Interview

There was a big recruitment spree going on in our company and specifically in our project. Most of the openings were for a few months contract job and so the project manager and higher officials were not interested in conducting the interviews. There was also the time constraint as there were nearly hundred people required for the project on short term basis. The candidates were shortlisted by the HR and the project manager would just pass the resumes to the Team Leads to conduct the interview. All of my friends had had a go at interviewing and so I was eagerly waiting for my chance. It never came and the recruitment was also completed. After almost a week, I got a call from my Project Manager and was asked to Interview a guy.

I just had time to skim through his profile before going to the meeting room where the guy was waiting for me!!! We greeted each other and I started off with the usual question of "Tell me about yourself". -- I needed this, as I didn't know much about him. That was when I got the shock. It was like a school boy reciting his homework. It went like, "My name is XXX. I have done my YYY at xxx college. I have X years of experience..blah blah. blah". This guy had some experience in the telecom sector and nothing much on what we required. I had made up my mind that this guy would not be suitable for us and that's what I told my PM too.

Then came the second shock. This guy was a relative of our CEO and had been offered a job in the company already. As they didn't have a suitable job for him, they wanted us to take him into our project. The third shock came when the PM asked me to take this guy into my team! Everything had been already decided and this was just an eye wash interview. I felt like a waste cloth!!!

But out of all this, I had got a GEM of a team member. He was a hardworker with a will to learn. He was also one of those guys who would never say die. In fact I was pretty unwilling to let him go when my company got a telecom project.

Beauty of Numbers

Got this as a fwd...

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?

And finally, take a look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Home Again

When you plan for your trip back to India, what would you expect? Seeing your parents and relatives? Meeting friends? Eating home made food?

From experience, it's all of that and most importantly very busy weeks...you almost have no time, trying to squeeze in as many obligations as possible...Especially the courtesy visits. Then, there are those temple visits and the functions they plan to have when we are there.

A friend of mine, had been to India recently for three weeks and during the days she was at home, she normally woke up at 5am and went visiting people. Now, doesn't this sound like a Minister's schedule?

Candles

In almost all the houses that I had visited in Switzerland they had candles lighted in their house. Right from the huge pillar like candles lighted at a corner of the room or small candles on the dining tables, there were sure to be candles. I was fine with all these and felt a bit enchanted tooo...until I saw a candle in the shape of a small dog. I instantly remembered the Balachander Film (don't remember the name...saw it when I was a kid) where the heroine would be enraged to see a candle in the shape of a kid burning away. I was very disturbed when I saw it as a kid and I had the same feeling when I saw the dog candle too. I normally never buy beautiful candles as I can't see it melt away...and one of the gifts I got in Swiss was a beautiful Rose candle.

Alps malai kaatru vanthu ennai thotathu.......

Had been to Swizterland the past three weeks....

Wow, what a place...a picture book.

It's supposed to be summer but the maximum temperature is only 21 C. And that was not always. It went to - degrees most of the time. There was even snow fall in a few places!! It was a wonderful experience...the first time I saw snow fall. The sun made sure that we never forget that it was summer, it sets only at 9.30pm!

The Swiss card appears to be a bit pricy, but is sure worth getting one if you intend to travel a lot. It provides for unlimited travel in all the public modes of travel. There's also free entry to some of the museums. The trains are wonderful in Switzerland. The routes that they cover are awesome and some of them were built as early as 1903. On the Glacier Express we got to see lush green meadows with quaint little houses. The sound of bells from the cows was like ARR music to a Mani Rathnam Film!!! But I did feel sorry for some of the cows, the bells around their neck were as big as a temple bell!

Bern was not part of our plan. But I'm happy that we went there. And a pleasant surprise was a clock tower there. I had seen it on Discovery Travel network a few years back, but had forgotten where it was. We reached the place exactly at the moment when the clockwork was going to strike the magic!! We got to see it... a dream come true for me!!!

Why Gold rates increase

Essential learnings for life

Did you know:


Killing a person in Chennai is as simple as shooting him point blank on the head in a park with lots of kids playing around and no one actually noticing it.

Killing is also such a normal act that the killer can easily revert back to normal life, without a trace of remorse.

In the midst of all this, eating an ice cream when it rains is so peculiar, that anyone who does it should belong to one particular family (should really appreciate the director for coming up with such wonderful ideas…you can add this to the “Kudumba pattu” reunion types)

And the best is:
You can put out a fire on your back by flapping your hands.

I learnt all these when I watched Aathi (a new Tamil Film starring Vijay and Trisha).

மழலை - இனிய தமிழ்

அம்மா வந்தியா

கூங்குறான்

வயாடுதேன்

ஊந்துடேன்

ஊக்கு

Citizen

One of my friends has got Singapore Citizenship for her whole family. She was contemplating whether to go for the whole family or not as her second son has a US citizenship as he was born there. But since the kids can have dual citizenship and decide when they are 17 as to which citizenship they would like to retain, she went for the whole family.

Ever since she told that they have got the Singapore Citizenship, I have been wondering about the mindset of such people. Would they truly feel Singaporean and would they tell everyone that they are Singaporeans and not Indians? Would they really look with pride when there is some achievement by a Singaporean? Who would they support if there was a competition between a Singaporean and an Indian? I feel they would remain Indians at heart and use the Singapore Passport for convenience sake.

New Year and Pongal Wishes

Back after another break...

Although a bit late, here's wishing you all a very happy new year and a happy pongal.

Had been to India the past few weeks. Had gone there just after the rains had done their ravage and the whole country side was fresh and green with all the waterfronts full. All the small lakes (yerri) were full and I had the joy of seeing a "Full Cauvery" after many years. Although the Sun TV had claimed huge damages everywhere, it was not as reported. Some roads were battered very badly and some of them were in really good shape. This was a surprise, as I had expected most of the roads to have been washed away, considering the floods. Only the low lying plains and sites close to the river were affected.

An example of what privatization could do to the country was seen from the Reliance Petrol Pumps...something to be proud of. It was up to international standards with beautiful gardens, large area, clean toilets and good drinking water!!! Some portions of the National Highway (NH45) between Trichy and Chennai were also very good. Three way lanes with clear markings and no potholes!!! There were also areas with small buildings, which were marked for Trucks. This is for the lorries and trucks, when they want to take a break. A nice concept to ensure lorries and trucks don't occupy the highway and disrupt the traffic. Most of these roads reminded me of Malaysia and unsurprisingly, came to know that the road contracts were given to some Malaysian company!!!

A cool breeze was always blowing in Trichy and there were drizzles almost every evening. The buildings in Thathachariyar gardens were affected by the rains, with floods covering almost the whole of the ground floor. In a way I felt that they warranted what they got. Disrupt nature and nature would disrupt your life. I heard that many of them have now vacated their houses in ground floor and gone to other places.

My husband's place is a small village next to Trichy and I love going there. Especially the visits to the fields are a treat. This year the visit was extra special, since my daughter is big enough to enjoy the fields and cows. We need to wade through a small river (oodai) to reach the fields. Normally the river is dry and we go directly to the fields by car or bike. This time, we had to stop the car a good distance away and wade through the knee high water. The water was crystal clear and cool. The nearby fields were a treat to the eye with sunflowers in full bloom and lush green paddy. The oadi karai (river bank) had tamarind trees and we plucked raw tamarind to eat while we made our way to the fields. My daughter was excited with each and everything that she saw and the pump set (a small tank where the water is pumped out from the well) was her heaven. With a doting grandfather ready to satisfy all her wishes and whims she had a whale of a time. The way she played in the water and the amount of illaneer (tender coconut ) that she drank had me worried about her health.

All these bought back memories of my childhood at my granny’s place. The raw tamarind that we used to pluck from the neighbor’s fields and the way we used to play in the water in the pump-set. Oh…for those good old days!!!

The Home coming

A friend of mine is returning to India with his family after nearly 5 years in Singapore. I had initially thought he would be using public carriers to move his household items back to India and was a bit surprised when he informed that he was just relying on the 30 kgs per person allowance on the regular flights.

This is a real feat, considering the fact that we normally collect more than 30 kgs each time we visit India (and that is minimum once a year with atleast two visits from relatives and friends). I shudder to think the time when I would have to move back to India. I think we would end up leaving behind most of our stuff :))

What else would you need?

They ask you to come to office on a weekend and pay for the transport, give you a day off and then top it with a gift..I like this :))

cross-breed

Saw a cross-breed dog this morning....it was so funny. It had the perfect face, ears and color of an Alseshan , a pomeranian's bushy tail that curves upwards, furry coat and the height of a full grown german shepard!!!

FLU Vaccination

Company sponsors a free vaccination for all its employees…and one comment from a fellow employee: “They do this to ensure no one takes sick leave!!” For some people nothing can be straight forward when it concerns their employer.

OZ Trip - the WOW factors

Lets start with the points in favour of Oz.


The Wheelchair friendly buses are a boon to parents using the pram. There is a place allocated for the wheelchairs and prams and can be secured tightly using a belt, so that you don’t have to worry about it moving when sudden brakes are applied. Also there is a place to store large baggage and strollers if not in use. Saves a lot of space and makes it easy for the other commuters to move around.

You can find vegetarian food almost everywhere. Its a pleasant surprise, since in Singapore, you have to search high and low for a veggie burger!!! And the best surprise was that the veggie food (burgers, pizzas and some Mexican items) tasted really good. We found a very good Indian restaurant at Glebe Point Road in Sydney. It was a north Indian restaurant named "Flavour of India" and the sabji was fantastic...I have not found such a good one even in Singapore. The only gripe was that it was open only from 6pm to 11pm.

There are lots of passes available and some good maps and guides. So it shouldn't be a problem to get around the city. We had got the Orange pass, which covered the city and the beaches like Bondi and Manly. It included bus and ferry rides for a whole week. This comes at the same price as a one-day trip on the Explorer Bus, which covers only the city.

Another one is the See Sydney & Beyond Smart Card. You can save a few dollars if you plan well and this card is pretty useful. You can get it for 1,2,3 and 7 days. I feel a 1 or 2 day card would be sufficient. We had taken the card for a single day and were able to save around 20 to 30 dollars each.

Having a kid around is in some ways a blessing...you get preference in most places and you can cut queues :) It also helps in breaking the ice...and gets you friends easily.

The people are friendly and go out of their way to help you. One incident was when a lady asked the bus driver for change for 100 dollars. He didn't have and so asked the other commuters. At least three people stood up and went to the driver immediately with the change. It was like they were waiting for it!!! There were incidents when we just had to look at our maps and people came to us and offered help. There was this old lady, who gave us directions to a place and then went and requested the bus driver to stop for us a bit further down the bus stop as we had a kid!

Back from Australia

Back after a fun filled week. It was especially wonderful for us, since this is the first time that the three of us have been alone together for more than a week. Living as a joint family with my hubby's brother's family and going on trips with others has always resulted in us having atleast another family with us wherever we go. So this was the first time in years that we were alone. Diwali and hubby's birthday were small celebrations with just the three of us.

Another point that was different during this trip was my thought process...it was connecting all sights and scenes to what and how it would get translated in my blog :))

More to come in the following days...

Deepavali Wishes

Wishing you all a very happy Deepavali.

We are leaving for Australia today. Deepavali is in Sydney this time :)

Trichy-il oru mazhail kaalam

It rained 10cms in Trichy and heavy rains in Karnataka resulted in the current floods in Trichy and the surrounding areas. When I spoke with my parents who live in Thiruvanaikovil yesterday, they told that the whole of Chatram Bus-stand, Chinthamani and areas around the Cauvery river were submerged. But luckily there were unaffected. A few things that they told made me think.

1. The crack in one of the banks of cauvery near Srirangam was plugged using 40 bags of sand and that prevented further water flow into the city. -- kudos to those who did the job quickly and stopped a bigger damage.

2. Why is it that Trichy has become a city dependent on the climatic changes in Karnataka?

3. When will they build proper drainage facilities on the roads near St.Joseph's College and Holy Cross College? A small rain is sufficient to flood this area.

4. During the floods yesterday, there were too many police and firemen around giving different instructions that people were totally confused and majority of the commotion was because of this.

5. People living in the low lying areas next to the river had moved to the roads and were living there with no cover over them!!!

6. Cauvery brimming with water is such an extraordinary sight that there were hundreds of people on the Cauvery Bridge.

Is it in Singapore?

A normally busy road on the CBD which also houses one of the famous tourist attractions in Singapore is blocked for a whole day... A mail is sent to all the tenants around the area and information is displayed on boards about the road block. The road block starts as early as 7am in the morning and extends upto 7pm. All buses plying through that route are redirected...All this for a film shooting!!!

That is what is happening now in Singapore, that too for a Bollywood flick!!! All this is possible becos this film is being sponsored by STB (Singapore Tourism Board).

Corruption less (in) India

Corruption in India has gone down when compared to the previous years as per this article in Rediff. Although this is really heart warming, I found a most disturbing info --- Schools and hospitals are the most corrupted organisations in Tamil Nadu. This is really worrying since schools are the foundation stones for a better future and hospitals are one of the essentials in a society. Teachers & Doctors are considered to hold noble professions and this is where we see the most corruptions in Tamil Nadu. How sad!!!