Quirks of a Software Professional

Trust the irritating (for anyone outside the IT realm) software professional to use Microsoft Outlook to sensationalise even the most trivial of issues into a matter of great National Security (second in this regard only to Dubyaman - George Bush).
Here is a snippet of an actual mail that was sent to the admin assistant of the team.
The reason: there was an overhead light (diffused light if i may add...) that was interfering with Mr. Merlin whilst at work.
The issue was raised previously and the lights were shut-off. Then suddenly out of the blue, they were turned ON again...
This prompted the following mail...

Hi xyz...
This is regarding the beam lights... They are affecting me and ameet and resulting in an under-utilization of the available valuable resources and hence our company must come up with optimal processes to allocate the adequate lights to the appropriate beams so that the work is done efficiently and the average productivity is above the industry standards which will help the organization to attract more customers and acquire more business thus resulting in more profits and also meet our annual targets for the profits in order to sustain in the competitive market situation !!
Please Help !!!!

And guess what??? This mail was actually forwarded to the divisional head! :)
Everyone has a quirky sense of humour these days! ;)

PS: If it crossed your mind that I am sensationalising a trivial issue...you are absolutely right! :)

CAT...Since 2003

Somewhere deep inside all of us lies a cute kid...he shows his face once in a while and makes us do something that we always wanted to do...but never had the chance to...maybe because we never had the time (although we had time to land at Mocha...and bide time over a vertigo), maybe because we didn't want it bad enough...or simply because we never had the will to let it happen...
And when he (the kid) does pop-up, the urge to do the unconventional is so strong...you think that you can conquer the world...well almost.

A certain such urge has cropped up in my mind..again...
I always cribbed to God that he didnt give me talents...
I aint much of a dancer, can sing to disperse a crowd and paint a cow when i want a frog and vice-versa. If there is something that i can do decently, it is to write...(or should i be saying type).
Or so i console myself!

well...enough of the abstract...Let me get into the crux of the matter...

I always wanted to script a short story...something that was close to my heart...
Something with which i could talk my heart out...and something that others would relate to and want to listen.

But there wasnt anything that i could place my finger on. Then, a fine day, a dear friend asked me whether I had read 5 point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. I pleaded ignorance. What caught my attention was an innocuous statement by her that although the book was decent enough, given the chance, I could do a better job!

The very next day, I had bought the book and read the same(The first page of the book bears testimony to the above mentioned incident). It was good. But then, i thought that it didn't deserve the hype.

And one statement kept ringing in my mind
"...you can do a better job than him...".

And now, I have an opportunity to live that dream...
I have an idea!

I present to you...

CAT...Since 2003!!!
:-)
This happens to be the name and the subject of the short story that i intend to pen...
It is a touchy and memorable topic to all those amongst us who came to Pune with a dream...A dream of the IIMs!

When we embarked on the journey, we were quite a handful. However, since then, we have meandered and taken our own paths. Some have moved on and some have moved out. But the CAT of 2003 was agruably the best time of our lives...since then we have diligently(???) made efforts. But the dream of Vastrapore (for the ignoramus, the address of IIM-A reads IIM, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad) remains a dream...
But we haven't give up hope (or have we?). We continue in our efforts to rise to the pinnacle...
And this forms the crux of my story...
I dont intend to keep it auto-biographical...for two reasons...
one, life is weirder than fiction and hence difficult to digest...and two, i dont want to make my life a open book... ;-)
I want to keep people guessing as to what is fact and what is fiction (assuming i find someone brave enought to endure the same...in fact, considering you have reached this far, would you want to take the first shot? ;-> ).

I know the entire concept sounds like one crazy idea! But guess what???
Normal is boring!!!. Not that i am bored with life or anything of that sort...(or that i dont have work at Lehman...i write these at night),but the penchant of doing the unusual is definitely more rewarding than the mundane...

With this, i begin the wonderful journey of the dream!


CAT...since 2003!!!

Bonds of the Past

There was a time
together we crossed the street
those were the days
knowing you was a treat

Somewhere down the road
you just withered away
Even when we were together
we'd have nothing to say

The world that we had
came to an abrupt end
For no obvious reason
we took an unseen bend

In the end it was
a bitter pill to swallow
after some good times together
it turned out to be shallow

Time and tide didn't wait
for us to catch up
It gave us the time
but we didn't patch up

A glass once broken
may be glued again
But even with sincere efforts
it will never be the same again

The troubles may go away
but the cracks shall last
the future would never have
the bonds of the past...