Bhaag Milka Bhaag

Couldn't stop myself from posting this!

This is one such movie which touched me deeply and left me speechless by the end of 3 hours and 7 minutes.

Shah Rukh Khan can catch trains and catch a few Girls in the meanwhile! Hrithik can jump over as many buildings as he wants, Salman can rip all his t-shirts!!! What Farhan Akthar has brought to this movie is simply extraordinary  He surpasses most of the actors of his league!  A complete natural, his acting prowess cannot be paralleled! Farhan has done complete justice in enacting the living legend Milka, while he himself is a legend in the making! Rakesh Omprakash Mehra is a new age director and the duo together has brought the character alive.

The story traces back to the childhood trauma faced by a simple boy from Punjab (in Pakistan) who lost his family during partition and struggled to get 2 meals a day. In spite of all his struggles, mental traumas he grew up to be a legendary athlete/sprinter India has ever seen! The movie showcases his struggles from being a street cheat to an army jawaan to a celebrated athlete! One scene from the movie which requires a special mention is the practice session with the skipping rope, one can witness all the hard work put into building this character! It’s a WOWWW!

Go! Go watch his movie over this weekend!! (No... I have not been paid to write this review! Just wanted you all to benefit the same pleasure I did after watching this movie! :-))

Indian cinema is definitely changing and come a long long way...

Logic is Magic

 How do I define Magic?

Transforming a green pigeon to violet elephant? Yes, could be…

Creating objects out of nowhere? Perhaps…

Vanishing into thin air? Interesting…

But essentially, the art of bringing a pleasant, satisfied smile on a person’s face, overcome with awe and respect, definitely is, MAGIC… 

In our industry, creating a successful engagement with a satisfied client, who sees value for the money invested, while at the same time making the proposal profitable, is MAGIC... 

How do we get at it? Let’s see… 

With changing requirements, the most logical thing would be to first draw a baseline that would determine the agreed scope of delivery. As they say, walking on water and developing software from a client’s requirement are both easy, if frozen!!Let’s freeze them first… 

Let’s then see how all the requirements fit in. Lets not be the characters from ‘six blind men and the elephant’ where each one of them is right, but collectively wrong. Sit back and see what the holistic picture is. Check if your green pigeon is turning into a violet elephant or it is turning into a blue monkey! Bring out your pen and paper, draw a simple flowchart/ algorithm; it will keep us focused on the requirement! This is nothing but Logic being applied to create Magic. 

Faced with a complex situation? A KISS could definitely of great help in addressing it. Stop!!! Don’t let your thoughts run wild… It’s just thinking on “Keep It Simple Stupid” lines to tackle the problem. It helps, trust me!!! Or just take some time off, relax, sip some drink, try the ‘kiss’ you thought of as well – it could help too – you never know…Eureka!!! 

"Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live. Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand." 

Consider this:

• A simplistic client requirement is to have a utility that would help replicate nested folder structure from one machine to another? What do you use? C? C++? VB? Java? .NET? VC++? Completion is fierce and options are many. Assuming windows based system, a simple logical situation would be to use plain old DOS command XCOPY without having to refer to any of those big guys.
• A data migration requirement to read through five year financial multi-line transactional text based output to a normalized form, say from Tally… Again what are the options? Well, a seeming lesser used, less time consuming option could be using MS Excel, with a splash of macros!!! Ever thought? You could end up doing the activity in just 5% of the time that would otherwise be consumed.

The point to drive home here is to think thru, apply logic and select what could be the best way to resolve a task…Programming language is just one of the means; it is and should be, by no way, a barrier to Logic, a barrier to thought. Any language you choose, find the learning resources related to the programming language; keep it handy, it’s just the syntax that differs mainly. Empower yourself… Knowledge is now free, knowledge is power.

Let’s draw an example from airline industry on using logic. The plane / jet / supersonic  despite being able to fly fast and high, don’t have a reverse gear to move back. Though technology could have aided in adding this feature, the simpler, cost effective, logical solution was to have a pusher vehicle to move the plane back. Again, objective achieved with logic rather than technology. 

Logic drawn, Just follow it, and do it right the first time…

Remember, a stitch in time, saves nine…:-) 

End of day, it’s the whole team working towards a single goal, it’s not anything about creating zero defect software or 99.999% defect free software ;-) (yeah…. Perfection is myth .. and blah blah), its all about creating Magic, the smile on everyone’s face, using Logic.

PS. This blog was originally posted in Mindtree web portalA big thanks To Ramachandran, my mentor for reviewing

Becoming the CEO of Your Life

Wake up to the sunrise with a strong cup of coffee(or tea if you please)! Pause.. Take a long breath, smell the fresh air and then plan your day!

Running around the house, working in the kitchen, fighting silly with the vegetable vendor! Pause.. You still manage to ignore the fights with your mom/mom-in-law!

Having a bad hair day, can’t figure out what more you can do to control it! Pause.. You Smile and it hides everything else!

Hate your neighbour’s dog, why does it always have to poo in front of your house, it also wants to torture me! Pause.. But still you adore the dog to bits!

Getting late for work, your brand new chappal tears! Pause.. You just pick it up gracefully like nothing happened and just walk ahead!

Manage to catch a seat on a running bus, you are happy that you can finally relax! Pause.. You give your seat away to an old lady who walks in!

In a new city, alien language, no idea where you are! Pause.. You still manage to buy your daily groceries!

Exhausted after a long day’s work, you still have to go back home and cook! Pause.. You still manage to do something special for dessert after dinner!

Celebrate womanhood not just one day in a year, but every day of your life! If you find yourself doing any of the above then YOU are on the way to becoming the 'CEO of Your Life’!

Have a mug of hot chocolate(ignore the calories), pamper yourself once in a while, stop cribbing about your boss, take a day off from work and watch a movie with friends, go out for long walks, listen to radio, sing or even dance while cooking in the kitchen, tell ‘hi’ to your neighbours, visit a nearby temple, an old age home or any place that is close to your heart, wish your close friends and family on their birthdays! Surprise your loved ones. Smile a lot!

Swalpa sihi, swalpa kahi yellara jeevanadllu iratte! dont Pause..

At 27!!!

I find 27, a very confused age to be in. On one end you are trying to be all mature and grown up, but there is the other part of you which is a total kid and just wanna jump around! By the way I still love watching Tom and Jerry.

At 27, your dad expects you to be a part of all the major decisions taken in the family, take on a few responsibilities and shoulder some burden. But still he will not allow you to decide which route to take home while driving the car!

At 27, you are likely to have few years of work experience. You are striving hard and trying your best to match your salary packages with that of your counter parts in the so called big MNCs. In case you already are in a good post you are wondering how to raise the bar and get out of the comfort zone! Then there are the creatures who have done their masters abroad.. Looking at their facebook pictures, you will for sure think 'May be I should have done my masters too!’

At 27, almost all of your male friends seem to be working hard and partying harder, on exotic locations for vacation. Most of them are on their onsite opportunities to US, UK, Germany or at least somewhere in Asia. Somehow there are a few of us who didn’t go anywhere!

At 27, Most of your female friends are married and most of them are likely pregnant or already with kids. All they can talk about are diamonds and wonder why you are still not married! Many of them give you the sympathetic gestures 'oh poor you! why aren’t you able to get things moving on in your life!' Well life is just not about marriage!

At 27, you avoid going to any family get together or family functions. If you are not already married you wanna avoid the constant stares and provocative questions as to why you are not married, the case aint good if you are married either, for sure all the aunts wanna know as to when you will give them good news! sheesh.. you are just recovering from one major responsibility you have taken up!

At 27, you are trying to hit the gym regularly. But still you can never reduce beyond a few grams.. Sure your food consumption has reduced from your college days but wonder why you can’t burn the few calories you are consuming.. Anyhow a small pot belly only indicates that you are a hard working software engineer! lol

At 27, you wanna revive a few of the old hobbies you had like music, guitar, dance or anything you loved during your college days. You certainly wished that it was just more than a hobby. You try and get back to your classes after making a lot of adjustments in your day to day activities so that it can make you feel a lil better about yourself. For sure there is life beyond code!

At 27, what I learnt is No matter what your age is, it is important that we stay young at heart. Laugh a lot, read a book, go for long walks, work happily/willingly, hang out often with your friends, have an occasional beer, drive away with your loved one, give your mom a tight hug, tell your dad that you love him and you are there for him! With a good attitude towards life Age is just a number!!!

Newbie in Mumbai

Mumbai/Bombay (i prefer calling it as Mumbai. .) as called the 'City of Dreams' has shown me all
kinds of life which normally i hadn't dreamt of. . . Here each one thinks of himself/herself as the KiNg/QuEeN of Mumbai, they walk with their heads held high and ego's held even higher. . . The city makes sure it keeps u humble and cuts off your ego at every step forcing you to remain grounded. . It makes u realize each time that u are nothing more than a mere mortal. You are just anothe in the crowd like any of them. . .
The last time I was in Mumbai, was when I was on my way to Baroda to attend a friends wedding. . It was a connecting flight from Bangalore to Baroda via Mumbai. . It halted at the CST ie Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminal for about five mins. . I Looked out and wondered as to how and when will I get a chance to explore this city and look around for some movie stars (Oki. .
atlest soap stars.. he he) and nowww I am here with only one ambition in mind ie to return back to Bangalore asap. . .
Mumbai welcomed me and three other pals of mine with open arms. The warmth of the city pierced my skin and the scorching temperature of the place made me feel brighter and also,lighter from inside :-) we glanced towards our left and we could see the Big slums of Dharavi with small small kids doing potty here and there ;-)
We decided to commute to company guest house by a taxi. . There were taxi wallahs using the hindi I dono of, the lingo apparently known as the "MUMBAIYYA". . I tried my best not to look like a stranger in this new town coz I had previously heard from lots of people to be extra careful as there are chances of getting cheated if they know that u are a stranger entering their territory.
The taxi wallahs just flocked us and for a moment I felt like there was paparazzi surrounding me.(but for the cameras they had trolleys in their hand. .lol :-) ) We reached our destination two hours later and reported to office immediately. . The people here were as professional as one could be. . We underwent a security check and yes,all the girls bags were checked unlike
in Bangalore I just give the security guard an evil look as to 'how the hell can he even think that he can check my bag!!!' Anyhow I didnt wanna be a female chauvanist the first day I am here (I told u,your egos will have to be manicured here!!). . I flashed a broad smile to the security
guard and he smiled back after checking my bag, and from the next day,he didnt check my bag :-) . i guess this is the advantage we girls have ;-)

The very first day we went to the shoppin mall which are just few metres away from my office building. . I desperately wanted to watch Ranbir Kapoor in 'Ajab prem Ki Ghazab Kahani' I find him soo cute. . But we ended up watching 'De Dhana Dan'..Ahem.... let me correct myself. All the others watched the movie. . I SLEPT!!! My eyes were just refusing to open and my entire system went into sleep mode :-)
The entire week passed with the mumbai team. . Initially they seemed very professional, but later we realised their team too is just like ours with the developers and managers in constant conflict with each other, the functional guys in their own worlds, politics , etc ,etc u guys
know...the usual office stuff :-)
One thing I must say is that their team is a lot fun, they are always talking to each other in 'Mumbaiyya' and pulling each others leg all the time... Its a scene which we enjoy watchin ;-)
We had a technical session by a senior manager here who btw talks in mumbaiyya as well. . Dint know that even managers could crack a joke without being sarcastic!! Learnt a few things on EJB
and stuff. . Mumbai is filled with all kinds of people, coming from different parts of the country, speaking different languages. My first team meeting here included a guy who could talk Malyalam, a tamilian, myself a Kannadiga, my Manager, a Punjabi, Few Maharashtrians, My friend a Bengali, a telgite and also a friend who can speak Tulu!! One helluva National Integration it was!!! :-) We spent the entire week 'talking'/'discussing'/'gossipping' :-)

I miss Namma Bengaluru terribly. . . I miss the home made food - (only dinner in the guest house is good!) Mane oota, tindi, bisi annada jote chutney pudi and ghee. . . Adigas, Ganesh Darshan coffee, road side tea. . I miss all this :-( I miss my Family and Friends the most!!!!!!. . By
meaning Family and Friends i also mean the 'Family and Friends' offer which Vodafone network provides ;) The Docomo network is Baaad:-(. . hmmmmm I miss Bengaluru :-(

But. . .
Any place for it to become special you need someone of your own, your mom, your dad, elders of the family, your guy/girl, your best friends. . For me, a place, where all these people are present, is my life. Then i can gleefully say "ha, This where i belong". . I am what I am today, dumb or stupid, smart or intelligent is because of all the wonderful people in my life. . .

I am having fun here no doubt but my heart and soul remains amidst my loved ones be it in Bangalore or Mumbai. . . :-)
Enough written now. . tata. .
Seeeemaaa here from AMCHI MUMBAI :-)

My first school, The Home School!!!

I studied in this school for 9years, starting from pre nursery and went upto 7th std. The name says it all, the school had a very homely atmosphere! Situated in the heart of the city in Basavanagudi, painted in white and green, full of greenery and always bustling with activity!! One of the oldest schools in Bangalore, I am proud to be a part of this institution. It stands tall, having completed more than 75 years of imparting education!

My Principal late Mr. Venkatachalam, my teachers Mary miss, Yasmine miss, Taj miss, Janet miss, Farida miss, Mukta miss, Manonmani miss, Sarala miss and Mallika miss and our PT master Anand sir have played a big role in my upbringing!! Hats off to all these lovely people!!

I loved to dance and participated in all the cultural activities, especially on the founders day conducted every year on July 30th! I was fondly called "Made in Bangalore" by my principal after I impressed all by dancing to the tunes of Alisha Chinhoy's Made in India!! BTW that was the first song i ever choreographed :)) Here are a few pics of the best days in my life!!

My 7th standard class photo, it is very easy to guess where I am!! :) I almost always had long hair!! :))

You really cant locate me in this picture, my partner Aashish and I are completely covered!! :( But still I love this pic!! Soo much of make up! uff!! We were much more cute without the makeup!! ha ha :))

Yeah. . I was always a tom boy with long long hair!! I played a guys role in most of the dance shows :) (but still gracefull ;) he he)

We danced to the song 'are jaare hat natkhat' from the movie Navrang! There was soo much energy displayed on stage. . Best show of that evening!! :)

I did learn western free-style dance for few years!! Below are a few more pics of my life in Home School :)

Our school was famous for Christmas celebrations. We danced and sang Christmas carols and ran around with Santa Claus and also received gifts from him.

About Me!!

Born on 28th of December, was the love child of my parents! I was named as Seema, but was known as SiMi by all my loved ones! My early days of education began at home, I always enjoyed riding!! ;) Make way. . Riding my way thro o o . . .

This is a picture of me and my sweet cousin bro Rakesh. He is actually giving me a peck on my cheek and am soo scared!! Now its the other way, he is scared of me!! he he ;)

My first birthday! My very first cake!! Sure i relished it!!! (I guess;))

My childhood was filled with lots of love, affection and care! I am very blessed to have been born to such loving parents!! Lucky me!!! Yeah so far soo good! Lots more to go. . . I had just begun to see the good things of life :)