Social Networking is the catch phrase of the hour. Everyone has one or more online presence. Twitter, Buzz, FriendFeed, Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, IM most of us use one or more of these services. I remember signing up for most or all of the services that I have listed above, when they came into existence.

But now, I just had a thought, are we creating a hype! Overusing social networking? Trying to find acceptance in the online world? Just pondering questions.

Why suddenly this concern? When I look up the magazine, ads, everywhere, now it reads, “We are on twitter, Follow Us!”. It is good thing that twitter helps business owners to reach out to people, market the products and help to connect people. But I really hate it when people use it like an IM. Checking for updates every 5 mins! Following people just for the sake that they follow back. I really felt bad when a person caught in fire in bangalore office was trying to send twitter updates instead of trying to save himself. Media was really showing his twitter updates. Crazy!

I remember my roommates telling me, “Next you will update that you went to take a leak!”. Any new invention or service is good. It is not the service that is bad, it is we the people, who have to ‘Use it wisely!’

Teachers: They were the best part in my life. With friends and family, they played a significant part in making me what I am today. So this post is dedicated to them.

Michael Arokiaraj and Uma Mageshwaran

Both of them were my Maths teachers. Michael sir taught me in 10th and Uma taught me in 11 & 12th class. Both of them had different styles. Dedication was one common factor. Michael sir would treat us as a friend. Uma sir would treat us as student and teacher. To just quote one incident from each one of them. It was our revision exam in school in 10th standard. We were some 130 students put together in 2 classes. We completed the exam in afternoon. The next day morning, in our special class, Michael sir was there distributing the papers. We could see that he had not slept well the previous nights. It was not that he was pushing himself. He enjoyed doing it, just to make sure that we learn something from him. And he would always have that smile going in his face. He took his time to come to school on sundays and saturdays to conduct mock exams. No one paid him for it and no one was acknowledging his efforts. But he did it because, he wanted us to be in good position in life. Hats off!

Coming to Uma sir, Wow! He was well versed in his subject. From morning to evening, he would run a marathon of Maths classes. From 7.30 am to 3.00 pm, I have attended his classes. He would never rest, he will go on continuously, writing on the board, making sure that people get to understand everything. He lived on a principle, ‘I am your teacher inside the classroom. I am a stranger to you outside this room’. I simply adore him. He had that ‘something’ in him that attracted respect, and there will be pin-drop silence in his classes. He too would make sure that we get all our papers on time and perfect. Hats off Sir!

O S Sivakumar

If it is computers, there was only one man in Neyveli to teach, that is Mr OS! He had OS in his name! Wonderful, dedicated and cheerful. ‘Enada kanna?’, I still remember that! He allowed us to explore computers. He would allow us to learn, experiment with computers. Myself, Naseen and Arun, we were most of the time inside the lab. If I chose, computers as my field of choice, then all the credit goes to this one man! A real teacher.

Arul Jeganathan, Maria Kulanthai, Kaliamurthi, Arul Anand Raj, Peter Lawrence, Raymond, Christopher, Lakshmi Narayanan… the list goes on.

And if I forget to mention one person, that would be a crime. The man who made all these possible. Rev. Fr. E. Thomas. I respect you sir!

I would cherish each and every moment I studied in my school, St Pauls Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Neyveli, Tamil Nadu, 607801. My alma matter.

I own a car now. A 2000 Chevy Malibu LS. One most important, must-have entity for life in the United States. I didn’t visit the regular KBB or Car Dealers to buy my first car. It was a good feel that I did not have to hunt for cars. Looking at VIN, vehicle history. Probably I will do all these for my next car.

I bought it from my friend, Abhilash Nair. He is a friend since undergrad days. He studied Aeronautical while I was in Instrumentation. But he was always welcomed as a Instrumentation senior by all our juniors in college. A happy going, cool dude, and the only person from Kerala who calls an auto an ‘auto’ instead of ‘otto’ (This is meant just as a joke… Please don’t take this seriously as I believe firmly in democracy…)

The moment I announced that I bought a car, my mom wanted me to perform a ‘Vahana Pooja – a ceremony of bestowing goodness and blessing to the person owning the car and the car’. I was asked to get a coconut and four lemons for the ceremony and I did get it from an Indian Grocery Store. The pooja was performed last sunday.

Now I am ready to drive the car! A way of attaining independence in United States! Here I come!

Today is the Pongal Day! A harvest festival celebrated in our state in India. I am here in US, but I did make the sweet pongal, “Sakarai Pongal”. I will be missing the sugarcane and the total annular eclipse happening tomorrow.

Here are some things that I remember from my childhood days.

It began with the Pongal shopping. I used to go with my sister and dad to the Main Bazaar, in my hometown, Neyveli. They would have given the Pongal “bonus” for my dad, and so did every family in Neyveli. So everyone would be busy getting the bonus amount drained. The usually calm town of Neyveli will have small shops on the roads, selling clothes, fancy items and greeting cards.

The greeting cards would not be Archies, but a post card sized, normal graphic depicting a pot of pongal and two sugarcanes. I used to buy and send it to my friends living in Neyveli. It was fun. Nowadays, we send emails. But I somehow feel that, the postcard had a personal touch. This is not me whining, I enjoy it even now.

It was a nice occasion to celebrate. 3 days of holidays. Wow! It meant going to your native places, visiting relation’s home, getting together, gossiping, cinemas.

Happy Pongal!

PS: If someone has the old post card, can you please send me one?

I had my first haircut in America yesterday. @Virginia Hair.

One hair cut costs $35.00 equivalent to roughly Rs. 1750. That is a huge sum of money. In India, I used to have haircut for Rs. 20.00. The maximum that I used to spend was Rs. 500 equivalent to $10.00.

So the lesson is, earn your money in America, spend it in India.

Two days back, when I was on my way to the office, at the Park Town station, this incident happened.

It is not unusual to see people at the Park Town station, crossing the railway paths and not using the sub-way. It has to be partly blamed on the authorities too for such a poor maintenance of the sub way. During the rainy season, it is flooded that people are forced to cross over to the other platform by crossing the railway lines.

But that day was sunny. As usual, I was there at 7.30 am to catch the morning train to Tiruvanmiyur. When I emerged out of the subway, I could see two Railway Police Force (RPF) Officials hiding on the entrance to the subway. There were talking to the people nearby. As I entered the platform, there were people who were signalling to the men crossing the railway lines not to cross. That is when I realized what had been happening.

The RPF men could not be seen from the other platform, when someone crosses the railway lines and reaching the other end, they would be caught by these two men and complaint filed. It reminded me of one of our childhood play called ‘Police-Thief’ (‘Thirudan – Police’ in Tamil) where one would play police and others would play thief hiding from the police. The game play was the police to figure out all the thieves from the hiding spot.

It was happening the other way round here, the police were hiding and the people had to figure that there were police hiding and use the subway instead of crossing the railway lines.

After all, Life is interesting!

All news channel have been reporting on President Obama taking the oath of the President’s Office of United States throughout yesterday. His inaugural speech was really one of its class. In the charismatic voice of Obama, it even sounded one of the best heard in the lifetime.

Here are a few excerpts from his speech, that I liked.

Talking to the other nations watching him take the oath he said:

“And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born:  know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.”

In his speech, the emphasis are always on the words ‘America’, ‘We’, ‘Hope’. That is why he has been drawing crowds. It is not only America that is looking at him, it is the entire world. A true leader’s speech.  So optimistic when he says, ‘We are ready to lead once more’.

“We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.  The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation:  the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given.  It must be earned.  Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less.  It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”

Calling the Americans to work, rather than bask in the past glory. It was really a speech that can be treated as a ‘wake up call’. He may not deliver what he had promised, but he has been inspiring, which can make people work.

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”

“On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics. “

Let this be a speech to the world. Let a new era of responsibility start throughout the world. Let us all work together for saving the earth and leave the world a better place for the coming generation.

All the best Obama on your new office.

As a candidate, you attend a lot of interviews and as a result, tend to have quite a lot of offers in hand. But before choosing one among them, there are quite a lot of things to be considered. You may be looking for a change for a variety of reasons like monetary hikes, different role, escape from a management you consider sucks, etc.

Check with the people working in the company about the company, its work style etc. Ask a few questions to the interviewer during the interview or to the people after the interview. The question can be:

1. What do the company specialize in.
2. Why would he/she want you to work for them instead of his/her company’s competition.
3. What will you be your role and responsibility in the company if you take up the offer.

You would need to know about the average intelligence of the people working in the company and how they find the work. This is more important than it appears to be. Always people tend to grow in a company where the average intelligence of the people working around them is a little higher than them. They are into a challenge where they are supposed to perform better, thereby getting a chance to improve oneself. Also ensure that the intelligence is not too high, because you will find left out in a race between the rabbit and the tortoise. Find a company where the challenges will appear realistic.

Ensure that the company work offers you a good work-life balance. “All work and no play” is not what you expect. You must find your job fits in properly in your life. (I say, your job should fit into your life, not your life into your job). Everyone wants to work for a living and not live to work. This should be taken into consideration while making the decision. All companies say that they work from  9 am and 6 pm and their employees stretch if necessary. What if the stretch is on everyday. Then you tend to lose interest soon, tired and wanting a change. Talk to people in the company and in the project that you will be allocated to and make the decision. The company should be flexible enough on the timing, to accomodate your needs.

A good company provides its employees the best environment to work in. A clean and nice looking workplace is one that brings the mood set for any developer to start work. A separate cabin, comfy chairs and a powerful system is what everyone expects. These are the things that make you look forward to working. Ability to express ideas, easy people and a feeling that your voice is heard in the management is what makes one to continue with any company.

Lasty, a good compensation. Money is one thing which drives people, but it is not the ultimate goal. You tend to be first attracted towards a company by the salary they offer, but it is not the only thing that will sustain your interest. So keep monetary gains as the last reason when choosing a company. What if, they pay you lots and you are supposed work 16 hours. What is the use of earning, when you have no time to enjoy?

So decide wisely! So that you don’t start regretting the decision after joining!

One more post on IPL!

I was there in Stadium to watch the match live! Chennai Vs Mumbai. The match was slated to start at 8 pm IST. I and my friends, we were all in at 6 pm itself. The crowd was swinging to Hariharan’s songs. He ended with his ‘Krishna nee…’ from Colonial Cousins album. Then came the ambassador for Chennai Super Kings, Actor Vijay. He was received with a standing ovation.

Then there was a half an hour show of drumming. Who else can drum than ‘Sivamani’. He was rocking. We danced to his tunes! It was a nice show. After this the match started. Hayden and Raina slammed the balls for fours and sixes. It was raining scores in Chennai. For each four and between overs, Sivamani had his drums on and had the cheer leaders dancing. It was great to watch the match live among the crowd. The crowds started the Mexican wave as usual, cheering the players.

Nayanthara was missing as usual. Very close as Mumbai finished 6 runs short of the target. Altogether it was a nice experience

IPL. If you are in India, you should have recognized this word by now. Everyone speaks about it. It has been the headlines for a week now. What is so special about IPL? Let me try to figure it out.

• In IPL, the players are not playing for the country. So there is no must-win situtation.
• Cricket is being seen as a game, entertainment sport rather than as a war between the teams.
• It is the shortest version of the game. Must similar to street cricket to which each and every kid in India can associate to.
• It provides a place where you can see Ponting (Australia) providing tips to Ishant (India) on how to bowl.
• It crosses all boundaries and lifts the spirit of the game.
• It has also brought Sharukh, Preity, Karan and all into the game to add value.
• It has provided BCCI, the stadiums, the local cricket board, ad-sponsers with more revenue.

What more can one ask for a complete entertainment. Enjoy watching cricket! Enjoy the stars!