Girls Names

Another set of freshers arrived and joined the project. Like last year, this year too, Renga was given the responsibility to groom them, both on technology and application. Shivaraj, who had been the onsite co-ordinater for the project has recently returned to offshore due to visa issues, and who will be going back to onsite once his visa issues are settled.

On a fine day, their manager Hrithik called them and said: "Guys, we got another set of freshers..."

"How many guys and how many girls..." interruped Shivaraj, stressing on the word "girls".

"Allow me to complete first..." said the manager and continued "They have been recriuted and trained by our Noida branch and due to the openings here, they have been sent here..."

Our branch is in South India.

"So we can directly give them application knowledge training and deploy them in project?" asked Renga.

"Nope... They are trained in C & C++... and ours is a Java/J2EE project, so they need to be trained in our Java & J2EE technologies..."

Renga understood how hard its going to be to bring them to a level so that they can be productive. And by the time they come to the level of being productive, they will put down the papers and leave the company. Thats the fate of this industry.

"So Renga, my expectation is that you will identify the trainers from academy, schedule the training sessions, and make sure that they catch up with others soon..." said the manager and finished with these words "And whereever needed you can take the help of Shivaraj until he is here..."

Renga just nodded and understood the hidden message behind those words - "You do all the actual work, I will put them in my appraisals and get the credits for it..."

"Any questions..." asked Manager Hrithik.

"No", said Renga.

"How many guys and how many girls..." was the question from the person who never stops until he gets what he wants - Shivaraj, again stressing on the word "girls".

"2 guys and 5 girls..." came the reply which seemed to make both Renga and Shivaraj happy.

Soon Renga and Shivaraj started working on the schedules and started booking the training rooms, co-ordinated with the network department for the systems and softwars and within a couple of days everything was set for the training sessions.

On the first day it was PHP training. The freshers batch of 7 people came and sat in the training rooms. The room had a capacity of around 30 people, and the freshers occupied the first row.

Renga started addressing them. To his right was Shivaraj and to his left was the PHP trainer from academy. Renga introducted the trainer, explained the importance of the training and how serious this training has to be taken. Shivaraj also continued Renga, more or less repeating all the points told by Renga.

Renga then asked the freshers to introduce themselves telling their name, where they come from, college they studied and their hobbies.

After the introduction session, training started and Renga & Shivaraj went and occupied the seat behind the freshers.

On the third day of the training, Hrithik entered the training room, thinking that he is giving a surprise visit to see the progress of the training.

He asked Renga "How is it going?"

"Good Hrithik, they are able to catch up the concepts quickly and these training sessions are going to be very helpful to them and to us..."

"Good good..." acknowledged Hrithik.

The freshers were busy executing some examples on PHP in their systems and manager Hrithik wanted to have this discussion within three of them, without disturbing the freshers team and the trainer.

"And what are their names..." asked Hrithik.

Renga started "She is Alka, next to her is Liya, after her is Ishitha, On the right side is Deepa, next to her Soumya and he is Sohan and next to him is...." Oh no, what is his name... thought Renga as he forgot his name...

"What.." asked Hrithik...

Renga paused for another couple of seconds and said "He is Sunil..."

Shivaraj gave a confusing look at Renga.

"Oh Ok..." said Hrithik and continued "Guys, come and meet me once this session is over..."
Having said so, Hrithik left the hall.

"Hey Renga, he is not Sunil, he is Ashish..." said Shivaraj.

"Oh Ok Shivaraj, I forgot his name..." said Renga

"They why you said that he is Sunil, you could have told that you forgot his name"

"No yaar, then Hrithik will say that I remember only the girls names... Why to take risk..."

"You will be in trouble when Hrithik comes to know that he is Ashish..."

"Nothing to worry Shivaraj" said Renga and continued with a smile "He also will be remembering only the girls names..."

- Pavala.

My New Year Gift

Nokia 2600c Vs Sony Experia

After a long time I met my college Parthi at the lunch queue in office. He stood behind me and was constantly doing something with his mobile phone. Last time when I saw him, he was having a Nokia some N-series. What he was having now was a device, bit larger than a mobile phone.

On seeing me taking a glimpse of his mobile, he smiled and said "I have bought a new mobile last week."

"What is its brand?", I enquired.

"Sony experia... 23k..." he replied.

I was thinking what that 23k could mean, whether he was referring to its inbuilt or supported memory or its price (about which I never asked). Memory is always expressed in multiples of 2 upto 8 and multiples of 8 beyond that. As he continued to explain about his new Sony Experia, I could understand that he had indeed mentioned the price of his phone.
I would hesitate to buy even a computer for that cost.

We reached the buffet counter, got our food and sat in the available table in cafeteria. He went on to explain about the features of his new phone.

Suddenly he asked "What phone do you have dude...?"

"Nokia 2600c.."

"Oh... come on man, still using the same phone... I remember you showing that to me 4 years back when you bought it... At that time itself, it was an outdated one and its a base model..."

He continued "You know what my Sony Experia has... It has an inbuilt multimedia converter... you just drop a video file into it, it automatically converts into compatible format, and the video is ready to be viewed..."

He never stopped or allowed me to talk, but continued "You know its camera dude... Its 5 megapixel, high definition... You dont need to have another camera for taking a picture..."

When he stopped for taking a breath, I took the chance and asked "Can I take a look at it..." and took my left hand forward so as to take the phone from his hand. He just pulled his hand backward (far enough that I will not be able to grab it, even if I stand) and said "Dude, even I have not explored all of its features... May be I can show you what I know..." and he went on to operate the phone, showing video, playing songs, showing the pics he has shot from it...

At this point, I clearly lost interest in his phone and was plainly nodding my head without taking any effort to understand what he tries to explain.

We finished our lunch, washed hands and went out of the cafeteria, at which point I asked him "Parthi, can you do what I do with my phone..."

He was surprised and gave a big laugh and said "Oh... come on man... yours is a base model... and mine is Sony Experia... Definitely it can do all that your base model Nokia 2600c can do... You will understand only if you have a Sony Experia..."

Having said so, he keenly looked into the display of my phone, to notice what I am going to do and also kept his phone ready in hand to repeat do what I am going to do.

I smiled at him and......... dropped my phone on the floor.

- Pavala.

The (Not So) Dirty Picture

After a long time, yesterday I decided to go and watch a movie in theatre. First I looked for watching "Rockstar", but came to know that it was lifted long back from theatres. So after some research on the net, settled for "The Dirty Picture", mainly because I came to know that it is based on the life history of Silk Sumitha and another reason is Vidhya Balan :-).

Decided to go to the nearby PVR cinemas in Ampa Skywalk for the last show which was to start at 10:30 PM. Started from home at 9:40 PM and reached at 10:00 PM and took a ticket at the counter. "Children learn faster than we think. So do not take them with you for movies rated A", was something I enjoyed reading on a board above the counter. Ticket rate Rs. 120. Costly. They are physically frisking us and checking us.Though they give the reason as for our own safety, they are actually checking whether we are taking any food or beverage(including water) with us. All such items are prohibited, since if we take such items, it will affect the sales at their stalls where the price of the items is atleast 3 times their normal price.
The multiplex is very posh and hi-fi and I started feeling myself as the odd man out, as I am not much used to these multiplexes.

I felt a bit thirsty after entering the mall and since I knew that water will not be available, decided to buy a pepsi and went near the counter. Seeing that the price was Rs. 70, I decided to stay thirsty for the next 3 hours and go home and then have water. The complex was very neat, including the wash rooms. Exactly at 10:25 PM, they let people inside the hall. I went inside the hall, and it was beautifully lit in mild red color tone. The interior was pleasant. But the hall was small with only about 400 or 450 seats. The screen was large. I went and sat in my seat - J-18. Next to me were seated a couple of college students, who didnt knew Hindi. Initially they made a lot of sounds and whistles, but soon they lost track of the movie and started sleeping.

The picture had a linear story line, about the life of a girl from childhood until her death (while she was still in her adulthood). Childhood portion of her was shown in just 2 to 3 minutes and the story jumped straight to her adulthood when she runs away to Chennai to secure a chance in the movies as an actress. So Vidhya Balan started appearing within 4 minutes after the movie started.

No double meaning dialogs, but just straight single meaning ones - she says after showing her photos to an assistant director "Sir, please give me a chance... Do you want to see what is not seen in these pictures...". Through the well-known technique of "adjustments" in the cine-industry she secures a position in the cine-world. Her failed loves makes another part of the story and when her love is about to be successful, she fails in her life. Her adjustments with an aging(or already aged???) top actor occupies the main portion of the story. Finally, like most ladies in the cine-field she gets ruined and goes to the extreme of comiting suicide.

Nashiruddin Shah has played the role of the top actor who exploits her. His introduction was superb. The girl, Silk, goes to a movie and in the intro scene of that movie, the Top Star appears. First a Villan throws 2 one rupee coins into the air and fires 2 bullets from his gun, the bullets hits the coins. Then the Top Star throws a 100 rupee note into the air and fires a bullet from his gun. When the bullet hits it, 100 one-rupee coins fall from it. The whole audience burst into laughter. One can easily understand who that top-star in real world is from this scene.

Though the movie had a sad end, since it was an expected one, it didnt affect me much. Some of the dialogues were nice, if we take them their straight meaning. "Opportunity comes only once, if you dont take it, it will go to someone else". "If you ignore and leave a job half-way, that job will never come to you again"... to give samples.

When the movie ended, it was 1:10AM. Was surprised to find a tea shop open on the road. Had a tea, and walked back home. Suddenly a bike that came from the opposite direction with 2 men slowed down near by and when I looked at them, and found that they were policemen. The policeman in the back seat said to the other "He is coming after seeing the movie". It seemed to convince the other policeman and they went away and I walked home. Good to know that they are people who are awake in the night and going around the city for our safety.

I would suggest a one time watch, but not with family and obviously not with kids.

- Pavala.

Vanavasam & Manavasam

Recently I happened to read the book Vanavasam and its sequel Manavasam, both written by Kannadasan. These two books happen to be a chronological listing of the main events in his life. Both the books made an intresting read, Like many I am also a fan to some of his songs. I do listen to some of the old songs mainly for its lyrics. When I hear some of the old songs I wonder that we know all these words individually, but wonderfully he has joined them to bring out such a nice rhyming songs. To say for example "Muttukal sirikkum nilathil thittikum ninaipai vidhaikkum..."

Definitely he is a gifted Genius. But in this autobiography-Vanavasam he cliams that he got that skill through practice. Its a surprise to know that he has studied only upto 8th and with that he gained to manage such a mastery over Tamil and its grammer and vocabulary. Vanavasam talks about his early life and his political life in DMK party. After reading this book only I came to know that Kannadasan had an active, but unstable and unsuccessful political career. Vanavasam ends once he quits the DMK party. Manavasam start after that and it doesnt end. That is, he didnt complete Manavasam. Among these two, it was Vanavasam that I found more interesting. I was surprised to know the background and early life of some of the political leaders who are top leaders now.

In many places one call can get the feel of reading a third grade cheap books. Especially in those areas where he narrates his visit to prostitution houses along with his friend, both were budding entrants to politics at that time. I have read such situations even in some of the stories of R.K.Narayan. This makes one to come to the conclusion that Men visiting such places has been a common, partially accepted activity in those times. Even in older tamil movies quite often we can come across the dialog "Aambalaigna kalyanathukku munnadi konjam appadi ippadi than iruppanga...".

In his preface the author declares that he has the said the truth throughout the book, but at the same time he admits that he has not revealed many of the incidents that happened in his life, since he feels that it cannot be revealed in public. He claims that the truth is like one being naked and one cannot be nake everywhere. I could understand his reasoning. Even in Gandhi's autobiography too, Gandhiji has mentioned that there are some incidents which only he and God knows and he wishes to keep them within him and God and not reveal to others.

We can understand this to some extent. Being human beings, guided (or rather tied) by social and cultural laws we all will have some part of our lives which only we and God know. Vanavasam starts with Kannadasan as a grown up boy with ambitions to reach the sky and rule the world. Then continues with his early days leaving his native, searching for jobs in Trichy, settling in odd jobs, primarily in the publishing industry which was in its infacy those days. Then moving to Chennai, then to Salem, coming back to Chennai. In all these places and cities he narrates the men he met, ladies he met, and lived with most of those ladies - varying from single night and sometimes upto six months - which is sure will make many jealous :-).

The author claims that the many leaders in political parties didnt practice what they preached - a fact that we can understand by seeing many leaders having more than one wife now. Manavasam describes his political life in Congress and also his abroad visits. Unlike other autobiographies, the script in these books have a different style, partly because it was written by a poet. Each of this book can be read once, and it helps to understand the ups and downs in the life of the gifted Genius - Kannadasan.

- Pavala.