Happy 25th birthday to Infosys

As I write this post, celebrations are underway in Infosys India centers to mark the 25th year of Infosys Technologies Ltd. It is indeed an achievement, the scales and heights Infosys has achieved. Celebrations are obviously subdued here in onsite locations but the remote ringing of the opening bell at NASDAQ from Mysore, and if Times Square comes into the picture, then it must be really cool.

Hats off to the founders of Infy, from ordinary people to people who can change society, the transformation of Infosys, of the board is marvelous, credit to the universities such as Mysore that helped in the formation of such thinking, some credit to the Karnataka government too I guess for harnessing and helping IT grow to the extent it has. All is not hunky dory as it sounds, and I know it never will be, but this is the moment, the time to appreciate all the good that has come along the way.

I have been personally involved in Prerana, the social service wing of Infosys, M'lore and it’s a special feeling when you can give back something to the society we live in. All the events that we have, its not really only about pumping in the funds to help the needy, more so I believe its the time that you can spend in such initiatives, there's a feeling of contentment. The Infosys Foundation's multi crore Wenlock hospital pediatrics project is another huge initiative and my hope is for it to turn into an example of corporate involvement and sustenance where needed. It is no wonder then that Infosys is the most admired Indian brand in the global market.

If IF's and BUT's

'If ifs and buts were pots and pans, there would be no tinkers!', I've heard this phrase repeated so many times…. If you follow cricket I guess you would know whose favorite phrase this is….yes none other than Mr. Sidhu, he is a pretty lousy commentator, but somehow this was the first sentence that popped into my head when I saw the
MetLife ad for the first time, not sure why the ad is in someone’s 'ads we hate list', felt it was pretty decent!

There are a lot of versions of this phrase, one goes with the ‘and’ instead of the but, 'If ifs and ands were pots and pans, we’d be washing up forever'.

lIFe is still all about those IF’s and BUT’s

Sleepless in Houston

She knocked on my window, a little girl with tiny curls in her hair, the wind lifting it in all directions, a small bag in her hand and I wondered briefly if it could hold anything more than a few loose change. Her blond hair and pale pink skin contrasted with the bright green frock she wore, I judged her to be about four. She knocked a second time jerking me from my thoughts.

It was only a couple of hours earlier that I parked my car and off we went on our regular weekend shopping escapades. Found myself drifting from the group and finally was alone with my thoughts when I heard the shrill ring of the phone, who could it be? dropped a couple of packages trying to reach my phone which always seems to find its way right to the bottom of the bag, 972-189-2222, unfamiliar number, and then it stopped as it started, gladly this brought an end to my shopping spree and that's where I am, sitting idly in the car, waiting for the rest of the girls to join me.

I rolled down my window and she just stood there, staring blankly and then again the shrill of the phone, I told myself a hundredth time, that I needed to change the ring tone, reached for the phone from the side-holder and could see the same number flashing, received it and there was no response from the other side. 'Hello', I said, with a feeble voice, still no response, and then before I decided to hang-up the line went dead. Sat there, contemplating if I should give a return call back when a gust of wind hit my face. Oh, the little girl, she was still there, I switched off the AC and looked at her, and she looked back at me. I said 'Hi, How are you doing', No reply. Rolling up the window and ignoring her seemed like an option but there was something in her look, like she wanted to tell me something. She was clutching her purse tight and slowly opened it, her small fingers pulling out something, and the shrill ring again, I silently swore, and she looked at me, this time with a firm 'Hello', and I could now hear voices in the background and a booming voice, 'Lady I'd like to order a chicken chopsuey with extra dumplings and a side order of, he droned on. I cut him short with ‘wrong number’, Is this the chinese deli at Legacy, Plano he asked?, Wrong number is all I said before I hung up on him.

My attention all the time was on the little girl, she seemed to hesitate, then finally pulled out a chain with a cross pendant, instant recognition dawned on me, when she held out her hand to me with the chain, I felt around my neck, Where did you find it, I asked her?, she didn't respond. I got out of the car and took the chain from her little hand, she was going to run off, 'Wait' I said, I reached and pulled out the key from the ignition, opened the trunk with my eyes still on her. I pulled out a couple of shopping bags, when I found it, the five large chocolate bars, Nestle crunch, I read and handed over the bar to her, she smiled, a pretty little smile, bye I said, she ran in the direction of another car parked in the corner, with a silhouette of a man in the driver's seat. She got into the back-seat and He waved as they drove by.

This is the outcome of a sleepless night waiting for my offshore call…Pure Fiction

DK Police

Mangalore police or more appropriately the DK police have a blog of their own and it is updated daily, awesome, way to go….
It’s a good start; hope that they keep it going…

Is your glass half-empty?

I think mine is in most cases, but does that make me a pessimist?, am not too sure about that…
It would depend on the state of the glass, of course; was it full or empty in the first place?… but yes, its true my inclination is towards half-empty!

What makes the glass half-empty and how to start making it half-full…
No, I don’t know the answers, this isn’t one of those self-help courses, and so I don’t want to dwell on the latter half of the question. I’ve learnt to expect the least out of life, out of people, out of situations….seems a rather illogical approach, but I must admit it works wonders. You go into a meeting with confidence of course, but not with the view that your thoughts will be appreciated, your ideas bought, so in any eventuality that you do get turned down there’s no disappointment…no sulking. Appraisals, Accolades, Awards, Relationships, Travel….yeah I know…the list is diverse and endless, but it applies in all these. It’s just my way, I could still end up in the lurch, and I know there’s no fool-proof way that can stop you from being hurt, from being trampled upon, from having regrets, from frustration.

And once in a while it feels good to see the glass half-full, don’t know what I started off with and what I ended up with anyway…me off to find a mug and fill it to half-full with my favorite drink….

Mighty Mighty MIT

Manipal Institute of Technology, #37, thanks to Binaisha for the link.

Some other cool related links

This nostalgic video on Harsha’s…
The other MIT, a bit old, but excellent nevertheless….
On Arjun’s, we were in MIT then!

There's quite a bit on MIT, Manipal online, Enjoy relieving those good old days!

Proud to be an MITian

Busy and Lazy!

Seriously!...can't believe a couple of days off from work could make my schedule go so haywire, will need a couple of days to bring it back on track...huh

There’s no time to talk about my awesome NY trip, only time for a teeny weenie post with a promise to post…there’s a lot to write about…so long, until i can find the right track!