Show must go on...
As Einstein said Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. So is the case of all heros in sports.Let it be Michael Schumacher or Sachin Tendulkar. People will raise them to the status of demigods and when they fail to deliver, they will be mere mortals.So dont be surprised by the fact that Sachin was booed by Wankhede crowd or Schumacher was not applauded by the crowd after winning US Grandprix of 2005 (Only six drivers competed). These are all the part of game. These heroes have proved that "form is temporary, only class is permanent" when they delivers again. Schumacher has proved this clinching victories in San Marino, European circuit and the US circuits. Sachin has proved it many times. Andre Agassi is no exception.

Yes I am a bit biased in case of Andre. Because he is the first champion to me or to be precise the winner of first grandslam that I watched in TV, the Wimbledon 92. Sad to see that he was battling against age in his last match in wimbledon against Nadal (Nadal was 8 years old when Agassi lifted the Wimbledon in 92). The end of an era of flamboyance. Hope some one will be continuing from where Agassi left. All set to watch the 21 st season of Andre in the Flushing Meadows.

Those 20 seasons...

Lights, Camera, Action!

27th May 2006...I featured in a TV show...that too in tamil...thanks to my manager who recommended me for the show...It all started on Friday eve itself.We (myself and my colleague, Kiran) were told about this game show...went directly to avm studio... magnificient set.we saw shooting of 2 rounds...frankly speaking camera fright also started gripping us...then finally i decided to give a shot...a reverse quiz where in you have to think of a personality ( a renowned personality) and the so called grand master will try to figure it out in 21 yes/no questions.Thanks to Col. Sanders(KFC) and Captain Smith (Titanic). The grandmaster (GS Pradeep) almost guessed both personalities.For the first one he guessed Col Salters...Second one he was mislead...After 21 questions he got to know that the person I am thinking was a Britishman who died in an accident which occured outside Britain in between 1900-1950 and the accident was a bad one. With only one guess left from his side, he guessed Paul Tibbets, who dropped the first atom bomb...what an intelligent guess...

But what ever prize i win, the one prize which I cherish (it is not a prize, actually i won a bet) is a chicken fried rice from canteen by a good friend of mine, BG. It happened during our inter branch festival, Chrysalis in NIT Calicut. He never expected that we will win.I had my trust in Manjith, my partner. But what happened was even more dramatic. Most of the questions were taken from K-Circle, which was one of the sites which I regulary browse.We won the quiz and then headed to Mini Canteen after that.

Also the best quizzing moment so far in my life also features BG and Manjith. Manjith was the quiz master this time. Myself and BG were in 2 different teams this time. As usual we challenged each other before the quiz. Now only one question was left...BGs team was leading with 10 points...
Last question came...."After winning so many golds in 86 Asian games why did Indonesians (country i am not sure) call PT Usha gold industry?"...Every one tried their luck...We were the last to answer...some miracle was required...Then I came up with a guess...PT(peetee) in their language means industry...may be that is why...Rest was history...

Many many happy returns of the day:

No I am not celebrating my birthday today. Two people in our project are celebrating their birthdays today. So I was sending them birthday wishes. While composing my mail, I noticed one thing...Why we all wish a person "Many many happy returns of the day”? Or how did it all start? Thanks to Google and Wikipedia which always serve as a warehouse of solutions to all my queries. This time Google helped me out. The happy returns on your birthday refer to solar returns - the moment when the sun returns to the zodiac sign and degree it occupied at your birth. It began as an occult wish, recalling our birth and anticipating the next life. Then people started using it frequently…And we are all following that tradition.

Trivia #2

The only Brand endorsed by Salman Rushdie???
One of my favourite questions. I have asked some of my friends also...This is for others to answer...

No plagiarism...

Yes plagiarism seems to be the catchphrase these days. So let me make it clear. These questions can be found some where in the internet. Even I don’t remember the source. Let me start my Trivia section…

Trivia # 1

"Jesus Wept" refers to something in Tennis lingo…Good guess will do…

Hint: Wiki

McJob:

I have often heard software engineers( I am no exception) refering their job to be McJob. But when you count the benefits that job has provided then certainly you have to re frame your statement.Five day week, enough money for the rest 2 days,parties,social acquaintances, free chating,browsing and orkutting(certainly orkutting has become a part of Software enginner's quotidian office activities these days),list goes on and on.

But to be selfish is humane. Who wont be when u hear that ISB grads are offered a whooping 8 digit salary.All the MBA institutes are coming with equally good figures.So then comes the moment of self realisation?What am I doing here?Offcourse saying and doing are two things...

Before joining even i had different plans...Switching jobs,better job profiles during each switch.It is true that many people quit looking for work when they find a job.That is my case too...

Now even i ve a feeling...mine is a mcjob comparing those figures...

PS:McJob refers to a low-paying, non-challenging job with few benefits or opportunities. The term was coined by Douglas Coupland, in his novel Generation X, after McDonald's fast-food chain.

Ajax rules...

I am not talking about the AJAX FC that brought one of my favourite players Zlatan into media attention.But the ajax that is governing the new age web.
Had a lot of thought process on what to write in my new blog. Then i thought of google and yahoo.Yahoo mail beta is almost like our outlook.It has the previewing feature.You can easily browse the messages in the reading pane.Google Desktop search is another popular and useful tool.All possible due to Ajax.So how Ajax work wonders?Javascript and XML are doing wondersWhenever a user makes a request entire web page is not loaded.The data in XML format is preloaded and Javascript will perform operations on it.
This certainly is going to change the web...

One flu over the chicken's nest :

Found these interesting cartoons…. Each and every day new diseases are born….cant even dream of a chicken free week…talking about chicken… some trivia ..this is about the origin of the name chicken 65…some people says that 65 dried red chili peppers were used in the preparation and some people says that 65 day old chicken is ideal for the dish…whatever be the reason…Days have passed.Still no signs of complete recovery.Too tough for a person addicted to (rather living on) chicken food items.

We are the champions…

My EPL favourites Chelsea is playing Barca in their home ground…what am I doing here…no point had I been in my flat too. Murphy’s Laws seem to play always…whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first. I should have thought abt uefa during the start of the month when we ve to pay our cable waala the monthly quota…I procrastinated it and…even I felt google is of no use when I was not able to find a site with live score updates…have to wait now for news updates…what if Chelsea loose…oh no…will be speechless tomorrow…fans of other clubs...oh no…any way I can proudly say we are the champions in epl…

Where do you go???

A big question mark for all the foodaholics out here in Chennai…Staying nine months in Hyderabad and then shifting to Chennai…really a nightmare for the foodaholics…
In my ten months tenure so far in Chennai I ve been to many restaurants…still not able to find an equivalent to Harahs/Paradise/Hyderabad House over here…So same question every weekend….finally we’ll end up eating pizzas or Chinese…

Boulevard of broken dreams…

what if I weren’t able to bell the cat this time.. there is always a second time…as some one said if everything is coming ur way, probably u are in the wrong lane...so many thoughts… I’m not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me, Superman/Shaktiman/Krissh…I wanna kill the cat next time…but i need a big break before cat preparation 2.0.

Mallu guy in the Anna city…

(Title inspired from another favorite track of mine….Sting’s Englishman in the New York city)

Thanks a lot to my mother tongue…Malayalam…a lot of similarities with Tamil…knowing Tamil is one of the prerequisites of comfortable life in Chennai…me being the only communicator to Tamilian world among my roomies…I do translate things to them also…

City of Blinding lights:

Nope its not where I stay…its some place where I wanna stay…Sadly I m in Chennai…where the city sleeps at around 9…yeah all the big malls will start closing at that time here…So even if I leave early there aren’t enough options….Thanks to the coffee shops…

Another brick in the wall:

Its 1 a.m... sounds crazy...what to do if someone has to stay in office for name sake at this inauspicious time…I thought thought and thought…outcome…why not blogs…all b’coz of the so called outsourcing mania happening these days…but what am I gaining if I work for an American client… my take home salary doesn’t even take me home…yeah this is the case everywhere in the industry…i m just another brick in the wall…

That brings me to my favorite pastime…music…be it Pink Floyd or Daddy Yankee…I just love it…And these days my late nights are filled with music…

PS:Some of my post titles will also be inspired by Music track titles...