The 20-20 Mania :

India won the 20-20 word cup....i really enjoyed the match ...the last over ending in a nail biting finish was too much take for a female collegue of mine ..she thought she better check the internet for the final result ....it was indeed a great finish between the to rival fo the sub-continent..though i never expected the less experienced pakistanis to even make it into the finals.... on 25th the team India received a larger than life welcome and shower of money and gifts to the players...a sharp contrast to the reactions for the pathetic performance and early exit of india from the world cup -2007.Today the hockey players of the country have gone on a hungry strike to protest the governments and more painfully the publics apathy towards them.i seriously feel sad for the treatment met by them ..even though they were the winners of the recent Asia cup ..i loved those matches too....its not about the apathy to hockey that bothers me ...but its indias obsession with cricket and cricketers ...i never ate Chavanprash bcoz it was gnaguly promoted it or had boost coz sachin said " boost is the secret of my energy" ....but i love the game...i have played cricket till uniersity ..but some how i was critical about the demi-god status our players enjoy in the country ....

Yet Another Weekend ...in Office

Yes ,i am spending yet another qruelling weekend in the office ....godd ...i thought i would leave this habit of weekend slogging back in india ..but nop ...i have carried that tradtion to switzerland also .....to switzerland,out of all places on earth ...
SchemaDev(he would come up with the greatest of schemes to make us work)...my manager...called in the morning.."we need to plan for an inter galactic apocolyptic expedition to save the universe`s last remaining energy source ..... " read as ..the daily load from the backend database has failed ...the users are not able to view the reports can you coordinate that ....oops sorry forgot to add can we coordinate it "now", he meant.The very thought of working on the weekend which would certainly not be compensated with another leave....also ....after having really worked hard all through the week is very crappy and creepy....am i happy doing this ....this would certainly need somethingking .....am not whining but its true ....the salary is certainly good ....i am an Onsite coordinator for a multi-milion-dollar project ...i get to work with the client directly ...understand his requirements and transfer it back to the team with the necessary technical inputs .....am just one step away from the coveted BA role ...which i always wanted .After 3 years it still remains a dream as some or the other MBA guy takes it away and i end up coordinating the activities between him and the offshore team.slowly but surely am determined now to take up an MBA to become a Business Analyst ...my much cherished dream job .....

The ANT Story

We all have read ,heard ,enjoyed and celebrated the Story of Ant and Grass hopper......The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
Here is my MODERN VERSION in the wake the current situation in the world...
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool ,he laughs,drinks Vodka Martini,dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper with no Vodka left, calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.BBC, CNN, EURO-NEWS, NDTV, FOX NEWS,AAJ TAK,KAL TAK,PARSON TAK show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.Bush Tables a resolution in the security council for UN sanction to attack the ant's house.The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper.Indian Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.Aamir Khan and his "Range de Basanti's "Awakened generation" stage a dharna in front of the Ant 's house.The "Secular politicians" comdemn the Ants act as overtly communal in nature.Rock Bands show their solidarity by singing "Six Legged Sucking Satans...the Ants". Which becomes a best seller. Finally, the High End Judicial Committee for Prevention of Terrorism againt Shivering and Hungry Grasshopers(HEJCPCASHG,i bet you remember that) is set up.This is headed by a Retired octagenarian Supreme Court Jugde with one foot in grave and other on his office tabel .After several days of intense enquiry widely convered by the global press, the committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the next winter but with benefits applicable for this one too.
The Ant is Arrested for failing to comply with POTAGA.Having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the US Marines, in a sudden over night Assualt operation code named "operation House Storm".This involves the lastest B-52 Stealth Bombers and CNN brings you a live Covererage named " The Ant Hill" and hand over the house to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by BBC,CNN, AAJ TAK and NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice".Bush calls in a victroy for the Democracy and the English Queen gets the Grasshoper Knighted. Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly . PM Man Mohan Singh says Madam Sonian Gandhi was great soul who sacrificed her office of profit for the Grasshoper's cause.AP C.M Rajshekhar reddy names the Ant's house after Rajiv Gandhi and calls it "Rajiv -Hopper-House"

UP The IRONS

Finally IRON MAIDEN descended to India….and the wait for 17years was worth every moment for every true Maiden fan….
And they left us all with awe of a true Maiden Concert……..And they promised they will be back next year…………..
Couple of my friends and I reached the concert venue at about 2 pm…We had the 1500 Rs pass and we were shocked to see the line for the entrance was going up till the main road….people were waiting from 3 am in the morning……We stood in the queue and finally we entered the arena….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By 3 pm….
We were left gasping for our breath seeing the stage…..20 tons of stage equipment air lifted from UK stood in front of us……there was something on the stage which they covered up with a black cloth…kept everyone guessing about the same……and boy and that was quite a surprise….!!!!!!
The heat was unbearable and understandably there was a mad rush at the Pepsi counters….and it was so much crowded that all the drinks got over in a few hours….the stadium was jam packed in a few hours…….and there wasn’t even a place to stand…we somehow managed to get to the front rows…..we had some talk with some people from Sri lanka…who came all the way just for the concert and were waiting from previous night……..
The show started at 5:30 pm …. The opening act of the evening was FTN from Delhi (Campus Rock Idols Winners ‘ 07). The vocalist was good…but overall their effort was poor….and got a lotta boos and angry words from the audience…..It was followed by Parikrama…
Parikrama was at their natural best…put the crowd on their feet…the violinist was awesome…They sang all from original compositions…..crowd backed it well……
After a thundering applause for Parikrama…..Lauren Harris (Daughter of Steve Harris) took the stage…The guitarist was good….but overall the performance was bad and the people had almost lost their patience for maiden…..”Maiden, maiden” chants were heard all over the place…..finally by 7:30 pm…her show came to a close….and people were waiting for the REAL LIVE ONE….
At 8:00pm…all the lights were out……and the crowd was electric……..and Boom……IRON MAIDEN was on stage……Nico Mcbrain, Steve Harris, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, Dave Murray and one and only Bruce Dickenson…….They started with a “Different World” from their Brand new album…..”A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH”……”These Colours don’t run”…”Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” followed….After some more songs….a break followed……and they came back with old warhorses like ……”Hallowed be thy name”,”Wrath Child”,”Iron Moiden”………..
During the concert Bruce climbed up the Titan Tron till its top….and shouted…….he was jumping all aroung the place with raw energy……
During “Evil that men do”, a prop of a huge military tank came up…with its fuming barrel towards the crowd……On top of it Eddie came up with his goggles like a soldier...this drove the already frenzied crowd wild……Eddie came up the stage with a military uniform with a machine gun….after the song he left the stage….
When it was all said and done, the Band took a snap with crowd on the background…….when all dust was settled people were ecstatic with the performance and had no words for it…….
There were a couple of complaints like the duration of 1:43mts of the show and Bruce’s voice was subdued in the first session n stuff……But when we walked back…..we saw a person with his crutches…..walking back out of the arena…..that was the salute to one of greatest bands of all…..
List of tracks they played( not necessarily in the order”)
1) Different World
2) These Colours Don’t Run
3) Brighter than thousand suns
4) The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
5) For the Greater Good of God
6) Fear of the dark
7) Hallowed be Thy name
8) Number of the beast
9) Run to the hills
10) The trooper
11) Iron Maiden
12) Wrathchild
13) The Evil That Men Do
14) 2 minutes to midnight
we will see them perform next time in India
till then UP THE IRONS……………

S/W Engineer Ki Shaadi

Hero is a software engineer. He does not have a life worth speaking of.He spends eighteen hours a day in the office working and browsing the net.Heroine is a software engineer in the same company. She does not have a life either. She spends eight hours in front of her PC, thirteen hoursin front of the TV and the remaining, sleeping.One day, Hero meets Heroine in a staff meeting. They argue endlessly about the insanity of Microsoft applications.. especially Outlook 2003.Couple of such fights later, Heroine is found drinking coffee with Hero in Office canteen."What is life?" asks the Hero looking at the vacuum right above her head."I've been wondering too." sighs the heroine."Why are we fighting over Outlook 2003?" Hero drinks his black coffee."And why are we not talking about Lotus NOtes" Heroine sips her Latte.Hero shakes his head. "It's not about software products. It is about life. I guess life is much bigger than OUtlook 2003." Heroine nods. "I think it is. I am not sure though. Do you know that Microsoft has come up with a fix to that bug you've been using to prove Outlook is a worthless piece of garbage?" "Heroine," Hero is now determined, "From this moment onwards, I am not discussing anything remotely related to software." "Fine Hero," says Heroine, "Good bye then." Hero then returns all the Sybase manuals to the library and rents out "how to live a life?" Heroine meanwhile gets into an altercation with the villain during a conversation on Sharepoint server. Villain vows to format the hard disk of the heroine. Heroine takes her PC and runs away from the cubicle trying to escape from the villain's evil intentions. Since it is night shift, no one comes to her rescue.Hero, who has been reading "how to live a life" very seriously, suddenly finds out that he loves the heroine as much as he used to love Tetris.So hero messages Heroine on Yahoo Instant messenger. But there is no reply. Hero does not understand it. He knows that the heroine is supposed to be in night shift. What is she doing in Night shift if not on Yahoo Instant Messenger? As far as he know that is what people are supposed to do in night shift.Hero senses trouble. He runs barefooted on the Information Superhighway and reaches office just in time to see the villain snatch the PC out of heroine's hands and type the command "Format C:\". When his fingers get to the "Enter" key, hero delivers the killer punch on villain's face.Villain is thrown back. But in the process he manages to press the Enter key...The world comes to a standstill. The sky roars. The Rain pours.Heroine breaks down. Villain is on cloud nine. But our Hero isn't sad.He is smiling. Villain cannot understand. Hero then says, "Villain, You should learn DOS properly. Your grave mistake...". He shows the monitor to Villain. The DOS command prompt says "Are you sure?". It is waiting for a "Y" to commence the formatting operation. Hero then simply presses "N".Villain cries in frustration "Nooooooo" and charges like a bull. Then follows a lengthy fight. Heroine meanwhile calls the police and they come right after hero beats the villain to pulp. Without asking any questions, the police understand who is hero and who is villain and take him into custody. Heroine, tears in her eyes, takes her PC, switches it on and jumps with joy when she finds her favorite Calvin and Hobbes collection intact in her C drive."You saved my data" she exclaims."No, you saved it yourself." hero says."No.. Jesus saves. I don't" she cries."Nothing happened na." Hero consoles."Let us get married" heroine sheds some more tears, "I want someone by my side to protect the Calvin and Hobbes collection on my PC".
"I love you Heroine" says the hero.
"I love you Hero" says the heroine.
"So you agree that Outlook 2003 is a bad product".
"No I don't. Why not we talk about Lotus nOtes?” ... And it goes on . .