Category: Personal

Ten years back – Part I


Life runs so fast that when we turn back we can believe that itz been so long. Ten years back exactly on same day we went to Ooty trip along with college buddies. Yes we were in our final year and we know if not then it will never happen together. And we were right after that we were unable to make it as a team till date. Some one or other will miss because so some other priority.

Coming back it all stands ever green in front of my eyes the planning we did. Initially we thought of going as a class trip. But we had some problem; 

  • As usual there was a set of folks who said they cant spend money on tours.
  • Then college said we have to take some faculty along with us if we had to take girls.

We were so mean those days that we scraped the idea of taking girls as we were not ready to pay for a faculty. Also we thought we can go along with core group of friends so that we can have ball of a time.

Then it was time for planning we collected all the tourist spots from TTDC and thru other sources. Then collected college bonafide certificate from college as it gave us concession in train tickets, dorm rooms in youth hostel & concession in theme park. 

Then came the D-Day we packed our bags on 05/09/1999 where in we all planned to take Electric train and meet assemble at Mambalam station. So fun started from there where in confusion started from there; 

  • Venket boards a train and joins Balaji from Palavanthangal.
  • Both of them will join Karthik from St.Thomas Mount station.
  • All three will join me from Guindy Station.
  • We all join other folks other than Saravanan in Mambalam station.
  • Karthik has a habit to sleep when he stands. So we were unable to pull him down at Mambalam station because of crowd. So, Balaji caught the train and said he will pull him down at park station and he did that promptly.
  • Then we all joined at park station and crossed the road and boarded train to Mettupalayam. And it was fun from then on.

anand2Joy in Train: Venket took control by himself and claimed himself as the captain of the trip. Who cares we didn’t give him a damn and we were in our own world. So first step of control Venkat took was to lock all our bags and he was good at that and we were relieved that someone took care of our belongings.. Then he took all the snacks which we brought (we planned to have snacks for whole 5 day). But when Venkat slept we finished off all the snacks we brought within minutes.

Then we were shouting, talking, playing cards and didn’t sleep the whole night. We were pulling down each others socks. 

anand5Then finally we reached Metupalayam by 7 AM and we ran to board Ooty heritage train. It was a 4 hour right and we enjoyed first 2 hours by running behind the train. Taking snaps on the falls that pours en route. Then we got bored. Then we reached Ooty and we were sitting in a park before we found the youth hostel.

We refreshed our self and it was already 2 PM and we proceeded to Lake that day and we returned back as we were tired as we didn’t sleep that day. Then we returned to Hostel and slept.

As we stayed there for 5 days we need 5 parts to cover the entire episode as each day was an epic by itself.

Tribute to teachers


To start with I’m not a great admirer of teachers as I was always a below average student in my academics. But as usual I’ve my handful teachers who were very supportive and helped me come up. So these are the great ones to whom I’d like to pay my TRIBUTES; 

Jacqulin: She was my class teacher when I was in Class II in Alpha Matriculation Higher Secondary School, CIT Nagar, Chennai. She was young & good looking. I always had her affection and she was very supportive to me. Since she was a primary class in charge she did play an important role in my career. But she help to lay good foundation which was helpful in later stages.

Poonam Motwani: She took Biology when I was in Class IX in AV.Meiyappan Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Virugambakkam, Chennai. Class IX I came terribly low in my academics but I really excelled in Sports. In this year I represented my school in Zonals in Football, Basket Ball & Athletics. Poonam mam was newly married then and was a fresher to profession also she was gorgeous in her looks. I was pet student of Poonam mam as I was very naughty, mischievous & bottom topper in the class. She treated me like her brother and she really took lot of pains to improve my standards. But all her results ended in vain as I didn’t show any interest to learn. The very next year her husband got transferred and she left Chennai and I’m not sure where she lives. But I’ve high regards for her. 

Malathy: She took English when I was in Class IX, Class XI, Class XII in AV.Meiyappan Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Virugambakkam, Chennai. English is one subject which I was above average. Malathy mam was my well wisher and she keeps advising me to choosing a career path and she has shared a lot of her personal with me. She is one special person and I’d keep her at No.1 position compared to other teachers. After my schooling I didn’t take efforts to maintain contact with her and I feel ashamed for that. 

Usha Sundar: She was my HOD in by UG where I did Bachelors in Computer Science from Dhanraj Baid Jain College, Thoraipakkam, Chennai. She is one lady who stood as inspiration in my life for her courage and for her problem solving skills. Also today I dedicate my success to her. During farewell day she said; 

“You are all ending a life which is just filled with Fun and no worries.
You were shielded by your parents.
Now you are stepping into real world.
Real world is so cruel.
If you are successful it will take as its own success.
If you fail it will treat you miserably.
So, don’t take Success for Granted;
Failures to your heart;
Learn quickly;
Best of Luck.”

All these words hit me hard and since I ventured into business immediately after college I came across all the things she said and her words helped me to overcome struggles. You can understand as you can see I’ve typed her golden words even after 9 years. Again this lady is my courage, inspiration and a mentor.

Raghu Iyer: This man is a real legend when it comes to Finance, Teaching & Humor. He enlightened me by showing power of Ms-Excel as a tool to maintain finance. He really inspired me with his teaching style that I started developing admiration for Finance. He was my Finance professor at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

In this list I’m in touch with Usha Sundar Mam & with Raghu Iyer thru linkedin.com. With other I’ve lost tough once after 1986 with Jacqulin, 1994 with Poonam & 1997 with Malathy. Let me see the power of internet and see if I’m able to get in touch with them.

Once again let me thank these important people as without you all I’m not what I’m today.

Also I’d like to thank Mr.Gopal Ramanan for igniting my inner self to atleast write about these great ones. He asked me to do it over chat and you can check his Teachers day tribute here.

Vicky’s marriage


7234_146060551952_724236952_3031304_2854647_n7234_146060561952_724236952_3031305_5670277_nYesterday was Vicky’s marriage and it was the moment we all were cherishing. He is the first in our Gang to get married. We are happy that we can take a call after seeing his experience (Smart way is learning from others mistake). I’ve been to many Bhramin marriage and I’ve stayed fully. But vicky’s marriage was the first where I sat for a long time. They have lot of rituals which runs for more than a day. In pictures you can see Vicky tying knot to Lakshmi.

Moments of the marriage; 

  • I missed the morning session on 1-09-2009. But Kuruvi & Sundar were on time for food.
  • It is nice to see Sundar coming to India for a week just to attend Vicky’s marriage.
  • I reached to the spot by evening and it was time to pull Vicky down. But Vicky was not disturbed as he didn’t bother us.
  • Then there was a counter offering fresh juice and I don’t have count on my intake. I think it must be more than 10.
  • Then time to pose for a snap with the couples. We are the ones to offer best gift. Yes we gifted Vicky to Lakshmi (Head Lakshmi inner self telling the gift was useless) which was the best (atlest we keep telling that to everyone).
  • Then time to pose for second snap with my mother. This time my mother saved my face by coming with a Gift.
  • Then time for dinner and the food simply superb & kudos for the caterers for their wonderful service.
  • Then next day morning got a wakeup call from Kuruvi by 5.45 AM. I got ready but Madhu was not ready and we decided to start by 9 o clock.
  • We reached the marriage hall by 9.30 AM and we were on time.
  • We were hungry and when we asked if breakfast was ready Vicky’s uncle interrupted asking us to wait as he will be tying knot in 5 min.
  • But it took 20 more min and we waited with hunger.
  • Then came the moment we all were happy, and I was more happy as I was able to make it to Breakfast.
  • Again time to Pull down Vicky and this time Vicky gave some attention to us.
  • Then shook hands with Vicky and came back home discussing golden moments with Madhu.

Suicide


Today morning I woke up only to hear a bad news that one of our good family friends and one time tenant has committed suicide two days back by hanging herself. I was really angry and had no words to utter. I’ve seen her as an inspirational lady. She was very much enterprising and I heard she was one of the early for women in her town to drive a car. She is known for her courage and talking face to face.

On hearing that she is no more has really upset me. He has a 10 year old kid and she hails from a wealthy family. I’m sure she must have faced many odds in her life before and she has stayed strong. It puzzles me what made her to take such a crazy move.

In Tamil there is a proverb Tharkolai (Suicide) Empathu (Is) Kozhainga (Cowards) Yeducura (Taking) Deiriyamana (Bold) Mudivu (Decision). It make it simple it “Suicide is a Bold Decision taken by Cowards”. After getting emotional I wanted to do some research on why people commit suicide.

Why people commit Suicide?

There is multiple reason for one to commit suicide and there are different types of suicide too…

Some types of Suicide are; 

  • Euthanasia and assisted suicide: This one is something like a mercy killing where in a person who lacks courage to get killed will be helped by some third party to get killed.
  • Murder-suicide: This is a kind of killing where one kills others and finally ends his life. In India off late farmers suicide has become common for poverty. So these farmers with an intention not to make their family suffer after their death kill their family and finally end their life.
  • Suicide attack: This one is common now-a-days in terrorism where in suicide bomber kills himself and innocent people.
  • Self-injury: Self-injury is not a suicide attempt; however, initially self-injury was erroneously classified as a suicide attempt. There is a non-causal correlation between self-harm and suicide; both are most commonly a joint effect of depression.
  • Suicide locations: We all must be familiar with this like we have tourist points like Suicide Point where people commit suicide.
  • Multiple suicides: Some suicides are done under peer pressure or as a group. Mostly terror groups follow this to avoid capture and torture.

Reasons of Suicide; 

  • Anger
  • Love
  • Stigma
  • Behavior
  • Insecurity / fear

Over all there may be plenty of reason but my judgment is Suicide is also a way of terrorism. We don’t have the right to take our own life. Having created us we / our lives are owned by almighty and he knows when to take someone to him. Person committing the act doesn’t know how far it will affect their closed one and put them into unnecessary trauma. As a family friend after knowing this I’m upset and I’m unable to concentrate on any work, imaging how it would have taken a toll on others around them.

Anyways happened is happened and all I can do it prey for her soul to rest in peace.

Welcome Mr.Baid!! Bid Adieu Mr.OP III!!!


DSC01579I remember I brought this notebook Compaq Presario B1900 for my eMBA classes and I brought it the previous day. So I remember the date very well. It was during 15/12/2006 evening 7 o clocks I got the delivery of the system. From then on this guy has come a long way with me and had been with my thought and good times…

This notebook has several accomplishments behind him and he has a special place in the heart in days to come… 

  • Started and finished my entire MBA classes with this system.
  • During 25/01/2007 I met with big accident neat Vaniambadi while returning from Bangalore to Chennai. He was thrown out of the car but nothing happened and today I’m typing about him.
  • Started actively blogging only after getting this notebook.
  • Travelled places with me like Andamans, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Chidambaram, Trichy, Erode, Coimbatore & Madurai.
  • He was awake for at least 16 – 20 hours a day. So taking 16 hours a day he has been awake for 15,840 hours, 990 days & 33 months.
  • Started tweeting in his times…
  • Didn’t blogging & tweeting using data card and this guy while travelling to Chennai in a Bus…
  • Searched for Cogzidel’s and freeze the name using this notebook…
  • Booked domain names associated to Cogzidel with this notebook…
  • Did all planning for Cogzidel using this notebook.

There are many more things I did using this guy and he has been with me for 33 long months. It is really hard to Bid Adieu to him. But I’m not planning to sell it or donate this system to anyone. It will surely rest in my personal museum and when Cogzidel becomes big this Notebook will be displayed with this description on him… Off late I started naming my car, camera et all. So I’ve not given a name till now so I think I can take this opportunity to give him a name and I’m naming him as Optimus Prime III… 

  • First one is the one in the movie Transformers…
  • Second is Balaji’s car…

Thank you OP III for this long association with me and for being with my tough and good times… I think it is time for you to take rest…

DSC01578Welcome Apple Notebook MC240ZP/A to my new world. I don’t think I’ve to give more induction about my needs as I’ve explained how your predecessor was… Having seen my requirement and the reputation you have for your brand I expect more from you and I’m more demanding for performance… Before I’d like to get you a name and from today onwards you will be called Mr.BAID named after my college name Dhanraj Baid Jain College. Being first time user of Mac today I’m planning to; 

  • Read the manual fully before using it.
  • Start is slowly (2 – 3 hours a day for next 5 days) till I get a groove.

Other than that there is noting more to add and I expect you will come along with me a long way like OP III…

FYI: This is the configuration of Mr.BAID…

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.13 GHz
(3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz)
13.3″ WXGA Glossy, 
2 GB DDR2 (2x 1 GB), 
160GB SATA HDD
DVDRW SuperMulti Double Layer,
Gigabit LAN, WiFi 802.11n
VGA NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256MB DDR2,
ISight Camera
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard,
Bluetooth, Firewire,
Weight 2.27kg.

Ganesh Chadurthi @Home


GANESH6-SmallLast week it was Ganesh Chadurthi a festival dedicated for lord Ganesh & famous with Hindus all over the world and particularly in India.

So who Ganesh is?

Lord Ganesh is the elder son of Lord Shiva & Parvathy…

Why Ganesh Chadurthi is celebrated?

Clay Idol we brought last week
Clay Idol we brought last week

Lord Shiva had Nandhi Deva as guard the house of Godess Parvathi. One day Godess Parvathi instructed Nandhi Deva not to allow inside the house as she is taking bath. Lord Shiva arrived at that time and Nandhi Deva allowed his as he is her husband and God of resolution. This Irked Godess Parvathi as Nandi Deva didnt obey her.

Then Lord Shiva was away for war. This time Godess Parvati wanted to bathe and having no-one to guard the door to her house, conceived of the idea of creating a son who could guard her & obey her orders. Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door and instructed him not to let anyone enter.

In the meantime, Lord Shiva returned from the battle but as did not know about Ganesha. Also Ganesha stopped Shiva from entering Parvati’s chamber. Shiva, angered by Ganesh’s impudence and cut off Ganesha’s head with his trident. Parvati emerged to find Ganesha decapitated and flew into a rage. She took on the form of the Goddess Kali and threatened destruction to the three worlds of Heaven, Earth and the subterranean earth.

Seeing her in this mood, the other Gods were afraid. Lord Shiva, in an attempt to pacify Parvati, sent out his deciples, to find a child whose mother is facing another direction in negligence, cut off his head of the child and bring it quickly. Also he said the head must reach him before the end of dawn.

The first living thing they came across was an elephant. That elephant was facing north (the auspicious direction associated with wisdom). So they brought the head of this elephant and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Parvati’s son and breathed life into him.

Parvati was overjoyed and embraced her son, the elephant-headed boy whom Shiva named Ganesha, the lord of his ganas (devoties / followers). Parvati was still upset so Lord Shiva announced that everyone who worships Ganesha before any other form of God is favored. So Ganesh is worshipped first in all Hindu occasions and festivals.

This is why we celebrate Ganesh Chadurthi…

DSC01491DSC01492Hailing from a Hindu family we celebrate as a grand occasion but performing pooja & cooking special food. We buy clay idol of Lord Ganesha and perform abhishegam on the idol. You can see picture on the left taken after performing abshegam by my father & specially cooked food in front of god to celebrate the occasion. We keep the idol in our Prayer Room for 3 days and immerse it in Sea or Pond or River or well inside our home. After the pooja is over first we offer a part of food to Crow (which we consider as our ancestors). After the Crow eats the first bite we come back and cherish the special food cooked. Also in the menu there will be Kozhukattai & Sundal which is my favorite.

Day of Coffees


The day started with loads of appointments. But to my surprise all the appointments were cancelled and had nothing to do. Then I & Balaji had long pending shopping to do. So Balaji made some shopping in Mega Mart and then we left to iStore in to buy Laptop bag for my new Mac book.

Then we thought of having coffee at 36 Degrees Coffee & Juice Shop near Foreshore estate. We picked up two more friends and went to the coffee shop. To start off with things were not smooth as Balaji got irritated that there were no coffee’s in a coffee shop. So we settled for Sandwiches & Shakes. But Balaji got carried away with The Ambience and with the quality of food and drink… Also the price was very nominal and Balaji was finally happy.

When we entered 360 degrees there was a curious looking Birthday girl named Cathy dressed like an angel was sitting in the entrance expecting her friends for her birthday party. When we are half way having our grub slowly Cathy’s friends and their parents started dropping in with gifts.

You can imagine how the place would have become with a bunch of kids between the age group of 4 – 6 years. Kids were playing with balloons. Then Cathy’s parents arranged for magic show and the Magician really presented well in front of kids… I realized how smart these kids were when the magician was asking for colors, remembering the counts, remembering the name of cards and also finding out the trick played by him. It was absolute chaos. But watching tiny tots enjoying was real fun. Initially we though we have to vacate the place thinking we might be a hindrance for their privacy. But the magician involved other guest like us and got us connected with the party.

Then we walked out with absolute satisfaction. Then from there we didn’t know what to do. So I thought of visiting Amethyst Coffee Shop as we have not been there… Again a wonder place when it comes to crowd and ambience. I was not that impressed with Food & Drink when compared to 36 Degrees Coffee Shop and also prices were on the higher end. Again I was angry on myself that I didn’t carry my camera to shoot snaps at these wonderful places. Anyways there were no complaints as these places are in Chennai and we can make it anytime again.

Then I had an appointment to meet an entrepreneur friend of mine at 8 PM which was scheduled in Café Coffee Day located inside Mega Mart where we started the day. We dropped two friends at their home and drive to meeting and shared our latest experiences and we packed our bags. But what was interesting things for the day was; 

  • We started and ended the day in the same place.
  • We visited three different coffee shops.

Over all I was not regretting for cancelled appointments as the day was more fulfilling and I enjoyed the weekend in a different style.

Nice Picture


Person behind the smoke must really be smart… This is a real nice one… Can anyone find out who is behind the scene???

mocha

September Schedule


I’ve had many busy and hectic months but the difference is I’ve noticed them only after the end of the month. But this September I’ve a packed schedule and for the first time I’m planning my diary. So these are schedule for this month. 

  • Everything starts with office warming of Cogzidel Consultancy Services new office…
  • Then it is Vicky’s marriage and we have planned for a 2 day leave and have a get-together.
  • Then there we a weekend trip to Ramesharam.
  • Then there is a whole week of performance review & appraisal.
  • Then there it is the first anniversary of Cogzidel and we are planning to make it a memorable event.
  • Then my there is a 4 days holiday for my sister and we are planning for a family outing to Kodaikanal & Kuttralam. It’s been more than a decade since we went our as a family. Waiting to cherish the moment. 
  • In spite of all these I’ve to schedule meeting with potential investors and must fix a target for this month and achieve it, new office setup etc.

Most of this months schedule will be special & emotional like best friends marriage, new office setup, family outing, visiting new destination like Rameshwaram & Kuttralam. Hope events turn up as expected… Will keep you posted on overall experience by end of September.

ICICI Credit Card Issue Settled


Finally ICICI Bank Credit Card Irony which started 4 years got settled. Starting with poor customer service to disturbance from collection agents to rejection of loan request getting rejected to settling of dues without (which arose because of irresponsible act of an ICICI employee for presenting Cheque late where in late payment charges were attached to me) to attaching  lien on my account and taking funds for second time. Finally went to nodal officer and got my funds back and cleared my name from CIBIL.

This is the confirmation I received from ICICI Nodal office.

Dear Mr. Nataraj,

We refer to your e-mail of August 7, 2009 addressed to Nodal Officer regarding your ICICI Bank Credit Card account number 4477 xxxx xxxx 4003.

We have zeroised your Credit Card account number 4477 xxxx xxxx 4003. As on August 26, 2009 there is no out standing on your Credit Card account.

We have made necessary changes in the Credit Information Bureau India Limited (CIBIL) report from ” written of ” to ” settled “.

Attempts were made to contact you on your mobile number 09841430004. However, there was no response.

We request you to  kindly click on the link below to share your experience. 

Please click on  http://www.hansaresearch.com/icicibank/hsq/cc.asp?HSQ=35066703  to tell us.

Sincerely,
Sri.Venkateshwara
Office Of Head Service Quality

Let me take this opportunity to thank Mr.Venkateshara & the Nodal office team for getting the issue sorted.