SAP Teched 2008 Bangalore (Connect, Collaborate, Co-innovate)

SAP Labs conducted this annual event in Bangalore from the 12th to the 14th of November. This three day event had everything in it for what it takes to be a blockbuster. Here are a few things that made this event a great success,

· Educational sessions - More than 100 educational sessions (lectures/workshops) on varied topics were on offer for the different levels of audience to gain expertise.
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· Demo Jam – Among the 60 demo entries, the top 6 which were demonstrated gave us a chance to witness some cool cutting-edge technologies. A lot of creative brains must have gone into that. Huh.
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· Certification – Provided us with a platform to get ourselves certified as professionals in our respective fields.
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· SAP Solution Pads – Gave us a chance to check out the latest SAP Technologies in action.
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· Contribution Recognition - SAP recognised the top contributors of SDN and encouraged all its members to contribute more article/blogs. The points thus accumulated during the year would be encashed and donated to the U.N world food programme.
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· Entertainment - We were treated to a fabulous comedy show by Mr.Vikram Sathaya (the most sought after comedian in the world of cricket).

· Virtual Teched - With over 500 sessions of streaming video from 2006, 2007 and 2008 events, Virtual SAP Teched delivers the industry's best knowledge of the latest SAP technologies at your fingertips.
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Many thanks to MindTree for providing us an opportunity to witness a memorable event like this one!

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Everything happens for the good!!!

I happened to hear a story today morning that I would like to share with you all. I felt that I was blessed to have heard this story as it proved something I believe in.

Here goes the story -
Centuries ago, there lived a King who had appointed a wise Minister to help him lead the nation in an efficient manner. This wise Minister was someone who always believed that - "Everything happens for the good". Soon, he met the King's expectations and was considered the right-hand man of the King.

One day, the King injured his thumb while cleaning his sword. The injury was so bad that his thumb had to be removed. Soon the news spread throughout the nation and everyone was unhappy. But when the Minister heard about this incident from a soldier, he told him "Everything happens for the good" and the Minister's face didn't show even a sign of distress. Seeing this, the soldier felt that the Minister was out of his senses and soon thought about reporting this merciless attitude of the Minister to the King.

The soldier then goes to the King and tells about his experience with the Minister. The King's face turned red with anger after having heard that. He immediately asks his soldier to bring the Minister to his court. When the Minister arrives, the King orders his soldiers to lock the Minister in a dark isolated room till they recieve any further orders from him. Hence, the Minister finds himself locked in a dark room for the merciless attitude shown by him towards the King.

Later that night, the King desperately in need of some relief from the intolerant pain decides to go hunting along with two of his soldiers. In the jungle, they decide to go in different directions in search of a prey. The King, on pursuit of finding a prey finds himself lost in the dark jungle.
That same night, a gang of poachers looking disturbed were wandering in the jungle after God had appeared in their dream and told them that they would find a bagful of treasure in that jungle. The treasure would come at a price though. The price - a human sacrifice was to be made.

The poachers then see the King wandering alone in the forest and were very happy having found a solitary human-being for their sacrifice. They capture him and just when they were about to chop his head off, one of them notice the thumb missing in one of the hands of the King. They start discussing about this and decide that the King was not a complete human-being and considered that as a bad omen for their sacrifice. The poachers finally decide to let the King go.

The King now glad about how his life was saved by his missing thumb goes back to his palace and narrates the whole incident to his sub-ordinates. At this point of time, he sees his Minister and remembers what he had said : "Everything happens for the good". He orders his soldiers to free the Minister. Our King trying to fall on the Minister's feet apoligizes to him. The Minister tells the him that there was no need to apologize as the King had eventually done a good thing by imprisoning him. The King is now confused after hearing these words from a guy whom he had kept in a dark room and hence asks the Minister to explain.

The Minister then explains why he thought the King had done a good job by imprisoning him. Had he not been imprisoned, the Minister (considered the King's right-hand man) would certainly have accompanied the King when he had set out for hunting and might have got himself sacrificed by the poachers after they had considered the missing thumb of the King as a bad omen for their sacrifice!

Hence, both the lives of the King and his Minister were saved. As they say, "Everything happens for the good". I couldn't do much but agree with that saying after hearing this story.

P.S: If you still don't believe that everything happens for the good, I would like to congratulate you as you have won yourself a chance to read the story once more.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Grandma's Love!!!

I had been to Davangere a couple of days back to visit my grandparent's whom I hadn't seen for quite a long time. I purpose of my visit was genuine though - My grandfather had his knee operated after he had met with an accident and was now going through a recovery process. I truely enjoyed this trip for the affection and care my grandma showered on me. This affection, I conceived would definitely decrease (if not die) as we grew older (She was in her early seventies and I was nearing my 24th Birthday). But, I later realized that I was completely wrong.

I took a bus from Bangalore at 11PM on Thursday and reached my grandparent's house at around 5.30AM the next day. To my surprise, I was recieved by my grandma who had been awake and waiting for half an hour anticipating my arrival. She was overjoyed and a bit shocked as well after seeing me. Overjoyed, since she was seeing me after a long time and shocked seeing the drastic change in my physique. She after quickly inquiring about my happenings, asked me to take a nap since she thought that I wouldn't have slept in the bus. Little did she know that this grandson for her's wasn't awake even for a minute during the 6-hour long journey!!!

I woke up at 9 that morning. I was amused to have got a bed-coffee (Just can't remember the last time I got a bed-coffee!). She performed that act in which I believe all the nazar's put on me will be removed. She asked me take an oil massage bath later on. After taking bath, it was time for me to have a delicious breakfast. She would keep adding stuff to my plate even though I hesitated!

We had a chat for the rest of the afternoon. She said that I had reduced a lot of weight and that she just couldn't see me like that. She also warned me not to come to see her again till I put-on that much weight I had now lost! Now, that's what you can call Blackmailing even though her intentions were good.

She had cooked chicken for lunch that day even though she wasn't supposed eat it herself on that particular day of the week. This wasn't known to me until I was done with my lunch and I saw her having curd-rice. She had intentionally kept that a secret fearing that I wouldn't have let her cook chicken that day if I knew that fact.

It was then time for me to take a nap after having had a nice huge meal. I guess I would have consumed atleast half a kilo of chicken that day! After I woke up, it was time for another round of those nazar removal duties to be performed on me before I took my grand-parents out for shopping. I bought them clothes which meant that I had become poorer by 3k now. That 3k which I spent just can't be compared to the love and affection they showed on me for that is invaluable!

The second day of my stay there wasn't any different from the previous one. The only change was that the number of times the nazar removal duties were performed on me had slightly increased!

All in all, it was a great experience for me. I had never received so much love and affection from anyone (my mom included) till date. I must admit that I shouldn't have been given so much affection which looked very painstaking for someone of my grand-mom's age. Age just doesn't seem to affect the grandmom-grandchild relationship. Does it??

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Just for fun!!!

I just happened to see a skit a few days back. The skit was just an imagination of how Devaloka would look like in the present generation with the evolution of cell-phones, laptops etc and lot's of people on earth committing suicide..

The skit actually started off with two lovers (from earth) committing suicide after their parents had disagreed for their marriage (as is the case in most love-stories). In my views, they shouldn't have loved in the first place if they weren't ready to face these kind of challenges.

Chitragupta (Yamaraja's PA) gets to know that a couple had committed suicide through his laptop and is in a dilemna as he doesn't know whether to send the couple to hell or heaven. So, after discussing about this matter with Yamaraja, they pick their cell-phone's up and decide to call for a meeting with all the Gods and Goddesses.

In the next scene, all the Gods and Goddesses arrive and they are all set for the meeting. All the God's were put in one side and the Godesses in another. Chitragupta breifs them all about the agenda for the meeting. Then a group discussion starts.

The Gods tell that the couple should be sent to hell as they have committed a crime by committing suicide. The Goddesses completely disagree with them and say that the couple should be sent to heaven as they couldn't have lived without each other and suicide was inevitable. Then, a huge fight enrages between the two sides. It reminded me of the terrible group discussions that happen in the MTV Roadies auditions.

Chitragupta and Yamaraja are in a confused state of mind after seeing the God's fight and hence couldn't come to a conclusion. They feel that Narada is the best person to resolve this matter and hence they decide to invite him to the meeting and seek his help. Narada arrives and Chitragupta briefs him about the happenings yet again.

Narada tells that the best way to resolve this problem would be to get the couple back to life again and get them married to each other. This would help them in two ways,

· Both heaven and hell being over-crowded, the people out there wouldn't have tolerated with the addition of two more people.
· The couple could have their dreams realized and live happily.

All the God's and Goddesses believe that this seems to be a better option and hence agree to Narada's suggestion. Sooner, Yamaraja decides to put the couple back to life again and get them married to each other. The couple are happy.

After all this, the God's go out on a victory lap to celebrate their success. The Goddesses are stunned witnessing this since they knew that neither of them won. So, they ask the God's the reason behind their celebration. The God's respond by telling them that the final outcome was what they had intended as 'Getting married and going to hell are one and the same'.

Want to get married? Think again!

P.S: This article is neither intended to hurt anybody's feelings nor against marriage.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

A PaPlu called KiRaT KaPooR!!!

After having thought long about the gift I would present Kirat on this 24th birthday, I pinned these two things down,

1) A wallet. (He never carries one!!)
2) An article about him.

I finally decided to go with the latter. So here I go,

I first met this guy a few months ago when we were playing cricket on a Friday evening. I was truly amazed by his jovial attitude and his batting skills. He would inform the bowler that the next ball would be going for a six. And yeah, the bowler would stand in complete disbelief after seeing the next ball he bowled hovering over the boundary ropes for a huge six. Now that's called 'Attitude'. Kirat, with his batting skills could have put most of the upcoming batsmen at the top-level to shame had he continued his career in cricket. He says that the only reason he discontinued practicing cricket was because he had to travel 40kms daily from his house to the stadium in Lucknow.

There was no looking back for me after having met this guy. I have found a great friend in him. Spending some time with this guy would be the best medicine to have when you are upset about something. He cares a lot for his friends and would never want them to be in a bad mood. Though, he has a smiling face always, I must say that he can get very emotional at times. But he just wouldn't let that show on his face to the outside world.

As they say - "There is a kid still left in all of us!” Kirat has a bit more of that left than most of us. He is very friendly. Sometimes, he can get so friendly that he can talk to a complete stranger just like he would talk to someone whom he has known from years! I just got a taste of this when I heard him speak to an ICICI Bank Credit Card Sales Representative. Our pal got so friendly to that Sales Representative that he invited him for dinner that night!! So, be sure to listen to the way he speaks when he gets a call from a stranger the next time around to be convinced about what I actually meant.

'Open Challenge' seems to be the latest buzzword often used by our friend Kirat to invite someone to play a TT match against him. I must admit that I haven't won a single game against him till date. I came very close to winning the last time we guys played though. There are not many people in MindTree who can win against him! He has a unique and very effective style of playing TT or any game for that matter. Kirat, I just hope you carry that same style to face the challenges you might face in your life bro. I am sure that you will come out victorious in the end if you treat them as an 'Open Challenge' too.

All said and done, I wish you a very Happy Birthday and success in all your endeavors mate.
Here is what your close friends think about you Kirat,

Sunil:

“He is a very lively person full of energy and josh. He can see a friend in each and every individual. A great sportsperson, be it in cricket (if you haven't seen him bat or field, you’ve missed something great!!) or even TT. He is a good dancer and a great entertainer.
You won’t ever get bored when he is around. There’s a lot of “bachpana” still left in him. Actually that’s what makes him special.
Happy Birthday Kirat!!! Cheers!!!”

Nidhi:

"Kirat is a lively person, thoda style martha hai some times, fun to be with. He should remain like this and never change.
Happy Birthday Kirat!!!"

Madhu:

"The first few words that come to my mind when I think of Kirat are: Exuberance, Energy and Fun. This is because Kirat is a combination of all these and more.
Kirat is a very talented guy and he has proven that time and again. More so in cricket. The concentration and the passion with which he plays the game is truly amazing and it fascinates me. This is the passion that can keep any person going.
Self Confidence is one more thing that you can associate Kirat with. You give him any task that he hasn’t tried earlier and I am damn sure that he can do it extremely well with the amount of confidence that he has in himself.
All in all, he is a great friend to have and I’m lucky to have a friend like you dude.
Keep the josh going. Happy Birthday Kirat!!! Cheers!!!”

Shweta:

"They say - Simple things are the most complicated ones to describe. Similarly, things can get very complicated when one starts to describe Kirat.
He is a simple guy who can get very funny at times. Isko to dekh ke hi hassi aa jati hai.
You would just love to have a friend like him and I’m proud of that fact.
"Kirat, tussi great ho jee”. Chak-de fatte.
Wish you a very Happy Birthday and all the happiness in this world!!!"

Khaleel:

"Kirat- Well, what do I say about him??
Amazing chap, a multi- talented guy (Note: I have mentioned 'guy', else I am more talented than him any day!!! ;-)). He can carry the color pink with PanacheJ (like me u C!!!).
My advice to him: "Don’t be desperate to have a gal friend dude. Gals will follow you (or even Khaleel's for that matter!!). You don’t have to follow them!”
All in all - a HUNK!

Coming to the JUNK part of 'Kirat':
He is an @$$#**** to the core. Thinks that he plays better cricket than me!!!(b@*** 2 u!) :-P…

Now, on a serious note: "Dude, you tend to lose your cool very easily when you don’t play well (By 'play' I meant CRICKET ;)). PLAY SAFE BUDDY:-D
I am glad that I've come across a person like you J."
Happy Birthday and have a rocking year ahead Kirat.

KIRAT ROCKSSSSSSSSSSSS~~~~~~
(Hey hey hey, WAIT!!!! I love you buddy ;): P: D)."

Anand:

"Well I have known Kirat for quite a while now. He is a guy who doesn't care about this world. Keeps smiling (sorry, laughing!!!) all the time no matter what situation he is in (sometimes that's dangerous). Can dance to any tune (Oops!!!? I wish you never see him dancing). Can do a bhangra on the grooviest South Indian hit. Likes to be photographed (it can get very irritating when you have the camera in your hand). A movie freak and a Hrithik Roshan fan. A very good batsman and doesn't get out often.
He is a very good friend to have. He will always cheer you up when you are down and out. He likes Punjabi food a lot (just like any other Punjabi). Off late, he has started liking South Indian food a lot (especially Khara-bhath). Ask him guys, something's fishy.
Huh!!! I think that's enough. I can't praise him anymore as I can't lie anymore. Just kidding. Honestly yaar tussi great ho. Keep scoring and keep smiling.
Happy Birthday Kirat!!!"

Last but not the least, here is what Kavitha feels about you Kirat,

Kavitha:

"Here I am going to talk about a person who is,
Kind in heart
Innocent by nature
Responsible in his acts
Attracts people by his eyes
Talkative and Talented

Yeah, he is none other than KIRAT.
He is a kind and generous person who can brighten up our days, bringing much more joy to us with his kind and thoughtful ways. He is a great cricketer and a good dancer too.
One more thing I would like to tell about Kirat is that he is “Bindaaz”. He doesn’t live as if he is the King but lives as if he doesn’t care who the King is and that’s called Attitude. Keep going KIRAT.

Kirat, you ought to have a little more patience and keep working hard since there is no substitute for ‘Hard Work’.

Wish you success in all your endeavors. Keep Rocking!!!
Wish You Many Happy Returns Of The Day!!!"

Hope this came to you as a pleasant surprise Kirat. Have a great life ahead. I am sure that you have got the right attitude that will take you a long way. Keep rocking bro.

P.S: I would like to thank all those people who helped me successfully complete this article by giving their valuable thoughts.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

A character called Khaleel !!

After many of my friends had asked me to write about Khaleel, I finally decided to write about this guy three days after his 23rd birthday.

Here I go,

K - Koool & Karizmatic
H - Humorous/Horny
A - Ambitious
L - Lovable
E - Energetic
E - Easy going
L - Lustrous

This guy is one of the rarest characters I have ever met till date. Rare - because he loves everyone impartially, be it a guy or a gal (pun intended). He treats everyone equally and doesn't discriminate between people. Heard that he still gets a hug and a kiss from his old maid. He has the talent of grasping things very fast. For example, you could show him how to do a dance step and the very next moment you can see him do it better than you. Great talent to acquire bro.

He has his own unique style of doing things - be it, hair-styling or the way he plays Table-Tennis. He always sounds positive and believes that whatever happens will happen for the good. Will never give-up trying once he has set his sight on something. Very dedicated and determined in everything he does.

He can chat about some weird topics for hours and he wouldn't stop until he gets a few harsh words from Bharath for crossing his limits. He is a multi-talented personality - A good singer, dancer and a great cricketer. One can confidently change the phrase "Jack of all, master of none" to "Master of all, jack of none" to describe this guy. I just heard a weird Kannada song called "Chitranna" while coming in the cab today morning. Khaleel, with his amazing voice can put all those singers to shame.

Here is what your close friends feel about you Khaleel,

Bharath - A very lively person (very shy also) and a good friend. If there is a lot of flirting and talking (which doesn’t make sense most of the time) involved anywhere then it’s surely Khaleel. Well on the serious side, I hope to see him scaling new heights both in his career and much more in life. “You have a lot of potential Khaleel, use it well and you will be an inspiration to a lot of people.” Wishing you all the best once again.

Srinidhi - "Khaleel has a passion for life. He loves living with full throttle giving his best always. He is fun-loving.”

Akash – “Khaleel is a very energetic, enthusiastic, easy going and a funny guy (Sorry for giving him the status of a guy).He is very talkative (hardly has he spoken something with sense) and it is rare to see him sitting quiet. He is very much particular with his so called Spike hairstyle. He is unperturbed when anyone criticizes him for fun and always takes things in a light manner. It is hard to find a guy like Khaleel who can take things so easily. I have only told you of the better half of him. The other half of Khaleel is a little scary. He is extremely short tempered at times. He tends to speak anything out of anger (I have also experienced it). It is very difficult to control him at that point of time. This is one of the things he has to improve upon. On the whole, Khaleel is a lively person and a great friend of mine.”

Nagashree - "The extremes of two emotions I found in him.
If you have a friend, you should have one like him,
If you have an enemy, you should have one like him."

This one is my favorite of the lot,

Mamatha - "Khaleel, as I’ve seen is a person who doesn’t walk as if he rules the world but walks as if he doesn’t care who rules the world. Now, that’s called Attitude. Keep Rocking Khaleel.”

Madhu - "The first time I met Khaleel, I thought he is a guy whose endeavor is to impress girls, but later I came to know that I was wrong (as he tries to impress guys).
The very first thought that comes to my mind when I think of Khaleel is a guy who is immensely talented.

Let me tell you the good part of this guy:
Very quick learner,
One who makes friends very easily.
One who can make you laugh (through his PJ’s),
Immensely talented.

Coming to the bad part:
He is very short tempered and shouts at people without putting a second thought,
He thinks he is right always (Although he is sometimes),
Gets irritated quickly,
Doesn’t listen to other people.

Khaleel I have only one suggestion for you. Please control your emotions and have patience in life and keep the good stuff going.
You Rock dude.
I think I am Lucky to have a friend like you."

Chethan - “This guy is a multi-talented fellow. I saw him first in our famous JAVA-3 lab, when he was singing some Hindi songs along with some of his friends. That was when I got a feel of his awesome voice… Then on, it was just an exchange of casual words between us till Virtual Tennis came into picture… Got to say that this game played its part in bringing people closer, especially in our JAVA-3 batch… (along with that memorable trip to GOA). He is good at cricket too. I wish I could bat like him one day. (But still, I am the best all-rounder.., arguably ;-)). And to add to these, he is a very good dancer… (Bloody hell..!! I am quitting. I don’t want to keep praising him throughout the day...!). Best of luck buddy. Have a wonderful year ahead… J”

Sendhil -
Kind
Horny
Attractive
Lust
Excited
Energetic
Love

Understanding
Loads of Talent
Lazy
Arrogant

Keen to help (Girls first)
Honest
Ambitious
Naughty

Last, but not the least. Here is what Maha feels about you Khaleel,

Mahalakshmi - "Khaleel is a gem of a person. Looks like a lazy, happy-go-lucky guy, but is very determined and dedicated from within.
Has a lot of respect for people, relations…
Also 1 big PJ master!!! ;) [Most of his jokes will be so funny that you will have to tickle yourself to laugh!!! :D ]
A great person to be around with… always happiest when I am with him! :)"

Hope this came to you as a pleasant surprise Khaleel. Wishing you success in all your endeavors’. Have a great life ahead. I am sure that you have got the right attitude that will take you a long way. Keep rocking bro.


PS:

• I would like to thank Mahalakshmi for her co-operation. Wish you both a great life together.
• Though most of you guys still feel that Mr.Khaleel is very short-tempered, I must admit that he has now improved and is more patient than before.
  

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Extracting Value out of Value Lanes!!!

After a long wait, we all got the chance to set out for an outing with our colleagues to a place called Value Lanes. Most of us had never heard about this place before. We just got a clue that it was a camp set-up by a retired Major and it would be very adventurous. So, most of us had mixed reactions. What would we be made to do? Would we return back home in one piece? These were some of the things that were running on all our minds.

The suspense was to be broken as we set out our journey at 4PM on the 8th of August. We reached the place at 5PM after a bumpy ride and were welcomed by Major Vibhav Kapoor. We were served nice bhajji's and kesari-bath. Subsequently, we were given a welcome speech by the Major in which we were told about the objectives of this OBL before our first activity actually started.

The first activity given was a project which had three phases in it. Each phase had its own offerings and difficulty-levels. The project was complete only when all the three phases were completed by all of us. Some of us were delighted to be a part of a project atleast this way. It was a truly amazing experience even though some of us fell down more than often. But that didn't stop any of us from completing the tasks. After that, it was time for some relaxation as we were offered some biscuits and Nimbu-paani.

We were then called for a meeting with the Major himself to discuss the happenings of the project. What went right and what went wrong. Some valuable lessons were learnt. It was then time to set-up a Camp-fire and for all of us to dance after Barbeque was offered. All of us had a great time dancing and witnessing some weird dance-steps by Deepak Arora. Some of them were never seen before.

Later on, we had our dinner and our next activity was supposed to start at 7AM the next day. So, it was time to take a nap for some of them. But most of us had the energy within ourselves to play some games that reminded me of my childhood. After playing till 1AM in the night, most of us were tired and decided that it was time to sleep.

As we all set out to sleep, we hear a innocent voice from Nidhi - " I am not feeling sleepy at all ". So, we decide to sit and chat for sometime. We were 8 people in all chatting away till 2AM about some weird things before we settled in our respective tents anticipating a hard-day's work the next day.

We all were ready by 7AM the next morning and geared up for the next activity which was supposed to the most strainous of them all. We were divided into 3 teams. Each team had to complete a total of 11 tasks of varying difficulty-levels. Most of us were eager to try our hand at all the tasks even though it wasn't mandatory for all of us to complete all the 11 tasks. Some were more than just eager and wanted to try doing the most difficult tasks which led to a few pit falls. The most noteable one was when Nidhi tried to do the Tarzan jump and injured herself in the process. God save the pit she fell into. Just kidding eh. Some of them like Kirat had the time to repeat most of the tasks as they wanted to grab the bonuses offered.

After that, it was time for us to have some nice Idly-Vada and get ready for a session with the Major to comment on the happenings of the just concluded activity. Subsequently, the next activity was awaiting us in which we were supposed to walk on a rope tied 6 feet above the ground blind-folded. The look on many people's faces told how nervous they were. Among those, the look on Shweta Pandey's face said it all. She, after witnessing Nidhi's fall was very nervous and just wasn't ready yet for an activity like this one. Fortunately, most of us succeeded walking on the rope with the help of our team-mates. This time there was just one casualty.

We got to know that we would be going to the lake-side for Rafting after we had our lunch and this was supposedly our last activity. It was a ten-minute drive to the lake-side from where we were. We were then divided into 4 teams and were asked to design a raft. The best among the designs was going to be approved and we had to build the raft all by ourselves. We had a great time building it and each one of us contributed. After having built the raft, we had to check whether it was safe to serve its purpose. Fortunately, all of the raft's built were actually safe and we started rafting. We were in water for just 5 minutes when rain played spoil-sport and we were asked to return back.

Finally, after an eventful day we returned to our respective tent's to pack our bags. All of us were disappointed about the fact that our trip got over so quickly. We had a valedictory speech given by the Major in which we were asked about the learnings we were able to grab from the OBL. We all thanked the Major and his associates for the unforgettable day and a half we spent together with them. We all got into our bus and were given a send-off by the Major.

None of us would ever forget this memorable OBL, thanks to Manjunath without whom, this wouldn't have been possible. We had a lot of fun and there were some valuable lessons for us to learn and implement in our lives. Here are some of the important one's,

Time Management
Importance of Attentive listening
Good planning always leads to effective implementation
Effective utilization of the data/resources/inputs given
Trust your team-members
Proper understanding of the requirements
Power of feedback (Positive/Negative)
Efficient allocation of work considering the skills of each of your team-members
Last but not the least, Never forget the lessons learnt

I hope we never forget the lessons we learnt and try to implement those in our day-to-day activities. This is just a small contribution I have made towards achieving that.
Hope you could relive those cherishable moments while reading this.

Signing Off.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

SAP 10:10 Roadshow (10 SAP CoE's and 10 SAP Customers)!!!

MindTree's SAP practice came up with a promotional event called SAP 10:10 RoadShow recently. The idea was to promote the SAP practice and to showcase our capabilities & talent within MindTree and beyond.

Initial preparations for the event were driven by the Marketing collaterals that we had to prepare for the roadshow. Many minds from various projects came together and worked on bringing out the various versions of collaterals, case-studies, solution literature etc. Ravi Yadav, Srinivassa, Gautam, Deepak, Deepak MS and many others contributed largely in bringing the collaterals out.

Deepak Arora (The Khali of SAP practice) and Gautam Purohit were our main-stay and instrumental in driving the entire event. Deepak’s biggest challenge was to get the posters finalized & printed while many of us were still contemplating the design and content for posters. But for Deepak and his commitment, this would not have been possible.

We had to contend with another tricky problem – decoration of each bay. It had to be relevant, thematic and definitely not loud. All of us came up with ideas – some strange, some incongruous, some creative and yet some more just plain dumb - to decorate our bay. The one idea that pleasantly surprised us was given by Ravi Patil. We hung a spider-web on the ceiling and depicted components of NetWeaver Portal like Web Dynpro, Knowledge Management, ESOA etc. The idea would have been incomplete without the expertise of Topper Chongtham who designed the web. Thanks Topper!!

The day of reckoning had arrived and all of us were nervous & ready for it. Ashwani Kathuria, our practice head, visited all the stalls just before the event was actually kicked-off. The event began exactly at 10:10 with our chief guest Anjan Lahiri inaugurating it in grand style. The camera-man, rather woman, for the entire event was none other than our professional photographer Nidhi Neelakant – she had to jostle for space and the right angles so that she could get some nice pictures. She handled the constraints deftly and did not miss any photographic moment.

All of us were eagerly waiting for the chief-guests to visit our respective stalls and there was competition within us to get them to visit our stall first, some were so excited that they literally pulled them into their stalls. Complimentary gaze was evident as each one of them visited our stalls and exposed to the knowledgeable content. After the chief-guests left, many visitors started pouring in. The way our presenters Seshagiri K.Rao, Swaroopa Vishwanath, Ravichandran.T (to name a few) explained what SAP on the whole is capable of doing raised a few eye-brows. After lunch, we had a few visitors and then it was time for us to visit other stalls and see their content and gain knowledge about their components too.

All in all, the event was a major success that evinced a lot of interest among various communities including the Sales teams, delivery teams, and others with whose help we can look forward to scaling new heights. At the end of it all, Ashwani shared his thoughts on the success of the event and sought feedback of various people. Then came the difficulty to choose the best stall and the award went to the NetWeaver team (XI and EP). It all ended with the promise of a party to celebrate the success and mark the beginning of charting a successful roadmap for the future of the practice.

P.S. : I would like to thank Manjunath Adisesh for reviewing this article and for making some changes.

Signing Off.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

What is important at 23??

My target audience - people in the age group 21 to 25.

At this point of our lives, all of us will ponder on the important things to be done to lead a happy life. Here are some things we might be thinking of,

(Get ready with a pen and paper to answer the questions that follow)

What should I do to settle in life?
When will I get a boy-friend/girl-friend (if you are still single)?
What is the right time to get married?
Am I doing my job wisely?
Whom should I marry?
Am I taking care of my parents?
When should I purchase a car?
Where should a I invest my money?
etc...

I bet each one of us will have given some thought to atleast one of the above (if not all). You have to be very lucky if you have got a clear answer to each of the above and you are satisfied with it. But, do you think that it is worth thinking about all these things. I list down a few things that I feel are the most important things that deserve a thought at this point in time,

What should I do to settle in life?
What is the right time to get married?
Am I taking care of my parents?
Am I doing my job wisely?

A lot of thought process must go into it before you actually arrive at answers to these questions. If you are employed, then you have got the answer to the first question. If you are sincere and dedicated to the job on hand, then you must be convinced that it is sufficient to get settled in life.

Coming to the next question, I personally feel that any time between 27 and 30 should be the right age to get married. Be independant for sometime atleast and enjoy that stage of your life, for you will not get it again.

This is the time for us to think about our parents and take care of them. Are we giving enough time for them? I am sure that most of us would say NO. Our parents have taken good care of us till now. Is'nt it time for us to give it back to them? Spend atleast a day in a week with them. Take them out for dinner or anywhere else which makes them happy. And finally marry someone who will look after your parents well (or atleast lets you to take care of them).

The only thing that is going to take us through is.. Work. So believe in the saying "Work is Worship", work hard and be dedicated.

Coming back to the questions I left out. viz

When should I purchase a car?
When will I get a boy-friend/girl-friend?
Whom should I marry?
Where should I invest my money?

I feel that it's not worth scratching our heads on these things (I call them pleasures). All these things will happen some day or the other. The only thing in our hands is our JOB. If we do this in a sincere and a dedicated manner, all the pleasures and the rest will follow.

Hope I am successful in triggering a thought process in your minds. Thinking in the right way will lead you to the right direction.
Signing Off.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Hennu, honnu, mannu thanagi thane olidu barbeku..

Have you ever heard of this very famous saying in Kannada? For all those who don't know Kannada, here is exactly what it means " Girl, money and land/power has to come to you all by itself ".

According to me, it means that you should never be desperate for anything in life, especially a girl, money or land/power. You should just continue doing your work respectfully and wait till it eventually comes to you. My friend (chose not to mention his name) over-believes this saying and never tries to achieve anything and wants everything to happen all by itself. This is a wrong notion that most people who have heard of this saying carry.

I would like to express what I feel regarding this and attempt to clear out a few doubts here. First of all, I would like to ask you a few questions,

Will you get anything in life if you don't do anything to get it?
Don't you have any ambitions in your life for which you will do anything to achieve it?

Look at the saying carefully. It has three things which are essential to each one of us (Girl, money and land). It also says that those three things should come by itself. Now, what else do you badly need in your life apart from the above three things? Nothing much significant as the above right.

These are the only things that are significantly essential for any guy. The only other thing that is as essential is - Job. When you don't try to get these three essential things and hope they would come by itself, life becomes very easy and damn boring right. There won't be any thrill in a life without any challenges. Life loses its sheen when you get everything you want and it gets even worse when you get whatever you want without putting in your efforts. Don't you agree?

One more contradictory statement - " Power can't be given, it has to be taken ".
With money comes power. Similarly, power comes with the other two things too. So, can I now say that we have to try to get those three essential things?

I agree that sayings such as these are made only after a lot of thinking has gone into it. But, mis-interpretations do occur. Believe in this statement which is an updated version of the above saying - " Don't be desperate for anything in life, especially Girl, Money and Land/Power ".

Hope I make some sense to you.
Signing Off.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

What not to do when you desperately want to have a girl friend??

My target readers,
If you are a guy (age >= 22) and still single, welcome to the club.
Read this very seriously.

If you are a guy, not single then reading this is not worth your time.
If you are a girl there is nothing new here, I know most of you are omniscient.

On a random day, at a random place you come across a random girl and you get an instant feeling that she is the "one" for you. In the next few mins of talk, the inevitable question comes up "Are you on Orkut?". Now that's the beginning. You take her email ID, flick her chat ID from Orkut and start loading her inbox with messages, forwards, funny mails, quotes etc etc.. You are always online for her and the moment you come online the question pops up on her window, "Hey hi, wass up?" You always go to places where there is a chance of seeing her. You try to run in to her and pretend that it was accidental. You wear nice dresses and try to look good on the days when there is a high probability of meeting her. After that you take her phone number and start calling her every day. For the first few days she picks up the phone, then slowly she starts giving the busy tone and the next stage is total avoidance. But, you always believe that she is interested in you or at least you don't want to accept the truth. For some of you the big day comes when you express your feelings to her and you don't even have to wait for her reply, it is generally, "I did not see you in that way, can we be just friends?".

Some don't even reach that stage, they hide their feelings, but in either case one thing is common, the girl's name ends up being the password for the next few months.
As soon as they realize that they have reached the "age", guys start trying to impress girls. Some try to show-off that they are smart and some have this weird belief that girls consider stupid guys as cute.

Intelligence to innocence, being introvert to extrovert, being classy to messy, strong to weak, anything and everything, every guy has his own strategy. I don't know who came up with this quote "Everything is fair in love and war", he (not she) must probably have been one of them. I don't know why guys fail to understand that girls are smart enough to understand all these and why would not they? Even before they realize that they are "girls", guys start hitting on them, one after the other, day and night, not allowing them even to breathe properly.
After reading till here some of you might be in dilemma whether you are really desperate or not. It's very easy to come to a conclusion.

Take a paper and answer the following questions in Yes or No
1. Whenever you see a girl walking on the road ahead of you, Do you increase your walking speed, walk past her and then turn back to see her face?
2. Do you become very conscious about what you are talking, when you are around with girls?
3. Do you try to be cool or someone else in order to impress girls?
4. Do you think staying clam or moody when in a group makes the girl think about you?
5. You ask a girl to join you for lunch or coffee; do you think a YES from other side is an indication that she is interested in you?
6. Do you keep staring at girls?
7. Are you ready to date a girl even if she is around with someone else as well?
8. Is "Girls" the main topic of all your discussions with your friends?

If you find even a single "YES" in the paper then YOU ARE DESPERATE.
Be a man, accept it.

Now the real question "What not to do when you are desperate about having a girl friend?"
Did you actually believe that I would come up with some solution or tips? Had I known it, would I still be single? It was just a trick to make you guys read this one. But, I have one tip though, first and foremost STOP being desperate. I know that it is difficult. At least try not to show that you are desperate. The rule is simple, "No one in this world cares for a thing that is easily gettable" and FYI girls are never worried about finding a guy and why do they have to? Did you ever come across a girl who never had a boy-friend or never been proposed by a guy? If yes, then that's a miracle, you met a "rare species" or an extinct one in this world.

If you got the tip that you wanted and don't want to read any further it's fine. But, I would recommend reading further. Trust me, keep reading.

We know that we are the ones who make the girls realize that they are important, treat them as if they are precious, tell them that they are beautiful and show that they are in demand. We buy them gifts, spend all the money we have, do their work, roam around with them all the time, carry their stuff and in the end what do we get in return? A few thanks and an offer to be a good friend. Do we need all this? If 1/1000 th of the time wasted on a girl is spent on a guy you will find a friend for a lifetime. Just play some game together or watch a movie, give him a cigarette or buy him a drink and that is it. Realize that spending a night with your friends drinking till everyone pukes, having a hangover throughout the next day is more fun than spending the same night with your girl in a pub buying her drinks, talking crap, listening crap, making some crap moves. Whatever.

I know that at some point of time in your life you might have realized all this. But, there is a need to educate the rest and also pass on the message to the future generations. I dream of a day when guys are in demand and girls start worrying about finding a guy. I hope the day comes soon.

If you are still desperate, you need a second read.

P.S.: To the girls: If you think that some guy is crazy about you and trying hard to impress you, please tell him immediately if you are not interested.

Review on "Go kiss the World"..

There was no looking back after I decided to purchase this book, thanks to Giri. Giri, impressed by my blogging skills asked me to write a review on the book "Go kiss the World". So, I finally decided to purchase the book online. The book was shipped in 3 days. I couldn't wait to put my hands on the book. But I was a bit late. My Dad had already started reading the book. I thought that he was actually just going through the first few introduction pages. But later I was shocked to have found him reading the 20th page as I had never seen him read a book before.

So, I had to wait for my turn to put my hands on the book. I thought that I would actually read it after Dad goes to sleep. So I did. I read the prologue and got to know that the book actually had 3 parts in it. The first part gives you a complete picture of Subroto's early years ( starting from the day he was born ). The second inspires you to explore the making of an young professional giving the example of Subroto's life. The third however tells you how to come back after a fall, how MindTree was born, about the mid-life transition / mid-life crisis and some important lessons for a young professional.

I got off to a flying start after having read 50 pages on the first day. My Dad was soon catching up though. The first part tells you about the 'life of simplicity' of Subroto's family. It tells you how Subroto was brought up imbibing the skills required. It also tells you how he had to keep changing schools everytime his Dad got transfered and how that actually helped him to build a high degree of comfort with displacement. How displacement helps you to explore everything around you and develop curiosity. How he was mentored by his brothers and how it actually helps. He also narrates an experience where he was caught smoking beedi's at the age of 5 and was let go after his father remained silent. He tells that how not handing out the punishment when it is most expected is the best way to bring lasting repentance. He also tells you how he went on to become the "Best NCC Cadet" of India and recieved the award from The President of India at Rashtrapathi Bhavan. How the Colonel told him not to join the army, navy or the air-force which could have changed his life. How he started working as a junior clerk in the industries department of the Government of Orissa and his experiences.

In the second part, he tells you how he learned to fly after he read the book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and how it inspired him to join HCL inspite of a 40% cut in his salary. His comfort with displacement helped him change jobs often. He had moved from DCM to HCL and then to PSI and MMC. He tells us how he learned to fail when MMC decided to close down its computer business. He, along with Sujit Bose then decided to start a training institute called Project.21. After having had a decent 3 years at Project.21, it was actually aquired by NIIT. It was then that he decided to quit and go in search of his own destiny. He then joined Wipro where he met Ashok, KK, Partha and others who were to become co-founders of MindTree with him one day. He along with Ashok Soota, Azim Premji and others made people understand the issues which helped Wipro reach the level where it is now. He then had to go to the US to set-up an office for Wipro there. He explains how he set-up a home office and how difficult it was to run it. He then returned back to India after having spent a good 3 years of hard-work which helped Wipro in the long-run. He then explains about the mid-life crisis/transition he faced when he joined Lucent Technologies after having quit Wipro.

In the third part, he explains "The Pain of Re-birth" after his decision to join Lucent Technologies turned out to be a bad one. It was then that he along with KK started planning to start an organization. He then gives you a complete picture of how MindTree was born and how different people took different responsibilities within to help it blossom. He also explains how they had to cope-up with the 9/11 tragedy thanks to the good leadership of Ashok and the confidence of our top three customers then - Avis, Franklin Templeton and Unilever. How the deal with Volvo in 2002 changed everything for MindTree. Their effort in building the 3 kinds of infrastructure - physical, intelluctual and the emotional to raise MindTree to the next level. His belief in Servant Leadership and his decision to take on a postion of service in MindTree. He relives those moments that could have changed his life. When the Colonel, who had chaired the selection panel to choose the Best Cadet of India advised him - "Son, never join the army, never join the navy and never join the air force". Had he not ruled out these favourable options, his life would have been quite different. The incident where an old man in his eighties told him - "Never think of retiring". One more incident where his landlord advised him - "Open your mind before you open your mouth". He calls these people as Personal Angels - people who live in our midst. He then in the final chapter ( my favourite ) gives us some important lessons which he had learnt in his life. With those lessons comes the capability for all of us to Go kiss the World.

I suggest all of you to read the book atleast once and I am sure that you will enjoy reading it and feel that it's worth. Happy reading.

I will surely ask my Dad about his experiences reading the book ( what I feel is the first story book he has ever read ) once he finishes. I am sure he would have enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to more books from Subroto. Signing Off.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Effect of people's curse on us..

Have you ever wondered how people's curse will affect us??

I feel that there is nothing in this world that will affect us more than someone's curse. Don't believe me?

I will prove my point by narrating a real-life story which my friend Bharath told me.

A few years back, there were two ladies( Sita and Gita ) who used to go to their college by walk. On their way to college, they used to see a guy( Ramesh ) who used to sit on a bench staring at them almost every day. The ladies were upset after seeing the weird behaviour of Ramesh. Ramesh, who was almost the same age as that of the ladies was mentally-retarded. This fact was unknown to the ladies. They assumed that he also is one among those eve-teasers.

Since this continued for a few days, both Sita and Gita decided to take an alternate route. They were very happy not to have found Ramesh the next day. So, the ladies decided to take that same route daily. But on the next morning, they were shocked to see Ramesh who again stared at them. But this time, he wasn't alone. He was accompanied by another lady( Sashi ) who happened to be his mom. This fact was again unknown to the ladies.

One day, Sita and Gita decided that they would complain about the weird behaviour of Ramesh to that lady who used to accompany him. So, they started to scold Ramesh in front of his mom. Later on, the ladies get to know the fact that the lady was none other than that Ramesh's mom. They started complaining about the Ramesh's weird behaviour towards them to Sashi.

Sashi, now upset after having heard the ladies complain against her son starts explaining Sita and Gita about the abnormality of Ramesh. She tells that her son is mentally-retarded. She also tells the ladies that they would know the difficulties faced by the mother of a mentally-retarded only when they experience it. This turned out to be curse for both Sita and Gita.

At present both Sita and Gita are blessed with a mentally-retarded child. Whom do you blame of this state of our ladies? Can you blame the ladies for this? No, right? Any female would have done the same thing as Sita and Gita.

Can you blame God for this? No, I feel God will only punish people who have done something bad. He wouldn't punish Sita and Gita as they haven't done anything wrong. Infact, he has done something good to both Sita and Gita by blessing them with two brilliant children each who at present are doing wonders in their career.

The only person who can be blamed is Sashi for her curse.

By now, you must have got an idea as to how people's curse is going to affect us right. So, I would like to conclude by saying that " If possible, do good to someone.. but don't do bad to anyone ". Beacuse, if you do bad to anyone, you will be the target of their curse which is going to prove very costly. So, let's not intend to do bad to anyone even if it comes at the cost of losing our own money as losing some amount of money wouldn't hurt us as badly as the curse.

Signing Off.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

A S/W Engineer's daily routine..

I must say that our typical day begins with a quick rush to the bus-stop and then a quick bite in the cafeteria before settling in our seat anticipating a hard day's work. We would then open our mail-box only to see it flooded with all kinds of mails. To have noticed a mail from either the Client or the PM would be horrifying as it signifies a good amount of work ahead of you. If you were lucky enough not to find any such mail, you would then set your hands on the good-morning messages which would be a nice time-pass for half an hour. We would then be involved in our work for quite sometime before we are ready for a coffee-break and a quick stroll.

Back to work, we will again be involved in it till its time for lunch - A good one hour to freak out with friends. After returning back and having a strong cup of coffee/tea, we would then slog hard and try to finish the remaining work by 6PM to avoid staying back. After slogging hard till 6 to have completed most of the work assigned, it will be time for us to spend the remaining half an hour with our friends at the cafeteria. ( We somehow feel that a day must begin and end at the cafeteria ).

Then, it would be time for us to rush back to the cab for a good one hour ride before we reach home. This one hour would be a nice relaxation for all of us after a hard day's work. Finally, we are back home at 8PM and it's TV time for some of us, taking care of children for some etc. We would have dinner at around 9.30 and get back to sleep at 10.30 or 11 after another round of TV.

This being our daily routine, I have a few questions for you,
Are we happy with it?
Are we spending enough time with ourselves?
Are we spending enough time with our family and relatives?
Are we keeping ourselves healthy?

Most of us will agree that the answer is NO to all the above questions. This being the case, what can be done to make ourselves happy and content?

We have to accept the fact that Work is something that is unavoidable and which will sometimes be hectic and it is going to stay that way till we retire and hence we should look out for alternatives to make our life more pleasing.

We spend atleast one or two hours travelling in a day. This time must be effectively utilized to spend sometime with oursleves. I usually meet my old friends on saturdays and my sundays are devoted to spend sometime with my parents and relatives. I jog for atleast for half an hour each on fridays, saturdays and sundays. I feel this strategy can make you a lot happier and content now that you have time to spend on yourselves, family and friends and are keeping yourself healthy.

Don't you feel that it's now time for you to sit and re-prioritize and re-organize your "things to do" list during weekends and do something that makes you happy? Hope I have succeeded in triggering that thought on your minds.

Signing Off.


Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

I've learned..

As I Walk Alone Through Life.....

I've learned -
that you can do something in an instant
that will give you a heartache for life.

I've learned -
that you should always leave
loved ones with loving words.
It may be the last time you see them.

I've learned -
that you can keep going long after you can't.

I've learned -
that we are responsible for what we do,
no matter how we feel.

I've learned -
that either you control your
attitude or it controls you.

I've learned -
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned -
that my best friend and I can do anything
or nothing and have the best time.

I've learned -
that sometimes when I'm angry
I have the right to be
angry, but that doesn't give me
the right to be cruel.

I've learned -
that just because someone doesn't love you the
way you want them to doesn't mean they
don't love you with all they have.

I've learned -
that no matter how good a friend is,
they are going to hurt you every once
in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned -
that it isn't always enough to
be forgiven by others,
Sometimes you have to learn
to forgive yourself.

I've learned -
that just because two people argue, it doesn't
mean they don't love each other.

I've learned -
that two people can look at
the exact same thing
and see something totally different.

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Inspirational Quotes..

When the going gets tough, the tough get going - Billy Ocean

For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour - Mary Kay Ash

Have you got a problem? Do what you can where you are with what you've got - Theodore Roosevelt

He who asks a question may be a fool for five minutes, but he who never asks a question remains a fool forever - Tom Connelly

Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything - Billy Graham

How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself - so always think positively - Norman Vincent Peale

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers - James Thurber

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer - Albert Einstein

Leaders are problem solvers by talent and temperament, and by choice - Harlan Cleveland

Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them - Henry Ford

No problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking - Voltaire

The best way to deal with your weakness is to use it as your strength - Srinidhi

To enjoy life take early retirements , or better , retire before you start your work - Srinidhi

When life throws lemons at you, don't just make a lemonade of it, just ask for some salt and Tequila - Kishan

Take life as it comes..

This is exactly what my friend( chose not to mention his name ) told when I asked him to go propose his love.. What he meant was, he wasn't going to take an initiative and he would let things happen.. I felt that he was waiting for something to happen from her side..

I strictly oppose this attitude of his.. "Taking life as it comes" is a great attitude to have.. But, has it said that you shouldn't go for something you like but instead just wait for that something you like to come to you all by itself.. I guess my friend has not understood this statement completely..

Here is my brief explanation of what that saying actually means-

"Taking life as it comes" means that you should'nt be worried when something goes awry.. You have to take that positively and move on.. It just means to be more accepting of the reality that comes our way.. It doesn't mean that we don't panic, show apprehension or turmoil, it just asks us to be perhaps more tolerant and compromising..

"Taking life as it comes" doesn't mean you take it gracefully all the time.. It just means you do not stress big time over things, you do not plan too far ahead you take things as they come, you deal with problems as they appear and do not worry about future problems until you get to that crossroad..

People forget to do certain things in life when it has to be done.. I am not talking about wasting time when you have to study for an exam. I am thinking of - The Dad who forgets to spend time with his kids, the Mom who does'nt understand her kids, the boy who fails to propose his love, the girl who keeps waiting for the boy to propose, the friend who does'nt stand up for their pal, the husband who does'nt care, the wife who nags her husband, people who keep analysing whether or not to commit, the son or daughter who insult their parents, college days spent in sincerely attending classes.... the list is endless right??

Are you thinking how these instances are related to the topic??

Well, we only get a single chance to do certain things in our lives - To love, to bring up a kid, to romance around, to take care, to express our feelings and lot of other things like that...

So, if you miss that chance/moment- Its gone!! How much ever u lament on that lost moment, it will never ever come back.. Never..

I hope that I have made my friend realise this fact and I also hope that I have convinced him to go ahead and propose his love.. Hope he gets what he wants.. Wishing him luck..
Signing off..

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Beware of the pit called Que*t!!!

I would like to start writing this article with the following approximations,

1) This article is not intended to cause harm to anybody..
2) These are my thoughts and feelings and I am not here to hurt anyone..
3) This article is being written to break the suspense regarding my debts..

It all started on a Friday evening when my friend ( I chose not to mention his name ) buzzed me and told that there is a golden opportunity lying in store for me and I need to meet him for an hour the next morning to know about it.. He said that he would get someone along and I would be the most happiest person in this world after that meeting.. I assumed that it would be my crush who is going to come there since my friend was very close to her and he knew about my crush..

So, there I go all excited and pumped up the next morning to meet my friend and that someone who was going to come along.. I meet my friend and he introduces his cousin to me ( going by his looks, I thought he is the brother of my crush as he resembled her exactly ).. Then they take me to a house( supposedly called a team office ) and start giving some presentation about the business they are into.. They start explaining about the business and they say how it can change my life and how I can make lots of money if I were to join the business..

Since I was in a very excited state before even meeting my friend, I continued to be that way even after the presentation got over and it sounded very interesting.. I asked my friend to give me a day to think about it, then he starts explaining about the losses I could incur if I delay it even by one day.. So, they somehow convinced me and I joined the business by swiping 35k from my credit-card..

That was the biggest mistake I had ever committed in my life till now.. I had to blame myself for that and the excited state that I was in at that moment.. Nevertheless, whatever happens, happens for the good only.. I learnt a very important lesson in life and I had to pay that 35k as a cost to learn that lesson..

Let me talk about the business a little bit now.. Its like networking.. You join the business by paying 35k and they give you a gold coin worth 8k and you have to invite your friends also to join the business.. For every person joining under you at any level, you get 2k.. Sounds interesting right?? This was what I felt initially and I started inviting my friends to join the business.. A couple of them did join.. I had to swipe my credit-card for my close friend who asked me to pay for him and he would repay me later.. I agreed and that increased my debts to 70k because of this business.. I felt 70k is not that large an amount compared to the money I can make out of the business..

All my feelings changed when my brother had come down to India and I spoke to him about this.. He asked me to quit the business right away.. I told him that I will work atleast till I get my money back.. He told me not to worry about the money and asked me to forget about that.. He told that there would atleast be one person who has joined under me who will not be able to convince his friends to join the business.. And he would curse all the people above him and those responsible for making him join.. And that would affect us badly than losing the money.. People's curse will not be good for anyone.. I felt that even if I can make lots of money from the business, there will always be someone cursing me and that was going to affect me badly..

So, it was then that I decided that it was time for me to quit the business.. And I quit the same day since I strongly believe in the saying " If possible do good to someone, but never do bad to anyone ".. I am more relaxed right now after having got rid of all those tensions I incurred while doing the business.. I forgot about the money I lost and am hoping my friend will return that 35k I gave him one day.. I guess I have broken the suspense regarding my debts now..

So, I would like to conclude by telling you guys this, The next time around when someone calls and tells you that there is a golden opportunity and asks you to meet them for an hour, please be very careful and if by chance you attend the presentation, they will convince you to join for sure.. So, please be careful.. I would like to wish good luck to all those who still believe in the business.. Please ignore this article and as you guys say always " We will rock ".. Keep getting bakra's to join under you to keep rocking.. Those who disagree with me, Bring it on.. I am waiting..

Signing Off..

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

What do guys look for in a girl??

According to my friend Rajatha, any guy would look for three things in a girl and atleast one of them should be satisfied for him to consider her as his girl friend.. They are,

1) She has to be gorgeous..
2) She should be talented..
3) Her dad should be a millionaire..

If any girl satisfies all these three conditions, then all the guys are behind her according to Rajatha..

I completely agree with the first point.. Somewhat agree with the second one and completely disagree with the third.. I see no point in getting married to a girl who is not so good looking and whose dad is a millionaire.. I bet all knowledgeable guys will agree with me.. It should be managable even if she is'nt talented.. She has to be talented in one aspect though, that is she should be able to cook edible food..

I would like to change that list according to what I feel.. Here I go,

Here is what guys look forward to in a girl,

1) She has to be decent/good looking..
2) She has to be loving and caring..
3) She should get along well with my family..

All these three conditions must be satisfied..

I have mentioned that she has to be decent looking.. By this, I mean its ok if she is not a Katrina or a Sania but she should'nt be ugly.. She has to care for you and your family.. Get along well with your family.. Lastly, she must be able to cook edible food..

I feel this is what all knowledgeable guys look for in a girl.. If anything comes free along with the above, we would grab it with both hands though.. But, we would settle for someone with atleast the above characteristics..

Hope you all agree with me.. Suggestions and criticisms are welcome.. Waiting for your opinions.. Signing off..


Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Why do Friends quarrel??

I felt really sad today after watching my friends quarrel.. As I say always, I look out for positives in every possible situation.. So, I thought that this would make a good topic for my next article.. So this is me starting off for you,

We might fight with our parents, brothers, sisters and strangers too, but when you fight with your own friends, it really hurts.. I main reason I feel for a fight between two friends is "Misunderstandings" and "Ego clashes"..

When we get closer to our friends, our expectations rise which might result in a fight when our expectations are'nt met.. This point was given by Nidhi.. I am mentioning this as I feared a fight with her if I chose not to do so..

I have seen people becoming great friends after they had a grudge with each other for a long time.. So, do friends really get close after a fight? I feel that they do as they get to know the importance of each other only when they miss the other.. So, should friends quarrel to get close? I would say that it depends as some might get closer even without a fight and some choose the other way..

Sometimes, when friends are'nt too close to each other, they assume certain things and due to misunderstandings, a fight is resulted.. This happens when there is a communication gap between them.. This is the root cause for a quarrel.. If there is'nt any communication gap, I bet that there won't be any quarrels..

A fight always results due to a small issue and that issue can be resolved very easily only if we give it some thought.. But usually in the heat of the moment, we will be out of our minds and don't find that time to think and this usually results in a fight..

A fight might result when we trust some third person more than our friends.. Bear in mind, the third person won't come to your rescue when you have landed in a spot of bother, its your friend who does.. So, lets learn to trust our friends more atleast from now on..

All of us have to take a leaf out of Chethan's attitude when he comes under the hammer.. He usually enjoys the moment along with his friends when they tease him.. I bet we have'nt teased anyone else more than Chethan.. It is this attitude of his that many people admire..

So, I conclude by saying that we all have to learn to be like Chethan when we are teased and enjoy the moment.. And Chethan you better don't change.. We will continue teasing you more even if you change.. We just believe in having some fun by teasing our friends..

Today it might be Chethan under the hammer.. Tomorrow, it might be me.. It might be someone else the day after.. All of us intend no harm to anybody when we tease.. Just that we have to take it in the right spirit and learn to enjoy the moment..

Lets all forget what has happened today taking only the positives out of it and continue to be friends for ever.. Signing off..

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Have I screwed up my life??

This is one question for which I am struggling to come up with an answer for quite sometime now.. Here is what might have gone wrong,

1) Have I taken a lot of risks related to money?
2) Have I taken a lot of risks related to my life?
3) Am I trusting too many people?

This is what I feel might be the probable answers to these questions,

1) I have spent a lot more than what I have earned and have taken undue risks related to money..
2) I realised that I am playing with my life only when I got lost in Arohalli after having gone there alone drenched in the rain.. On top of that, I had the courage to get high and fly back home..
3) I recently gave 35k to my friend when he said he needed it badly.. Now I do not know when he will return it back..

Is this something really bad that I have done?? I would say NO since I strongly believe in the saying "Whatever happens will happen for the good" even though I accept these as mistakes.. Now here is what I have learnt from these mistakes I have committed,

1) I have learnt how to manage my money.. Learnt not to spend money lavishly.. Learnt to save some money for the future..
2) I have realised that there are lot of people out there who are caring for me.. So, I better be safe when I am enjoying my life to the fullest..
3) Not all people can be trusted.. You have to judge that guys character before really helping him..

Will these mistakes cost me badly?? Yes, it might cost me a lot but I would give it as a cost to the lessons that I have learnt..

Will these mistakes affect my life badly?? Not quite.. Just that I have to curb my spendings a bit.. These mistakes have made me tough in my decision making.. It has made me stronger.. These indeed have added spice to my life and I love enjoying my life that way..

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

What is Bad about you??

Nobody is Perfect in this world.. All of us will have something bad in us when it comes to our characters.. My friend Srinidhi wanted me to find those flaws in our friend's characters and write about the same.. This is just what I feel.. No hard feelings please and sorry if I am wrong.. Here I go,

Let me start off by writing some bad things about me first.. This is me for you,

1) I am a Scorpion( an addict).. I like trying new things, but somehow can't come out of it..
2) I easily trust everyone which might lead to my downfall sometimes..
3) I get into a lot of debts, spend a lot of money and do not know how to manage Money.. ( Trying hard to learn that now though.. Thanks to Nidhi and Navya )..

This list is never ending.. So, I think its time for me now to point out a few flaws in your characters..

Akash - 1) You chumma shout at others without even knowing the true facts sometimes..

Bharath - 1) You think that you are always right and you want others to feel the same.. I know you will be right 99% of the time.. But then, nobody is perfect..

Chethan - 1) You do not keep any secrets( Better you change that soon mate ).. 2) You are less sensible sometimes..

Kumar - 1) You think more than usual before taking any decision..

Khaleel - 1) You love everyone.. 2) You are very short-tempered sometimes.. 3) You assume certain things and get yourselves into trouble..

Kiran Raj and Kiran Kumar - I am not able to find out any flaws in your characters.. Will tell you in person if I find something wrong in you for sure..

Madhu - 1) You get irritated very soon.. People might get some fun in troubling you, but you have to take it in the right spirit and enjoy the moment.. 2) You are a cricket addict( not an enthusiast ) because of which may you neglect your family sometimes..

NDTV recently showed how the life of a newly married couple had taken a beating all because of IPL..

Navya - 1) You quarrel a lot with your parents( Understand that whatever they do is for your good only ).. 2) You find a bug in almost everything( I know thats your job, but then sometimes I feel you over-do your job )..

Nidhi - 1) You get close to everyone very easily and sometimes without even judging them properly.. 2) You become very moody sometimes ( I must say that it has reduced quite a lot now )..

Rajatha - 1)You do not take the comments given by your friends sportively..

Ravi - 1) You take everything and everyone for granted..

Sendhil - 1) You sometimes resist yourself from talking DM.. 2) You are careless sometimes( Still remember that incident where you forgot to send the web.xml file during the final assessment )..

Srinidhi - 1) You trust everyone easily which sometimes might lead to your downfall mate.. So be careful.. 2) You save a lot of money( I must say all ).. Whom are you saving it for?? Common dude, its your money and you have every right to spend it wisely..

Srivatsa - 1) You try to be modern and traditional simultaneously which is weird sometimes.. 2) Your heart wants you to be traditional but your mind thinks otherwise.. I would suggest you to follow your heart..

Sundeep - 1) You irritate your friends sometimes by your behaviour and your dressing sense.. 2)You are very dominant..

Sunil - 1) You take longer than usual to mingle with others.. 2) You are shy sometimes..

Hope all of you agree with me and rectify those mistakes I mentioned( I will rectify mine soon.. No need to worry about that ).. If you have done so, I would be the happiest person in this world..

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

When life gets to Dire-straits??

"My life is in dire-straits" means that you are in very dangerous and a precarious situation.. What could one do to come out of it?? This is a very difficult question to answer depending on the context.. But there is way out of everything.. You just have to start searching for the way out..

The feeling what you will be under when you are in dire-straits is exactly similar to what you feel when you are out on an adventurous ride in an Amusement Park or Bungee Jumping and you know your life might be at stake.. But then, in the end you will come out of it being happy right.. Same is the case.. You just have to enjoy being in that feeling knowing you will come out victorious in the end..

Life has many different lessons to offer.. You will learn the most important ones only when you have landed in trouble.. All of these lessons will come at a cost though.. Sometimes, the cost might be less and sometimes more.. You just have to feel that you have paid exactly the cost of the lesson that you have learnt.. Trust me, its really worth it.. Probably, after reading the whole article you might think you have learnt an important lesson.. But, trust me it won't be of much significance unless you have experienced it..

One lesson I have learnt and I want to share with all of you guys - " Money never comes easily.. If you think it will come easily, either someone is trying to fool you or you are trying to fool someone.. Both of them being equally bad.." Only when you work respectfully, will you earn money.. This advice was given by my brother when I was whining over the fact that I have a lot of debts.. I vow a million thanks to him for giving me this advice which I won't forget for the rest of my life..

You have to be really courageous and tough in your decision making to come out of the pit you have fallen into.. As they say - " When the going gets tough, the tough get going ".. Sometimes, it might be better if you wish to go deeper into the pit and learn some more important lessons in life before you get out of it.. My brother wanted me to go deeper since he had experienced the same after paying close to 40k as credit-card late payment fines and had learnt a good lesson..

Once you have come out of the pit you had fallen into, you will have come out fresh and more stronger than ever after learning all the important lessons of life.. You are now a tough guy who can tackle all the problems you might face in future..

One more lesson - " When life throws lemons at you, don't make a lemonade of it.. Just ask for some salt and Tequila.."

Hope you all learn those important lessons that life has to offer by being in dire-straits atleast once.. This is not a curse.. Trust me it's going to be fun.. Cya in dire-straits then..


Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

How I was influenced by my friends??

When you ask a friend "What movies are good to go see?" or "Where should we go to dinner?", you are doing a verbal social search. You’re trying to leverage that social connection to try and get a piece of information that would be better than what you would have come up with on your own..

This is a small example on how you can be influenced by your friends..

Well I had been smoking for over a year at the time, and I knew most of my friends were under the influence of much heavier drugs, and one of my friends really influenced me.. This is an example of your friend spoiling your life.. This shows how someone can be negatively influenced by their friends..

She made me feel as if someone actually cared about me.. She helped me get over my addictions to drinking and smoking.. She helped me keep God in my heart when times were tough.. I could go on.. She is the best.. I don't know where I would be without that girl.. This shows how someone can be postively influenced by their friends..

In the same manner, every friend of ours will have influenced us in some way or the other.. The influences can have a positive or a negative impact on your personal life.. I would like to go ahead and tell you how I was influenced by each of my friends.. Here I go,

Apoorva - I have learnt a lot from him.. His hard-working nature, his commitment, positive and never give-up attitude are the key take-aways that have influenced me in a great sense..

Bharath - This guy is the most influential person I have ever seen.. I am very impressed by his way of looking at life.. His suggestions and opinions about any topic on earth would make anyone impressed.. I still have lots to extract from him though.. Looking forward to learn more from you mate..

Chethan - You can go on teasing him for a life-time, even then this guy would stay quiet and also enjoy along with you.. So, I have learnt to be patient and stay quiet even when the odds are up against you and when things are'nt going your way and enjoy the situation..

Khaleel - I have learnt how to take things as they come and to be positive always.. Thanks to this guy.. To speak about negative influences, he has influenced me in liking guys more than gals..

Madhu - This guy has influenced me in behaving like a professional.. He was the person responsible for me to stop using slangs.. Talking about negative influences again, he made me like him a lot..

Navya - I have learnt to do things the right way.. Thanks to this Madam Perfectionist.. She has made me take less chances/risks in life.. Negatives again, she is one who has made me think a lot now before I take any decision..

Nidhi - She is one from whom I have learnt how to be trust-worthy and how to manage money.. I have learnt how to spend less and enjoy more.. Thanks to her, now that I have learnt how to save 5k every month starting this month..

Srinidhi - I have learnt the most lovely thing in my life - Blogging.. Thanks for that mate.. I am waiting for the right time to learn about being a great family man from him.. Its too early for that now though..

Thanks to all you guys for bearing a positve influence on me.. I hope I had a positive influence on each one of you..

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

Srinidhi's take on me

Kishan..............

Rather than writing on “when I saw Kishan for the first time, I thought .....” I ll take a side route to write about Kishan.

He is a person synonymous with his blog name. He lives life to the fullest. His attitude towards anything he does has attracted me so much that I try to do something like he does.
Kishan believes in himself than most of the folks in the gang.
He has that confidence and wit that everyone should appreciate. His care free attitude towards certain things and very responsible moves for other things is what makes him stand unique among others in the gang.

I do like to point out his self-respect as he wants to return the money he took from his father. No doubt, he ll do it, may be taking his own time.
He is caring and sharing too, as snatches food from everyone at lunch (!!!).
I see him confident as he knows what he should do, what he is doing, and how to do it. This clear picture in mind is deadly essential in these days.

His way of enjoying life is cool too. With all his Girl friends in his Thunder Bird, he truly the guy enjoying his life to the possible extent. Guys, Life is not one such, where you should come out of safe zones and try out all possible things in life. Be it good or a little bad, don’t care it my frenz.

I see a good business man in him. His planning and the balancing act of various things is an ART. His boldness in decision making is a trait of a business magnet. This is where I see his talent. He needs to nurture it.
I request him to do so.

Regards,
Srinidhi Kashyap

What would you be 5 years down the line??

After getting the same suggestion from both Madhu and Navya ( what a coincidence ), I decided to write about my perspective on what each of my friends would be after 5 years from now.. I will write whatever comes to my mind.. So, no hard feelings please.. Here I go,

In the year 2013, Imagine we all meet at a get-together party in Inchara again, a long time after meeting each other.. Here is my take on how everyone would come,

Bharath( Project Manager ) - He, along with his wife and their 2 year old son will come in a nice new car of theirs.. All of us fall to his feet after a long time.. His attire would be his usual party wear.. For those of you who would'nt know.. His party wear would be a collared-Tshirt tucked inside his chaddi wearing his nice formal black shoes with white socks.. While his wife would have come in a tradinational nice saree.. And his son who would follow his Dad's footsteps at every stage of his life would have been dressed exactly as his father.. A Junior Chaddi-Swamy in the making..

Chethan ( 100kgs by then )- He, along with his just married chubby wife will come on his splendour.. What a sight that would be?? ( Chubby and Hubby on a splendour ) All of us stare at this nice pair.. His wife would then grab the Menu-Card and start ordering almost immediately.. Just kidding eh.. He would then start off with a song -

Khaleel - He, along with his wife Maha and their son would come on his Karizma as usual with his hair spiked up.. And he starts off with his trademark question to all of us - "I am looking sexy na??" All of us start talking with his son who has his hair spiked up too.. I tell him that is very cute.. His reply would be - " Ya I have heard many girls telling that to me.. You love me na?? ".. I would be stunned.. Junior Rapist in the making..

Madhu - He, along with his female wife ( nice to see that he has changed ) and their son would come in their Ford Icon.. All of us start singing the " Bull bull " song.. He replies by saying " Ivagalu naane target ah?? " His son wearing the Indian cricket team's T-shirt would be practising his cricket strokes.. Already a cricket enthusiast like his father.. Junior Sachin in the making..

Navya - As soon as she comes, she walks straight up to Madhu and occupies the chair beside him and starts bugging him.. Then she comes up to me and asks me whether I have quit my 3 girl friends.. When I tell no, she starts blasting me.. She then starts introducing her boy-friend to all of us.. We all pity the state of that poor guy..

Nidhi - She would come in a black salwar with her trademark boy-cut.. She would have become a real aunty by then.. She chats with all of us for a while and then tries to take out something from her hand-bag.. She starts distributing her marriage invitation to all of us.. All of us are shocked to see its content which says,
Nidhi (Software Engineer)
v/s
Mr.X (Software Engineer)
We cordially invite you for our wedding.. Do join us to share our happiness, as we begin our new life together..
Venue of the Battlefield : Kalyani kalyana mandir..

Regards,
Kishan Chandranna

What kind of person can be your Life-Partner??

After Srinidhi had insisted me on writing about this topic and after knowing that most of you did not have any issues with me writing about this, I am glad to start writing about those who had no issues.. Here I go,

Srinidhi - I somehow feel that your life partner should be someone who is truly opposite to your character.. By that, I mean it has to be someone who has explored the outside world other than just work and family.. Atleast then you will get a chance to explore the outside world and discover something great in you.. I know you have something better in you other than just work and family that can take you places.. Hope you discover that soon..

Madhu - Your partner must and should be a,

1)Cricket enthusiast.. ( I am qualified )
If not, I am pretty sure that he/she will suffer.. Now imagine this case.. What if there is a match between India and Pakistan on the day of your first night?? I seriously want this to happen.. I want to know what you would do then.. I am sure you will watch the match no matter what..

2)Female.. ha ha ha.. ( Here, I am ruled out )
Getting a bit serious now.. I feel that your partner should be someone who has a lot of patience in him/her for you might get very angry about little things in life..

Navya - I feel that your partner must be someone who has seen the outside world unlike you so that he could take you places.. Someone who understands your childish nature and likes it.. Someone who understands your problems.. Lastly, it has to be someone who buys you pani-puri daily..
Hey, how about getting married to the guy who owns a pani-puri shop?? Just kidding eh..

Rajatha - I feel that someone who is very serious,hard-working, sophisticated and determined in life would make an ideal partner for you.. Someone who is an big industrialist could suit you.. Someone who encourages your courage and lets you do things that any other women would'nt dare to..

Nidhi - It would great if you get someone who can understand all your talents as your partner.. He should'nt be too worried about you getting close to people as that is your nature.. Someone who treats you like his friend.. It would be even better if he treats you like a kid.. Someone who understands your feelings.. Lastly, someone who can withstand all your pranks...

Chethan - I know you like girls who are chubby like you.. So, that is one criterion.. Next is that she should be a good cook and someone who knows your appetite.. She has to be a good singer since you like listening to them putting your head on her lap.. Her laps have to be strong enough to hold you right..

Ravi - I feel that your partner has to be very decent and traditional.. Someone who loves listening to your songs.. Be it original or the remixed version of the song.. Someone who can make good home food..

Srivatsa - Your partner i feel should be a true iyengari who is very traditional and can make good puliyogare for you.. Someone who respects you and your family members.. I hope Aaaa falls in this category..

Kiran Kumar - Your partner i feel should be someone who is opposite to what you are.. Atleast then you will get a chance to explore the outside world..

Kumar - I feel only a modern gal or a model would be your ideal partner.. Someone who can beat you when it comes to beauty conciousness.. Try for Sania Mirza's sister dude..

Apoorva - Your ideal partner would be Koneru Humpy, the junior grand-master.. Someone who can beat you in a game of chess.. Someone who lets you do what you like doing and realizes the importance of every move you make in chess and in life..

Sundeep - Your partner should be someone who can withstand your PJ's.. Someone who encourages you when you try out different things.. Someone who lets you be who you are.. And last but not the least, surely someone who likes your weird taste when it comes to your dressing sense..

Sunil - I strongly feel that someone who is like Mrs.Steve Irwin could be your ideal partner.. Someone who encourages your adventurous nature.. Someone who will accompany you in all your adventurous deeds.. Someone who makes you pink..

I hope all of you really get the partner you dreamt of..

I am not mentioning how my partner should be as i am not qualified yet to get married.. Will definitely let you all know when I am..


Regards,
Kishan Chandranna