The Number Game

The idea for this post struck to me when I was discussing with a friend as to how I spend my time during a traffic jam (which occurs daily) on the way to office.

Read the following somewhere:

One hour of my life is worth more than $12. – Almost any ‘fancy’ dinner is a waste!!!!

Huh? Though I am not so rigid on time management, I am particular on how I utilize my time in the best possible way. I seek activities which are intellect stimulating when I am alone, and so the craze for Sudoku, a Japanese number game surfaced. This game was introduced by many leading newspapers in Bangalore few months back. More details about how to play this game can be found here. You can play it online as well here.

I found this game really engaging and brain sharpening. Solving Sudoku collectively with friends and colleagues is also great fun (provided you are dominant ;D). Hope you too get a go at it!! Though, "complex" initially, slowly the Sudoku fever catches up!!

Signing off!!

Trivia of the Moment: Highest number of games originated in India. (It seems so ironic seeing our performance in Olympic Games)

Next to Come: Me in ChinkyLand – Crossing the seas

Me in ChinkyLand - The Series

Valentine's Day, last year, was very special for me. No, I did not meet the “special person”. Last year, on the same day, for the first time I crossed the borders of India to reach the distant shores of China and Hong Kong to address my first ever official overseas assignment. As I was traveling on Valentine’s Day, some of my friends teased me saying “Indiali yaaru siGlilva… ChinaGe hode huDkoke”. That translates to “Dint you find anybody in India that you are going to China for the search?” :D

This tour was not a mere professional agreement. It has left lasting imprints that I shall cherish for the rest of my lifetime. It would not be fair to squeeze in an entire one month enthralling episode of my life into just one post. So, I am writing a series (a staggered one though) to capture those delightful moments. It is not in chronological order. Puhleez!! Nobody is here for a history lecture. Hope you enjoy this series!!! Here, we go….

THE CALL:

3rd January 2005:
First day in office for the year 2005. Lots of “Sweets at my desk” mails slamming my Inbox. But, I did not go to fetch any as I was occupied by two things. First, I had worn western formals for the first time to office. Like any other girl, I was conscious and was thinking does it look good on me. Second, I was not able to get print outs of the status report required for the conference call which would start in 10 minutes time.

Later, somehow managed to scribble down some important points from the status report and started the conference call. Our client counter-part, let me call her Ms CC, answered the call with her ever-sweet voice. All my colleagues are die-hard fans of her voice. We were discussing the same old bugs to be closed. I was still pre-occupied about my attire :D Suddenly, Ms CC started addressing me directly opposed to the usual way of addressing the entire team. I suddenly woke up from my half slumber, thinking if she had seen me gazing into a void. Damn it!! This was a telecon and how could she see me?

She asked me if I was fine to go to China to integrate a product for a leading customer. I was still blank. She re-framed her question so that I could react appropriately. By now, I was bombarded with a chain of thoughts:

Thought 1: What am I going to wear in China? !!!

Thought 2: I am an eggeterian. What am I going to eat there?

(The poor clients were forgotten :D)

Thought 3: I will be the only one from my team traveling to an unknown country. How will I manage?

Thought 4: What all can I get to see and learn there?

Thought 5: How will mom react?

I emerged out of this ocean of thoughts to squeak out “It should be fine” which delighted Ms CC. Then we wrapped the call. By then, I had mixed feelings.

Feeling 1: Happy – First time I was going overseas.

Feeling 2: Anxious – There are lots of colleagues and friends who have gone onsite, mostly to US, Europe and Australia. None to China. Even in my company which was 30,000 employees strong then, only about 2% would have gone to China, that too to commercial centers like Shanghai. The place I was going to visit was a small town, called Huizhou, 70kms from Hong Kong.

Feeling 3: Patriotic!!! I donno why…but I had this feeling. Sometimes, we do not have a reason for certain feelings. Maybe, this was the after effect of watching the movie Swades on New Year Day. I was feeling as though I will never return to India, not giving an ounce of thought that I will be back in a month :D Happens!! That’s how the human brain works :D

Feeling 4: Confused – How to apply for visa and work permit? How to get all my documents ready? Chinese visa has a complicated procedure. Donno where to start, what to do, whom to contact

That night, I was restless, these feelings and thoughts were iterating a million times in my dreams (rather nightmares). Not sure, when I dozed off thinking about the Land of Dragons.

TV Show of the Moment: Travelers on Discovery Channel

Next to Come: The Number Game

Beauty beyond the eyes

I was away from blogging for sometime due to personal and professional commitments. I hope I have kept that as vague as possible to keep you speculating :D. It actually translates to that I was busy upgrading dial up internet service to broadband at home and work at office was very hectic. (Uff! The so often heard excuses. I could not cook up better than that :D) OK let’s jump to the post now.

Can you guess where the following snaps could have been taken? (Don't react with "How would I know?" :D)

Not many of you might believe if I say its right here in India, right here in Bangalore, right in my office campus!! I would not call this yapping coz I am deservingly proud of this. For those who have known Bangalore, as “infrastructure-deprived”, pot-holed, traffic jammed, highly populated city :(, this might have come as a surprise. (Actually, I could not publish much more beautiful snaps on my blog due to copyrights issue :D)

The picturesque landscape above is the artistic work of the ever-hardworking landscape team comprising of hundreds of gardeners, facilitators, creative designers etc. OK…. so what? Why am I talking about all this? If that’s your feeling, hold on. Last month, there was a ceremony in our office which recognized excellence across our global offices among the business class, technical solutions groups and the other ‘educated’ groups. There was one sub-category of awards for “Internal Customer Satisfaction”. Guess what!!! The landscape team won an award in this category. Believe it or not!!!! There was a collective unforced standing ovation combined with continuous applause for 6 complete minutes by around 40000 people connected from all around the world through video-conferencing. I could sense a collective pride across for the efforts by this team. No monetary award can substitute this!! A reward to a great job extremely well executed. Kudos!

Most of these gardeners are very less literate (note I am not using the word “educated”…. Coz my strong belief is that education can never be derived from books and suffixing your name with a few degrees). Being a Bangalorean, I know the local language Kannada. So, I have been able to converse with them during my rest room breaks or when walking around on the lawn lanes. It is bliss to speak to them. They speak so open-heartedly and with such innocence. They are so contented (and not complacent) with their job and life. They are so enthusiastic and every helping. They smile from their hearts and not their lips. It is an inspiration to hear them passionately speak about their work, their family and other things. They are so BEAUTIFUL from within. I guess this what reflects in those beautiful lawns…..

For me, somebody is beautiful when they are simple, down-to-earth and when they can keep their child switch ON. For others, beauty may be the go-get-it attitude. For some others, it may be about being a dare-devil and so on and so forth. It just lies with us to see the beauty within us and around us!! So happy beauty searching and enjoying :D

Quote of the Moment: The best and most beautiful thing in life cannot be seen, not touched, but are felt in the heart!! - Hellen Keller

Next to Come: Me in ChinkyLand – The Series