Diwali - Away from Home!!

Clock shows 6.30 am and I am waiting for the company bus. A bit perplexed thinking if it’s really the festival Diwali today. It’s that time of the year when parents eagerly wait to see their son/daughter.

Mom has already decided the menu, dad has already decided the gifts, the crackers are ready but then they realize someone is missing. Their son couldn’t come home this time.

*Called home in the morning to wish them*

I Could feel the heaviness in their voice, already knowing their son won’t be home but still that question “Beta tu ghar nai aya iss barr” ?

Entire year we work, we party, we skip office, we take leave ( for no reasons ) but when it matters the most we are sitting in office writing codes, testing, attending meetings etc.

Some have taken long leaves and are at home, when you look around the empty cubicles you miss the moment of being home. You start dreaming what you could have been doing at home at this moment, hypothetically ofcourse. Sipping early morning tea with mom and dad, chit chatting with dad, irritating mom, meeting friends and what not. This is the moment when you realize what family is and what it is to meet/have friends.

But then we have no one but to blame ourselves for this and ask the question “what is the reason we couldn’t go home” ? Was it because “we did not manage the leaves well”?  “Was it because we did not manage the expenses well enough to have some savings for this occasion”?

Well whatever may be the reason; Diwali away from home isn’t Diwali. But I feel lucky to have some special friends who ensure I don’t miss my home and family.

Wish you all a very Happy and Safe Diwali !! 

“ghar na jane ki mayusii hai chehre pe” 

“kch tou kami se hai is Diwali pe”

A Frustrated Engineer

The first song that comes in my mind when I read this word Engineer is "Ghungru ki tarha bajta he raha hu mai"

People often ask about three mistakes of life, but if you are an engineer you need not worry about any other mistake.

"Beta Engineer bann jao fir life set hou jayege” , if only this statement was banned and not beef life would have been so much interesting.

What engineering taught me is “beauty lies in OLD MONK”, “stress is relieved by GOLD FLAKE”

My teachers use to say  “beta kuch bi Banna lekin teacher mat banna” and what I tell my cousins is “bhai kuch bi karlena lekin engineering mat karna”

Tea point is the only easily available onsite in life of an engineer and deadlines is only the girlfriend he has. Google is his/her savior and copy paste is his/her best friend.

Even after going through those semesters and hands on and labs, all that interviewer asks is these two questions: “Tell me about yourself” and “where do you see yourself after 5 years”

The only answer I find appropriate for these questions are, I am an engineer and I will be an engineer after 5 years.

Engineer becomes a topic for directors to direct a movie and earn crores and even they give us the right name “IDIOTS”

Having no knowledge of what engineers do in software company, my relatives mostly ask me this question “Beta tumhari company kya banati hai”  and I am like “uncle kuch nahi pagaal banati hai”

I am an Engineer by force, not by choice !!

“jab jab gum ka badal Chaya,

Jab aasu palko pe aya,

Humne dil ko ye smjhaya,

Engineer ki life mai aisa he hota aya”

Shortest Love Story!

SCENE 1:

It was a pleasant evening, the clock ticks around 4 PM, Weekend seems to be at the end of the never ending road, as it is what we hate to say Monday. Another hectic day at office about to end. Laziness in breakfast, Stress in Lunch and some gossip at evening tea was the menu today. Is that all? Day over?

As the legend of Cricket Mr. Sunil Gavaskar once said, “It’s not over until the last ball is bowled”

So then, does that means some more deadlines to be meet? Status call? Meeting? Well no, Not today. It was the time for this guy to get rid of the stressful day and with all the thoughts of what happened in office entire day, he enters the TT (Table Tennis) room.

Nothing new, same group, same tired or say frustrated faces. Some dance group practicing for a ‘event’ which this guy can never be part of (the permanent ink of contractor is what was hanging at his belt) The game starts, as usual, but no something was written to happen today! The guy smashes the ball, it goes and disturbs the other table and then the magic happens what he sees after that was mesmerizing.

An elegant, dusky girl, wrapped up in a sexy brown color leather jacket was sweating hard at this game. Was it love at first sight? What happened after that? Did the guy approached the girl with same old pick up line “Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I come by again”. Well the answer is NO, modern generation we are from.

The guy with his attitude, and no smiling(yes this guy always holds an impression that he never smiles) continues with his game, and the gorgeous girl continues her struggle to learn.

The guy would have never loved the concept of ‘mixed doubles’ anymore then that day. Still no talking but playing his best. But still it wasn’t known to both that this wasn’t just a team up for the game. None were holding any ‘supernatural powers’ which can tell them what’s up for future. The game ended, time was to leave but the guy was never too eager to stay back in office till that very evening.

Coincidence or Intentionally, the guy ended up in the same lift along with the girl. A decent hi/hello greetings and getting to know each other’s name happened finally.

FINAL SCENE: 

(Yes you read it right, I mentioned it’s a short LOVE story)

Since it’s a social networking world, guy went on to Facebook to search for the girl and the request send. A fraction of seconds later, notification of friend request accepted comes!! The smile on his face could have lighted up the dark room (power cuts are pretty common everywhere)

A few minutes later in the conversation, a typical question is asked by the guy “Do You have a boyfriend”.The fingers were crossed, even the legs were crossed, but all went in vain when the answer came as “YES”

So now what, was this love? Or an attraction?

The story that started at around 4:30 in evening seemed like will end at around 9:00 at night.

Guy is still clueless whether to continue or quit trying!

The "APP" world!

"Mom I need some money, my free sms pack is over" When was the last time we ever used this statement? I guess it will be tough or even impossible to recall. We don't need to go out to get even recharge done because we are now in the age of  "Click and Done".

So are we smarter, modern, educated or technically sound? Or we are getting very lazy that we want everything easily?

I Still can remember the school days, when going for a movie used to mean leaving home two hours before the show (it was more like catching flight in bangalore). Reach the theatre and stand in long queue and fight for those tickets. Still that musical sound "20 ka 40, 20 ka 40" from the guy selling tickets in black hums in my ear.

But now everything is in hand, book tickets while on the way for movie. From grocery to clothes we can order everything in just a click now :) It sure saves us all a lot of time and makes our lives easier but I wonder it is making us more lazier too.

I dont know which was more fun the former or latter but I'm glad my childhood was app free and I got to enjoy a lot of cool things.

What do you miss the most from pre-app era? Do let me know in the comments!