There are places I remember all my life

In my life - this is a very beautiful and truly amazing song by beatles.
(Go to this link for the song- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukbbPJirTaE)

It was so refreshing when I listened to it now, that i just felt like writing few lines based on this theme.. It is not meant to be in par with the original lyrics..but its just my thought to do something different and be lil crazy :)

Here I have retained the first 4 lines of the lyrics and then added my own thoughts..
So here it goes ..my second attempt at writing a kinda lyrics :)..for which i can only dream of adding music to it..if i could :)


There are places I remember all my life
though some have changed
some forever, not for better
some have gone and some remain

There are days I remember all my life
Not because of me, cause of people around
Not many are such people, so I do remember most

There are pains I remember all my life
Some fought with courage, some with tears
But pains don't last long, so I do remember all

There are moments I remember all my life
Some have gone by, some unnoticed, unwanted by many
Was not so long ago, so I do remember still

There are places I remember all my life
Though some are miles away, some are within reach
Some had magic, cannot be recreated, never ever can be
But some places are yet to be seen and yet to come
And one place is here, not yet gone and still remain.

Completing 5 years in IT industry

Today I’ll be completing 5 years in IT industry and I have company in the form of my ITP batchmates friends here.
On this occasion, I would like to quickly summarize the highlights of these 5 years of mine apart from whatever I got to learn in this industry professionally.

Exactly 5 years back on jan 26th 2006, I landed in Mumbai as I had to join MBT i.e Techmahindra on 27th. I can still feel those odd feelings which I was going through then. The excitement of getting into my first job after going through few failures in the earlier selection process with many other companies and at the same time leaving my family and friends in Bangalore was something which I had never imagined would happen. I was even scared of thinking about leaving home those days. But when it happened, it just happened and I had no second thoughts over it.

The initial few months in Mumbai during the training period was one of the most difficult times as we had to clear all the exams at any cost to avoid getting terminated. And termination was not just about loosing a job..it meant a lot. Unfortunatly, we had to witness so many of our batchmates getting terminated. Many left with tears and few left with vengeance to land up in better jobs. Eventually all of them got back in track in some other jobs. People like us who survived this turmoil looked ahead for further challenges when we got into different projects. I had completely lost touch with my friends in Bangalore during this time. But I got constant and amazing support from my parents and brother during those tough times. After the training period got over, began the most amazing and unforgettable days of my life. Monthly salary, new friends to roam around Mumbai with no time constraints of getting back home early etc etc… were few of the luxuries we all enjoyed to the fullest. This continued till late 2007 and I got a transfer to Bangalore as I got fed up of being away from home, though it was fun in Mumbai.
The year 2008 was very quiet initially in Bangalore. Then by sept 2008 I had to travel to UK. Another 5 to 6 months of unexpected change in life. The chilly weather, the brit culture, the clean and well planned towns, the well disciplined and more organized lifestyle of people were really impressing.
Work and fun both went hand in hand till 2009 feb and then I returned to India and back to home, Bangalore.
Another change was waiting in the form of a transfer to Pune. Soon I was roaming around Pune with few old and many new friends. Though I got to see and learn many other faces of life during this period still it was boring till end of 2009. Brother’s marriage in October 2009 was one of the few happy moments which I enjoyed in this year.
The year 2010, the latest change of getting back to Bangalore by joining Infosys is going on smooth and calm. Got to know few more wonderful people and life is on a different track now.

So if I look back, each of these 5 years were never the same and all were fruitful though unexpected with the usual ups and downs. One thing which I’ll always feel good about is the failures which happened in my life earlier were for the best things to happen later. I' am looking forward for more unexpected twists and turns and I do hope that the best days are yet to come for all of us.
So to all my friends who accompanied me in this journey, a big salute to all of you. As Dinesh and Mayank keep saying ‘few of you guys are still holding the flag high in techm’. But 5 is just a number ...it’s just the occasion to say cheers and remember each other and ponder over those wonderful moments we had. Let’s wish each other good luck and peace of mind in life.

My first attempt in poetry - Am I thinking to write something

Hi readers,

I donno whether to term this as a poem or not, but while writing this what i kept in mind is to link each line with the previous line..
It was just a way to kill my time now, but i guess this attempt did not end up that badly :) ..your feedback would help me to continue to post more such stuffs :) or may be its a one day wonder i donno :)


Am I thinking to write something?
Am I thinking to write something? Are you trying to read the same?
Hey!!Are you the same with whom I used to have a wonderful time?
Have those wonderful times gone by? If so why don’t we get back again?
Can you get back on this to me? If yes, can I plan something, so that you’ll be beside me?
If you were not beside me, I wonder where would I be?
Would I be then still thinking to write something?
If that something is all about you and me, then why don’t you help me?
If not, would you help me to realize that I have written what I wanted to write?
And what I wanted to write about is. ..Am I thinking to write something?

My Last Day At Techm - mail

This was my Good Bye mail in my previous firm i.e TechMahindra. It's been more than 5 months since i dropped this mail :)

Dear All,

Time has come for me to say good bye to TechM..to be frank I was eagerly waiting for this day from past so many days, but believe me guys when the time has now come, its really tough to say good bye.

So here goes my ‘My Last day at TechM’ waala mail. I’ am not going to copy paste today because I have got bored of doing that :). So let me bid Adieu to you all in my own style :). So please take some time (it means a lot of time :)) out of your busy schedule and read on with rapt attention :).

TechM has tolerated me for more than 50 months :) (i.e 4 years, 3 months to be precise) and since this being my first job, I have so many memories attached to it (haan pata hai..sabka first job memorable hi hota hai :)).

In this roller coaster ride of more than 4 years, I was fortunate enough to work with some really motivating leads like Sachin Mulay, Amir Usmani, Shilpa Ghotge, Paresh Hardas, Sanjay Nair, Sneha Goyani and many more in CSS SRD whom I had always looked up to and would always be thankful to them for all the help and support provided whenever needed. It was a privilege working with you all in CSS.

Thanks to all my managers till now – Rahul Ramdasi, Sunil Aklujkar, Sachin Mulay, Sneha Goyani, Swapnil Patil.

As an individual I am a far better person now. Each passing day I was able to learn something new (not only work relatedJ), learnt many important lessons for life. I’ am a more confident person now, ready to take up more challenges and more importantly I have evolved as a better human being (now please don’t apply Darwin’s theory of evolution to human beings hereJ..it has nothing to do with this ‘evolved’ term :)).

It’s not that easy to leave such a wonderful and caring colleagues (‘colleagues’ term would be very formal I believe. I have always considered them as friends working together :)). I’ am fortunate enough to have made so many friends throughout my journey in Techm which began with my ITPian batch (still going strong even though we are all scattered across different parts of this crazy world) and If I start naming all of my TechM friends here then I am sure you may need a days off to read all :).

But latest being in BSTO, thanks to Venkat, Hari, Gopi, Arthur, Somnath, Ankita, Animol, Kamlesh, Anup, Sajjin, Vijay, Satheesh, Preena, Pankesh, Sreeni, SK, Vamsi, Khasim, Santhosh and many more with whom I always enjoyed to be with and thanks for all the love and care showered on me :). And thanks to many other faces around as well some of the names I am not even aware of :) and made my stay in 8th floor, Sharda Annex a really wonderful one (I guess you are smart enough to understood this part :))

Guys, Ill miss those daily tea outings in the evenings. On any given day, I was never running short of company. And also I won’t forget to mention about those innumerable number of free Teas and bhajees that I have consumed :)…….God bless you all :)

Hey 5th floor guys, thanks to you all ..we managed to have a good time even though we were 3 floors apart. Special thanks to execution team, especially Kalyan and Ankita for taking up the much needed initiative to learn validation activities..I know Swapnil will now be having some sigh of relief :)

Thanks to Swapnil for being very approachable and guiding me at crucial times to take up the right decisions. I would like to mention my gratitude to Aravind and Sharad as well. Thanks to Pritam for being very helpful and supportive.

Now, if I start writing about my association with Techm in past 50 months then I think I can write a book with several chapters on it. I’ll do that on some other day may be :). Will let you go this time :)

Thanks again and wishing you all good luck.

Will miss you all…Do keep in touch. My gmail id is praveenvs25@gmail.com

Mobile: 9665039050 (Ill update my new mobile number as soon as I get one)

I am very much alive and breathing in the virtual world of orkut, facebook and blogspot as well :)

Orkut:

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile?uid=9500695929559728913

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=721669383

Blog:

http://praveenvs25.blogspot.com/

Thanks & Regards,

Praveen VS | ATT08 - BSTO | Tech Mahindra
Sharda Center, Off Karve Road, Pune 411 004, INDIA

( Office: +91-20-6601 8100 | Ext. 8831

Email: praveens@techmahindra.com

www.techmahindra.com

Selfless prayer and my plans for this long weekend

Today, I had been to the temple after a long long time. And today being Friday, the temple was buzzing with ‘mata devi ka bhakt jan’…
As usual I prayed for the well being of all my near and dear ones..and of course I prayed for me as well :). I don’t remember when I learnt or was taught to pray to God in a specific format or manner. But, I would have followed what my parents have educated me in my childhood days.
Today while the priest was performing the pooja, I observed the kind of faith and hope in many faces including my mom. The intensity and belief with which many women were praying really made me to pray for them as well. Though am not aware what pains and troubles they are going through, I can say that there prayer and wishes would be selfless most of the times. They would be happy if people whom they love and care for are happy. So hats off to there selflessness.

With a long weekend ahead, I have planned to do many things. One such thing is already in process, i.e writing a blog which I’am doing right now :). The second is to practice playing Guitar. I have a two hours guitar class on saturday mornings. So will be learning something new tomorrow. Am looking forward to that. The third plan is to revise whatever is taught in Spanish classes till now. Since from Monday, the Spanish classes will be resuming in Infy after a two weeks gap. Hopefully would be able to attend the classes more regularly amidst the hectic work schedule. And the fourth plan is to resume the long pending storywriting of ‘my incomplete story’. I have completed writing almost 70% of the story. Would like to finish the last part in one sitting. So let’s see if all these plan works out or not. Wish me good luck :)

I' am O.K

I do sometimes follow the ‘Times Of India’ ‘The Speaking Tree’ article, though I won’t read it completely, because most of the times the spirituality mentioned here gets over my head. But sometimes the facts and thoughts mentioned are so true that you feel somehow related to what is said.
I liked this particular article about being ‘O.K’ so thought of adding few of my own thoughts on this topic.


Pasting an extract of the article here…

“

OK – the term that is sometimes written as okay – keeps creeping into people’s conversations ever so often. When did we first start using this term that looks more like an abbreviation?
The two letters were first used by the Democratic O K Club in the mid-19th century. Martin Van Buren, the then US president, was born in Kinderhook, a village in New York state. So people gave him the nickname, ‘Old Kinderhook’. The name became popular when he was seeking a second term. His friends thought he had done well as president and endorsed him for another four years in office. So the letters OK came to existence which means ‘all right’ or ‘correct’.
‘How are you?’ people ask and many do not even wait for a reply! Sometimes you, too, reply without applying your mind. You say “I’m OK!” What do you really mean when you say that? Perhaps this calls for a bit of self-examination. “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation,” observed Henry D Thoreau, and his observation continues to be relevant in the 21st century as well despite all the comfort-aids we have invented for ourselves with the help of technology.
Why is it so easy for us to say “OK?” Do we find it is a convenient term that means neither this nor that? “
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Now to add something here..I totally agree with the above thought. We have got used to say ‘I am o.k’ when we are asked this question ‘how r u?’.
I usually say ‘I am o.k’ when I want to mean neither this nor that. By this statement, I just leave it to the other person to just pick out of ‘am doing fine’ or ‘am not doing good’ or ‘am not doing that good’. So if he/she is really bothered about me, then the next question may pop up ‘why just o.k?’. So now I would be interested to tell why ‘I’am just o.k’ and not ‘fine’ otherwise the conversation would be just a formality. So such powerful this term ‘o.k’ is for me … that it can totally change the course of the conversation.
So guys n gals its upto you how exactly you want to interpret this term ‘o.k’.

Now pasting the last part of the article…
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“
It is being repeatedly proved that the things of this world and our own possessions will not be sufficient to keep us happy if there is no love felt within us. In the race for bigger and better worldly pursuits, we tend to neglect relationships – we forget to love one another; this is what causes us to feel a ‘quiet desperation’. Let’s not give up meeting one another and encouraging one another because we need one another. Love is the binding force that helps us feel connected and secure.
So when you put the question to some one: “How are you?” pay attention to the answer. For the answer will show whether he is keeping the flame of love burning or is letting it go cold. "
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So, how abt u? what exactly you mean when you say ‘I am o.k’ ?

You can read the complete article below

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIBG/2010/07/12&PageLabel=10&EntityId=Ar01003&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Seven things you didn't know about me!

Shyam has tagged me into this..am happy to reveal the 7 unknown things about me. Thanks to Shyam that I am getting a chance to write something in my blogspot again.

Most of the points which I would be listing here may be seen in many of you. I’ am just carrying forward the chain of revealing the 7 things about ourselves and I would be happy if you also carry forward the chain and reveal your 7 points as well and we will get to know more about each other. Its fun actually.

1. It’s not easy for me to say ‘no, I can’t’. .. but I do say ‘no, I can’t’ with great difficulty. This does not mean that I want to get rid of this habit. This is just one among many of my traits which defines me…hehe
2. Talking about lies!!! Hmmm I’ll be lying if I say that I don’t lie..but good thing is I don’t remember when is the last time I lied. I can proudly say that lie is not in my blood hehe. I don’t prefer to lie because I believe truth can win more hearts and build more trust in any kind of relationship. I would be ashamed of myself if I have to lie even if the situation demands. But I don’t expect others to be the same so I just laugh off when I come to know that the person has just lied.
3. I’ am always ready to read any inspirational novel, watch motivating or influential movies and listen to songs which will uplift my mood. And you know what…I got this very inspiration of writing stories and blogging when I read the books named ‘anne frank diary’ and ‘kite runner’
4. It’s quite strange and depressing to reveal that I sometimes enjoy my loneliness. May be I have got used to this habit and it has become part of me as a dark spot. When the loneliness in you is within limits then it can do wonders but if you get addicted to it, then believe me it becomes really hard to come out of it.
5. Now this one is quite different. I am more of a listener than a talker. But the fun part is when I’ am in a conversation and if am not speaking for the sake of speaking then the conversation can go on and on provided the person on the other side of the conversation responds well, listens to and not just hear what am saying.
6. Two more to go…what to mention now?…I miss Mumbai. Could not have asked for a better place to spend the initial days of my first job. Almost two years of complete freedom and masti it was!!!
7. Finally the 7th point ..which was waiting to come out very patiently.. hehe. I don’t want to exaggerate this but over the years I have realised that it’s quite easy for me to understand others point of view quite comfortably. And this might be the reason that my temper is always under control and I don’t get into much fights or arguments.


Hurray!!! Mission accomplished…I was able to bring up whatever came to my mind and stick to just 7..hehe.
Your turn now.