Days Without You!!!

The life of a man changes when a woman walks into his life. This is what I have always heard, and I never realized the importance of this saying. Well, here I am now, after months of engagement I have realized exactly what do you mean by that. For me, life has changed for good, few more reasons to smile at the end of the day.

Small calls in between, the good morning messages and many other messages which keep coming and going adds more spice in the relation.
Now, the love of my life have been to Kerala since few days now and all the in-between chats and calls have been stopped. This makes me realize how much I am missing her. She has been a complete part of my life and with her not being around I can feel the emptiness that has been created by her absence.

Days without you are being spent counting the days left for your return, days without you are being spent thinking about the little surprises you left for me for all the days u are not here close to me, days without you are being spent waiting for one timely message that you send (I have still not able to figure how you manage to send timely messages) and most importantly days without you are being spent by the realization of how much I Love You.
As you said in your words "Though space restraint us from being together, but one thing I am sure of, there are no space in my heart that is restraining me from loving you... " its true for me too.
Just waiting for you to come back.......Missing you Raa :) come back soon :)   Note: This post was for Rashmi, when she was away from me in Kerala.

Comeback!!!!!

Well, I would like that the subject holds true for me and let this be my comeback to writing.
It's been a long time since I wrote something, I don't even remember me scribbling anything either.

It's been almost a year and a half and if I look back some big things have happened since. Couple of best buddies got married, my elder brother too took his vow's (well no one thought he will ever have a love marriage). But the best thing what I think of is, me inking myself.

I did spent a lot of time to finalize the design and then spent some more time in convincing my parents in order to get the tattoo done. Finally a Tribal Leo was inked on my right shoulder on 16th April 2011.

Apart from this I cannot pick up things which changed anything in my life, it's the same as it was a year and half before. Well, I think I have stopped nourishing the small moments.
So, let this be a change again in my life, which can teach me to enjoy everything that is happening around me. More than anybody else, I would like to write for myself.

So, till next time, I am signing off.
-Anup

The Immortals Of Meluah

I never though that I would end up buying this book. The most impressive feature which attracted me was the cover of the book and an unusal title 'The Immortals of Meluha'. The cover shows Shiva, with a muscular built, few war scars and a trishul, which I must say was impressive.
The author here is trying to produce an image of the Lord Shiva as a human with flesh and bones.

The story is about Shiva is a tribal leader from Tibet and is persuaded by the Suryavanshi's to join them to Meluha (Indus Valley as we know it today) to fight against the Chandravanshi's who were helped by the Naga's. Author has also tried to explain some of the features of Lord Shiva, like the blue throat, the Natraja pose and things.

The story is well paced but is sluggish when the author tried to used modern words at many places, he should kept it simple or should have used traditonal words instead. The fight scenes should have been more elaborated, he has cut kept it short and many of the characters seems to be pure fictional, specially when he was trynig to explain the Naga's.

The book is really good for a debutant and hope the other 2 books of the trilogy (yes it is a series of 3 books) is as catchy as this and elaborate the characters a bit more and make us understand more about them.

One thing I would ask every reader to notice that, the author is another in thel ist from IIT/IIM. Yes, Amish is from IIM, no wonder why all Indian authors need to come from IIT/IIM.

I would rate this book as 3 stars, worth a shot.

Johnny Gone Down

This is one short and sweet book, with fiction added at appropriate places. This is an exciting book if one is reading this kind of book for the first time. Karan Bajaj seems to have taken the inspiration to write this book from 'Shantaram by Gregory Roberts' only difference being Shantaram was more of an autobiography and his life in Mumbai (the city of dreams), whereas Johnny Gone Down is totally fictional and the author has taken the liberty to take the character around the world and narrate the story.

Coming back, this book is about Nikhil Arya and starts in the yerar 1975, an Indian guy who completed MIT and was on the verge of joining NASA. The story is about the decisions he made in his life span which ended in taking him to different places around the world.
First to Cambodia where he became the victim of Khemar Rouges coup and ended up loosing his arm. He also learnt the biggest lesson in his life, "We can just do the things and rest depend on our Karma and have to accept it".
Then his escape to Thailand, where he accepts Buddhism and becomes a monk.
Then to Rio de Janeiro, where he quits his monk life and becomes a part of the local mafia, doing all sort of wrong things.
Then his escape to Minnesota - USA where he creates a revolution over the internet.
Then back to India, where at an alumni meet he realizes his life has not been that bad and was special in one way. This is where the story come to an end.

The author has narrated the story really well, switching between the present and the past was showcased beautifully. At places he drags a bit too much and at places he has abruptly ended his journey, like his stay in USA. The author has also shown the character as the one who can do extraordinary things and at times this does not digest well.

Over all, this a good book to read and I would rate this 3.5 on 5.

Holding Tight

Generation of flowers holding each other tightly, which we humans don't do in our life.

Farewell Mail by Manoj

It's an emotional day today as one of our Gang member, Manoj, is leaving today.
Manoj, also referred as Mamachan aka Devil aka Over aka Mr Philosopher aka Mr Defence and list will go on. He has been one of the most prominent character of our GANG and will be missed deeply.

Below is the farewell mail sent out by him to all.

Subject : Last of my memorable days in HSBC

Hello Everyone,

Today is last of my memorable days in HSBC and like the old English proverb says -All good things must come to an end. It's been a pleasure meeting you all and I thank god for such an wonderful opportunity. For the past few days, I have been doing some retrospection to understand the gravity of my decision and which I would like to share with you all.

10 Reasons why I still don't want to go.

1 ) Magnanimous Managers : I know a simple thank you would never be suffice for nurturing and mentoring me into the person I am today. You inspired me to never give up and stood beside me whenever I committed blunders, while at the same time appreciating and celebrating with me my success. I got to learn a lot, especially how a good manager should be, and I am pretty sure that if destiny permits me a opportunity to work again for you, I don't have to think twice before accepting it. But alas I don't have anything to give back except my simple and humble Thank you.

2) Ingenious and amiable Colleagues : You guys have been simply awesome. In the past 3 years that I have been here, I know that if it were not for you guys I would not have accomplished so much. Every time when I have approached you with a knotty problem, you have put in all your effort to find a solution though sometimes you yourself would be neck deep in work. I appreciate the favors that you have bestowed upon me all through this period and I sincerely hope that in future I get colleagues at least 10% good as you guys.

3) Understanding Client : There is a general saying in IT consulting that it's impossible to get a good client and a good manager together, but I guess I was among the lucky few to get both. Thanks a lot for appreciating my work, for keeping realistic expectations and for the infinitude amount of help in my work. Also, I am sorry for any shortcomings in my work and for sending you bulky emails.

4) Courteous acquaintance's in GLT: Though most of the time we have interacted only with a hello and a smile or may be sometimes a small discussions at the tea stall or lift, but even these small interactions gave me immense pleasure. I hope I catch up with you again sometime in the journey called LIFE.

5) My Cubicle mates: I know I am a very noisy person and it can be quite disturbing sometimes, but you guys never complained and took it silently. Thanks a lot for putting up with me and for the "Good mornings" every morning, and I am pretty sure going to miss them.

6) Extra curricular activities : These events were certainly the mood boosters and I am proud to have been part of such initiatives whether it may be sports, in which we won the first RBS cricket tournament and conducted the inter team volley ball tournament, or the mega CSR event, in which we won the 1st and the 2nd prize for collecting lot's of money for CSR activities. Thanks a lot for including me and for the memorable moments.

7) Table Tennis Arena and Friends: Thanks a lot guys for the wonderful time and for advising me on my TT skills. It was a jolly good ride and the best place in HSBC GLT to relax after work and to meet new and interesting people.

8) Lavish Parties and trips : The first thing that comes to my mind when I recollect the memories of my past office parties and trips is "Wow was it real or fantasy". One more luck I have is that most of my team members are party freaks and so every one makes sure we have a hell of a time. So more than the food, the drinks and the DJ, I guess it was my team that made these events special.

9)My First Company: No one can forget anything that he gets for the first time in life, whether it may be his first bike, first girl friend or first job. And so I am pretty emotional about this , but you are already acquaint with that feeling right!

10) Immediate Friends : I know you guys are going to hit me hard for putting you at the bottom of the list, but irrespective of where I put you, you all are going to remain closest to my heart now and forever. During my tenure in HSBC, I have spent more time with you guys than with myself. I am going to treasure all the very moments I spent with you guys especially all the Friday night parties, team and dinner time discussions and ofcourse the jokes that we cracked on eachother.What more should I say, I guess Emily Dickinson's quote " Saying nothing...sometimes says the most." says it all.


Why am I going ?

Life has given me a small window of opportunity to realize my dream and, if I don't take it now may be someday I will turn 80 and will have to ask myself the question - What If ? .

I will be pursuing my Masters in Business administration at Great Lakes Institute of Management in Mahabalipuram (Chennai), India for the next 1 year.If possible, I would like to add you all to my Orkut or Facebook friends or acquintance list or alternatively you could use my personal email address - manojmakkatt@gmail.com.



Last but not the least......

Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night! - The Truman Show


À bientôt (See you soon),
Manoj MAMACHAN


P.S : I won't say goodbye my friend. For you and I shall meet again.

-Anup

Love, A Rather Bad Idea...All It Gives A Lousy Hangover

Yes, even I was wondering the same, have I read it correctly and is this the title of the book. Seemed different and that is how I ended up buying up this one. The book is written by Anirban Mukherjee, an IITian, who is narrating an incident, happened at the time when IITians do all NON-IITian things.
This is when he introduces our main character, Samar and his bunch of friends Pranav and Skimpy. Life was all time high for Samar, as he had a good looking girl, Jiya, by his side and he was also heading the race to become the head of the student body (General Secretary) in IIT.

The book tells the story is three parts, first with the introduction of the characters and the collage life, especially that time of the year which all ITians wait for.
Then followed by the part where Samar tries hard to win the G-Sec. The feeling of getting to the top makes him blind, self centered and selfish. This is when things start to fall at wrong places for him, and life takes a drastic turn where he ends up loosing all his close friends.
Final part, when he realizes what he has lost in the horse race and his efforts to patch up things with all his friends, but at a price.

This book is fun to read, a light hearted one with a bit of fiction added here and there. The only problem is I couldn't get why this name was chosen for the book. The book also comes with a tag line saying "He could've had everything. If only he had said 'Thank You'.". But I feel, "He could've had everything, if only he had said 'Sorry'.". The start of the book is a bit draggy, but then goes on till the end with a steady pace.

My verdict for this one will be 3 stars, worth reading especially when it comes at just 100 bucks.

-Anup