Have you done things that are out of your regular nature? Well, that is what I did yesterday. I attended the inaugural OpenBC meet in Chennai. I don’t go out of my way to meet people. All acquaintances and friends (including those who hate me) are in a way or the other connected in the regular walk of life – college mates, office colleagues, friends of my sister and so on. Well, I joined OpenBC because one of my Belgian friend invited me to join. I wasn’t an active participant of the forum. However, when I was invited to their inaugural meet in Chennai, I thought to myself, “Well, let me go and see”. The meet was in the Presidency Club, Egmore. Though the meet was between 20h00 – 23h00, I stayed only until 21h30. But in that time, I did meet lots of interesting people – an antique bike collector, a movie producer for NGOs, a real-estate and a metal scrap business men and someone involved in establishing knowledge centers across the state (This guy studied in IIT, Chennai and then did a PG in the US. But didn’t like to be in the US and returned. You wouldn’t tell that he is a ‘US return’. He was so casual and down-to-earth. Pity, I didn’t get more time to interact with him). It was an fascinating evening talking to lots of people from industries other than software. Though I didn’t stay for the entire meet (I get restless after an hour or two), I did enjoy and I’ve decided to go for their upcoming meets, if informed.
Back to the training room
It is perfectly normal, as a new joinee, to be in the training room. However for me, it is more than just KYO (know your organization). As one moving into ERP domain from CRM, I’m getting exposed to Peoplesoft ERP modules, especially HRMS. Though I already have exposure to project management, I need to be familiarized with the methodology of the new firm. Along side, since I’m included in their pre-sales team, I need to learn about that domain too. As one can see, there is a lot to learn. Its almost grooming myself into a new career profile. As being a senior, I’m expected to take initiatives and self-tutor, of course with guidance and whatever help I could get. Its kind of exciting but scary too. One question remains predominantly in me- ‘Will I be able to prove myself?’. Then again, my career has been filled with such cross-roads and every time, with hard work and strokes of luck, I’ve been able to come out successfully. Getting confidence from those moments, I’m hoping to take myself again to success.
Geetanjali
I have read history, philosophy, theology and various other related topics. For a change, I bought, ‘The best of Rabindranath Tagore – Geetanjali and other stories’, a classic literature. I am very glad that I bought the epic that got him the Nobel prize. The depth of his thought and simplicity of his words captivates and refreshes your soul.
At the very first stanza he sings,
Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. this frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.
So simple words, but such profound thoughts. And this one comforted me and gave me hope and strength to carry on:
I thought that my voyage had come to its end at the last limit of my power, – that the path before me was closed, that provisions were exhausted and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.
But I find that thy will knows no end in me. And when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart; and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders.
I’ve never heard it before – when old words die, new melodies break forth; where old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders. Whenever I get discouraged, I keep repeating it and tell myself to break from the past and look for those melodies and the wonderful country.
I’m no one to write of such a composition. I could only say, it is simply wonderful.
Too many good-byes
An introvert as I am, I pledged to make friends this year. To my surprise, I made a pretty good progress. I even made good contacts with my neighbor. However, the unfair life made its play again. As I kept making friends and was content with the result, one by one started leaving Chennai – one to Bangalore, one to the UK and three to the US, all on a long term basis. Even my neighbor left to Malaysia today (though this was known for sometime). On one hand, I laugh at my misfortune – I’m just recovering from a personal tragedy and I need friends to carry on. On the other hand, I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to make more friends and also the fact that I now have friends across the oceans.
Opensourcing FOW
I absoulutely enjoyed conceptualizing and later developing FOW (fotos on web). In my later years in Belgium – which looks so distant now – I wanted to spend sometime updating my software skills amidst roaming around, capturing beauty – both in still & video camera and enjoying what life had to offer me. Since my interests were in travel and photography, I decided to do something to cover both fields. And on the software side, Linux was catching up fast and XML/XSL technology was hot. I researched deep enough to cover all of these. That is when I decided to write an easy-to-use application to create photo albums that would use XML/XSL and would run both in Windows and Linux. Java seemed an obvious answer; but more I played with it, I learnt that it is definitely not suited for creating a desktop UI application. Continuing with the search, I stumbled on wxWidgets (then called WxWindows). That was it, my search was over; it had all I needed – the source tree could be compiled in Windows and Linux to produce a native executable; there was a large user-base which was ready to help and not saying the usual RTFM; it worked in almost all the c/c++ compilers under heaven; and more than everything it was really free in all sense.
Bingo, I jumped right on to develop FOW. I did face lots of obstacles, but finally I got FOW to work to my satisfaction. Since I wasn’t very sure of the cleanliness of the code, I released the application as a freeware and not an open source one. Wow! I didn’t expect such an overwhelming response. Lockergnome provided a superb review and FOW was featured in couple of German, Italian and Dutch software magazines. The user base for FOW increased and I got so many appreciations that, ‘it was simple to use; but effective in results’. As much as I planned to follow-up and release successive versions, one event after another happened which shook me and kept me busy in all other aspects of my life. Whenever I receive an email asking for clarification or for further releases, I feel guilty and regret for not making it open source. I guess the time has come to do it, in spite of my fear that it is a spaghetti code. I do not have the time and infrastructure to setup an account in sourceforge (or any other open source repository) and to maintain the code. So if anyone is interested, please do let me know (contact information is available from my homepage). I will forward the code-base and you can take it from there. I would appreciate if you could credit me as the original author. While contacting me, please do include your personal webpage or few information about you.
Living the dream
In the recent days, I’ve understood that it is one thing to realize a dream and it is entirely another matter to live the realized dreams. In the past month, I moved to a house near the beach, bought a new car and got a project manager post in an ERP division – three of my wishes for sometime now coming to pass. Once the initial vibes settled down, I see that living in the ‘promised land’ is not that easy: driving such a big car through Chennai traffic is a challenge on its own. Having learnt and driven in lane-based-driving, I find it extremely difficult to drive in a chaotic and unruly traffic. At office, being a new joinee, no project is allocated; only a PC without a net access is given – which is equivalent to having none. At home, due to recent rain, motor to pump the water got repaired and so the whole of yesterday passed without water and I had to continuously follow-up in getting it rectified. As of writing this entry, it is still not done; having a sick mother with me only increases the concern.
All of these do disturb me but I’ve decided to stay put and see it through. After all, isn’t these events that make life, an enjoyable ride?
Maiden day
After the end of seven year’s passion, it was time to fall in love again. I drove through the bustling Chennai traffic for the maiden day in the new firm. Well, what I saw was neither attractive nor exciting. When someone enters my earlier firm, they are overwhelmed by the magnificent campus, with trees and plants all around. Such a green campus is hard and pleasant to find in the otherwise dry Chennai. The interior in each project area, the massive dinning hall, plethora of cars – all display the richness of the firm. However, once they get past the glitter and perceives the essence, it is no different from most of the software firms – messy management and displeased employees. Ok! enough of past glory! Coming back to the new firm, it is a small building in the heart of the city, which of course gives the feeling that I am joining a much smaller firm. But I did see in the reception, ‘We welcome the new joinees in ERP section’ and my name appeared there along with three others. Not so bad to start with!
The firm is spread in multiple locations within the city and I had to go to another building to complete the joining formalities. I called up my brother-in-law to find out the route. (Now, these are the instances when I miss my map reading and guiding Belgian friend). I took the car out and there was ‘showers of blessings’. Hey! it is not suppose to rain this month. (For those unfamiliar with Chennai weather, we have only two seasons – perspiring hot summer and drenching rainy days). I thought to myself, ‘what the hell! I need to learn to drive here, so lets go’. As soon as I joined the main road, that boldness was turned into something like, ‘oh! boy, what have I decided to do’. Somehow, I managed to find the other building and finished up the joining formalities. Now back to the earlier building. Often times, we take decisions that we think are smart and later it turns out, they are not so smart – I am not talking about joining this firm, rather about getting my car to the parking lot through an exceptionally narrow entrance. While doing so, bang! one side of the car got scratched (later I found out that it would cost me Rs. 5000 to get it repaired). Man! that was not so good, especially on just-a-week old car. Anyway, I succeeded in getting the car into the parking lot. There were only 10 slots. Yes, you read it correct, there were only 10. What a parking lot, for a software firm! With thoughts rolling back and forth, I climbed the stairs and met with HR folks. Obviously being the first day, that too so late in the day, there was nothing to do. So I took the car out, this time very carefully, and reached home – tired and sad.
That is it, it is over
Today at 17h30 today, I logged off for the final time. I remembered a line from a song in the movie ‘Pretty Woman’ – ‘It has been good; but it is over now’. Very true in this instance! Eventful 7 year association has come to an end. I got the letters from HR; though the final financial settlement would take some time. As expected, I also said Good-bye to all the folks I know. Anyone could observe the overflowing happiness in me. I’m glad to leave with a sense of achievement and gladness thereof. If I would’ve left any time earlier, it wouldn’t have been the case. Timing was perfect.
I lived and enjoyed every moment: took a coffee in the cafe and walked through the trees; had lunch with two of the team mates; met with almost all the people I know. As I was driving back, thoughts kept flowing back: the day I joined as a developer; the day I was informed of the US trip; the day I left to Belgium; the day I came back; the day I had wine with few of female colleagues during lunch; the day I filled petrol in a water bottle to help a stranded friend and so on and on. Incidentally I was playing ‘Moments’ by ‘Kenny G’. I also went to St. Thomas mount and spend few minutes.
How do I feel? Happy, Sad, Anxious? May be all together.
It is back again
Little before midnight, I got a call from the boys in the night shift – “There is a severe earth-quake in Indonesia, you better get to a safe place”. A colleague called to say, “Get your parents to my home”. Well, I didn’t want to take any risk with my parent’s life. So I quickly jumped into the car and drove them to my colleague’s home which is at the other side of the city.
Panic is set on the beach residents. Just now, the fishermen folks are regaining their mental strength and getting back to sea; hope the damage is not going to be devastating as like before.
Afterword: There was nothing to worry about. Later the Tsunami alerts were withdrawn.
A seven year passion comes to an end
It was 26th, March 1998. I set my foot into this software firm as a developer. By all means, it was a big career move. I entered with passion for growth, devotion for work and an un-quenching zeal to excel. As I look back, I could firmly say that I have kept the flame burning and achieved more than what I dreamt. These achievements may not be spectacular but looking from where I started, the path is filled with unbelievable events.
As much as the path is full of such events, time has come to move on; a time to say good-bye has come. In few more days, I’ll leave this organization. It is a strange feeling, a love and hate feeling, that engulfs me when I think of my last day. I am as much happy as I am sad. I only wish that I’ll be a success even in the new organization.