The Touch of Rain Drops..!

My mind was traveling in a wonderful dream much faster, than the cab in which I am... The voice of driver 'Here you go..' wake me up from my dream. It was hard for me to hide my anger at him in disturbing a wonderful dream. But I realized that cab has reached near my apartment, and with an artificial smile, I managed to hide my angers inside...

It was slightly drizzling, and I stepped out of the cab looking at the cloudy sky... The very next moment, small rain drops spread on my face.. Nature’s touch! It was touchy and very cool. I had an umbrella in my bag. But I walked in the rain. I heard a voice from the bottom of my heart asking me to enjoy rain. My whole body was showered by the drizzle. In fact it was truly a pleasant feel.

Only later, I realized that the rain was slightly heavier than it seemed to me. All my clothes got drenched, but I didn't mind… The touch of raindrops gave an extreme freshness to me. I walked towards the lift in my apartment building. Each of my steps toward it was as mechanical as this city life. My mind has not come back from the excitement of rain. But I was walking unconsciously like a robot that is programmed to do so.

I always liked rain; it gives tremendous harmony when tiny rain drops touch the skin. My mind was thrilled like a kid. It reminded my childhood days… A kid who runs out of the house when it starts raining, to enjoy every bit of it… looking at the sky, he jump up and down with the rhythm of rain. And his mom chases him all the way in the surrounding land to take him back to home. He never gives up until both of them are fully drenched! Finally when mom wins chasing and taken him to house, he sit near the window, watching the rain and the dark cloudy sky. When lightening or thunder comes, he run to grandma and hide under grandma's bed sheets.

The lift opened in front of me… As I walked into the lift, I heard a much familiar voice saying 'Door closing'. It took a moment for me to realize that, it is automatic playback of some recorded voice from the speaker in the lift. I laughed at myself knowing that my mind and body is out of sync for few minutes now. My mind was flying like a butterfly in those dream worlds of childhood memories. The lift started moving upward and the initial pull against gravitation reminded me that I'm on earth..!

I starred at the digital display of floor number; awaiting my floor number. Something has taken me back to the nostalgic memories again… may be the wetness from raindrops or the loneliness in lift! A recap to those primary school days in my village! School days are always the cute days of anyone's life… A bunch of memories fled into my mind… walking to school in those rainy monsoon days through small muddy road with ponds and fields on both sides (They are all replaced with concrete roads and buildings now). On the way back from school we play on those muddy fields in rain… and catch little fishes from the small ponds on either side of the way… put them in our water bottle and enjoy watching it swimming up and down in the bottle, rushing to escape. Sometimes we get into the pond and pluck those Lilly flowers... good old days !

The digital indication that I am starring now, read: 'Floor: 02’. My mind is wandering in the memories of those school holidays. We used to go for swimming in every morning. The water would be snow cool in early morning. But we treasured swimming in early morning. It is even better feeling, to swim in rain. The raindrops touch on top of you tickling your body and sequentially unite with water underneath you. Nice, isn’t it? Then the days we, friends used to play cricket from morning to evenings… and the unexpected rain that comes all in a sudden while we play. We keep playing in rain, though we get scolding for it from parents later... again good old days !

A beep sound along with change in digital display indicated that it is 3rd floor. I was flying high in those precious days of my life - college life and hostel days..! The long sleepless nights in hostel corridors with a gathering of good friends around. We stay awake in late nights and discuss about anything other than studies..! Enormously about anything and everything in this universe..! Night outs while raining were extra special... rain added some additional aroma to our discussions… like a background music to our funny discussions… and it goes on for the whole night… it might be the music of rain that keep all of us awake !

Then those rainy mornings, we bunk classes and labs just because we are lazy to get up from bed… and enjoy sleeping till lunch. Then the bike rides through college campus with friends in rain... you know, that is a incredible and special feeling to ride bike in rain..! The faster you ride, the harder the rain drops hit you..!

Another beep sound from an entirely different world is heard and the display read: 'Floor: 04’. But that did not seem to trouble my floating mind much. I am cherishing those drizzly evenings in the beach with the special friend in my life... sitting next to next in beach sand for long time looking at the deep sea without talking much… still when we go back from beach, we get a feel that we shared all our feelings through silence… may be the breeze and drizzle communicated our feelings between us... and the returning from beach sharing an umbrella with that caring and loving friend...!

The digital display changed again and beep sound bang my head... It flushed my mind and those sweet memories… the door opened and I stepped out from lift and walked to my room, thinking about this artificial, routine life. We don't see nature these days, all I can see in this world now is concrete buildings, flats, ac rooms, lifts, bridges, fly over, mobile, ipods, computer, laptop, internet, tv, metro trains; Machines everywhere...! very rarely get chance to see the nature; and feel the nature... The beauty and trueness of nature has been wiped away by human intelligence. But Rain is one of nature’s beauty, that is untouched by human intelligence so far...

And presently here I am, sitting near the window of my room in middle of a busy city (I would prefer calling it a 'concrete jungle') and having a hot coffee. As I type this post in my laptop, it is still raining outside. This post is born from the music of rain drops that I am enjoying through my window now..!

Well, we all must let the past go off, some day or the other...! Still it is nice to jog your memories through those wonderful moments in life...!

Snap of a visitor to my garden..!

It is not very often you see, a wonderful sight of insects like these.. So thought I should not miss capturing them.

The race of life !

Here an interesting stuff from a forwarded mail, that attracted my crazy mind... who ever written this is an intellectual.. hats off..!

~~~~~***~~~~~

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle awakens. He has only one thought on his mind: To be able to run faster than the fastest lion. If he cannot, then he will be eaten.

Every morning in Africa a lion awakens. He has only one thought on his mind: To be able to run faster than the slowest gazelle. If he cannot, he will die of hunger.

Whether you choose to be a gazelle or a lion is of no consequence. It is enough to know that with the rising of the sun, you must run. And you must run faster than you did yesterday or you will die.

" This is the race of life."

N2N : 2 - The Cloudy Days !

NULL to NOW

This is in continuation of my previous post: N2N : 1 - Null, The Absolute Beginning !

Chapter 2: The Cloudy Days !

Time has put an end to all our sleepy sessions... We have completed our trainings and moved into projects.. I have been assigned to software testing, I do not know on what basis! Those days, I did not have much idea on s/w testing; but still my mind said that is not the one I wanted to be doing. I wanted to be doing some challenging works, with all the energy and sparks of fresh engineer mind. But life doesn't always give you, what you wanted. I was going in the way, life take me; so as my career..!

My first project was to perform testing of a media management product, which can organize, podcast all media files and communicate with electronics devices like car stereo, home player, TV, Nokia Mobiles N series etc. through WiFi and UPnP technology. The cubicle of our project team looked more like a small theatre/lab rather than a work place.. There had car stereo, TV, home player, WiFi adapters, media collections etc, etc scattered apart from our computers. We could use these devices as our choice of interest in watching movies or listening songs etc as a part of work.

For the next few months, I was going along with the stream, enjoying music, movies during work. The product, in-fact was great idea as a whole; this product even got best innovation award in consumer electronics section at international level. And also, I have been learning ABC's of S/w testing from this project.

But deep inside myself, I was thinking, if I m really doing things which fit to my abilities! No... Absolutely it was not! My work in that project was, something that any normal person could do; it doesn't require an engineer's mind to do that work. And more over, I felt that work very boring. Those were cloudy days of my career; and I keep thinking deeply on how to get rid of this..

Though I was late, I requested management to move me to a more challenging project. There has been some good attempts by management to move me to development project; Thanks for all the attempts by good hearts, though it was not fruitful.

At the end of the drama, I was requested to continue in the same project. The reason being, there had been frequent attrition from my current project already. For the sake of hell or heaven, I did not argue much. That is the way, I always been since from my childhood. Sometimes, this character brought good to me... but some times, I have paid much for being so...

My first attempt of swimming against the stream collapsed there. Life was again flowing along the direction of stream; and so as my career..!

[To be continued]

N2N : 1 - Null, The Absolute Beginning !

NULL to NOW

I would first tell you what "NULL to NOW" is... I just wanted to put together all the crazy incidents, thoughts and the path in my career life from an absolute beginning to now...

PS: I have tried my best to avoid criticizing or pinpointing anyone, who has been a part in my way here... Still my dear colleagues, If you feel, something pointing about you, it is not intentional or meant to be so.. I am just expressing myself...

Chapter 1 : Null, The Absolute Beginning !!!

Like any other newbie, who comes out of an engineering college to a corporate world, me too had lot of energy, enthusiasm, expectations on that day.. lots of passion to start a good career. I woke up too early that day and with great enthusiasm... precisely @ 6.45AM, which is a kind of too early by my own standards ;) . Then got ready in fully formal dresses & shoe and started to the company with a file having all my certification and offer letter. You know, the file in my hand was all, what I earned in life so far, with 21 years of education...!

All this days after I get offer letter, I was imagining about this day.. I was expecting a big organization with all hi-fi facilities... When I reached in front of the office, I realized it is a very small organization in a double floor building with limited infrastructure and around one hundred people. And that is where I started my career as so called a software engineer... As saying, 'First impression is the best impression'!! ...and I did not let the spark, energy and enthusiasm to get collapsed..

The next few months were training period... you know, how would one feel to sit in a training classes on the first few days of corporate life.. After all we were fed up with sitting in classes, seminars and sections for a long period of 4 years in the name of getting an engineering graduation.. I had to say, it was quite boring (Sorry, my mentors & trainers, but that was fact..) The training in the first few months dispatch the fresh spark and energy with in us... They taught us .NET, Frameworks, S/W testing, Configuration management tools, Java, J2EE, blah blah blah. (To be honest, I don't remember the rest.) ..

May be the training organizers thought, they could inject all of this into our small brains with a one month training sessions.. But one thing they haven't thought is, so many lectures, professors and teachers attempted to do the same for years in our college/school life and failed... And in real fact, how far we learned from those training is always a question mark, who on earth knows.. I've never tried to judge that.

But there was something else I am learning above all these sleepy sessions.. That is the helping, motivative, humble and down to earth characters of some senior colleagues, even in the situation where they don't require to be doing so... Until that, I never expected people in the rank of CEO, Founders etc, would come get introduced to fresher-trainee in person, have lunch together or personal talks! That is something which make you more comfortable, especially when you are in a new corporate world. And along with that, it also gives more responsibility, by having a feeling like you are watched by all..! May be it was just a business tactics, and this outcome was, what the company exactly wanted to happen.. But anyhow I liked the humbleness and helping behavior of some people, even when they are at heights..! I just captured that to my life as well.

All together, it was a fresh beginning to the world of software.. ! All the electronics and instrumentation circuit diagrams learned during 4 year life of electronics and instrumentation engineering has been thrown away and here the first step into a new world. !

The absolute beginning to the world of corporate life.. !!!

Next chapter of this series @ N2N : 2 - The Cloudy Days !

Some Good Quotes

Sometimes, smile can be like a drop of water in a desert..!

You smile, the whole world smile with you !

you cry, and you cry alone !

It is dangerous to weep inside your mind,
The open tears can easily be wiped away,
But the secret tears create scars in depth !!!

Silence gives rest to your mind,
And this means rest to your body,

Sometimes rest is the only medicine needed..!

Give lot of time for the improvement of yourself,
Then there will not be time to criticize others..!

:-)

That is life !

In this post, I would tell you about an ambitious boy, his admiration and dreams in his life and how he drive for that.

The boy I am talking about was in his early teenage and he lived in a small middle class family in a village. His village was so quite, calm and greenery to live a peaceful life. Like any other middle class family in India around a decade back, his home also was a combined family and all his relatives and everyone lived in the same home. Even with the financial limitations, his middle class environment provided him everything that is necessity in his life like education, dresses, good food etc.. But anything beyond necessity was just a hidden whisper in his mind that vanish very soon...

This small boy I know had the habit of dreaming an optimistic future. After all that is something he could do with out paying money. The surprising thing was that even his dreams know about his financial limitation.. the dreams were not much lavish.. his dreams were about having a more comfortable life.. something like building a small good house for them.. and buying a small car for their parents.. he had never even dreamt about being very lavish...

Days are passed.. months passed and years passed.. The boy studied hard to accomplish his dreams.. he has grown up now.. He has got a good job which earn a reasonable and good amount of money monthly..

Now his dreams were not much far from reality... He is in a position to realize his dream now. But it is then he realized that, he had lost so much during these years... The dream of the small boy, did not have much value now... He lost his parents for ever during these years.. His relatives are not living together in a combined family anymore.. they are all separated into different houses.. he is living alone with out any one's care and affection.. and his dreams does not have much values anymore..

Now he knows that is life.. Life is always been this way.. When you gain something, you loose equally or something more than it.. Life maintain an equilibrium...!!