Footprints 2006

It was a trip down the memory lane when I visited the IIMI campus for the alumni meet. Though the meet was just for the weekend, the travel from Chennai swallowed about 1.5 days on either side making it a near 5 day vacation. It is not that great travelling for such long durations and waiting for greater than 6 hours at a station for the delayed train. But it was worth it. The happiness of meeting friends and the vellagiri playing cards in the train were a true breather from the corporate life.

The souls who were awake at the unearthly time at which we reached Indore would have been shocked by my first question, "Where are the badminton rackets?". But then, some things and some people never change What has changed though is the new construction that has obstructed our view from the mess. Some of the table top mountains are not visible anymore from the lovely marooned hill top.

It was refreshing to meet the new set of students in the campus. I only wish they stop asking questions like, "Do you have work in an IT company?" Ofcourse we do. No one pays for doing nothing. An IT job does have its ups and downs with periods of no work and periods of heavy duty stuff. The guys who are on their slack period seem to project the image that everyone in the IT sector is vela. But then I have been here and seen a sizable sample to argue otherwise. That reminds me.... I should get back to work now

Master of Masters

He was surely a class apart. It was a treat to watch Roger Federer outclass James Blake in the finals of the Masters cup. As Blake commented during the prize ceremony, it was a Tennis lesson given by the master. All said and done, Federer's demolition of Blake was expected. What I did not expect was the way Rafael Nadal was dismissed in the semis. Nadal has been the only person in recent times to have shown the talent to beat Federer. Yes, Federer has also lost to few others like David Nalbandian, but those defeats have been too few and far inbetween, and the kind that do not get repeated. Nadal is a player who has shown the grit, the tenacity and the talent to beat Federer. I love Federer's game, but am not quite satisfied watching a single person dominating a game. Hope Nadal would give Federer tougher times in the future, or, may be, a new talent surfaces soon. Till then I guess I would just sit back and enjoy the artistic exhibition of tennis displayed by the champion.

EOD

A long day
A lonely cubicle
A tired brain
The closest association of years
displayed a successful log off

Eyes filled with sleepiness
The lanky frame ambled across
To the elevator
To the exit
The long walk to the parking lot

A leg swirled over the bike
Suddenly the brain sent a panic signal
The heart refused to accept
The fact... The desperation
The pain of....
forgetting the helmet at the cubicle

Interviewee to Interviewer

I have always wondered what it would be like to sit on the other side of the interview desk and ask questions. Well, I got to feel that yesterday. Since I was not aware that I would be conducting the interview, I went totally unprepared and feeling that I might not be able to test the fresh minds that are coming straight out of Engineering college. But then, I was proved wrong on two counts - a) I remembered more than I expected myself to, and b) The interviewees didn't remember as much as I expected them to. I am still puzzled as to why the interviewees couldn't answer simple questions on their final engineering project and subjects that they claimed to be strong at. May be it was just me. I guess interviewers are supposed to put the interviewees at ease before asking questions. I, on the contrary, bludgeoned them with questions the minute they took their seats. Anyways, I take solace from the fact that there was an experienced interviewer along with me giving some credibility to the decisions.
All along it was fun and I look forward to more such opportunities.