Fall in the UK

The weather in Oct/Nov is mostly pathetic in this part of the world. Dull days, duller and cold nights. The sun hardly shines through, and the haze makes it a little difficult for the likes of me, whose soul object of living weekends is to go out and make this country look more beautiful than it actually is :).

Also, I have just realized that autumn is not the fiery red here, as it is in the US. Autumn is the colour of rust, and if you are lucky, when the sun does peek through and you are out and about, it could be a very soothing gold.

P.S. I shall be back home in the new year. The only thing I will miss from my life for the last year or so, is the opportunity this place gave me to explore something I hadn't known I had any talent for.

You have one life to live. Or atleast you cannot hold more than one lifetime of memories at any time. So make sure that you can count yesterday as having been spent in a manner, the same you'd love to spend again tomorrow. If being carefree makes you happy, then so be it! If falling over trying to follow your curly stubborn tail makes you laugh, do it. There is no shame and no honour. Both often involve third party emotions and hence are not the kind of stuff you want to bank on. There is just one person who mostly always plays along, .... it's You. Listen to what people have to say, but never evaluate yourself solely on what They have to say.

And stop trying too hard. You cannot always do what you love. Someone has to pay the bills and maybe you are born of the lesser fortunate. Accept it. Appreciate yourself because of it, inspite of it. The world around is still not exacting or equating. But remember to take some time out to do what you love today. Don't push it off till tomorrow as tomorrow you have no control over, never.

The essence of all good things lie in their Timing. Ace it.

Back home on a 3 week relaxation scheme? Nopes. More like planned 2 weeks of resolving things that have piled up in my 8 month absence and 1 week kept aside for incidentals. By incidentals I mean falling sick and one or two surprise invitations. One year I have spent in a city called London, and fingers crossed, I can say that I am immune there! A year when I was at my physical best, never lying down when not wanting to, almost. And I always had a feeling that my usual self will catch up with me as soon as I touch my home soil. And it did! I am floored by my old arch enemy! The common cold. Always on the lookut. Ever vigilant. Catching me on the sly and then tormenting me. Like a long lost and despaired lover, who I had injured once and who now and forever hungers for vengeance. Leave me be!

Went to Isle of Wight during Easter. Went alone. It's a marvellous thing if you travel alone. It's different. It's calm. And it feels that you own yourself for the time being. It is a wonderful feeling.

And there are lots of photos to share! If anybody cares that is! :P
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59166866@N07/tags/isleofwight/

At different times in life, I have had different passions. One can say, photography is the latest addition to that. But as with me, these passions don't seem to last. Like, for example, I bought a decent digital camera last winter, which gives you all these damn good pics, but they now do not appear good enough when I have seen what you can achieve with a DSLR. Well I already new that when I bought it I guess, but then I had no idea that this whole concept would interest me much. And now that it has consumed me, I am seriously thinking of putting up my digicam on eBay and use the sales to boost the budget to a DSLR.

And I have been educated by a friend that these lenses apparently don't come cheap. Well atleast all the good ones don't. And even if I do buy them, it doesn't guarantee that I will use them faithfully...

Like I said, I am smitten!

And for more, http://www.flickr.com/photos/59166866@N07/

In Retrospection

I am at a point in my life when one needs to decide a few things. The happy-go-lucky way has to end. One is supposed to start thinking about the future, about how and where and in whose company one will be spending it. In my case, it boils down to me deciding whether I want to study further. It is a popular fact that one can study whenever one wishes to, that one can accumulate degrees much later in the career and still benefit from them. The soul reason for me studying my ass out through school years stands so very much in contrast to norm that I am better off keeping it to myself. And I know that that reason will not suffice as a motivation for me studying any further. Truth be told, that reason does not justify me studying as much as I have! That reason cannot justify anything! So? Where does that leave me?

Many of my friends never left studying. They continued with researches and publishing papers and more researches after graduation. But retrospection leads me to see that their motivation was different from mine. That even when in college, where most of us had given up the concept, they had still continued to flourish as students. They simply are continuing what they set out to do. And that there has not been a gross change in perceptions, or so their behaviour suggests. (It is perhaps of some worth to mention here that few possess the strength, or better put, the will to change the equations of life, in that they deal in constants rather than variables, and align them to ever changing perceptions. Hence even when perceptions may have taken a 180 degree spin, behavioural tendencies may show no signs of shear or tension. That according to me defines complacence, but let’s not digress here.)

Then I also have friends who had landed up in meeting rooms directly from class rooms. There are generally speaking two kinds (arguably) - People who had taken up jobs because that seemed to be the best option open, and people who had taken up jobs because that seemed to be the only option open. I believe I belong happily to the latter kind (happiness may also lie in not having to choose) when my friends are of the opinion that I belong to the former. But whichever the kind, many have began migrating from jobs onto further studying, and every single one has chosen to do this abroad (I do not know what to read in this last fact). So I am fast running out of peers who are simple graduates. Does this have a potential threat hidden somewhere which would have me run head first into a mid-life crisis (reserved in context of my career)?

So let’s discuss available options at this point in my life. What if I do decide to study! What do I study? Certainly not core technology. I was never meant for that. (Remember my motivating factor? It did not justify this even when it served as a motivating factor.) Then a Masters in Business Administration or Finance perhaps?! Finance is number crunching to a thick skull like mine and that sort of thing may have dire consequences to my sanity and appetite. The MBA seems more and more a ball game but then it’s a tough nut to crack and knowing my number skills, may be honestly beyond my reach. One argument that I may put forward here is that the IIMs are producing more and more shit these days (and here I am quoting an ex-IIM graduate and a present leader of my firm) and that I can be as worthless even when the MBA curriculum’s through with me.

The other and more complacent option is to stick with the current flow of things and stay put as an employee with a distant hope of one day making sumptuous gains from loyalty and hardcore hands-on experience. This is the easy bit and won’t require any theatrics on my part; as is the case, this comes naturally to me.

I am a person who has expected the benefits of a disciplined life without having to lead an actually disciplined life. I am a lazy man who demands much. But on a number of occasions I find myself equally satisfied with less, much less. And so I am a little bit confused. It has started to dawn on me that what you deserve and what you wish to achieve are one and the same. And there, I am confused.

All plays have curtains,
All good things must come to an end,
And you must learn to hop
From one Broadway show to the next,
For linger too long,
And you might miss,
A story between frames,
Or a popular song.

Never criticize a show too long,
It will end up in the papers anyways.

Tomra ja bolo tai bolo,
Amar lagey na mone
Amar jae bela, boye jae bela,
Kemon bina karone
Tomra ja bolo tai bolo...

Red cheeks and all that fume

Sometimes you stand and gather yourself,
And see the greatness scattered around, wasted,
And try to make a meaning out of the chaos,
That you have left behind.

Sometimes you remember to dream,
And they come back to you, your little angels,
Who look upon you with a smile,
And make you blush.

You know you look best when your cheeks are red,
And your ears give away fumes,
And the pulses, they run faster than ever,
In a mad rush that fills you soon.

But then you chase the fireflies away,
You know you’ve grown tall,
And thus you end it in your dreams,
The one dream to be small.

I have great potential for bad things.
And that worries me...

A New Hobby?

"...and when will I ever grow up?
past blushes and handsome crushes." :P

......now all I need is a little push.

Cambridge Day Out

Cambridge. The farthest I have ever been from London so far! Our usual trio (Anil, Charles and self) went there during the Christmas holidays this year. For those of you who are interested, let me tell you now that Cambridge visiting season is summer, or late summer preferably. And that is true for almost anything to see in England. But winters here are boring and you need something to do.

Hence Cambridge. The best and cheapest way from London is via the National Express Rail and it takes you about an hour at the most to cover the 52 miles between the King’s Cross and Cambridge. You should pre-book your tickets to avail of any discounts or offers that are running around. Usually there is always something to be found if you look hard enough!
Cambridge is a day’s trip. We left the King’s Cross at 10:15am on the 27th of December 2010. And within an hour we were standing in front of the Cambridge station. It was quite chilly but luckily there was no hard wind. They always make matters worse. So we were standing in front of the station not knowing what to do and then we bought a guide map from the guide-map-vending machine. Cost us a pound. We figured out our north from our south next and headed out into the city.


Cambridge is not a big city. And you can manage by walking. We did. The tourist bus rides may sound tempting but they are costly for those who are not plush. The station is at the south-east corner of the city and all universities or major sight-seeing fall on the north-north-western side. We first went to the city centre with big malls and shopping complexes. Sale was on and the place was throbbing. We judged that we were cold (and the walk from the station had made us pretty uncomfortable) and needed something hot inside. We had our lunch at wagamama, tried Japanese wine ‘sake’. And so full we set out once again.


Punting in Cambridge is a must. And we were so very glad that is was still open in winter. Graduate students from the university give you a boat ride in the Cambridge river, locally known as the college river, and give you the facts and fictions that surround the great halls of this old and rich place. Our punter was a young graduate from York who’d come to Cambridge during holidays to earn some extra cash. We, a group of about 10 people, were made cosy in the small boat with quilts and hot-water bags. We sat at the head of the boat. Facing us was a really cute Taiwanese couple (I have been guilty of taking snaps of the girl more than once, but in my defence, the chill made her nose red and she was quite a sight :)). And further down were a Korean and a German family.


The punter hit us with little stories of the different halls on the Cambridge grounds; starting from the splendour of the King’s and Queen’s College to the not-so-cute Pembroke College and the bitter rivalry between Trinity and St. John’s Colleges, the history of the bridges on the river, their perfections (mathematical bridge) and imperfections (missing-a-section Clare Bridge), the tragic story of beautiful Elizabeth-de-Clare, who had three husbands, all of whom died soon after their marriage to her, and that the black widow derives its name from her, of present day not-so-smart graduates who'd crawl the roofs of King's College (the tallest structure within Cambridge bounds) and place souvenirs on the tower-heads.

All this was a pretty heavy dose of history and the graduate knew his audience well. We finally disembarked near the Anchor pub, which is rumoured to have had Pink Floyd artist Syd Barrett as a frequenter in the late 60’s and serves the best ale in the city. We then continued our journey on foot and visited the St. John’s and Trinity College grounds. While at Queen’s college on the Bridge of Sighs we witnessed something wonderful. A couple were marrying on a boat mid-stream.

It then became late and as it was getting dark we made for the station. We had a train to catch at 5:15pm. We were exhausted by the time we got home and I had a sound sleep.

A fortunate misfortune

Flight EK005 took off from Dubai International Airport at 4:30 pm (local time), a 300plus passenger boeing-777 flight, with all intentions of making it to LHR by nightfall. But someone somewhere must have had other plans. And so when the plane touched down in Hamburg at 8:00 pm in the middle of all that snow and an outside temperature of -9oC I cursed my fate for letting me being caught up in all this. They speak of it as the worst snow in a hundred years. And I did not, from the moment I came down the aircraft, feel that it was going to be amusing. The Germans were hospitable enough to take us in but we still had to go through a very rigorous administration process that took up 4 hours. They initiated some kind of paper visa with 48hr validity. Then there was talk of us being put up in the Marriott for the night. This brightened people up a bit. The next flight would be for 3:45pm the next day. Sad as it is the person in front of me in the queue was the last to be booked into Marriott. I and all who followed were put up in a smaller but neat motel. Once there I had a hot bath and fell asleep.


In the morning when we were having breakfast news spread that snow had made it impossible for Heathrow to operate and that the flight would have to be further delayed. As if things were not already bad! I refused to be stuck in the motel with German TV and no laptop charge. The motel lobby had some 30 people gathered for breakfast. Soon people began clustering into groups, based on colour and culture. After lunch our little group moved out in a cab to see the city. The cab driver was an Iranian and luckily one of us spoke Parsi and we convinced him to take as around the city for 10€ per person. It was a nice little trip in the glum streets of west Germany. The large bare iron and burnt brick structures seemed to bear visages of the past, from the time of the World Wars. I had never seen so much snow and it was delightful. We stopped by the neat little houses and took snaps.



Then we drove down a once-lush-now-bare-and-white boulevard to a lake that had been completely frozen. The famous Alster was now like a huge ice rink and little Christmas carnivals had sprung up on its banks. There was this huge Christmas tree that stood in the middle of the lake, sparkling in all its glory. We drove round the big lake and saw the monstrous train stations of Hamburg. These structures seemed so solid that nothing but nukes would dent them. German engineering!


Thrilled and shivering we came back to our hotel in the evening. The night buffet was more tempting than the lunch had been. We had a small chat after dinner and then we slept. Good news was in store as we woke up the next morning and we left Hamburg airport at 11:30am bound for Birmingham. Yes, Heathrow was still closed. We had coaches that took us from Birmingham to LHR and finally when I got to my apartment it was 7:00pm Monday. I had left home on Saturday 7:00am from Kolkata and that made it a total of 2 days and 18 hrs of flight time! But I am glad that all this happened. Made some great friends and saw a city that would normally be out of my itinerary.
After all,
“Whatever is, is best!”
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

And the longest break that I've ever taken since I got working ends today. I cannot say how the two weeks went by before I could actually take any initiative to begin enjoying them! Much like me (smile).

First Snow!

When I woke up this morning it was snowing and my city was all white. I had never seen snow before, and I felt as much part of a fairytale as any. Light fleecy flakes dancing with the wind hit my face and it was this funny childish itch that I had almost forgotten that hit me! Christmas is near. I am glad everything is turning out the way it has been for the last couple of months. I really love this city. And I would like to stay a little longer! My secondment ends in January but I guess I want to linger.

And there are loads still to do here, loads still to see. Who knows when I might get a chance again!Keeping my fingers crossed.

Had a pitcher of 77 Sunset strip http://www.coctails.org/77-sunset-strip, sizzling steak, burning shrimp and chicken legs last night shared between two good friends. Ordered my first bottle of champagne http://www.drinksdirect.co.uk/acatalog/jacobs_creek_sparkling_rose.html and to top it off a taquila shot on the house (courtesy of the cheerful barman Tony).

Friend speak:"Let's make this the most memorable b'day you ever had buddy! You gotto remember it!"
Me speak: "I would've remembered it for sure, if not for all this liqour being emptied into me!"

But amazing as it is, last night, we were left standing after all and today I am at work as I write this down. The stupor has passed mostly in my case. The friend seems to have an ill fate and has dozed off at his desk.

Performance Reviews: A Discourse

The psychometrics of man makes some things a necessary evil. Let us take the annual performance reviews in corporate organizations for example. There can be no denying that performance reviews are absolutely critical. Why? Because of the way we’re groomed from childhood. Because we were taught, when very young, that in order to expect good results we must perform. However, as it is with any other thing, this bit of information, gets twisted in our brain and by the time we graduate and are ready to migrate from a world of academics to one of economics, it reads something like ‘If we perform we must expect good results’. And as we proceed through the first year of our career, this faith is fed by our respective managers/mentors by constant appreciations of the things we learn (and here I must state that the intended audience of this blog are not the happy-go-lucky people of the world but that minute sub-set of them that consider themselves to be achievers and are ready to debate that fact!), for freshers are expected mostly to learn trade and not do trade!(again trade is used in a much broader sense here) And then suddenly we are expected to grow up and deliver. And we do deliver, sometimes to our own astonishment! As that happens we begin to expect: Work Done => Praise Hard-earned. But industry is a whole different ball-game. And it doesn’t necessarily pay you back in the same terms. When the year ends, not all things look nice and fair; if the revenues are not good the axe has to fall. And people walk away disheartened, feeling that Newton’s 3rd law is valid no more. That makes most despondent and they hold up another perspective of it. They migrate. Leave and let live. Descent by-product of human psychometrics based on above mentioned inputs. The strong have always conquered new shores. And the strong are usually capable to migrate safely, sometimes even with bumper bonuses.


Based on the above, one should ask, whether or not is it worth the man-hours spent on achieving such a review. But the answer was clear at the beginning. It is absolutely critical to have one! It doesn’t hurt the movers for vertical change is good. It doesn’t hurt the absorbing organisations as they gain resource wealth. And lastly, it is good for ailing organisations in the sense that it gets you on a platform where you have to rethink your position and strategy and approach and that means change and change is better. Performance reviews are not de-motivating. They just are the kicks that make change necessary by placing your motivations correctly.