Hexaware days - 2

Now, it was time to get to know the people who joined with me, people who were my batchmates, people with whom I could and would be relating to the most during my time at Hexaware, people whom I could rely upon a lot, whom I could trust, people who would be source of most of my laughter and amusement at work, and finally, people who would be my friends, for a lifetime, hopefully.

So me and that yellow salwar (btw, her name is Reshma), were then introduced to Hari (aka Hariharan Sathyamurthy), Sriram (aka Sriram Sankaran) and Geetha (aka P B Geetha). After the formal introductions, the three of them were assigned the task of transferring their knowledge of FORTRAN to us (since they joined one week before us). And thus started my entry into this ancient world of USAS (Unisys Standard Airline Software). Slowly we were then introduced to DMS, FCSS, CGO, CTC, FDC etc etc. I was allocated to the X-Cargo project and was also given an initial assignment which I completed coding, but never got to test, as I was re-allocated to another project, the Cathay Pacific migration project, to which I remained allocated since then.

Cathay Pacific (CX) was, in short, hell and fun. Hell - the work; Fun - the team. While I was extremely disappointed at the nature of the work that this project expected from me, I felt, He had more than made up for that by giving me a bunch of wonderful friends. Except for Sriram (LH Cargo) and Reshma (LH Reservations), the remaining four of us (Oh, I didn't tell you about Madhavi; She joined the day after I did and so was technically, OUR batch :) ) were allocated to CX. The four of us were joined a couple of months later by 5 more freshers (Karthik, Yogeesh, Rajani, Akila and Shwetha). So, there we were, 9 of us, in one single project, left to fend for ourselves. Our juniors joined us in about 4-5 months time and there were 5-6 of them. Together, we had a great time, having LOTS and LOTS of fun at each other's expense. We loathed the work, but were able to show tolerance, owing to the fact, that we still had great fun at times.

Over the next two years, the words that were most frequently used in our team were CCF, elements, files, GEN, Re-GEN, GEN coordinator, CCF/NEW, aplCCFS file (that was my province btw), migration, re-migration, compilation, absolutes, aborts, bookings, allotments, not-replicable (which was of course our primary excuse for not fixing an issue), and a slew of transaction and program names, many of which we never got to explore completely.

See, the interesting thing about working on an age-old software package called USAS, on an even older system like a Unisys Mainframe was that it was your world! It contained every program, software, utility, tool etc. you needed to do your work, and it was sturdy as a rock! However, that also meant that you didn't really need to worry about anything outside that, even about the PC/ laptop form which you invoked the Mainframe sessions. And till date, I blame that, to a large extent, for my lack of exposure to and interest in other technologies.

The other interesting (at least for me) aspect, about working on USAS was that if you were looking to use a particular function while coding, but were not sure of the syntax, all that you had to do was search through the system (using a command called @IACULL - I think it stands for Interactive Culling), and you'd be sure to find another program which used that particular function. So all that you had to do was copy and paste. Given almost everyone in my team was fresh from college, reliance on @IACULL became a saviour. And given the age of the system, there was no dearth of sources from which we could copy. In fact I have caught myself copying from programs that I myself had written. So much for originality at work!

While the nature of the work presented a lot of challenges, the prime one being the fatigue from doing the same type of task for what seemed like eternity, our major respite was escaping for coffee breaks to the cafeteria, particularly at certain times of the day when we knew it was most likely to be quite empty, and so, quiet. In fact the work used to be so tiresome that we would not even want to talk to each other during the break. We just had to site there, sometimes for up to 30-40 mins, to let all that ennui drain out, and let our batteries get completely discharged of USAS charges...Hmmm, so much for an energising coffee break eh?

Another way in which we reinvigorated ourselves was by having a little post-lunch chat, back at our desks. I would always pull my chair up to the centre of a 4-person bay, and start spinning around in it, while we all took turns to mercilessly tease one another. In fact, you'd sometimes get burnt by a sharp quip from someone from whom you'd least expect it. Yes, the rotating chair had the power to bring out hidden talents from even the innermost crevices of our brain folds. And of course, those were indeed memorable moments, filled with unlimited laughter! In fact, to this day, I always say that I've laughed so much in those two years working at Hexware, that I can confidently say that I have more than made up for all the lost moments in life when I did not laugh, as well as for all the moments in the future when I may not laugh.

Unisys and USAS were my gurus into the world of air cargo operational systems, and the air freight world in general. Over the course of those two years at Hexaware, I picked up a decent level of functional knowledge, which largely helped in my getting the next role at TCS, where I would spend the next almost 10 years. But then, that's another blog story....or ten.

One spirited flight!

One spirited flight

I flew Spirit a few months back (yes, that’s how old this post is) from Chicago (ORD) to Minneapolis (MSP) and back. And I should say, I DID like the flight. But why??

Yeah, it is a budget airline that charges for everything, even $10 for getting your check-in done through an agent at the airport. Thankfully, the kiosk check-in is free, and so is printing the boarding pass. I was hoping there should be no printing fee and fortunately, there wasn’t (Hope no one from Spirit is reading this). But I am not going to analyze the pros and cons on a budget airline….I hear your ‘Phew!!!’.

I just happened to have some very good laughs on board the flight and just wanted to share that with you all (i.e., I am hoping someone is reading this…Please post a comment if you did).

1.       On my way to MSP, a woman passenger in my row asked the flight attendant if the air circulation could be increased as it was a bit stuffy. Replied the attendant, ‘Sure ma’am, do you have your debit card?’

The woman replied that she did, although a bit bewildered by the question.

‘Ok so just swipe it near the fan. Don’t you see a swipe card reader there? Yes ma’am, extra air costs. This is Spirit’. LOL

On my way back, there were quite a few.

The flight attendant’s voice-over for the safety demonstration was anything but a serious and morose affair.

2.       ‘Welcome aboard Spirit, one of the fastest growing airlines and also voted the best for customer service. Unfortunately, none of those excellent attendants are with us on this flight today. So, please make do with what’s available’. You should’ve seen the look on the faces of those who were demo-ing. J

3.       Seat-belt instruction: ‘For those of you, who haven’t stepped into a car recently, please pay extra attention’.

4.       Oxygen mask instructions: ‘When the cabin pressure drops, oxygen masks will automatically appear from nowhere. Stop screaming, pull the mask completely, but don’t break it, as it will be difficult for us to charge you in that situation, put the mask over your head and breathe normally’.

5.       Life-jacket instructions: ‘Put the jacket over your head, adjust your hair and make-up, and then tighten the jacket around your waist’.

6.       Smoking: ‘Smoking is clearly prohibited in all areas on this flight. If caught, you could be fined up to $2000 and we all know that you would not be flying Spirit if you have $2000’. What a self-dig. J

7.       Final safety instructions: ‘And what we mean by all this is, just follow our instructions and no one will get hurt’.

8.       Once we landed: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, we have landed in Chicago. So please take our mobile phones and laptops and login in to Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site that you are on and please post that we made it back to ORD 30 minutes ahead of schedule (in fact, in just 55 minutes), for we all know that if we had arrived 30 minutes late, you would’ve done that immediately’.

9.       And the last one was the best. Upon landing, we were taxiing for a long time, almost 15 minutes. While I personally did not notice it, the attendant threw in a final laugh: ‘Apparently, we have decided to land in Milwaukee and drive down to Chicago. Hope you are all enjoying the scenery out there’. It was 8.00 PM on a Winter night…ROFL ROFL!!!

Now, that was one *Spirit*ed flight indeed!!!

My Holland days....

NB: This post was originally intended to be published sometime early Jan. But am getting to it only today (02-Aug-2015).


I returned from the Netherlands mid-December 2013 after a brief stint of 7.5 months. I went there to serve one of our clients, on a transformation project. The project was continuing and I could've stayed there longer if I had wished to, but chose to return for certain reasons.

Though the duration of my stay was not very long (I was earlier in Sydney for 5.5 years), I thought I felt sadder leaving Amsterdam than when I felt leaving Sydney, which seemed a little confusing. I had a thought about the reasons for this.

Firstly, I didn't 'leave' Sydney. I was only taking a break. Given that I am someone who gets bored easily and needs a change quite often (5.5 years working for the same client??? Ahem...), I felt the change would do me some good (it sure did!!!). So I guess I was actually looking forward to the change of place so much so that leaving Sydney did not actually bother me much.

Secondly, given that I am an Australia PR, I probably felt that I will be returning at some point in time, in fact sooner than later (I returned early Jan 2014). Also after 5.5 years, you get to know a place somewhat like the back of your hand, that while you can take someone out of the country, you cannot take the country out of someone. So all in all, there was no separation. It was just an extended holiday.

On the contrary, when I left Holland, I was inexplicably sad. I didn't have any close friends there, no one came to see me off at the airport (Well, that was a bit sad :( ) and to top it all, I had big problems with my baggage allowance (Damn the bathroom scale that deceived me!!!) - which, in hindsight now helped in not saddening me more. I was just glad to get it over with and get into my flight.

But in the run-up to my departure, the last few days were really sending me off on spells of nostalgia and sadness. I kept thinking of my stay there and realized that I had no major problems during my stay there. In fact I experienced lots of nice things while there.

The day I arrived, my friend came to receive me at the airport. I stayed with him for about a couple of months, and so had no house-hunting to do immediately upon arrival; had everything set-up for a complete home. My work was not pressurizing initially, so that was good; I gradually eased into the schedule, made a good first impression on my client manager, learnt my stuff well and everything went fine on that front thereon.

During my first two weeks there, we had long weekends, and I visited the wonderful Keukenhof tulip gardens on one of them. I went alone, but hardly felt lonely. There was so much to see and click that I didn't notice that I had spent almost 7 hours there and was on my feet for almost the entire duration. To top it all, I clicked 188 pics, a world record by my standards.

After a few weeks, I started my house hunt and got a very, very nice place, which was also very convenient to get to work from. It was expensive, but was situated upstairs of the main shopping plaza of the city centre and therefore everything was at arm's reach. My mother came to visit me and stayed for 2.5 months. During this time we did a two-day tour of the Amsterdam city attractions including a night boat ride on the canals, visited The Hague, Rotterdam, Paris, Brussels, Bruges and the Black Forest area. We had planned a trip to Cologne too during the last week of my mother's stay, but the constant weekend travelling wore me out and so we just decided to take it easy. Luckily, I also got most of my train ticket money refunded. :)

By the time my mother left, I too had decided to leave Holland and had just a couple of months left. Therefore, I vacated the apartment, cleaned it up so well that the house agent thought I had gotten a professional cleaner and therefore managed to get a full refund of my deposit (one of my friends lost almost 75% of his deposit when he vacated). I then shared an apartment with someone introduced to me by my neighbour. Luckily, the new place was also in the same locality (I initially had plans to stay with a colleague, a bit far away, but fortunately happened to chat with my neighbour one evening, and found this new place). Also the new flatmate was a very nice person. Absolutely no problems there.

On the work front, I made very good progress. I had a lot of freedom, spoke when I had to, spoke good sense every time, had great opportunities to interact with various business managers and suppliers and commanded the respect and admiration of the people I worked with. In fact, my program manager, a very senior lady, took to liking my work so much that she made sure I was present in all important meetings with the supplier, and even let me lead discussions with them - things which were definitely not in my realm when I joined the team. It really felt good to be recognized and appreciated and I reckon that drove me to raise the bar every single day. To top this all, I was given a very warm farewell and also received highly appreciative notes of thanks from many and was told I was more than welcome back any time....So, couldn't ask for more.

So, as you can see, everything went good for me in Amsterdam. But why was I sad? I can think of  a few reasons:

1. Well, as I mentioned earlier, you almost always never want a holiday to end. But my Amsterdam *holiday* did.

2. I made a couple of good friends while there, but was not sure if/ where/ when I will get to meet them again. And given that Australia is almost half-way across the world, it is going to take a great amount of effort for either me or my friends to travel that much. So that's probably another reason.

3. And another regret that I had/ still have is that I didn't travel around much while in Europe, which I reckon is a big miss. The few countries that I visited were in fact a result of my desire to take my mom (she LOVES to travel) around, rather than actually see those places for myself. Keukenhof was the exception, but that was because it wouldn't have helped if I had waited for my mom to arrive in Amsterdam as the gardens would've been long closed by then (They are open for just about 2 months in a year, the remaining 10 months are used to plan the following year's display).

4. One of my closest friends from school had moved to Helsinki in July 2013. I have not seen her in many, many years. So if I had known she were there, I would've definitely flown in to see her. Now, I don't know when I will get to see her again.

5. Amsterdam was indeed a nice place to live and work. It is an absolutely beautiful country, friendly people, not very crowded, great public infrastructure, has a great work culture - no unnecessary formalities, no beating around the bush, no need to follow the hierarchical approach to get things done at work (And anybody who's worked in India would know what I mean; of course, the situation is not very different in Sydney either) - which worked to my advantage.

6. But most of all, the Netherlands is a country that accepts people for what they are without any judgments. I find that an amazing quality. Its citizens are not riddled with *morality* issues and are not subjected to unnecessary scrutiny. After all, sometimes the people who most profess standards for a society might themselves have loads of dirt on their back. So it seems so refreshingly un-hypocritical that no one is allowed to prescribe any for others in that country. Do whatever you want, just don't disturb me!!

It's been more than 1.5 years since I left Netherlands, but man I long to get back! Hopefully, even live there sometime again....Let's wait and watch....

I watched Viswaroopam a couple of days back and seriously regret the decision. I wasted my money and time and also sacrificed my sleep for the night show.

What the hell was this movie about? What was the story? How crappier can the screenplay be?

A scene by scene analysis? No way!!!! So here are the high (or should I say 'low' ?) lights.

1. Only God knows why Kamal had to be a Kathak dancer. I thought he had already proven his expertise in Salangai Oli. So why again? Why not Kuchipudi or Odissi? Wouldn't they have been suitable for the tight plot? May be had he had the time to add a few more scenes, he would've reasoned that it was his Kathak skill that enbled him to make swift moves to kill the terrorists. Damn, that was a huge miss!

2. Of course, the comedy parts (read cheap slapstick *tamashu*) are always to the credit of brahmins. The 'chicken tasting *paapathi* ' had to be there. Otherwise, how could the screenplay work (assuming it did) ? Most brahmins I reckon would believe in the concept of karmic retribution, and I guess we saw how that unfolded even before the movie was released.

3. What was the point in the villain (Rahul Bose?) talking in a sore voice throught the movie? Oh oh ok, it was part of the terrorist *effects*. Man was I scared to death!!! To hell!!! I could hardly understand what he was saying.

4. Sub-title highlights: None of the arabic (or whatever language it was) dialogues were sub-titled, but all English ones were. Poor English-illiterate Tamil audience!!!

5. The wife did not know that there was a basement to their house? Come on, was she blind???? All of us saw the broad pathway leading directly from the road, on to the basement's big shutter gate. Heck, even the cops knew about it and were lying in wait for the hero to come out. How could she've not known?? Oh no she must've been too mesmerized by her husband's dance moves to notice such a trivial thing. Right!
Anyway, can't help wondering how such a dimwit earned a doctorate in nuclear oncology. But hey, she's Kamal's wife so anything's possible.

6. And why the hell didn't the cops go inside the house instead of waiting outside? Ha, cos that's what the clever director of the movie must've asked them to do....Hmm that explains it very clearly!

7. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Shekar Kapur also get in to the car? Where did he get lost? The *clever* director focused the camera only on the two women in the car. So that *automatically* explains that he must've been dropped off at the Indian Embassy safely. What you don't see is not there at all!!! After all, aren't we descendants of Ostriches?

8. How, when and where did the car chase end? Poor NYPD could afford to send only two cars?

9. FBI really need to learn a few lessons from Kamal. Otherwise how could they've not know about such terrorist activities on their soil?

10. Nuclear oncology - A highly specialized field of study. But what a pity that no one in the FBI has any idea about it. But thank God, the plot was super-intelligent to make that the wife's field of study. And even greater was her ingenuity - use a simple houshold oven instead of a 'Faraday field'.


11. The best was the ending - 4 superheroes walking majestically!!! The wife says 'Everything's over' - And we heave a sigh of relief. But hey, don't be happy, there is part two - And what follows is another string of incoherent scenes. But that's just the suspense...Watch out!!!

Cooker bomb!!!

Hi Guys,

We had one helluva blast (literally) at home a short while ago. I was watching season 6 of Friends when I heard the blast. It looks like my flatmate was trying to make some dal and had left the cooker on the stove. Then it happened (dunno how or why) - The cooker overturned, throwing away the lid and the weight on the nozzle somewhere, the stove burner burst into pieces and the entire kitchen was engulfed in fumes. Thankfully no one was hurt.

I am now anxiously waiting to listen to what the house owner has to say.

Oh btw, something minor too happened. My flatmate had left his cup of water in the microwave oven. In the blast excitement, I opened the oven and without checking if anything was inside, placed my plate of food to warm it up. The plate hit the cup, the water spilled over completely, the oven went kaput (dunno if it will work henceforth), some circuit got affected, the power tripped, and this caused the wireless router to fail (all other electrical stuff was okay). Fortunately, I traced back quickly and unplugged the oven, so the power is fine. My flatmate says the oven will dry-up by tomorrow and that we can resume using it then. Well, let's see. I will keep you updated.

Cheers.
Prasad.

P.S.: We later discovered that the weight had fallen into the rice that was boiling on the adjacent stove. :))

I will be back!!! (Actually, I am)

Hello All,

I am ashamed of myself. It has been more than 3 years since I posted anything out here. And I have no reason, except my laziness, to give for that. Come to think of it, I am really astounded at how I could put this off for such a looooooooooooooong time. And remember, that was in spite of requests and reminders from some of the people who, fortunately or unfortunately, happened to have read my earlier posts. Anyway, I decided just a few moments ago - Today is the day and Now is the time!!! So here I am. Let's all hope I am able to churn out something worthwhile while I am still in the blogging mood (GOK when I will go into hibernation again).

That reminds me of something - Is hibernation actually good? How beneficial is it to take a break from some thing that seems to tire you out? I have heard of singers (people who know me well would've guessed that I am talking about Bombay Jayashree; as for the others who don't, well, now you do) who actually took a break from the performing career to build up on their existing knowledge and then returned with a freshness that is still enchanting, many years after their return. But will one such example justify such a break in every case? Of course not. I reckon each person's situation will only help them justify (or not) their decision to go into hibernation.

At least in my case of blogging, I know it doesn't.

Of course, we all know our coffee breaks at work definitely do us a lot of good. Come to think of it, there have been times when we (myself and my team) used to feel totally overwhelmed by the work we were doing that we used to take coffee breaks of up to 45 minutes. We would've finished the coffee in 5 minutes, but would never be able to drag ourselves back to our desks for the next 40 minutes. We HAD to sit there and drain out/ discharge before we could even unlock our PC again. And to top it, we would not speak a single word in those 40 minutes. Such was the power of the work ;) lol lol. Anyway, all that's past me now. I have taken zillions of breaks, short and long, at work since then, and have found they are really useful to me.

I can see the enormous value that these breaks can bring into relationships too. I mean, the relationship doesn't have to break, but a period of silence would definitely bring people closer in many instances. At least I have experienced it. Have you?

I am ending this post with a quote which I received from a friend (she actually sends a 'Have a Good Day' email everyday without fail - Guess she is not the hibernating type).

'Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.'

This I think sums up all the blabbering above that.

Good night folks.

Cheers.
Prasad.

Hexaware days - 1 :))))))

I am sure most of you would have guessed after reading the title of this post how I feel when I think of the days I spent at Hexaware (my second employer, after Symphony Services).

I spent two years at Hexaware (exactly 2 years and 1 day - 07-Feb-05 to 08-Feb-07). The decision to join Hexaware was taken pretty quickly, and I shifted from Blore to Madras over the weekend before joining Hexaware.

On the first day, I went to HT 1 (aka Hexaware Towers 1, you know like one of those WTC Twin Towers) to complete the joining formalities. I remember it was this person named Swaminathan who helped me with the forms et al. I had gone there with my dad for he had to sign as the surety on my bond of two years (Now you know why I stayed there that loooooooooooooooong ). While I was filling- up the forms, I noticed there was this rather pretty girl, in a nice yellow cotton salwar, who was also joining the same day. Going by her relaxed appearance (not that I was tense) and noticing that she had not brought her dad or someone to sign as the surety, I thought she must be a lateral- hire (thereby no bond, no tag-along-dad). Added to this was the fact that, while I was pestering Swaminathan with a volley of questions (poor fella, wonder if he ever regretted his job just bcos of that one fateful day) , particularly pertaining to the bond (characteristic of the ever-sceptical me), she seemed to fill up the forms as though all this was routine work for her, as if this was her N-th job, as if she could leave this job too the very next day, as if Hexaware was no big-deal etc etc etc. Hmmm........So many thoughts in a matter of seconds.

Fine. I then finished with the forms and submitted them to Swaminathan and was waiting for him to tell me where to go when he said 'Prasad, I guess you have been to HT2 (see, didn't I say Twin towers???), so could you take her also with you? She is also a fresher joining today'. Bummer!!!!!! My potti (Tamil for box) was off!!!! I thought it was better to ask for info than tiring the *logician* within me. So, on the way to the second tower, I got to know her name, the college she graduated from, her major, and as customary, was asked the same questions by her and gave her the required data. By the time this exhange ended, we reached HT2.

Once there, Praks (aka Prakash, our VP) welcomed us and asked one of the team members to introduce us to the others. I remember very well, it was Ramya (from the LH TKT team) who introduced us to the people of our DU (the USAS team) and the first thing that almost everyone asked her that day was 'Oh! Idu daana anda Bangalore-lerndu vandu sera irunda..... ?' (Is he the one who was supposed to come and join us from Bangalore?) and I would help them complete the sentence saying, ' Oh yeah yeah....'.

I was taken around and introduced to the Superb Gomu, the Xcargo * brats * (no offence guys, this was the exact word Ramya used to describe them), the smiling Hema (who was my manager during my full tenure at Hexaware), the LH Inventory team, the LH Mozaik team, the Aircare (= Ever-hard-working = Ever-compelled-to-work-hard) team, the Genius Shiva etc etc etc. Of course, Praks was always with one team or the other cracking jokes and moving about as yet another team member rather than a VP (This is something that I admire in him a lot, it always made all of us working under him, feel at ease. To sample his sense of humour: Once he had asked all the DU members to give him our feedback about him. And I guess someone had written that he favours girls as opposed to guys. His reply was *As for all of those who feel I move closer with girls, you should be happy that the same is not happening with respect to guys* - and that sent me LOL LOL LOL).

To be continued........