Superimposed pic: Nitu & Abhishek voted in Election 2009.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Women's Singles Quarter Final Match of Yonex India Open 2009
One mail started it all … last year it was mine, this year it was some other badminton enthusiast inside Microsoft. So the mail said that Yonex India Open is happening in Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad, which is almost next door to Microsoft's office and few mins drive from my home. Actually last year I had sent a similar mail asking for enthusiasts to join and cheer the national players but last year India Open didn't happen in Hyderabad because of bomb blasts in Hyderabad. :( … So this year I was doubly excited to go.
The Match
As of this morning, the lone Indian survivor in singles event was predictably Saina Nehwal. She was to meet Julia Wong of Malaysia in Women's singles QF around 3:20. Nitu, Adi and I reached the stadium around 3:15. Apoorv, Pratyush, Simran were already there. The stage was set for a good afternoon :)
Build Up
A decent crowd had actually collected for cheering their national hero(ine). (These days I don't know what's the politically correct word to use for a female player after watching the actress vs female actor debate in those filmfare awards!) The event managers kind of anticipated a big turnout and they charged a 100Rs per person entry fee for the day long event as well when they supposedly didn't charge anything before today. I didn't mind it at all. In fact I strongly believe that such sporting events should be marketed more effectively in India to get more people out to such events and organizers should actually charge money for it thereby contributing back to coffers of the sport associations which in turn would (hopefully) get used into promotion of the game (the whole cycle of better facilities, better pay, better careers, better recognition, better crowds, better money, better facilities and so on)
First Game
The match started around 3:30. Saina was greeted with a loud applause which remained the feature through out the game. The first game didn't start well as the opponent had an early lead of 6-1 but Saina fought back well and eventually won the first game 21-12. Overall Saina was making a lot of judgment errors in leaving shuttles that would more often than not fall within than outside the court. Saina had a pretty aggressive game and this coupled with lot of errors that Julia made, paved way for a comfortable win. That is when I had hopes of an easy victory and an early finish. I had already imagined capturing the video of the final match point that I would eventually post in this blog but I guess fate had something else in mind. The fact that my camera's battery died after first game was a diving wink that I failed to read (at that time). Anyways, back to the game …
Second Game
The Malaysian player changed her strategy visibly. She stopped going for smashes and instead kept on rallying; feeding and forcing Saina to attempt smashes. This strategy worked for her since Saina kept on making mistakes and the second game went 13-21 in Julia's favor.
Final Game
This was definitely the best game of the three. Both players fought hard, were engaged in some really good rallies and were also visibly tired. Then suddenly at 14-14 Julia started hitting winners and raced to a 19-14 lead. The match seemed to be over but Saina fought back, bringing to fore her aggressive shots. Score was at 19-18 and after a decent rally Saina made a backhand cross-court winner that landed just out of side gallery. It was one of those moments when time really slows down and you could really see in slow motion that the shuttle is going towards the line and your heart starts sinking that it might just drop out and it eventually does! That was such a heart break and possibly the turning point. Julia won 21-19 winning the match in the process. She did acknowledge the crowd even though very few, if any, were supporting her (which is I thought was great of her!)
Post Match Expert Analysis
Look I am not even a gully level Badminton player but since every idiot has a right to express his/her opinion on their blog, I am compelled to write mine :)
1. Saina played best when she was aggressive.
2. Her half smashes, smashes on to opponent's body and drop returns of the service were really great!
3. Saina's lack of accuracy was her weakness. At least it was today. She could convert only half of her shots. And with each unforced error her confidence in her shots decreased.
4. Saina didn't change her game even when it was clear that her opponent had.
5. Her full smashes didn't have the killer sting. They were powerful yes but more often than not Julia was able to pick them up!
The End Of A Beginning
Both Nitu and I were feeling sad for Saina losing the game in front of the home crowd. These are early days for Saina's career and I do believe that the future of women's badminton in India is in good hands. I really hope that one day I'll be there to cheer for Saina in a finals event and actually capturing that winning moment and posting it here!
Monday, May 14, 2007
Winds of change
And so the winds of change are blowing … again … It is the peak summer season in most of India. And yet people seem oblivious to this scorching heat and are busy changing the landscape. History is being written and re-written.
Changes in Hindi heartland
The biggest and the foremost change, closest to my heart and eagerly followed by many countrymen is the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh. It won't be an exaggeration to say that most parties had big things at stake and they left no stone unturned during their pre-poll campaign.
Samajwadi Party: The ruling party, Samajwadi Party, was of course fighting the anti-incumbency as it was fighting their much maligned "Goonda Raj" allegation by one and sundry in the state. Their solution (surprisingly!) was Star Power! … From Chandra Babu Naidu to Amitabh Bachchan … SP roped in all … and worst of all was the now infamous ad featuring Big B, that ran on TV for months … it touched nerves but not in the way that SP wanted … Amitabh Bachchan proclaimed "UP main dumm hai kyonki jurm yahan kumm hai" … If you have seen this ad and you know anything about UP you would either laugh or get outraged or both :) … apparently most folks in UP got outraged! The clippings that TV channels aired showing reactions from people living in remotest of villages must have been very humbling for Mr Bachchan and SP …
Even if you did not know anything about UP, you are bound to wonder why all those Goondagardi movies are set in UP/Bihar ... one wonders but apparently Mr Bachchan does not ... if only he had a role in Omkara or Shool or something similar this tragedy could have been averted!
BTW, I just don't grok the logic behind this ad … People are shouting everywhere that crime has risen in the state and then the party comes back trying to convince people that it is not as bad as it could be (they cite a report that says that crime rate is lower than other states!) … Now what can you say about that logic … well people have spoken and the result and the government is out!
Congress: Another case of banking on "Star Power" … This was the first election when Rahul Gandhi took the ownership of Congress in the state and campaigned extensively … he got the crowds but not votes … which is unexpected (since traditionally people have voted for the family) but actually makes sense (He has nothing to show except his family's name) … He tried various time tested techniques … Dug up Ram-Mandir/Babri Masjid (when BJP was not doing it!), talked about creation of Bangladesh and what not … nothing worked (fortunately!) and the result was that Congress lost even more seats than last election when apparently they had no one to campaign for …
BJP: This party has just amazed me with the depths its leadership has fallen into in such quick time … This was the party that touted its morals, issue based politics, educated and eloquent leaders and what not … and yet it has stooped so low that other parties now look better than BJP … this is somewhat like the state of our cricket team … from runner up in last WC to first round exit … the parallels don't end there … their bane is in-fighting and power struggle and what I thought were great leaders (Atal/Saurav) missed the most important duty of a leader (in my opinion) i.e. prepare the next rung of leadership …
Anyways, while they abandoned their time tested Ram-Mandir promise, they reached the nadir by distributing some really virulent, communal and detestable CDs/VCDs against Muslims … when they were "caught" the leadership dilly-dallied for a long time on whether they distributed it or not … well the electorate had made up their minds. No to such communal politics!
That leaves BMW! Behen MayaWati and her party BSP … and what a show she put up! No stars (but herself) for campaigning … just a clever formula SDM (Savarn + Dalit + Muslims) and single point focus on rising crime under SP's rule … She changed her focus from Bahujan Samaj to Sarvjan Samaj … As News Channels showed in their interviews, most people do not have animosity towards either group … they want development and they want to live in peace … And hence BSP got a simple majority … This happened after 14yrs in the state … those who understand the fractured electorate of UP can understand what a BIG change this is ….
As one editorial put it, Mayawati has uninterrupted power and unique opportunity to make a difference in next 5 yrs … People want good governance all around and nothing else … She can follow Lalu's path and put the right people in right place and support them … Hopefully things will follow!
Who would have thought (except people of Bihar who always believed in him) 5-7 yrs earlier that Lalu's Railways would be the most remarkable turn around in PSU governance and that it would be a case study for management trainees around the globe … who would have thought 5-7 yrs ago that BSP would earn a simple majority in UP by combing SDM … the winds of change are surely blowing … I wish and hope that the coming 5 yrs would herald a new era in UP … otherwise it will be such a colossal waste of opportunity and real Shakespearian tragedy!
Oh and yes, on national front, there is a presidential change on the anvil … the very parties that got us our first apolitical president are now leaving no stone unturned that this "mistake" does not happen again … of course they did not have any good intentions behind supporting Kalam the first time … that was a populist move that backfired on them … so they want a change … a person that has "political" background … what a shame!
Amongst other changes, the Indian Hockey and Cricket team (less so) are back to winning ways … they still have a long way to go but being an eternal optimist, there is reason to cheer!
With all this change happening, mother nature is not to be left behind … With heat intensifying, the mangoes are changing too! They are getting delicious with every passing day :) Yummy!
Not to be left behind, I am changing too ... I have started moving my limbs more often and even with all the mangoes flowing in my blood, I have reduced the burden that I put on mother earth, albeight only by a kg.
Aaj ke samachar yahin samaapt hote hain ... fir milenge .. Jai Hind!
Changes in Hindi heartland
The biggest and the foremost change, closest to my heart and eagerly followed by many countrymen is the political landscape of Uttar Pradesh. It won't be an exaggeration to say that most parties had big things at stake and they left no stone unturned during their pre-poll campaign.
Samajwadi Party: The ruling party, Samajwadi Party, was of course fighting the anti-incumbency as it was fighting their much maligned "Goonda Raj" allegation by one and sundry in the state. Their solution (surprisingly!) was Star Power! … From Chandra Babu Naidu to Amitabh Bachchan … SP roped in all … and worst of all was the now infamous ad featuring Big B, that ran on TV for months … it touched nerves but not in the way that SP wanted … Amitabh Bachchan proclaimed "UP main dumm hai kyonki jurm yahan kumm hai" … If you have seen this ad and you know anything about UP you would either laugh or get outraged or both :) … apparently most folks in UP got outraged! The clippings that TV channels aired showing reactions from people living in remotest of villages must have been very humbling for Mr Bachchan and SP …
Even if you did not know anything about UP, you are bound to wonder why all those Goondagardi movies are set in UP/Bihar ... one wonders but apparently Mr Bachchan does not ... if only he had a role in Omkara or Shool or something similar this tragedy could have been averted!
BTW, I just don't grok the logic behind this ad … People are shouting everywhere that crime has risen in the state and then the party comes back trying to convince people that it is not as bad as it could be (they cite a report that says that crime rate is lower than other states!) … Now what can you say about that logic … well people have spoken and the result and the government is out!
Congress: Another case of banking on "Star Power" … This was the first election when Rahul Gandhi took the ownership of Congress in the state and campaigned extensively … he got the crowds but not votes … which is unexpected (since traditionally people have voted for the family) but actually makes sense (He has nothing to show except his family's name) … He tried various time tested techniques … Dug up Ram-Mandir/Babri Masjid (when BJP was not doing it!), talked about creation of Bangladesh and what not … nothing worked (fortunately!) and the result was that Congress lost even more seats than last election when apparently they had no one to campaign for …
BJP: This party has just amazed me with the depths its leadership has fallen into in such quick time … This was the party that touted its morals, issue based politics, educated and eloquent leaders and what not … and yet it has stooped so low that other parties now look better than BJP … this is somewhat like the state of our cricket team … from runner up in last WC to first round exit … the parallels don't end there … their bane is in-fighting and power struggle and what I thought were great leaders (Atal/Saurav) missed the most important duty of a leader (in my opinion) i.e. prepare the next rung of leadership …
Anyways, while they abandoned their time tested Ram-Mandir promise, they reached the nadir by distributing some really virulent, communal and detestable CDs/VCDs against Muslims … when they were "caught" the leadership dilly-dallied for a long time on whether they distributed it or not … well the electorate had made up their minds. No to such communal politics!
That leaves BMW! Behen MayaWati and her party BSP … and what a show she put up! No stars (but herself) for campaigning … just a clever formula SDM (Savarn + Dalit + Muslims) and single point focus on rising crime under SP's rule … She changed her focus from Bahujan Samaj to Sarvjan Samaj … As News Channels showed in their interviews, most people do not have animosity towards either group … they want development and they want to live in peace … And hence BSP got a simple majority … This happened after 14yrs in the state … those who understand the fractured electorate of UP can understand what a BIG change this is ….
As one editorial put it, Mayawati has uninterrupted power and unique opportunity to make a difference in next 5 yrs … People want good governance all around and nothing else … She can follow Lalu's path and put the right people in right place and support them … Hopefully things will follow!
Who would have thought (except people of Bihar who always believed in him) 5-7 yrs earlier that Lalu's Railways would be the most remarkable turn around in PSU governance and that it would be a case study for management trainees around the globe … who would have thought 5-7 yrs ago that BSP would earn a simple majority in UP by combing SDM … the winds of change are surely blowing … I wish and hope that the coming 5 yrs would herald a new era in UP … otherwise it will be such a colossal waste of opportunity and real Shakespearian tragedy!
Oh and yes, on national front, there is a presidential change on the anvil … the very parties that got us our first apolitical president are now leaving no stone unturned that this "mistake" does not happen again … of course they did not have any good intentions behind supporting Kalam the first time … that was a populist move that backfired on them … so they want a change … a person that has "political" background … what a shame!
Amongst other changes, the Indian Hockey and Cricket team (less so) are back to winning ways … they still have a long way to go but being an eternal optimist, there is reason to cheer!
With all this change happening, mother nature is not to be left behind … With heat intensifying, the mangoes are changing too! They are getting delicious with every passing day :) Yummy!
Not to be left behind, I am changing too ... I have started moving my limbs more often and even with all the mangoes flowing in my blood, I have reduced the burden that I put on mother earth, albeight only by a kg.
Aaj ke samachar yahin samaapt hote hain ... fir milenge .. Jai Hind!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Microsoft IDC Campus
Before I moved back to Hyd, lots of people had told me that Microsoft's India Development Center (IDC) campus was very beautiful. A significant percentage of these people had actually gone ahead and asserted that it is even better than the Redmond campus! ... I will write down in detail what Nitu and I think about the Microsoft campus but for the convenience of the "SMS Generation", here is our verdict: "MS Hyd cmps rocks & iz indeed betr than Rdmnd!"
Entrance
The entrance to IDC campus is well guarded with a security personnel manning the smart card operated circular steel gates ... this is unlike MS Redmond where one can pretty much go till the front desk of a building (during day time) without requiring an ID. This felt a little "bumpy" in the begining but is inline with how there is multi-level security required in order to protect things we cherish.
Exteriors and landscaping
You know you are in IDC when you see the "Tiranga" flying high on the wings of cool and clean Hyderabad air with the backdrop of the twin four floor buildings with geometrically choreographed silhoutte, draped in semi-see-through glass, customary of modern offices, sporting the stylish "Microsoft" logo on their forehead. It is a special "Vista" in itself!
The landscaping around the twins is very asthetically done. There is greenry all around. The grass, flowers and shrubs are very neatly arranged in all sorts of geometrical shapes and rows. There is an open air greek style outdoor ampitheater in between the twins, with a tennis court, basketball court, volleyball court and cricket-cum-football ground painted in the neighborhood of the twins. A special note for cricket fans. As some of you know, I used to really enjoy playing cricket on MS Grounds while I was in Redmond. I am yet to play cricket here but what I saw last weekend reminded me of how it-is-supposed-to-be-done ... with lots of desi cheering and desi music ... last weekend I saw a match being played that was being watched, cheered and spiced up by the families and friends of the players and the upbeat music of Salam-e-ishq blaring on some nice music system! Yeah baby that is why they say a player is on a song! We need our crowd and our music ... I bet if they can provide this in West Indies, we can win this and all the following World Cups :) ... ok u get the point.
All this gives the MS Campus a very college-like-warm-informal-and-personal feel rather than a formal-cold-office like feel. This (the warm-informal-personal feel) by the way is evident in all walks of life here in India; something that we miss in the US when we are romanticizing our good experiences and the very same thing that we crib about when we recollect everything that is not right here.
Interiors
As you head inside the buildings you are again "greeted" with more security guards and smart card operated metallic gates lifted straight from star-trek. By the way, these gates are really funny and unlike redmond ... you need to swap your card both while going in and also while coming out! ... you will know more about why I think they are funny once you come here!
The interiors of the twins maintains the blend indicative of modern India ... modern & contemporary furniture surrounded by walls that sport vibrant colors of all hues indicative of our taste for colors ... very western furniture and very Indian colors!
Those from Redmond would probably not notice the usual Table Tennis tables (yes sir we don't call it Ping-Pong here), pool tables and foosball tables in the lounges, but are bound to notice that funny square table (called Carrom board), newspaper lounge, tv-cum-xbox lounge and yes SLEEPING COUCHES ... yup, every software engineer's fantasy, a place to sleep in the office (I am yet to see someone enjoying a siesta after a nice lunch in the cafeteria but I have seen a couple of folks sleeping during the morning hrs, I suspect after a good-old-night-out)
The "Gut" feeling
Now on to the stuff for which we all are working so hard ... what has been taught to all the Indian wives as the gateway to their man's heart ... something we do 3-5 times a day ... it is one of the members of the holi trinity on which Manoj Kumar spent the entire 80s ... The "Roti" in "Roti, Kapdaa aur Makaan!"
Like all other things, the "kitchen" is also customized for the Indian taste ... while the soft drink machines are adorned by Maaza, Sprite, Coca Cola et it is the coffee/tea vending machines that steal the show ... you can get everything from ellaichi tea to south indian coffee to our Kapil paaji's boost-is-the-secret-of-my-energy milk ... again taking a cue from the west, there is a small chart that compares the nutritional content of all the flavors (boost & horlicks) of milk that the vending machines offers ... an amazing feat of science I must say ... with a push of button, you can be holding Kapil & now Sachin's favorite lacto beverage :) ... very empowering!
With all other parts of the campus buzzing with flavor, the cafeteria ofcourse is not to be left behind. By now you can expect that the cafeteria offers all kinds of dosas and chaats and paranthas and north indian thaalis and hyderabadi biryaanis and frankies. It takes it a notch higher with the fresh fruit juice & fruit salad offering. One has to try the "Cheekoo Shake" ... lip smackingly tasty! In our usual tradition of Athithee-devo-bhavh, our global friends can enjoy pizzas, burgers, chinese, continental and even a "Subway" sub. Ofcourse there is a aaloo-tikki sub available as well :D
Here is what will really pull you to MS Hyd. Forget the biscotti and Starbucks that you have in the evening there. Here there is free evening snacks between 4 and 6pm that contain samosa & jalebi or something similar!! And caffene hungry can enjoy a Barista coffee from the Barista outlet for a small price .... evenings were never better
As a small but important aside, the cafeteria has a bevvy of LCD TVs & big projector where they show live cricket/soccer/tennis/hockey/etc matches ...
Bhai aur kya chahiye, isse jyada kya bachche ki jaan loge?
Entrance
The entrance to IDC campus is well guarded with a security personnel manning the smart card operated circular steel gates ... this is unlike MS Redmond where one can pretty much go till the front desk of a building (during day time) without requiring an ID. This felt a little "bumpy" in the begining but is inline with how there is multi-level security required in order to protect things we cherish.
Exteriors and landscaping
You know you are in IDC when you see the "Tiranga" flying high on the wings of cool and clean Hyderabad air with the backdrop of the twin four floor buildings with geometrically choreographed silhoutte, draped in semi-see-through glass, customary of modern offices, sporting the stylish "Microsoft" logo on their forehead. It is a special "Vista" in itself!
The landscaping around the twins is very asthetically done. There is greenry all around. The grass, flowers and shrubs are very neatly arranged in all sorts of geometrical shapes and rows. There is an open air greek style outdoor ampitheater in between the twins, with a tennis court, basketball court, volleyball court and cricket-cum-football ground painted in the neighborhood of the twins. A special note for cricket fans. As some of you know, I used to really enjoy playing cricket on MS Grounds while I was in Redmond. I am yet to play cricket here but what I saw last weekend reminded me of how it-is-supposed-to-be-done ... with lots of desi cheering and desi music ... last weekend I saw a match being played that was being watched, cheered and spiced up by the families and friends of the players and the upbeat music of Salam-e-ishq blaring on some nice music system! Yeah baby that is why they say a player is on a song! We need our crowd and our music ... I bet if they can provide this in West Indies, we can win this and all the following World Cups :) ... ok u get the point.
All this gives the MS Campus a very college-like-warm-informal-and-personal feel rather than a formal-cold-office like feel. This (the warm-informal-personal feel) by the way is evident in all walks of life here in India; something that we miss in the US when we are romanticizing our good experiences and the very same thing that we crib about when we recollect everything that is not right here.
Interiors
As you head inside the buildings you are again "greeted" with more security guards and smart card operated metallic gates lifted straight from star-trek. By the way, these gates are really funny and unlike redmond ... you need to swap your card both while going in and also while coming out! ... you will know more about why I think they are funny once you come here!
The interiors of the twins maintains the blend indicative of modern India ... modern & contemporary furniture surrounded by walls that sport vibrant colors of all hues indicative of our taste for colors ... very western furniture and very Indian colors!
Those from Redmond would probably not notice the usual Table Tennis tables (yes sir we don't call it Ping-Pong here), pool tables and foosball tables in the lounges, but are bound to notice that funny square table (called Carrom board), newspaper lounge, tv-cum-xbox lounge and yes SLEEPING COUCHES ... yup, every software engineer's fantasy, a place to sleep in the office (I am yet to see someone enjoying a siesta after a nice lunch in the cafeteria but I have seen a couple of folks sleeping during the morning hrs, I suspect after a good-old-night-out)
The "Gut" feeling
Now on to the stuff for which we all are working so hard ... what has been taught to all the Indian wives as the gateway to their man's heart ... something we do 3-5 times a day ... it is one of the members of the holi trinity on which Manoj Kumar spent the entire 80s ... The "Roti" in "Roti, Kapdaa aur Makaan!"
Like all other things, the "kitchen" is also customized for the Indian taste ... while the soft drink machines are adorned by Maaza, Sprite, Coca Cola et it is the coffee/tea vending machines that steal the show ... you can get everything from ellaichi tea to south indian coffee to our Kapil paaji's boost-is-the-secret-of-my-energy milk ... again taking a cue from the west, there is a small chart that compares the nutritional content of all the flavors (boost & horlicks) of milk that the vending machines offers ... an amazing feat of science I must say ... with a push of button, you can be holding Kapil & now Sachin's favorite lacto beverage :) ... very empowering!
With all other parts of the campus buzzing with flavor, the cafeteria ofcourse is not to be left behind. By now you can expect that the cafeteria offers all kinds of dosas and chaats and paranthas and north indian thaalis and hyderabadi biryaanis and frankies. It takes it a notch higher with the fresh fruit juice & fruit salad offering. One has to try the "Cheekoo Shake" ... lip smackingly tasty! In our usual tradition of Athithee-devo-bhavh, our global friends can enjoy pizzas, burgers, chinese, continental and even a "Subway" sub. Ofcourse there is a aaloo-tikki sub available as well :D
Here is what will really pull you to MS Hyd. Forget the biscotti and Starbucks that you have in the evening there. Here there is free evening snacks between 4 and 6pm that contain samosa & jalebi or something similar!! And caffene hungry can enjoy a Barista coffee from the Barista outlet for a small price .... evenings were never better
As a small but important aside, the cafeteria has a bevvy of LCD TVs & big projector where they show live cricket/soccer/tennis/hockey/etc matches ...
Bhai aur kya chahiye, isse jyada kya bachche ki jaan loge?
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Case of mistaken identity - 17th Jan
The breakfast buffet manager greeted me today with an unsual mischief lurking in his smile ... after the usual good morning he told me that people here are mistaking me for Sehwag! A staff member even placed a bet of 1000 Rs ... While I was ecstatic at this association with Veeru, I feel sorry for the guy who placed 1000 bucks on me ... I almost feel like "re-imbursing" him :)
In a similar vein, while I was talking with my grandma, I thought I would tell her about my brush with Yuvraj ... so I asked her "Mummy do you know who Yuvraj Singh is?" and she replied "Yes! he is the son of some xyz in some saas-bahu serial!" ... I found this really amusing ... it just shows how different fields are important to different people and how even a celebrity name is not guaranteed to be a primary key!
On a different note, we finally had "Chaat" in MS Cafeteria ... Nitu had been eagerly looking forward for this moment and I think she was not disappointed ...
In a similar vein, while I was talking with my grandma, I thought I would tell her about my brush with Yuvraj ... so I asked her "Mummy do you know who Yuvraj Singh is?" and she replied "Yes! he is the son of some xyz in some saas-bahu serial!" ... I found this really amusing ... it just shows how different fields are important to different people and how even a celebrity name is not guaranteed to be a primary key!
On a different note, we finally had "Chaat" in MS Cafeteria ... Nitu had been eagerly looking forward for this moment and I think she was not disappointed ...
Cricket mania continues - 16th Jan
Today was our first day in IDC and hence we got up early and headed for an early breakfast. We found Dravid and Sehwag in the breafast lounge! From their faces it appeared that they were having some serious discussion. Needless to say that I was thrilled to see them (especially Sehwag)! but I did not interrupt their discussion by my hellos and wishes.
The first day at IDC turned out to be easy and fine ... The buildings here are indeed more beautiful than the ones at Redmond (probably because these are new buildings and the fact that we love colors and stylish things) ... it felt good to be in the cafeteria ... 15Rs ka dosa aur 15Rs ka fresh mixed fruit juice ... yum ... bye bye salads and stir fry!
The first day at IDC turned out to be easy and fine ... The buildings here are indeed more beautiful than the ones at Redmond (probably because these are new buildings and the fact that we love colors and stylish things) ... it felt good to be in the cafeteria ... 15Rs ka dosa aur 15Rs ka fresh mixed fruit juice ... yum ... bye bye salads and stir fry!
Workout with Yuvi - 15th Jan
15th was Sankranti & Pongal and most of the markets were closed. Nitin mentioned that an estimated 33 lakh people went out of Hyderabad giving its roads a much needed break.
Later in the afternoon we went out to meet Chandna, Amit (our friends from IET) and Ananmay (the youngest manager of Coke!) ... went out to eat lunch and caught up on various things, played with Ananmay and then headed back to our hotel.
In order to keep up with our New year resolution to exercise more we headed to the fitness center of Taj Banjara in the evening. There were two people (a guy and a gal) already working out in the modest fitness center. Nitu hopped on to tread mill next to the guy and I followed on the one next to Nitu. Turns out that the guy was none other than Yuvraj Singh, the cricketer (you will see in a later post why I need to describe what he does)! As I was trying to confirm my suspicion of him being Yuvraj, I whispered to Nitu that this might be Yuvraj. Nitu got lost in translation and thought this was another MS guys who was relocating and happily continued jogging on her tread mill! They don't say "ignorance is bliss" for nothing.
Anyways I later wished Yuvi luck for the coming world cup and then we called it a day.
Later in the afternoon we went out to meet Chandna, Amit (our friends from IET) and Ananmay (the youngest manager of Coke!) ... went out to eat lunch and caught up on various things, played with Ananmay and then headed back to our hotel.
In order to keep up with our New year resolution to exercise more we headed to the fitness center of Taj Banjara in the evening. There were two people (a guy and a gal) already working out in the modest fitness center. Nitu hopped on to tread mill next to the guy and I followed on the one next to Nitu. Turns out that the guy was none other than Yuvraj Singh, the cricketer (you will see in a later post why I need to describe what he does)! As I was trying to confirm my suspicion of him being Yuvraj, I whispered to Nitu that this might be Yuvraj. Nitu got lost in translation and thought this was another MS guys who was relocating and happily continued jogging on her tread mill! They don't say "ignorance is bliss" for nothing.
Anyways I later wished Yuvi luck for the coming world cup and then we called it a day.
Taanvi & our little house - 14th Jan
Today we went out to meet Nitin, Smita and Taanvi. Taanvi is pretty cute and amazingly sharp. Here is how she amazed us. Nitu and I were very eager to checkout the progress at the construction site of our house. Since Nitin, Smita and their Jiju were also interested we decided to go there together. As we were preparing to head out, Taanvi sensed that people were going out somewhere and obviously she wanted to join. In order to dissuade her from going with us, Smita asked Taanvi the following:
"Beta, aapko yahan patang udaani hai ya fir aise hi bore hone jaana hai?" ... Little Taanvi replied "Bore hona hai!" and we were all in fits :) Kids are really getting smart :)
Well we checked out the construction site. As is always the case the unfinished house looks much less interesting and sometimes disappointing than a finished house. Overall the place is coming up well. The houses though are "very" close to each other ... probably in line with how almost everything is close to each other due to space crunch ... the other way to look at this is that this is "by-design" so as to promote closer and deeper ties with neighbors in accordance with our culture :)
We then got back to "Serene Towers" (Nitin & Smita's place), checked out an empty apartment in their complex and then headed back to our hotel.
"Beta, aapko yahan patang udaani hai ya fir aise hi bore hone jaana hai?" ... Little Taanvi replied "Bore hona hai!" and we were all in fits :) Kids are really getting smart :)
Well we checked out the construction site. As is always the case the unfinished house looks much less interesting and sometimes disappointing than a finished house. Overall the place is coming up well. The houses though are "very" close to each other ... probably in line with how almost everything is close to each other due to space crunch ... the other way to look at this is that this is "by-design" so as to promote closer and deeper ties with neighbors in accordance with our culture :)
We then got back to "Serene Towers" (Nitin & Smita's place), checked out an empty apartment in their complex and then headed back to our hotel.
India Poised - 13th Jan
We woke up around 7ish in the morning ... it was good to see the morning sun and I was eager to checkout what the morning paper had to say ... and it had a lot to say ... the paper seemed to be full of news heralding the progress India is making in different sectors and a dozen snippets about the plans for the future ... Indian corps buying international companies ... investment government is making in improving infrastructure ... numerous entreprenuers that are making big waves in non-traditional fields like agriculture, adventure sports, wind power, hotel industry etc ... there was an edition of "Business Today" that was kept on the table that is dedicated to the progress we have made in the last 15 yrs and the one we are poised to make in the next 15 ... Times of India is running a series called "India poised" that highlights what we are doing in various fields ... it felt nice ... really really nice! With my head held high, I looked down the window of my 7th floor room from where I could see the city coming to life ... the increasing noise of car horns ... somehow the noise felt nice ... I felt alive after a looooong time :)
The rest of the day can be summed up as follows: Awesome breakfast, lots of TV, Awesome lunch, lots of sleep, Awesome dinner, sleeeeeeeeeeeep
The rest of the day can be summed up as follows: Awesome breakfast, lots of TV, Awesome lunch, lots of sleep, Awesome dinner, sleeeeeeeeeeeep
Seattle to Hyderabad - Jan11
Journey to the Airport
10th evening ko bahut snow padi and as a result driving on roads became treacherous ... therefore most people who had to reach the airport on 11th morning or after booked taxis in advance resulting in shortage of cabs! ... so thodi tension hui raat main kyonki jis bhi taxi service ko call kiya wo ya to chal nahin rahe they ya overbooked they ... khair kisi tarah ek mil gayi ... subah uth kar, mast naha dho kar, Adi+Jaya ke paranthey sabzi baandh kar, aur bheemu ko pyar kar hum nikal liye ... pehle Harish ke apt gaye apna saaman uthane ... last baar apne apt ko dekh kar unexpectedly bura laga ... khair Harish se vida le kar airport ke liye rawana ho gaye ... Airport tak ki journey mostly eventless rahi ... both of us were unusually quiet ... grappling with sadness of leaving so many good friends and excitement of finally going back to India ... A couple of times when the cab driver made dangerous cuts to avoid other cars stemmed the flow of thoughts and brought us back to reality!
@the airport
khair airport pahunche to wahan par pata chala ki mere pass stamped visa nahin hai aur na hi naya I-97 hai ... thodi tension hui ... fir Microsoft legal ko anticipation main phone ghumaye ... sabki voice mail par gaya aur kisi ka wapis phone nahin aaya ... khair fortunately kuch dikkat nahin hui Visa ki ... lekin fir checkin bag bhaari nikale ... fir maal re-arrange kiya ... tab tak 1 ghante se kam ka samay tha aur security check bhi nahin hua tha ... fir security check ke liye meeloon lambi line thi ... khair wo bhi hogayi aur jab tak departure gate par pahunche tab tak boarding shuru ho chuki thi ... to bhaavnaaon ko bahar aane ka jyada mauka nahin mila ...
Flight
flight was relatively eventless ... as Raghu & Mahati told us, food was a disaster between Seattle and Amsterdam and pretty good between Amsterdam and Hyderabad ... Met a nice IT guy, B.N.Rao (who is originally from Hyd), in flight from Amsterdam to Hyderabad who confirmed that our decision to move back was indeed a brave one ... I have always felt uneasy when Hyderabad localites say that and I think almost all Hyderabadis have told me that :) .. but as you know I have not been deterred so far ;)
Hyd Airport to Taj Banjara
Flight landing was a little less than normal as the pilot applied heavy brakes for a long time ... BN told me that this was normal since the runway at hyd is on the smaller side ... he mentioned that once a flight had to take off from the runway when it was unable to come to a halt when it was landing ... scary stuff ... actually Pannu had once told me the official name of this touch-n-go procedure but I can't remember it now ... khair ... apart from the fact that we had to wait more than 1 hr for our baggages, things went smooth ...
outside the airport there were two taxis waiting for us ... one sent by MS and the other sent by Taj Banjara ... well we almost took the one sent by the hotel (for which we would have had to pay) but our company taxi driver, Omar Sharif, intercepted in time and saved us some money!
On our way back we saw a couple of flyovers in progress but other than that the city seemed fast asleep ... we had a great customory welcome at Taj and after checking in we were happy to straighten our backs and get some rest ... it was about 4am
10th evening ko bahut snow padi and as a result driving on roads became treacherous ... therefore most people who had to reach the airport on 11th morning or after booked taxis in advance resulting in shortage of cabs! ... so thodi tension hui raat main kyonki jis bhi taxi service ko call kiya wo ya to chal nahin rahe they ya overbooked they ... khair kisi tarah ek mil gayi ... subah uth kar, mast naha dho kar, Adi+Jaya ke paranthey sabzi baandh kar, aur bheemu ko pyar kar hum nikal liye ... pehle Harish ke apt gaye apna saaman uthane ... last baar apne apt ko dekh kar unexpectedly bura laga ... khair Harish se vida le kar airport ke liye rawana ho gaye ... Airport tak ki journey mostly eventless rahi ... both of us were unusually quiet ... grappling with sadness of leaving so many good friends and excitement of finally going back to India ... A couple of times when the cab driver made dangerous cuts to avoid other cars stemmed the flow of thoughts and brought us back to reality!
@the airport
khair airport pahunche to wahan par pata chala ki mere pass stamped visa nahin hai aur na hi naya I-97 hai ... thodi tension hui ... fir Microsoft legal ko anticipation main phone ghumaye ... sabki voice mail par gaya aur kisi ka wapis phone nahin aaya ... khair fortunately kuch dikkat nahin hui Visa ki ... lekin fir checkin bag bhaari nikale ... fir maal re-arrange kiya ... tab tak 1 ghante se kam ka samay tha aur security check bhi nahin hua tha ... fir security check ke liye meeloon lambi line thi ... khair wo bhi hogayi aur jab tak departure gate par pahunche tab tak boarding shuru ho chuki thi ... to bhaavnaaon ko bahar aane ka jyada mauka nahin mila ...
Flight
flight was relatively eventless ... as Raghu & Mahati told us, food was a disaster between Seattle and Amsterdam and pretty good between Amsterdam and Hyderabad ... Met a nice IT guy, B.N.Rao (who is originally from Hyd), in flight from Amsterdam to Hyderabad who confirmed that our decision to move back was indeed a brave one ... I have always felt uneasy when Hyderabad localites say that and I think almost all Hyderabadis have told me that :) .. but as you know I have not been deterred so far ;)
Hyd Airport to Taj Banjara
Flight landing was a little less than normal as the pilot applied heavy brakes for a long time ... BN told me that this was normal since the runway at hyd is on the smaller side ... he mentioned that once a flight had to take off from the runway when it was unable to come to a halt when it was landing ... scary stuff ... actually Pannu had once told me the official name of this touch-n-go procedure but I can't remember it now ... khair ... apart from the fact that we had to wait more than 1 hr for our baggages, things went smooth ...
outside the airport there were two taxis waiting for us ... one sent by MS and the other sent by Taj Banjara ... well we almost took the one sent by the hotel (for which we would have had to pay) but our company taxi driver, Omar Sharif, intercepted in time and saved us some money!
On our way back we saw a couple of flyovers in progress but other than that the city seemed fast asleep ... we had a great customory welcome at Taj and after checking in we were happy to straighten our backs and get some rest ... it was about 4am
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