. There have been a few instances where my style has been in contrast with others - And I don't have this strong urge to prove that what I am doing is right - so I let things pass. I hope the excitement comes back... Given that you end up spending a great part of your waking hours at work - I firmly believe one must have fun at work - and if you aren't having fun - you need to think about it. You only live once - so compromises aren't worth it... If you have any views on this - do mail me - krishna_hegde at hotmail dot com - while I may not agree with you - it is interesting to know what people think - I find people infinitely interesting...

Oh yeah... last weekend I watched Paris Pranaya - a kannada movie - with some friends and juniors from BITS... I loved the movie - the pictures of Paris brought memories flooding back - Arc De Triomphe, Champs Elysees!

May 24th 2003 - The past 2 weeks have been kind of fun.. Watched a Kannada movie - Lankesh Patrike starring Vasundhara Das... it was okay... but then at 35 bucks for a black ticket for the best seats in the house... it was paisa wasool!! Recently I travelled on the same flight as she did - and she was sitting a couple of seats away from me.. I must say she looks much thinner under the arclights ;-)... (Am I being a nasty boy here!)
The idiot box had When Harry Met Sally.. Had read that it is among the best romantic movies of all times... if you haven't seen it yet.. I think you must..
Action has been hotting up on the BITSAA Bangalore front.. We are doing a fundraiser for the BITSConnect Project... and I am part of the sponsorships team... BITSConneXion03 is happening on July 6th at Bangalore - and we have the Music Club from Pilani coming down to regale the audience for 4 hours... Each meeting of BITSAA Bangalore I attend, I come out prouder about being a BITSian.. it all goes back to the day in 1996 when I made a choice.. a choice to go to BITS instead of attending Bangalore Medical College or attending National Law School...

Have been reading a lot about Options - the CBOE website has a great tutorial on Options.. A word of caution - if you cannot stomach the risk - don't use options... Options trading in India has taken off nicely... But am not sure how many small investors use options.. I hope to be trading options more frequently over the next few months...

May 11th 2003 - Last couple of weeks have been rather tame... Have started going for a morning walk regularly.. with a couple of friends from school... so, I don't need to bother about making time for the gym every evening... got my cycle repaired... so I bike down 3 kms to my friends house.. then walk for 40 mins.. and come back.... decent workout I must say....
I just realized I am rather fortunate to be able to work in the same city where I have spent most of my life... so, I stay at home with parents, hang around with friends I have known for aeons...
This evening I got together with a junior of mine from Pilani - in order to do something to increase awareness about BITS(the place where I studied my engineering) within Bangalore... since the 12th standard results are round the corner, we need to get this campaign done real quick! In half an hour time, we were able to thrash out broad outlines for what we need to do, and divide work.. lets see how well we are able to execute..

26th April 2003 - Been a really hectic week... Got my french exam results.. Passed with an assez bien... got 70/100.... now if only I can ensure that I don't forget my french.. before I do the next course...:)... On the travel front, had been to Mumbai for a day..
I was part of a meeting at the Oberoi Towers rooftop... the place has an amazing view of the Mumbai skyline(that could do with a coat of paint!!) on one side.... and the Arabian sea on the other... ended up taking the red eye flight back.. :(... and to compound matters, the day was really busy... spent around 6 hours in the airport, between the lounge and the waiting hall, and did lots of emailing... Started work as part of the BITSConnect project - but haven't been able to devote the time and energy I would like to.. Anyway, something is better than nothing I guess...
A couple of my wingies are getting married.. one of them in July and the other in November.. am unsure whether I can attend the marriage in July (given that I had been to Shillong just a month ago in March)... but I am set on attending the marriage in Himachal in November... Will hopefully be able to take a week off...

18th April 2003 - Finished my French exam.. So one of the targets of the year is completed!!.. Feels good.. Now I need to commence preparations for what I see as the biggest challenge of my lifetime.. I am probably exaggerating - but as Sumantra Ghoshal says - it helps to bring hard emotions to the fore - they will galvanize you and ensure a better performance.. The next 1 year is going to be very hard - but then, I have been preparing for the last 3 years for this and I think I am mentally, emotionally and physically prepared... So, here we go.. I, me and myself on one wild ride.....

13th April 2003 - Been quite a while since I updated my homepage.. The last few weeks have been really fast paced.. The day after I returned from vacation, I left for this department conference at Fisherman's Cove - Chennai.. a well appointed beach resort.. we had some work... and some fun.. the high point being Euphoria had come down to entertain us.. so here we were 10 guys dancing on the beach.. and Euphoria playing all their hits(Raja Rani, Gully, Dhoom!) as well as some timeless classics.... It was really one wild private soiree on the beach..

After the Chennai partying, it was back to work... and the grind took over... there have been some changes in the work place - and change is what I love... after all, wouldn't it be boring to return to work everyday - knowing that you have to do the same work with the same pple... My fantasy life would see me as an engineer for 5 years, a doctor for 5 years, a lawyer for 5 years and an investment banker for 5 years... all the while being an adventurer... but I guess given the constraints of reality - I am happy with the amount of change of work I am having...

This(13 April) morning I finished part of my French exam.. odds are that I will make the marks required to move on to the next level - my exam indicated that I was parfait in imparfait and could handle pass� compos� without losing my composure... Then the class went out for dinner to Pizza Hut... all in all, a Sunday well begun!

March 23rd - Just returned from a wonderful 2 week vacation in North East India.. Darjeeling, Gangtok, Pelling, Shillong, Guwahati.. Am off to Chennai tomorrow..a detailed travelogue on the trip will be here soon...

March is here... today is the 2nd of March.. Over the last couple of weeks I read 'Execution' by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. Wonderful book - and can easily be put into action... One important take away from the book was that execution is as important (if not more important) as strategy.. and an important element to execute is to follow through.. so putting my money where my mouth is, let me evaluate where I am vis-a-vis the annual target I had set for myself in the beginning of the year...

To finish 2A course in French - with atleast a Bien - Have started French class. 2A exam is in April. The way things are going, I will probably pass - not with a Bien. So, I need to start studying regularly
To do a 10 km run in 90 mins - Did a 4 km run in 27 minutes yesterday. I think I am on track for this goal. Next milestone will be to do a 6 kilometre in 45 minutes by end of April
To swim 2 kms in 1 hour - without any breaks(I can do 1 km in 1 hour now.. with a few minutes break between laps) - Haven't started on this one. Summer is here. So, I will start on this once I return from my vacation. Plan is to go for the 6:00 am - 7:00 am batch every morning. The short term target is to be able to be do 1 km in 45 mins by end of April.
To put on 5 kilograms of weight and close the year at 70 kgs - I am lagging here. Have not been focussing on weight gain - and the fact that I am wearing braces isn't helping. Am not able to eat certain kinds of food - But that is no excuse. Anyway, let me set a target of going on to 66 kgs by end of April
I will review these during the first week of May. You can inspire me by sending me e-mail/any tips to help me achieve these milestones.
Also, during the past week I finished work on the 1996 classnotes.. 111 people from the 1996 batch of BITS wrote in with their coordinates... Pretty good I must say!!

Feb 23rd - Had a french test this morning.. Was a reality check of sorts... Need to start studying French regularly... if I have to pass the test in April...

Feb 13th - One of those rare mid week updates... week has been going fine.. some changes on the work front... been able to do some reading... and have been able to visit the gym almost daily... infact, today I ran 2 kms in under 12.5 mins.. the target is 10 mins.... and there is still some way to go for that.... should be able to get that time by mid March...
Last weekend I had been to Tirupati... it was a wonderful visit.. Nikhil SMS'ed to say that he was going to Tirupati avec his parents par voiture ... I went along too.. since there was space... had a great darshan of the deity... got to go right upto the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum ... and given that I am not of the very religious kind, the whole visit was very informative coz Nikhil's father has deep knowledge of religion... and poor me.. had difficulty even remembering my nakshatra and gothra... all in all a memorable trip... something I hadn't even planned... Maktub I guess...!!
25th Jan - an end to a rather exciting week... exciting not becoz of the specific events - rather due to the sheer range of the happenings over the week... like the cricket match organized by the Tech Park where I work.. we lost rather badly - I made 1 whole run... (possibly coz one cannot make half a run!!).... Made plans for the upcoming vacation... North East it will be... need to thrash out the specifics - and make travel bookings...promises to be every bit as memorable as the trip to Auli in 2002....
The week also saw a lot of time spent in varied kinds of discussions in office..... the fascinating thing about my work is the variety... while one discussion is about the merits of keeping information as an attribute rather than make it a dimension, the second is a brainstorm on how El Nino will affect IT strategy in India... (am kidding on the second one.. but it is almost as different from the first one!!)
at work, the pace of activity seems to be picking up... which is good... of late, I was rather laid back and running on auto-pilot... so, time to start driving hard again....
Just realized that the website is too much of a mess..... Need to redesign it... Think I will separate the "About me" section from the "What I am doing"... ofcourse, I can go about mapping all the components of the page into a 1X1 matrix ;-) to identify the specific clusters - and then structure my website accordingly... OR do a requirements analysis to see what pple are looking for, a competency analysis to see what I have to offer, then a fit-gap to see which part of the offering needs to be revamped... nah.. too complicated... Let pple find what they are looking for... in the way that best suits them!!
2003 is finally upon us.. Happy New Year to everybody!!
Had a nice day today... Watched Saathiya.. and a play put up by a few juniors from Pilani.... Made my new year resolutions.... and have started putting them into action already!! That is a wonderful start to the year - isn't it!
My new year resolutions... some of which I can share with the world at large are below
To finish 2A course in French - with atleast a Bien
To do a 10 km run in 90 mins
To swim 2 kms in 1 hour - without any breaks(I can do 1 km in 1 hour now.. with a few minutes break between laps)
To put on 5 kilograms of weight and close the year at 70 kgs

I noticed that my webpage is getting quite a few hits.. from pple looking for French classes in Bangalore to folks who want to go trekking in the western ghats right upto those who are looking for me!!.... I am ofcourse curious to know if this site is of help to you... and suggestions on how I can improve it.. the message board on the right is a nice and anonymous way of putting down your thoughts, feedback and anything else..! Ofcourse, any unsuitable content may be deleted... :)

The 1st of December.. Winter is here.. Bangalore is now nice and cold... lovely weather.. Ah, the joy of eating a hot dinner in this weather... especially if it is plain dal with steaming rice and some pickle... (ofcourse, the fact that it is prepared by mom adds to the taste).. During the last month I turned 24... this was accompanied by lots of thought... on whether life is going in the right direction... do I need to take a 'mid-course' correction... we are talking about something more important that disinvestment here!! so wipe that smile off your face ;-).... after lots of debate..(with myself) I concluded that I like the way things are going... c'est la vie ...

The 'thrill of business' - can manifest itself in different ways.... the various challenges that come as you sell your work... the different hats you don to ensure that benefits are achieved... the dynamism of managing software projects in a sector with a white hot job market.... handling transition... ensuring delivery... in case you didn't already know- business intelligence/datawarehousing is among the hottest things in IT today...

Oh yeah... last week I went bungee jumping... 1 jump from 125 feet... it was fabulous.. the panoply of emotions you go through in that 20 seconds cannot be explained... But lemme try!...Initially I was curious to know what it is like to take a jump.. then I saw that there was nothing below me for 125 feet... I wondered for a moment why I was doing this... Was it mandatory that I jump... and once I took the plunge.. it was plain fear... I didn't know whether the free fall would be broken... Was there a rope at all? How can I be sure that the rope wouldn't snap? Once the fall stops and I was on the rebound.. it was pure exhilaration... I assumed that this was going to be like a yo-yo... I couldn't be more wrong... as I returned to the top.. I was thrown around in a different direction.. I was going so fast that that I couldn't make out whether I was moving up or down... and when it finally ends, I was happy that it had ended.. and sad that it ended so fast... well, you won't know what I mean.. till you have been through this..

The 1st of November... a rainy day... Today was a holiday... so is tomorrow.. and the day after.. Deepawali - the festival of lights is here... Nothing significant is happening in life... seem to be caught in a ROUTINE... !! Get up in the morning, go to office... work, play squash and return home... boo hoo.. I NEED CHANGE!

Today is the 17th of August. A nice sunny afternoon in the lovely city of Bangalore... This morning I was on radio (Radiocity!) for a minute.. talking about the wackiest answering machine message... Cheap thrills :)... Have not been attending my French classes regularly.. I fear that I will not clear the 2A level. Have decided not to continue with French... would rather while away my time at home... or start running every morning.... My web page seems to be becoming more like a weblog.. A few weeks ago I saw this Kannada movie 'Appu'.. featuring Puneet Rajkumar... the first Kannada movie I had seem in over a decade... (boy...do I sound old... don't you worry.. I am just 23!)

On this really memorable(?) trip to Mumbai a couple of weeks ago, I saw Humraaz.. Many thanks to Ashwin for playing a wonderful host.. and offering to take me to the movie.. when I was stuck in a traffic jam on Tulsi pipe road and had just missed my flight.. Landed up at home @ 5:45 am... and dad SMSed me advising me to have a 'Yogic' power nap..

I am currently looking for ideas for my next vacation... Am planning to take a week or two off in November... if you have any ideas, do mail in...

It has been over 4 months since I updated this page... Today is the 11th of July 2002... Thought I will do a flash update...
Life has been pretty fastpaced... I have been taking french classes at the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore for the last couple of months... finished the 1A level with a 'Bien'.. and am now on to my 2A level... classes are fun... 1.5 hours a day... 6 jours a semaine... (Regarde.. je suis already half Francaise..!)

Work continues to be fun... Had been to Angasana (a spa resort 40 kms from Bangalore) for a 360 degree feedback programme last weekend... the place is amazing... loved the squash court there... had been to Tirupathi with Nikhil a few weeks ago.. this was a package tour through KSTDC... Volvo buses... a darshan in 45 minutes.... and you are back in town without any of the tiredness that accompanies a long haul bus journey.. came back with the feeling that they had oversimplified things...

On the travel front, it has just been Bangalore-Bombay... 9W478/9W477...
I have been receiving quite a few mails from pple who have seen this web page.... have been able to get in touch with a friend with whom I lost contact ages ago... So, all your folks out there... have a nice time... Au Revoir...

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