Bloopers..People on a high horse are difficult to deal with !

In the initial stages of my career, I always had to interact with the end users to help with their issues..it's always pretty interesting to troubleshoot issues & arrive at solutions, but some computer-illiterates are... man.. way too irritating ! Though you wanted to show empathy, some people does not listen to understand & reflect, rather listen only to complain !! It always turns off, when people assume they know more on these things, actual being way other !

One instance where, I was talking to a user on troubleshooting an issue & wanted remote desktop of user's machine ... see the conversation for lil humour:

Self: Helo Mr.********* ****, How are you doing ?
User: Not so good, cos of my computer issues
Self: I'm really sorry for the inconvenience Mr.********* ****, I would help you fix the issue !
User: Ok..Now waat
Self: Are you in front of your machine
User: yes
Self: Please click on 'Start' button, which is at the left corner of your machine
User: Ok
Self: Click on 'Run'
User: Type '****'
Self: Is there any dialog box opening?
User: No
Self: Have you done the exact thing that I mentioned?
User: Yes
Self: Could you please tell me what is the error which is popped up?
User: No error..jus blank
Self: few more steps to check what was the issue !!
Self: Finally, Mr.********* ****, Can you restart the machine?
User: Ahh ! You mean to say, the machine should be powered on?
Self: jeeeeezz #$%^&&*!@$%#$^%&^&@#!@#!$^
Self (Mind Voice): Then when I asked to click on 'Start' & 'Run', he started to run in his place I suppose !! hufff..

One more instance to laugh at:

Once I had to call up another person to check some few stuffs & then completed the task, being a victim to all the verbose brain jammers..finally was about to end up the call with the usual ending!!

Self: Thanks much for the cooperation Mr.******* ****. Your issue is now resolved ! Just give us a call back if there's a problem. We're available 24/7"!
User: "Is that Eastern time?"
Self (Mind Voice): eh-waat??? #$%^&&*!@$%#$^%&^&@#!@#!$^


Hufffff...there are people who does recognize the good work done, whom I really respect, but this is about 'that few people' of other ways...nothing in offense !! Just read for a laugh !

P.S I Love You - Heart-tugging & a life-affirming debut by Ahern!

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Reading the book, I literally cried after long time...a book which I would ponder upon till my lifetime..."P.S I Love You" by Cecilia Ahern!!!! Ahern has discovered a brilliant knot to the "Moving on after Death" concept...a surprisingly charming debut about grief, love, family and struggling to move on with life!

“Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly & Gerry!” This novel, by Cecelia Ahern, is about an Irish widow, Holly Kennedy, who is going through a tough time in her life. She was married to Gerry, an impetuous Irishman who loves her with every breath in his body; both of them were childhood sweethearts!!! Ahern had portrayed a symbiotic relationship between both…But when Gerry died of brain tumour, Holly feels completely lost & doesn’t want to re-embrace life, despite the efforts of her family & friends!

Then she receives a package from beyond the grave: the List. It was from Gerry. He knew his death was imminent and that his absence would be hard on his beloved Holly & wrote it before his death, leaving her a to-do list month starting from March and ending in January, there is one letter per month spanning the year after he died & every note ends with "P.S I love you." And the way Gerry re-assures that she has to obey the list & its contents “And remember, I'm looking out for you, so I will know . . . “ is the ultimate touch! Holly does things reluctantly & her experiences out of it, guided her through her grief, helps her to overcome her past & re-discover her future! We watch as Holly as she sings in Karoke which used to be a nightmare for her, finds an interesting Job & enjoys an adventurous holiday with her best friends Denise & Sharon arranged by lovable Gerry, becomes a God Mother for Sharon's kid, watch Denise getting engaged & be a maid of honor in Denise’s Wedding.... and sorts through her beloved husband's belongings… wrestles & juggles with the possibilities of a new romance…whilst still trying to stay true to Gerry. They were eternally grateful to each other!

Ahem…Holly was being a jealous, bitter and incredibly selfish & hesitant friend, when she heard about Sharon’s pregnancy & Denise’s Engagement, but Holly needed to be selfish these days in order to survive. But the touchy moments when Holly meets Sharon & Denise was sculpted beautifully, as we will relish the heart-tugging moments spent with our good old friends.

Holly is a fantastic protagonist who begins to mend through the solace provided by Gerry & Gerry, despite being dead, an intriguing personality and incredibly figured out what he could do to get his cherished Holly out of her depression and mourning and into the light of life. Accompanying Holly throughout the healing process is a cast of friends and family members who add as much to the novel's success as Holly's own tale of survival. Her family seems a little too bizarre at times, but weirdly enough, we all knows jerks, freaks and lovables like this. Worse, we're related to some of them :P

Filled in with Irish slang & perspectives, the book provides intriguing view unlike in American literature...You won't be able to put it down and as you move on, you would find yourself smiling & weeping all mixed emotions all at once....! A wonderfully life-affirming debut…I should say!

Testimonial on ma dear frnd!!!! :)

It's an absolute pleasure to blog abt suji, but the way she insited on writing up this testi, is absolute cribbing on daily basis :P ....she did not let me do this writing peacefully, as she wants this testi imm :) ....here goes the testimonial to my dear friend....

Suji....a package of personality who can be easily predicted(not sure abt all - but atleast I predict her without any misinterpretation) & that's y she calls me a clairvoyant!!! :-)....She is so energetic as she'l never be tired of fighting & arguing....it goes on & on & on...! mostly you can see a change n her orkut caption whenever there's a fight bet us or with any of her close frnds...not sure how my wipro journey would have been without suji....

First meet.....the most dramatic one, I shud say...! how could I ever forget the most unfortunate
moment...lol...jus kidding! Then it was a kinda formal coffee meets which resulted in the evolution of beautiful friendship....she was tooooo caring even in the initial meets...we really had a great struggle to call each other "Podi Vaade"....finally all the formal things came to an end & even now she regrets for insisting me to call her casually without the due respect :-)

We both have few similarities in contrast to the unlimited non-syncs....we both love reading books, but none can read books as fast as she could...after meeting her, I have completely stopped buying books, as she is the sole supplier of books....she doesn't trust in other's driving & hence she would only drive me out whereever we plan to go...! She has absolute craze for watching new movies in theatres as and wen it get released...not one day she would wait after the movie got released...all in hi-fi theatres...The countless movies she has seen in Satyam...even the walls of satyam theatre would recognize sujatha... :)the satyam proprietor has to definitely
make her a shareholder in the venture....will never forgive her for booking early morning shows in satyam....she's quite acquainted to that kinda situations which am not used to & literally slept at the cinema hall....! her most favourite word (SMS)....thinking it's Short message service.....naaaaaa...its called "SUJATHA MESSAGE SERVICE"...ha ha...she is so fond of messaging & have the high end capability of fillin up my inbox within a minute...before i type one msg, I will receive 10 msgs in a jiffy & she will complain abt me not replying back....She is so fond of hearing abt wat ppl think abt her...everything in black & white...which am not quite used too...she wants messages,scraps, testimonials, blogs even wen am sitting next to her all the time :-) Suji..."Unsung songs are more sweeter than the heard ones"...Hope u get it :)


The way she calls me out with different names as related to the situations...the way she remembers each n every important day in our friendship journey...n all the celebrations & gifts...she literally makes me feel as if am an angel & an important part of her life....

I would never forget the way she made me write my certifications, for which I showed reluctance nearly one year & cos of her, I completed it within a week's time...was really unbelievable...but the sad part is ..she'l never practice wat she preaches...still so many certifications are pending for her to complete....


Days spent in our office tht too in our morning shifts together....remarkable days.... :) the early mrng drive...the astronaut get ups....temple visits...alreef lunch & dinner....unforgettable moments...will always be cherishable...she never cares abt spending money at all...she has fond craze & love towards credit cards & other offer cards....ul be stunned to see her purse as you would see 100s of cards in all possible colour combination's....(ubayam: Satyam, lifestyle, Westside, Pantaloon & the vital role played by ICICI)...hee hee...you can see suji in all the food mela or any other gathering happening in any part of Chennai....she has classic tastes & she loves chennai in specifically mylapore from the bottom of her heart...as much as she loves Chennai...that much she hates mumbai jus because I frequently use the word...;-)

My stay in suji's house for 2 days...wow....not only suji...but her fly...takes care of people with absolute care....ultimate time we had...literally...motta maadi talks...late night return to home...played an imp role in we becoming close...I hav shared many litter and hard moments with her....and rarely she gives out real sensible suggestions but mostly with sarcastic comments & mokkais!!!!

To put up in a nut shell....She is an elusive combination of smart...toooo caring...talentd...outspoken...curious...a typical workaholic...insomniac...possessive pisasu....& in addtn to all the above..she is just an uncontented beast...she'l never be happy abt the times spent together, but she needs more and more time to be spent....! :) which makes her more interesting....!

YOU are definitely a vital part of my life...Will always cherish the togetherness with a beautiful companion like YOU....

As I always say....KEEP BEING YOURSELF....

Watch out for much more testimonials...Blogs I should say..in the years to roll-by....! :-) May God Bless U..Come out with flying colors! BFN....

Christmas Celebs in JDI!!!!

With the cold air surrounding, the snow of celebration falling all around...the atmosphere so warm and jolly mood diffusing everywhere..yes...it was definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas inside Johnsondiversey ODC, the mood of Christmas competitions & plenty of advent presents to be won, was buzzing around!

The Christmas committee came up with the different ideas & finally crafted - "Nothing but Paper", "Mr & Miss Clean", "Nostalgia - Back to School", "The Photographer"...And each of the representatives started advertising on the events they were responsible for & collected the nominations...

Nothing but paper - Collage making was the height of creativity amongst all. Surprisingly there were 5 entries from different teams to unleash their creativity. There were 3 themes given, out of which "Colours of Life" was chosen by all teams invariably...may be people have realized life without colours is a drab...

One of the teams portrayed that "Our art & culture" is the traditional colour of our nation...Other team went one step ahead & showcased the concept of "Donating eyes"...another team clubbed the "stages of life" with the colours and depicted the fact that life is after all a mixture of all emotions and not a monotonous one....One another team doesn't wanna bring up with any serious concepts..instead came up with the basic emotions & correlated them with the various colours...Final illustration was the highlight of all, which depicted the WIPRO LOGO with the colours as it is and talked about "Team Work as a united form of colours"...For the first time,in the history of JDI, we saw such a huge participation & to sum up, we had many voters to make this competition a great success...Based on public voting, the EYE DONATION concept won the first prize & the WIPRO LOGO concept won the second prize...

Other competitions were parallely happening, as collage making was the only floor event...Nostalgia - Back to school was a gala time we all had in figuring out the 16 kids, who in future happened to be the PILLARS OF JDI :) Each one of us picked up a paper & guessed out the names with all the more seriousness, which one would have never experienced even at the time of their board examinations....!!!! We had a 4 member tie for the first place & one was picked by lots...

Next came up the "Mr & Miss Clean" Contest, where there was no competition among the genders, as none of the "Mister" wanted to compete with the "Mistress" of JDI, making it an all women contest....! The prizes were shared between 2 of the gals...

Last but not the least, the contest which saw the maximum number of entries - Photography Competition... People had sent various scenaries & eco related pics among which we saw an extremely creative green pic which portrayed a face made of veggies winning all hearts & the prize as well...

And came the day with all excitement & enthusiasm....every contestant holding their breaths to know the "Winners of the show"...The grand finale ended with the prize distribution to all the deserved followed by cake cutting ceremony which marked the eve of Christmas....!


"Merry Christmas" was all around in the air...! :)

Team Outing!!!!

Team Outing.....huh!!! Quite after a long hustle bustle & hesitation, finally our plan to team outing was decided. But then one more dilemma came into picture...choosing the best place!!!! where each one of us had different thoughts & plans as always...it was difficult cos our team is a multi lingual one wherein we had to accommodate each of our concerns...finally we tot some hindi movie will help our situation & planned for "New York"

Before the day of team outing, one more team dinner was arranged to our surprise...Dinner at Basera!!!! They have multiple options in seating. You can be seated in the open, under a tree on wooden tree trunks for a table and stool, or you can opt the traditional indoor air-conditioned seating, or for the more adventurous, you can climb up to the room on stilts. We opted for the first one, cos we didn’t want to loose out on the pleasant and breezy outdoor, as the moon played hide and seek between the thick clump of trees and shrubs. That’s the other part, the number of trees, shrubs, plants and other stuff they have taken time and attention to grow and groom. Dinner in a open expansive area with the outdoor seating! Good bites...that’s what the mosquitoes say after they got us in the open air section of this restaurant. However, we planned our seatings carefully as "not to mingle up"...strictly!!!! as usual gals & guys seated opposite, so that there was a good opportunity for both to kid each other...!

To our big shock, someone was literally screaming while getting settled in our tables...upon investigating it was Sailaja giving this shock reaction seeing something strange under the table! everyone gave a sigh of relief after hearing to it & cleared it away. The main attraction was the food itself. It was good to great. We started with as usual soups & starters, all were well done and marinated. Basera, too had different cuisines to offer typical of most places in Chennai, it had the regular north-indian punjabi, chinese, continental and a small offering of south-indian too. Before the ordered food hit our table, we had an oppurtunity to bring everyone outta their comfort zone & either make 'em sing or dance..! This gala time started with a gr8 surprise to all, sailaja's attempt to sing in "TAMIL"..it was really enjoyable to hear someone singing in an amateur slang as "oru kal oru kannadi"...then each one took their turns to their fav numbers..lemme try to recollect the numbers..! Alston from "Kadhal Konden"...myself, "netru illadha maatram"...Prabhu, Vaaranam Ayiram & Villu...raj ...ram, "Oororama & anjali anjali"...sakthi ...Ooops i dont remember much!!!! :( Then Ram made good try to make prabhu dance, but finally ram performed..as we completed the dessert & took everlasting pics !!!!

As we turned (Only me sailaja & sakthi...Shhh secret ;)) the corner inside the parking lot, the children squealed in delight on seeing the small playground. We played in the merry-go-round along with the affectionate kids over there, while others unnoticingly went towards the tempo..! There we took a beautiful group foto..!

Thinking of ending the trip to Basera with this....na...cos the return journey was much more eventful....Prabhu's fuss for expressing his dancing ability did not extend for long time...he started dancing as the driver contributed by playing a pakka "kuthu" song...!!!!!! :)

Finally the trip ended with all happiness & thinking about the next day's team outing plan....!!!!:)

Finally the day of Team Outing popped up...! Unusually people came up in all set formals...mostly black was the dress code for the day... First our plan was to dine at “Centre Point” & then to Mayajaal...

Most of the people who don’t have vehicles to commute planned up to meet up at office & move to the point accordingly...! The hotel is situated in a strategic location with the major attractions of Chennai at its close vicinity. A welcoming smile from an eager-to-serve staff on your arrival, the ambience of the large open plain air-conditioned restaurant will immediately make you feel at ease. Centre Point is an excellent multi-cuisine restaurant serves a wide variety of delicious and wholesome dishes. It was well suited & hassle-free. The ambience was so soothing with a special warm & inviting atmosphere & its a perfect place for a peaceful dine. We took a perfect seating in one of the spacious & cozy restaurants of chennai..Everyone was literally hungry, so we had no much entertaining stuff, instead some chit chats & desperately waiting for the food to arrive..food came & it was completed with an urge cautiously not to miss any part of the movie...Some momentary shots were photographed...were all our placements were as perfect as that..;)) & we all started to our main outing point..!

P.S: This exact photograph was published in ERGO (Twice we were nominated as “Partners in Crime” ;) )

Off to Mayajaal...Ppl with bikes came up to the place directly & we gals came up in the arranged Sumo... Travel in ECR is all time favourite of mine cos it’s out of city & most importantly it’s peaceful when compared to the hopeless traffic inside the city..! Mayajaal has everything that one could think of for a weekend - all in one roof - Some 8 or so different movie theatres, food court, children’s play area, bowling arena, snooker, music place, shops, an entire gaming complex (with facility to play any game literally)..Ideal for Corporate Parties...We just had time to enter into the screen where the movie was played up..! Already 5 minutes of the movie was gone when we actually entered..!

The new smart catch-phrase in post-Obama America is post-racial. (to those who’ve suffered slurs in the name of race). On the same lines, Prez O’s talk of closing down of Guantanamo Bay is a great gesture, but it will take years before the world forgets why that penitentiary was stuffed with suspected terrorists.

Kabir Khan’s ‘New York’ is about three friends (who hang out on campus, in pubs, but never seem to go to class) impacted by the fallout of 9/11: it was not just the twin towers which were destroyed; a whole way of life died too. Americans began looking at people not of their nationality and religion with hatred and deep suspicion: if they are brown and worshipped Allah, they were terrorists. The movie was all about this!!!!!

Well the movie had a good script, but actually the whole plot was predictable. Also the music score was not exceptionally good...! The script direction was underplayed when it comes to relationships & their feel towards each other...! Movie was ok kinda stuff, but could have been sculpted in a better manner..! That’s wat most of us felt while peeping outta the screen..!

In the intermission, we all were glued to our seats & din move out, wherein a gang of ppl went out & we were wondering why those ppl actually did not turn up, even when the movie was screened..! Suddenly Siva came in asking for a cam...we were not interested to hear up what was actually going on, since the movie was on...! Then finally the movie ended up with all tragic climax...& some ppl literally had tears in their eyes..!

Now comes the actual fun part...

Bowling – a game which can soon make you become an addict....

We entered the Bowling Alley, where we had 8 lanes... though some of our eyes turned up to the Snooker board...but no one around to entertain our thoughts... All were a kinda amateur in bowling...Ram & Siva went to collect the tokens for bowling, to mention.. as this was the bday treat sponsored by Siva (who was enjoying even when his wallet was draining out!)....While enquiring only 7 opted to play the game... It was Ram, Siva, Shakthi, Sailaja, myself & dunno the other 2 names...! Others were so conservative at the start, but quite acquainted when we actually started the game...In the mean time of collecting the tokens & searching for our lane...Sailaja actually tried lifting the ball...the first word uttered by her...”Bapre, pls cancel my token, cos I could not even lift the ball”...Literally the ball was toooo heavy to lift...!!!!

The first shot was given by Ram..as usual the enthusiast amongst all...! in the literal sense..! hee hee! Then try was given by Siva...slowly Ram pulled me to give a shot & the first series of tries were all utter flop, as the ball din reach half way as it took a different dynamic direction...but managed to hit up all finally..& jus leaving one ball for a shot had become our usual!!! similarly we made all comfortable to take up their turns & ppl caught up the enthu very soon & then it literally became a chota fight for their turns to come next...for bowling!!!! We had 54 good turns for our team... & each one tried to compete others..!!!! Many fotos were captured while the event of bowling continued... Though all were enthusiastically playing up, one guy actually stood outside the lane, jus spurting out comments not participating in the game...Showed up his enthu only to comment others...it was none other than Alston... Finally we managed to pull him up to the lane & he too tried some shots...some good ones actually...Ram was so lightened up as he always go flooring along with the ball till it reaches it destination to bid a farewell.... ;) lol..! I took the pride to complete the last beautiful turn & finally the show ended up with the sporty entertainment...& certainly arm pains which was felt the very next day...!

We managed to roam in the lounge of Mayajaal...were we caught up the Games Arcade of Mayajaal.. it was well stocked with latest electronic games that captivate the kids and adults alike with its audio and visual treats…but none opted to play around, but jus a window seeing..! While everyone rushed out through…myself & sailaja took some adventurous fotos, which is a censored part to the team even now…!!!! ;) While we came out, others were already out readily packed up their stuffs to leave around..! But we were having a tot to shoot out different poses to make the event more memorable…but some hesitant faces as always wanted to act in a more matured way..wanted us to get rid of all the stuffs & also they din take pains to participate in our effort in bringing ppl together..!!! but we managed to capture some different shots which were even sent to the “Ergo Column” describing as “Partners in Crime”….though we were (not all) so innocent..!

Finally ppl were back to their pavilion left with all happiness & seemed to be relieved & contented with a good outing, in different atmosphere….

As someone said, Well begun is half done, goes the adage!!!!….we were almost done, when we actually planned out the proper transport…A big thanks to Ram for his arrangement towards a comfy commutation…!!!! & great thanks to ppl who actually made it energizing by their lovely presence…!!!! Three Cheers to Siva....!!!!! it was an amazing outing!!!! :)