Enge theduven..project enge theduven...

Adutha project-ku udane pogavum vida mattenranga, ingaye appa amma-oda iruken-nalum vida mattenranga, enna vazhkaida idhu! Edho actual base location vittutu, oru varam Chennai varuvom-nu inga vandhu work pannitiruken, adutha project idhudhan-num soltanga, vidalam-la? Adhukulla evalo issues, evalo confusion..

Mudhalla oru project oru thalaivar assign pannar, adhuku nadula this manager from Australia mailed saying they want me back..and this thalaivar mailed back saying I cannot be released. While this is going on, my manager intervened saying she wants me to be in another project, and indha pechellam nadakum podhu our manager from Aus mailed her saying she is the one who is supposed to release me, and not that thalaivar! Sema politics inga, man, little did I know there will be so many complications!

Naan seridhan, edhu seekirama set agudho try pannikalam-nu en manager-ku call pottu pesinen, but unfortunately in my arvakolaru to get into the earliest possible project, I told her straight-away that my objective is to get into one asap. Ninaichirupanga, 'Ammani periya VIP, ivangaloda objective sonna udane naanga ellam salam pottu project thandhruvomakkum'-nu :)) Somehow I can never be obsequious to anyone, so I normally get straight to the point..enna even if I say Salam, neenga dhan dheivam and all that, eventually it comes down to 'I need something, can you help me out'. Ofcourse I do know that this is incorrect, especially in an organization where you want to grow but well, I think it will take some time, hopefully less.

Ippo thirumba base location vaa, adutha project (do we even know what project I am finally in?) induction-ku nu solliachu, so back to base location on Monday :( Here I am, counting my days to the next project, but not wanting to leave Chennai so soon..

Unnai vida matten...

Oops!! Ayyoo!!! Indha akramathai keppare kidayadha?! Ippodhan andha project-lerndhu utta podhum-nu odi vandhiruken, adhukulla there is a mail sent from Australia 'Client insists that Usha come here for another thing'!! Andha another thing-oda meaning, opposite edhuvume enaku theriyadhu, and I am a strong believer of 'Pala naal thirudan..'

Ethanai thadavaidhan oorai ematha mudiyum? Edho first time en nalla kalam, client podadha kaalam, emandhu poi impress ayitanga..but how many times would someone get deceived like that? Sema tension, tension-nradha vida paridhaba unarchidhan, enlighten aaga mattenrangale makkal-nu.

But thankfully, yaaro oru melidathu mahatma mudiyadhu-nu anuppitar, naan pozhaichen, illana Australia-laye samadhi aayirupen!

Thuyiladha pennonru...

At work in India...phew, and still not out of Australian blues. Last 2 weeks sema fast track-la Roller Coaster vida mosama pochu..oru 4 week schedule-a, 2 days-laye mudicha veeranganai anegama naan oruthi-adhan irupen, but ofcourse with its own costs.

There was absolutely no proper infrastructure until the last two days, and when things were 75% right, we just had to proceed with the phase as though things were ok. Namma life-la execution phase indha project-ku varave varadhu-nu naan yosichitirukum podhu, ennoda manager asked me, 'Is the report coming allright?' Ennadhu report-a?? Appadina? ada iraiva!! Erkaneve nondhu noodles ayiruken, idhula ennamo report ellam kekkarane! First of all, I dont even know how to create a report for this kinda phase! Seridhan, idhoda namma episode mudinjadhu-ntu, I started referring to earlier docs of the same kind. During one such reference padalam, he came over to my desk and spoke to me. Naamadhan F1 seek panrome, so udane minimize pannen, but he got a quick view of it, and came back later to ask me if that was the report I was making. Naanum yeah-nu solla poi sema kushi thalaivar-ku, it looks good-nu! Ada paavi, ippo indha standard-ku ennoda debut doc varanuma-nu thalila adichite vazhinjen avankitta...

The last two days were messy, dev manager vandhu thittaran "Usha, that was bad planning, you cant do this with minimal infrastructure" 'Vaada rasa, naandhan indha madhiri plan pannen, vera yaarum illa'-nu sabichitte I told him we cant help it blah blah..and my report also grew alongside. Last day-ku mudhal naal, I sent the draft version of the report to everyone, 10 mani varaikum kashta pattu office-la muzhichukittu adhai anuppina, vantan adutha naal dev manager..Usha, you shouldnt have done like this, do this another time-nu!! Ada pavi, naalaiku naan ooruku poganumya!!But who cares, he still made me do the stuff until the report came out saying his product was doing good..

Last day, I happily came to work thinking all I have to do is to add some powder to my doc and send it across when the same villian dev mgr came to me and told me to re-do something. Sema kaduppayiten, I still hadnt done my shopping, all I was doing was to stay at work till late night to finish stuff, and now he wants me to re-do something! I hid my irritation and started doing something when my manager called us to the BoardRoom for something. Evanda ivan seekiram velai mudika uda mattenran-tu I went grudgingly to the boardroom just to see a chocolate cake waiting for me and Cashew for our farewell..and also to know that the customer liked my report. Sema sandosham enaku, ippadi ellam kenainga irukangale, namma report kooda nalla report-nu solradhuku-nu oru 2 mins sandosha pattutu, I got back to work.

Andha dev manager-ku oru chinna guilty feeling, he said I can go out and do my shopping and come back, and my manager offered the same thing. Konja neram resist pantu I went for shopping and came back to see the final task getting done. Phew!! Last task, and another 30 mins on touching up the doc, I was finally free from the vicious cycle of a project execution! Later I learnt that my manager had arranged for the farewell himself, which no other manager had done for his folks...well, paavam, marappom manippom policy pola avaruku, naan ivalo koothadichum farewell tharar :)

Next day I said a GoodBye to Australia after paying up 150$ for losing one of my apartment keys..idhu kooda panla-na naan Usha-va iruka mudiyadhe..

Porale Ponnuthayi...

Finally out of Australia and now at Singapore terminal blogging this..phew!!! Anegama adutha varamdhan I can relax and pen down the previous week's experiences and this week's, ofcourse...

Ok timing out Internet connection (evan vachan indha 15 min limit..ippo variakum I have logged out like 100 times for various sites and this is the last!! Manga pasanga!)

Sollal aditha....

I just dont get this thing...the way people conclude about things by seeing only one side of the whole picture. Nobody seems to be knowing the amount of work I put in, forget the amount of work I put in, nobody even seem to think I am working!!

Agreed, naan edho ulnaatu sadhiyaala main area-la ella managers koodayum utkarndhutiruken (the program manager and engagement mgr right behind me sharing the cube, the dev managers right in the adjacent cube and showering queries on me) , and the workers team has a room for itself where everyone sit together and maja madi/work.... Managers kooda utkararadhe edhiri naatukulla pugundha soldier kanakka feeling tharudhu, idhu nadula I keep running around for stuff I have to work on and keep dodging missiles, MIGs et al from different managers. It's a dog's day-nradhu almost everyday-nra madhiri ayachu.

But when I visit that room, I get frequent questions like "What are you doing Usha, she seems to be doing everything"..aamangada, vanga, naan anga onnum kizhikardhilla, I just keep delegating work and jolly-a sarukumaram vilayadaren velila!!! I dont know what is going wrong, is it that because they keep seeing my team working on things in their room that they are oblivious to what is happening outside, or is it that my team keeps projecting that it is working too hard and that I dont do anything..

Well, whatever, I have decided to move into the same room to see if my team is really overloaded, or if the team isnt working smartly enough to work fast, and if they are really overloaded, I will take up some of it apart from my own load.

Thaniye thannanthaniye...

Karmam!! Ellam thalaiezhuthu!! Enaku mattum eppadidhan indha madhiri ellam vandhu serudho therila! Porakaracheve ippadi ellam face pannanum-nu ezhudi vachutanga poliruku, the so-called divine beings or the focal point of supernatural power in the Universe..or whoever we believe in God.

Nethu ennoda manager enkitta 'Lets come tomorrow to work by 10:00, I'll be in by then'-nu soltu ponar. Ennoda Ms.Cashew-vum 'What time do we come Usha?'-nu kettutu, when I said 10-10:30, happily agreed and went. Innum oru 4-5 makkal, who were supposed to assist me in work also did the same. Naanum Pongal-ache nalaiku, seekirama ezhundu korainja patsham edhavadhu nalladha sapda pannanume, can I manage 10:00 schedule-nellam yosichitirundhen..

When I woke up today, it was 7:20, and I thought I will make Pongal and Morkuzhambu. Chamatha kulichutu pongal ellam vachitu (ofcourse, pongal panai vaikka mudiyalaye-nu sema kurai dhan, appuramadhan enlighten aanen 'Naatla niraya per unna unavu udutha udai iruka idam illama irukanga, unakenna pongal panai' appadi-nu :)) chutney-nu oru vidhyasamana attempt-um panni pongal saptu office vandha...oru micro organism kooda kanom!! Naan vandhadhe late, appo kooda yarume varala-na enna nadakudhu indha naatla? I called up Ms.Cashew, and apparently my call was her Suprabatham! I call up DEO guy, and he is cooking and wants another 30 mins with a predetermined plan of leaving office by 1:00 to go to Rose Bay. And manager? Suthama kanave kanum!

Oru 30 mins enna panradhune theriyama, I thought I can as well work on resurrecting my drawing abilities and attempted on something when Ms. Cashew arrived followed by my manager and everyone else one after the other..vandhome velai parpom-nu illa, "Usha, today is Pongal, you have to invite us home and treat us with Pongal", 'Dhoda, vanga, veetuku invite panni pongal mattumenna, sarkarai pongal, complete meals, icecream ellam tharen'-nu ullukulla karuvitte I said "How many of you want Pongal? I will bring you pongal on Monday, for now, lets concentrate on work". Sonna udane parkanume, almost everyone's hands shot up for Pongal! 'Ada pavingala, after all Pongal, idhuku ivalo alayareenga?' ninaichitte I came back to my desk. And absolutely nothing is working here! Edho konjam work pannanga, udane pasi! 30 mins-kellam pasicha nadu ennapa aradhu?

Ippo again no one is there, everyone has gone out for lunch, and here I am, waiting for everyone to come back like I was waiting in the morning for everyone to arrive..I am supposed to leave next week for India, idhe range-la pona eniku naan India poi....

Avaravar vazhkaiyil ayiram ayiram matrangal...

Enake vara vara en career endha route-la pogudhu-ne puriyala..oru samayam bus eri T.Nagar pogudhu, seri T.nagar dhan pogudhu-nu partha, thideernu train eri Kolkata pogudhu...serdhan, it's Kolkata-nu light-a settle arache flight eri Antartica pogudhu!!!

Sila per settled-a ore career-la grow aaradhai parkumpodhu, I feel a bit jealous, che namaku andha kodupinai illaye-nu..first, developer-a irundhen, naama ippadiye grow aagi dev stream-la engayo poganum-nu ninaichitirundhen..and niraya per, nee talented ma, engayo popora-nellam solli nalla ethivittanga (ellarum ozhiga!!), and so I was there, dreaming about my future in development.

But well, as is the nature of my vicissitudes infested life, I found myself in an MNC as a consultant who has got nothing to do with development! Ofcourse, join pannadhu developer-adhan, but that path took unexpected twists and ended up in this role..aaha super, 'vellai pura onru ponadhu kaiyil varamale'-nu padikitte I adapted myself to the new role. Nalla company, and having adapted faster into the new role, I started nurturing dreams of growing up the ladder..with the practical realization that ennai vida menmakkal indha company-la undu and it will take some time. Ippadiye oru 2 varusham kuppai kottitirundhen when suddenly life took another unexpected twist and I landed in a role that I never dreamt I would be in!

Yes, I have grown up the ladder, aana enake ippo puriya mattengudhu naan endha path-la poren-nu! Indha jack of all trades, master of none appadinra phrase-ku oru perfect example-a aagara level-ku vandhachu! When I look back, my path seems to be having different regions and climates with a lot of plains and hills and deserts, but agreeably interesting throughout.

Seridhan, idhula settle aagitom, inimelavadhu life-la thirundhuvom-nu ninaikaren, aana indha management-nra sadhikara gumbal "we will take over that job"-nu arambichutanga.."enga sandhai-ku vanta la, inimel unaku definite per ellam kidayadhu, oru naal kurangu, innoru naal kazhudhai, vera oru naal kudhirai-nu vippom unnai"-nu Veerapan kanakka sirikaranga!!!

Valarndha kalai marandhuvittal....

Sutta pazham comment triggered my memories and disappointments in myself...enake konjam ennai partha kevalama theriyudhu vara vara..

Ennoda parents cultivated a few artistic capabilities in me. Chinna vayasula ennoda amma took me to Bharathanatyam classes for me to learn Bharatanatyam. Naanum sema interested-a kathukitten adhai, but unfortunately, naan adaradhu andha Natarajar-ku pidikala ninaikaren, we moved to a different location in Chennai and there ended my classes. I was so much interested in Bharathanatyam, but didnt find any center in the new location and later on didnt find time as I was concentrating on my academics...but appuram luckily oru Kuchupudi teacher vandhanga flat-ke, and I very happily started those classes but again (idhu endha kadavulo therila) she also left for another city..Ippo yaravadhu classical dance aada sonna thiruttu muzhi muzhichittu nippen :)

Seri music kathupom-nu ninaichen..udane oru chinna flashback - when we were kids, my Mom sent me and my brother to a lady in the opposite house for learning music, and she sent me back saying I dont have a good voice and retained my Anna, ofcourse adhukappuram I joined dance classes - so thevaiya namaku-nu ninaichitte I joined music classes when in college and tortured that poor teacher, adhuvum bombed after joining NIIT. Usha, unakum kalai-kum suthama nalla relationship kidayadhu-nu mudive panten.

Oh yeah, en appakitterndhu I got some drawing skills, ofcourse, nalla ellam varaiya matten, chumma sila kiruku kirukitu idhu nalla iruka-nu appa kittayo amma kittayo keppen, avangalum paavam kuzhandai-nu aaha super-nduvanga..ippadiye I had filled a big drawing note (which ippo partha kirukal-nu enake theriyudhu) and then I started drawing on computer..idhuvavadhu panvom-nu, oru rendu moonu pannirupen, udane work hectic-a arambichuduchu!! And eventually I lost the completed pic of my first attempt on the computer, after moving companies, and now I have only the half-completed drawing :( And it has been almost 1.5 years since I kirukkified something!

Enakum so-called art-kum ettam porutham-nudhan ninaikaren, and the only thing that has stayed with me since my childhood is my dear kuttisathan!!

Thedi thedi theendhene...

Iniku I have got a hell lot of work with a lot of dependency tags, but well, ennoda kutti sathan ennoda workaholism parthu kadupagi vera thani thread start pannalama-nu yosika arambichudhu..oru padu innovative and interesting idea vandhudhu adhuku - search in Google if my blog comes in search results. Naan warn panni parthen, venda kuttisathan, unaku disappointment othukadhu-nu, kekkala adhu. So here goes the searching saga:

Mudhalla "Usha"-nu pottudhu, udane oorpatta results, starting from Usha sewing machine to Usha Uthup! Ada manga, Usha-nradhu oru common perda kanna, adhu eppadi results tharum-nu kettutu naan idho paaru vera example-nu "Rajesh Raghupathi"-nu try pannen..udane Rajesh-oda blog entries onnu onna list agudhu!! Kuttisathan-ku sema kadupu..grrrr..idhu enna partiality-nu adhu RaajK-nu pottudhu and got some satisfaction, it got some results varying from posted by RaajK to some matrimonial site listing some RaajK looking for a partner, yet another example of Anusha Parthasarathi which didnt yield any blog site either. Seridhan, naama mattum exception illa-nu decide pantu it launched into another search.

"Kodumai posted by Usha"-nu try pannichu, partha nera kodumai-nu oru link description-la arambichu Rajesh site-la naan add panna post varaikum list achu...grrr, marupadiyum Rajesh!! Ok, "kodumai da sami!!"-nu potta, kodumai da sami-nu vera yaaro jana/masthan-nellam per varudhu...and a few posts saying kodumai da sami, but nothing from my blog! Infact, using the different titles of my blog posts didnt yield anything either! "Padmashri's"-nu try pannen, but nopes, absolutely nothing related to her blog.

Kuttisathan-ku bayangara erichal, seri ozhinju po Usha, un peraiye straight-a tharen-tu "Blogger: User Profile: Usha"-nu kodutha...Usha Vaidyanathan-nu yaar yaaro varanga list-la except poor little Usha :(

Theriyamadhan kekkaren, what exactly qualifies a blog to be listed in Google? For example, Rajesh's is listed, whereas a few others aren't listed. Ithanaikum blogger.com is a part of Google!

Ange siripavar sirikattum...

There are a few phrases in tamil like "Aada theriyadhaval koodam pathadhunalam" which exactly represents our dev team here...munnadi ellam nalla peela vittutu enga application appadi, enga application ippadi-nu, ippo pottu udaikalam-nu plan pannumpodhu "Unga plan thappu, enga application eppadi ellam respond pannadhu"-nranga!!

This is happening for the past few days now, I see tension in the air and the eagerness to know what we are upto. Ippadidhan unga application work pannudhu-na, udane they pounce on us (me infact, naandhane bali ka bakra) saying adhu Webserver issue, appserver issue, load balancer issue adhu idhu-nu...my dear makkas, adhu webserver issues-nalo illa appserver issues-nalo that is your problem, and has got absolutely nothing to do with our plans!

Idhai sonna udane vera madhiri vandhudaranunga, idhellam neenga mudhallaye parthurukanum, en ivalo delay panneenga-nu..dhoda, I think unga phase-ladhan plan-e illama kanna pinna-nu delay panni enga release dates ellam thalli pochu, idhula enna mathavangala pathi ungaluku pechu?!

Seri naanga weekend vandhu test panna porom-na, udane enga team-aye kindal panna vendiadhu (just for the reason that those guys wont be here during weekend for looking at the results), "you guys timepass during weekdays and come during weekends"-nu, "in that case, how about your folks coming during weekends?", "Well, they come for timepass, not for work" Ippadi oru manager! For that matter, I know that some of them come for work and not only for timepass. Point is, we can deliver the results the next working day, and we are already crossing the deadline coz of these folks, enga velaiyum panna udala-na eppadi?

Am really irritated this time, normal-a eduthukara madhiri I couldnt even take this easy coz of this kinda attitude that demeans others in a worst possible attempt to defend their application!

(NZ-il) Car Ottiya Thamizhachi!!

Last day at NewZealand, so we were all set to drive back to Christchurch and take the flight to Sydney. NewZealand madhiri oru kalakkal place vidaradhuku manasilladhan, aana velai velai-nu onnu iruke, so we started around 11:00 AM.

NewZealand-la driving rules are different from Australia, avangale specific-a sollirupanga, "If you are from Australia or UK be careful, we are different"-nu..naama Australia road-ke ozhunga otta mattom, idhula NZ-la ellam indha Chennai puyal disciplined-a ottuma enna? I took over the car from Fairfield to Christchurch, and naan romba try pannendhan, aanalum my kuttisathan didnt let me drive properly.

Drive panna arambichu konja dhooram ponappuram thideernu curves vara arambichudhu..seridhan ivanga malaigal nadula road potrukkanga, adhan ippadi iruku-nu partha hairpin bend varudhu!!! Ayyo! naama tirupathi malai-la appa ottumpodhe kannai moodipome, ippo namma kailaye steering iruke!-nu aaditen, but seems namma ayusu getti pola, I drove through the hairpin bends - god knows how- aana adhukaga oru munarivippe illama hill start aanadhu thappudhane? Hairpins ellam cross panna udane sema maja vandhu vegama otta arambichena..appodhan arambichudhu tension..enakilla, mathavangaluku.

Well, naan pattuku ottitirundhen, ennai poi overtake panranga?! Appadiye adrenalin konja konjama eri pinkazhuthu vazhiya brain-ku eri mela poi Vijayakanth madhiri ellaraiyum adi adi-nu overtake panna arambichena..unfortunately NZ makkal namma Chennai veerargal madhiri illa, they can't even take a cut from the vehicle ahead - naan enna azhaga overtake panni super-a cut utten, adhu poi honk panran oruthan! Idhukellam applause thara vendama? Ivangaluku overtake panradhuku oru thani lane vera! Naamalam enikavadhu vera lane edhirparthirukoma? Ore lane-la oru periya horn uttu munnala poravanai pavement pakam oramkattitu munnala poi cut udaradhudhane namma Thamizhar style? Waste pa ivangellam! che che, am very much disappointed!

Appreciate pannadha foreigners ellam indha poovulagathula irundha enna illata enna? Namma oorna drivers amaidhiya oru youngster overtake panradhu kooda kandukama super fast-a poradha oru appreciative glance but depreciative comments-oda parpangale andha attitude poovulagula yarkavadhu varuma?? Vazhga Baratha matha!

Anyways, all beautiful things have to come to an end, so did my drive, and we came to the airport, dropped the car (but padupavi pasanga en credit card-la 52$ charge pantanga oru half tank petrol-ku :(() and came back to Sydney..andha sudden transition from beauty to beast thanga mudila aana, kashtamadhan irundhadhu.hmm but enna panradhu, all beautiful things have to come to an end.

Enna azhagu ethanai azhagu...

Night Sofitel Hotel-la adichu potta madhiri thoongitu next day we left for Mt. Cook and Lake Tekapo. Again, the drive was awesome with good scenery outside..NZ-la oru line-la drive describe pannanum-na carkulla jill, carku velila hill..ivalodhan. Aana the magic that those mountains create in your senses is what makes the difference, coz ofcourse, Chengalpat-ku a/c car-la pona koodadhan hill-um jill-um irukum-nu yaravadhu sollalam (he he, enkitta andha stmt sonna en kuttisathan ippadidhan retort pannum!)

We were approaching Mt. Cook which is a snow filled mountain..kalaas mountain adhu. Oru distance-lerndhu parkardhuke avalo azhaga coconut topped chocolate bar madhiri iruku..and the lake that it throws its reflection on is a lovely blue..parthen parthen parthen suda suda rasithen rasithen rasithen dhan padindhen anga :)

We decided not to go to Mt.Cook coz we had already drunk the beauty of Mt. Cook from a distance (erkaneve kulir, idhila paniya pakathula vera poi parkanuma? - idhu en kuttisathan) and proceeded towards Lake Tekapo. We reached Lake Tekapo sooner than we had expected and the resort we stayed in is an ulti-resort..super view balcony-lerndhu..no wonder it is called Scenic Resort!

Velila parkanume..hills with pristine aqua blue water..ivalo blue-va water parthadhe illa naan..ofcourse swimming pools-la parthiruken avlodhan, ippodhan nature's kaivannathai live-a parkaren! Then we went to the Mt. John Observatory to get a 360 degree view, but the climb up in the car was so scary that I couldnt really enjoy the view..keezha porache enna agumo-nra bayamdhan irundhadhu :(

Dinner-ku French fries..2 dollars-ku oru kg french fries thara NZ menmakkal vazhga vazhga!!!