Thursday, July 31, 2008

Hinglish or "Eng-di"

Listening to FM (for those into all the inflation related stuff, steer clear as i am not talkin abt our Finance Minister but abt our good ol' FM Radio), which i do everyday or should i say, "I have to do" coz its the only solace I get while driving to office in the Delhi Traffic. Before i go any further let me be forthright in clarifying that this post has nothing to do with my travelling between Noida and Gurgaon :)

The link between the topic of this post and FM Radio is that one gets to hear all the RJs blabber away in Hinglish. Mixing English with Hindi (i dont know if its the other way round, such is the extent) is like corruption of both languages. The whole point of using this lingo is to cater to the 'Generation Now'. Now I dont know if thats a good idea. I say this because I am not proud of the fact that I cannot speak even a single language perfectly.

My mother tongue is Telugu. I dont speak that perfectly because i have been brought up(well.. almost) in Delhi. Ideally i should speak perfect Hindi but thanks to the lingo we people use these days, even that is ruled out. English, well i am not a native english speaker, so this one's gone too. I wonder if anyone from my age group, whom i know, speaks any language perfectly. But one thing I am proud of for sure is that I consider my Hindi to be pretty good.

Even the film songs these days have english all over the place. Unnecessary Rap is added to each and every song to make it sound "cool". Wonder how that'll help improve the Rashtra Bhasha. In my opinion, most popular source of entertainment, read All-things-bollywood-if-not-cricket, should be used to spread social messages and care should be taken at least to save the language.

But we can take heart from the fact that a lot of hindi words are finding their place in everyday english in the west. Words like Mantra, Pucca, Guru, Pundit, Jungle, Loot, etc etc.. These words are used as they are, no changes in spelling or pronounciation. Plus there are a few more which have been adapted/altered a bit. One word belonging to this category surprised me in particular. It is Juggernaut,"a term used to describe a force regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path", which actually comes from the tradition of pulling the "Jagannath Rath" (Chariot) at Puri, Orrisa. This word was definitely worth a "dekko".

One more word, i'd like to mention here is "Doosra". This word is finding its mention in modern cricket these days.

All said and nothing done. So from now on I will make a conscious effort to find ways to improve my language(s). :)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Useless Post!!!

Another Sunday and am in the office again.. I think the company head whom i spoke about in my previous post read my blog and made sure that I came to office on this Sunday too.. I guess "Fun on Weekday" part didn't go down too well with him.. and to top that he too came to office today, maybe to check whether i really work on sundays... Arey bhai, seedhi si baat hai.. Jo banda weekday pe kaam nahi karta, woh sunday ko karega kya?

The thing is I have been coming to office on Sundays to conduct CAD tests for candidates for a position that is open in my team. Today has been a special case, as the guy coming for the test happens to be from Noida and yours truly had no choice but to bring him to office. And the best part is that the guys have to slog their backsides off to finish the test in a stipulated time when I sit next to them and blog my way to glory!!! :D

Genius, as they say (i still havent figured out who they are but mind you, they do say a lot of things), is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. So, the other day i was reading a blog of a friend's friend, she had written about time travel, wormholes, and an interesting phenomena called grandfather's paradox, and also about "portkey". This word took me back to the time when i was reading Harry Potter. So i thought what if i had certain interesting stuff from the magical world and started thinking about how i would use them. Lets see, (i am not going to explain what is what - I have posted links for those interested)

Portkey: With this I would not have to spend anything for travelling. I would be content even if it worked only for travel between Noida and Gurgaon (which i do each "working" day, sometimes on sundays too) .

Floo Powder/Network: Same purpose as that of the portkey, but at an additional cost of constructing fireplaces near my workstation and in my home(wonder if my house-owner will let me do that).

Pensieve: This would be of a lot of help for blogging. Taking a look at any memory at any time without having to put too much on the brain wud be so much fun. I will not have to rack my brain to find topics to blog about. Writing anecdotes would be so easy. I am sure other bloggers will agree.

Marauder's Map: This would be so useful in the office. I can know beforehand as to when the nose-poking head is going to poke his nose ;).

Invisibility Cloak: Need I say more..........

There are loads of other magical things which can be put to different uses..I would appreciate if readers comment on other stuff.

By now you all must've guessed how much I crib about travelling to Gurgaon everyday. Had it not been for the carpool (a dedicated post on this..for sure), i would've lost it by now....completely. Driving is one thing i used to enjoy, i still do, but the sheer mind-numbing number of cars on the road takes away all the charm. There is no point in crying more about stuff that is not going to change, so its better to stop here.
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Just had a conversation with colleague(he is in the office too) who lives in Gurgaon and had been going to Noida over the past week for some training,

Me: Aur bhai, kaafi din baad dikha.. kaisi rahi training??

Colleague (sans his usual cheerful face and sounding a bit low) : Theek hi thi..

Me: Itna dukhi kyun hai??

Colleague: Kya bataoon, Noida Jaane mein halat kharab ho gayi hai... 1 week mein hi.

Me: Usmein kya hai... mujhe dekh, main to roz jaata hoon..

And there he was laughing out loud at my Kismat. :(
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To sum it up, another sunday gone by and another totally useless post.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Fun on Weekdays & Work on Weekend!!!

Considering the fact that i had written all my previous posts while in the office and that too not in the lunch-time or free-time - but taking time off in between to finish the project work - it comes as no surprise that I am writing this post too on my office workstation (sounds cool ain't it, calling it a PC would be an insult, and what if it doesn't let me post in the future??). Actually I have 2 workstations, a "Work" work-station and a "fun" workstation. And no prizes for guessing where i spend most of my "Work Time".

But what makes me happy today is that there are not many people around (read the "nose-poking" head) to see whether am on the job, and i don't have to feel guilty about not working on the project. You ask me why?? Well...Its a Sunday!!!!!!!!!

I am sure the next question (from the ppl who know me) would be , "dude, you crib about going to gurgaon everyday then what the hell are you doing in the office on a sunday???"

All my life i have longed for having a 5 day week. I went to one of those schools which makes students come on Saturdays as well. Before getting into engineering college, i got myself admitted into B.Sc - Maths (Hons) course in Delhi University (South Campus) as a stop-gap thing. The whole university functioned for 5 days a week and to my shock, this particular college i went to, for 6 days. Till the time i was in that college (only for 2 months), i believed that they had a 5-day week until then and administration had thought, "lets wait for Kartik to join and then we can have a 6 day week".

After a hell of a wait I joined this engineering college which would eventually become my alma mater. I got to know that there would be a half day on saturday. Hurray!! God had finally listened to my prayers but alas, the 2 hour travel to get back home would again make it effectively a 6 day week. But in college there were no complaints as "those were the best days of my life"!!!

Then came my first job. Also a 6 days a week affair. I was there for 3 years. Considering today's scenario thats a pretty long time to stick to a single job. Picture this :

Me (beaming) : Hi, i got a job!!!!!
Mr X: wow, cool!!!! which company??
Me (still beaming): XYZ Co Pvt Ltd.
Mr X: Great, all the best!!!

1 year later,

Mr X: So.. where r u working now??
Me : XYZ Co Pvt Ltd.
Mr X: What?? Till now???

2 years later,

Mr X: There you are..Dont tell me you are with the same company till now..
Me : Guess what..?? I am.
Mr X: What the hell has happened to you?? Why dont u change jobs?
Me : ?%$%$%

3 years later (finally when i quit),

Mr X (beaming): Heard you've changed jobs.
Me : Well, Yeah!!
Mr X: Great!!! Had you stayed any longer, the company guys would've thought,"when is this guy gonna go??"

In fact it is true, i had seen many people come and go in the 3 years that I spent there. I think i can dedicate a post on the whole "job changing" thing but for now let me get back to the weekend thing.

A 2-day weekend does make a difference. The work week seems to be so much smaller now, a lot of house chores can be dealt with and one does get ample time to laze about and rest.

This is the first time in my life that i have got a 2-day weekend (not just the current weekend, i am talking abt the present job) and i get called to office on a Sunday. I guess i have put that time to good use by writing this post ;). Time to go home now......

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Monday, July 7, 2008

Weekend of Uncertainties

The weekend gone by will be remembered by many as one with a few uncertainties.

India were being touted as the favourites for reigning supreme on Asian Cricket but Indian team stuck to its habit of losing in finals. In the league matches they play as if there is no tomorrow and i dunno what happens to them in the finals. India has the credit of appearing in most finals and losing since 1999 (2 wins out of 22 appearances - 2 matches got rained out) ,that's not something to be proud of. Sunday's final against Sri Lanka turned out to be a one sided affair and by now you must've guessed whose side it went. Everyone was saying that Indian team is stronger than Sri Lanka n all and Sri lanka emerging the Asian Cricket Champion makes this the first uncertainty.
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This has nothing to do with 'uncertainty' thing that i am writing about but its definately worth a mention.

During the post-match presentation yesterday, Rameez Raja (RR), looking really happy (thats what he does when India loses a match), asked MS Dhoni (MSD),

RR: MS, let me give u a statistic. Since 1999 India has appeared in 22 finals and lost 17 of them. Today's match being the 18th. What do u have to say about this?

MSD: Well, we can take heart from the fact that we at least make it to the finals unlike some teams which dont even qualify.

Thats what i call, "giving it right back".
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Lets move on to tennis now. Rafael Nadal defied all odds to beat the World No 1 Roger Federer at his favourite hunting ground. It was one hell of a match that lasted 4 hrs and 48 mins. Federer, after the match was quoted as saying, "It was a disaster". I am sure it was. Federer's dream of taking the Wimbledon Title winning streak to 6 had been quashed.
Here too, everyone thought that Federer will walk home with the coveted wimbledon title but the trophy wanted to go to Spain (Nadal is a Spaniard) this time around. This was uncertainty #2.

Again in tennis, Venus Williams beat her sister Serena to take home the title. It was the seventh clash of the sisters in a Grand Slam final, but, ever since Venus won the first of those at the 2001 US Open, it had been Serena all the way in those big matches, including two previous Wimbledon finals. So uncertainty #3.

Coming to Formula One. Though i am not much of a Formula One watcher but i do check after the race to see who won. I was surprised to see Rubens Barrichello making a podium finish, his first since 2005. Man thats a long time. My surprise level was even higher coz i had thought that the Brazilian had retired. This man, who almost always got over-shadowed by his team-mate at Ferrari (no prizes for guessing here), now with Honda, used all his experience to prove that he's still got it in him. Uncertainty #4.

To movies now. This weekend saw 2 Big releases clash at the box-office. Love Story 2050 and Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na. The promos suggested that Love Story 2050, being India's first SFX movie and Harman Baweja having the perfect launch vehicle, will hit the bulls eye. But Jaane Tu.. has been raking in good reviews and seems to be winning the box-office race. This was not really an uncertainty but distributors were banking more on the success of Love Story 2050. So uncertainty #4.5 (coz it was not really an uncertainty).

Last but not the least, I had thought of taking a break from blogging for a while and here i am writing this post. I guess this can be #5.