When Occupation occupies you..

Not long ago, in the school diaries, applications, report cards, we were asked to fill this field, what was called ' Father's occupation'. It is indeed a good thing that the word 'occupation' is not-so-often used these days, for what a remainder it could be of how much occupied we are.. Atleast people like me, who have joined their jobs, one can safely say how much occupied we are , suddenly.

For those familiar with the American style of living ( which, I am sure many of you are lot more aware than I am, given the fact that I am still living in India. So what I know is from the movies, series and my friends,abroad ) people happened to have what they like and do, and a day-job, which pays for the living most of the time. And then there are others, who only do what they love. Coming to the Indian style of living, or rather Indian style of working, well almost all the time, unless you are lucky or prudent and bold enough to make the choice, the occupation occupies you.

Image Credits: cwaunion 

For people like me, who have to travel a lot to the workplace, and then work, for real, it becomes really difficult to keep up with things and people. Weekend is all that you got, for anything and everything. Adding to it, if you are totally lazy like me, you know the number of friends are gonna erode eventually*. 

Lucky are the ones who are bachelors. Well I can only extrapolate the graph of life of people who get married and the responsibilities and the stress that follows. Hence, it is indeed not a surprise that people end up losing their passion or their hobbies eventually become once-a-hobby. And guess who accompanies - Monotony!

Ofcourse there are always exceptions, including some people I know, who have been able to keep up with their interests, hobbies and keep up with their friends, even as full grown adults - A salute to them. 

Well, we have all read/heard the work-life balance debates, essays, when it comes to our own life, the question of survival or the Joie de vivre,  we all know which one to choose, dont we?

* That's another topic I'd love to write about, too. So if you re reading this, await for the post, coming up soon.

Are we missing the main picture?

Every single day I, like anybody else wake up to the Facebook notifications and the WhatsApp messages, and ofcourse, after all through the day's checking, sleep with anxiety, checking them again.. I cannot remember the time that I was out of social network for more than a couple of days. Social media has become a part of my lifestyle, today. But at what cost?

We go to a place, say a restaurant, for a reason, many a times for socialising with friends, but the first thing we do? Check in on foursquare, tag the place online, click a picture, most of the times for the world to see it, rather than cherish the special moment itself. Most of the times we are not actually on the moment, experiencing it, we are rather away, lost in  the virtual world. I know quite a many people, who cannot start to eat before clicking and posting for the world to see.

I cant help but remember this thing I read somewhere on the importance of Facebook, whenever this kinda discussion comes up..

A wise man posted online..
- "What do I miss if I dont use facebook?
- "The contact with friends whom you wouldnt have bothered to have contact with, at the first place"

While a smartphone has been able to bridge the gap of oceans across the world, we, unfortunately have happened to become distant from the ones that are right next to us, in the real world. Well, Nokia - Connecting people (for real)?

Atleast ever since the time I came to know about the concept of small talk, I have realized the bare minimal use of it in the world, for we are too immersed looking at our phones, listening to music, barely recognizing the (potential) human connections. Today it is the virtual friends that matter more than the real ones, apparently. Where is it leading us to?

The age-old philosophy of "Humans are constantly craving for Human connections" is slowing changing to "Humans are constantly craving for Internet connection".

And nothing could beat this epic line from the Awesome Fight Club movie!

"The things you own end up owning you" - Fight Club..  

While being indulged in the huge *awesome* virtual world through social media, Are we really missing out on the main picture?


P.S:
One day I came across this particular place, a place with no notifications calling for attention, no friend pinging me. I urge you to take a look at this. And then, ofcourse nothing much happened. I went back to social media. :P

P.P.S: I took more than a week, for me to sit down and publish this simple piece of writing. Thanks to my social media addiction . So that's the whole point, see?

The Corpor'ate' Me

Disclaimer: If you are a victim of the corporate world, too and are looking to empathize (as suggested by the title), let me tell you, this may not be satisfactory enough , for I havent had enough of the corporate world, since its only been hardly four months since I joined a company and havent got 'the ***hole boss' yet. So you may just wait a bit for the part 2 of this (which I may hopefully come up with).

Well, one of the most important reasons of writing this one is to reaffirm myself that I can still be the un-professional-me , use pompous jargons and really really long sentences and be however rude I wanna be, atleast out of the office. So, that shows the frustration , doesnt it? For what I ve observed, The IT field  is seriously overrated, but am still wondering how people suddenly turn into zombie coders (or atleast apparently) once they enter into the office.

Its not surprising that I keep imagining a day in a developer's life when Google is down and then a wise man(myself) once said on the day of Ayudha Pooja:

Apparently its the Ayudha pooja today, and lets celebrate it by bowing down to google! #SoftwareEngineer :D 

And coming to the pay in the IT companies for the money they re getting from the foreign clients, all I would like to say is (if you are able 2 understand this):

Get a job, they said. You can save money, they said :D

One more thing, I cant help but writing is, these 4 months just went off in a jiffy and whatever time I am in this field will too, pass too quickly without any substantial achievement if one doesnt take up the situation in his hands.And every monday, I am left to thinking..

 Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he'll feed himself for the rest of his life, And give a man a job in an IT company, he will spend his whole life coding! #ItsMondayAgain

Based on the research (a.k.a common sense) , these are the most favorite lines of the corpor'ate' people:
1.Salary credited
2. Its the weekend.
3. No bugs found.

To have a more clear view on specifically the IT field, I recommend you read this book 'Life Of a Software Engineer' (read as LOSER), if you havent already.

Corporate life - Love it, Hate it, postpone it. But you cant escape it!

With all these rantings, I would like to conclude "And then.. I'd probably stop complaining soon enough, just like all these people I see."

P.S: Out of all the troubles I had to face, most embarrassing one is that I have to use IE browser. :D :P

P.P.S: I know this is just my opinion and there might be some contradictory ones where people are actually enjoying their job. Well If you have such an opinion and are reading this, do me a favour of pinging me, lets talk cos I definitely need some motivation. 

The lessons from Wilbur, Powerstar and TR

Yes, you read the title right and I finally, got the courage to write about these people who, if you admit to be a fan of, could easily be outcasted from your friends group. While lakhs and lakhs of people have a hearty laugh watching these celebrities’ videos, these "celebrities" still continue to work with immense confidence that none of us have here. How many of you dare to even give a speech/ performance on stage when you re quite good in it, let alone when you know people will make fun of you. But then when you see the confidence or the courage that TR exhibits in any of his speeches or the knowledge that Wilbur Sargunaraj shares in any of his interviews, one thing is clear they are not LOSERS. They are not ashamed of themselves. They have the “Dare”. They accept themselves as they are, yet decide to entertain people. The most difficult thing in the world to accept oneself for what we are. While you read this article and move on with your most boring lives, the 3 gentlemen have one thing in common – whether they succeed or not, They have the courage to try.

P.S: If you re from Tamilnadu, hopefully, you would have heard about them, for the not-so-privileged ones, kindly google-out about videos of "Wilbur sargunaraj" or "Powerstar Dr. Srinivasan" or "T.Rajendran"

The year that passed and the one ahead

"The most creative times are the ones while you are at an exam or at the bathroom" -Myself

Yeah i really came up with that one, although i know its not good enough to have been stolen from someone i would like to declare it. Well, you wanna know why this quote now? I should take you back to this fact that I think, sing, talk a lot during the bath. weird? Yeah that's how i am. So the idea of writing this post too came up from one of my comtemplating sessions during bath. It all started off while i was wondering how this year could have been passed off doing nothing just like the other years. And then on deeper thinking, i realised i have had fun all through and also the year has been the one for few events in my life, which ofcourse you may not be too curious to know, still i decided to go ahead with this(atleast for myself).

Well i am not really that good at memory, so it may not be from the beginning of the year or in the chronological order also. Also i dont think i can remember my bad/ low times, obviously because our minds register the happy times better than the rest, which we ourselves would like to forgot, but i'm rather happy that there have been not too many of those-kinda incidents.

1. The confusion:

This was(/still is) the period for most of the engineers(of my batch) to start thinking of the answer for the ubiquitous question "Whats next?". Yeah you guessed it right from my usage of the word "ubiquitous" that i gave my GRE and TOEFL. Though it was rather a failure, it was infact #NotSoBad compared to few of my friends. Well, now dont think i'm going to the U.S in few months. No thats not happening even though my family so wanted that to happen.After all the confusions through the year,things are a bit clear now. I am anyway not too fascinated about "going abroad" and all. Its always better to be a mediocre here than a failure there (#DamnThePessimistMe). That's the whole point.

2.My photo on First Page of The Hindu:

Yes, you heard it right. My photo was on the first page of The Hindu's regional edition (ofcourse that's great thing! no? no!!? okay) as a part of an Ad for my University. That particular photo was a bad choice but it ended up in the newspaper. The Ad also appeared in some 7th page of TOI in chennai edition,too. And ofcourse, I was not selected based on the topper's list(just in case u thought so.)

3.The Hostel Life:

The year had been more than "fun" for me. With all those friends around, i never felt like boring, which most of my Chennai friends ask me everytime i meet them. Special mention to those juniors who made it even more memorable with all the HALWA-bringing everytime, Empuzzled-playing-times, short-film-koothu, birthday-bashes and those Nova-and-paati-kadai-eatings.

4.Sleep:

Well, many-a-times we could hear people telling sleep is very important and then i took it up literally. While, the number of hours i end up sleepin per day fascinates people, i used to feel its always better to sleep rather than doing nothing. Such vetty(jobless) i had been.

5.Facebook:

Next to sleep, most time i spent at is facebook. Yeah, i got super-active in the virtual life, while sitting at the same place (before my laptop like i am now) all the time. Atleast, it is an anodyne for vetty guys like me and hence FB. I dunno if I will be able to come out of this addiction, atleast this year. But since i believe addictions are usually replaced by addictions, hopefully the next addiction shall not be worser.

6.The Job:

Well, this was the placements time in my college. You know, it was really fun attending the training, the first interview, seeing your friends getting placed, finally getting placed too. I got placed in an IT company. This takes me to the time when the computer and internet was getting popular i was in my tenth grade or something, when being a software engineer was the coolest thing to be and a great thing, too. And then i started getting interested in computers. That's not the point now, the point is after all these years the craze for the software industry has almost come down and now people are running behind the so called "core job" because almost anyone (without the worst luck) can end up with the IT job these days, as most of us know.

7.Blogging:

Oh yeah! i started to write a tech-blog. Ofcourse its only the daily technology like tips for fb, twitter and other softwares and not my engineering subjects if you thought so. But as it has happened for so many, the microblogging took over blogging. And for a person like me who can sit thoroughout the day in FB but not a few hours with a book ( i mean novel here), I couldnt help but get distracted to other things. Atleast it got me busy for a month or two.

8. The Newly found Love:

Well, before you start thinking something else, let me make this point also clear here, i was and have ended the year (2011) SINGLE (tada..). i dont really regret so much for this except ofcourse for the times when i meet my old friend and he suddenly introduces his girlfriend and think "is it only me?"... or in the road, when a damn hot girl goes with a dumb or atleast dumb-looking guy and then the feeling of i-chose-to-be-so takes over and makes things easy :P

Yeah, coming back to the love that struck me this year and that is "PHOTOGRAPHY". i had come up with this status update sometime back saying - Facebook is the mother of so many photographers and the father of many models. The encouragement u get when u post a good pic on FB or the likes when you change your photo, you know, that is the driving force for so many people. Rather inspired from many of my friends on FB, I am entering this field of photography. It is wonderful and keeps me busy too. I am just a beginner right now and just hope atleast 2012 makes me a better photographer,(atleast).

"Stay Busy, Stay Happy" - Told by my friend Karthik and i feel its so apt for life.

P.S: Oh shit, i forgot to mention( this one, probably to myself), this year was the year i started getting white hairs.Very few. But still.. An event in my life :D

P.P.S: I am not sorry if this is not interesting for you. since this is my life and its enough if it is for me atleast.*attitude eh?* :D

One Day of fame

Well I am not the one who reads newspaper very regularly, but then I was left to staring it for one whole day. Yeah. One whole day. Reason? My photo was in the very first page (for an Ad for my University). That was the starting day of college for the 1^st years and the management had decided to issue advertisement ( one full page) in the reputed newspapers.

I have not appeared much in the public medias and so this is kind of weird. But the response has been overwhelming. It lead to various reactions, emotions, messages, calls, too many LIKES in facebook, and ultimately just two words “machi treat?!!!” (asking party for it). Actually I can recollect few responses . Not to forget too many were happy for me but then few couldnt help hide their jealousy.

“Cha indha moonjiyalaam poi pottrukaangaley!!”

and another funny response being

“ Dai HINDU first page da! PM, CM ku adutha padiyaga nee than machi!”

Well, I had given a very professional pic and everyother picture over there seems so casual but mine. It was my bad, I couldnt find any other picture casual yet elegant so I choose to be professional. But whatever pic it is, it is me. And it became the talk of the day among my friends.

I cant help but enjoy the one day of celeb status. Yes it was almost like being a celebrity and just like any other news this fades out soon too and with just one day passed I can feel it. So I can call it my day of fame as I havent even give it a thought of topping my school or College and making the news. So this becomes my Ego booster. :-)

P.S: here s the link of the Advertisement

Learn Madras Tamil in 30 minutes

For Those settling in Chennai, Tamilnadu Its mandatory you learn these words.

• Word/phrase(chennai bashai tamil words)
• Meaning (in english)
  

Abase

steal secretively

eg: avanada abase panathu

Allo

Hey, there...

eg: allo epadi irukka naina

Attu

Low grade.

eg: "Attu Figaru","Attu Padam".

Bejaar

Painful, troublesome.

eg: ivanoda overey bejaar ah pochu

Beku

Imbecile,mental

eg: sariyana beku da avan

Bemani

That which makes one ashamed, that which has no shame.(shameless)

eg: poda bemani unn munjula enn pichan kaiya vaikka

Butti

Someone who wears glasses. Also see "Soda Buddi".

eg: varan da soda butti

Daavu

To Sight a figure

eg: college la daavu adikirathu oru thani kicku

Dada

don.

eg: namba ooru dada vantaru

Dhool

"well done!" .

eg: dhool mamu

Domer

Dumb.

eg: hey domer vaiya moodu da

Dubukku

It is same as loosu .

eg: poda dubukku

Dhuttu.. (thutu)

Money.

eg: evolo dhuttu vachu kinu iruka

Figaru

Attractive woman.

eg: machi anga paaru super figaru poguthu

Galata

Chaos. or Celebration

eg: anga orey galata mama

Galiju

Dirty

eg: athu oru galiju area machi

Gandhi kannakku

Fraudulent accounting.

eg: ennanda dhutu kodutha athu gandhi kanakula pota mathiri

Isscool

School

eg:innaiki iscool leave ah

Jaga

To Escape from a situation. Used as "Jaga Vaanguradu"

eg: machi va jaga vangidalm ingenthu

Jollu

To ogle attractive women.

eg: avan sariya jollu party da

Joot

To get started. Also to escape.

eg: machi joot vitadalam

KD

Petty crook.

eg: semma KD da nee

Kabodhi

Literally, a blind person. A common insult directed at careless drivers, as in "watch where you're going!". Often used in conjunction with "Kuruttu", as in "Kuruttu Kabodhi!".

eg: poran paaru kurutu kabhodi

Kadalai

Literally, nut. As in "Ver-kadalai"(Ground-nut). Term used to denote verbal flirting with members of the opposite sex.

eg: enna ma varukuran kadalai ya avan

Kaithae

Donkey.

eg: poda kaithae

Kaiyendhi Bhavan

Roadside food vendor, equivalent to a hotdog stand in the US.

eg: machi kaiyendhi bhavan dosai thunalam ah

Kalakaradhu

To impress with one's performance.

eg: machi kalakura po

Kalasaradhu

To nag someone.

eg: machi avana over ah kalasatha da

.

Kamnaati

Illegitimate offspring.

eg: poda kamnaati nayae

Kasmaalam

Synonymous with "idiot".

eg: muditu poda kasmalam

Kenai

Fool.

eg: kenai paiya da avan

Kotiguniya

finished eating ah..Did you drop anything inside your stomach. also see: "Thuntia"

eg: nala kotiguniya??

Kundhu

Sit down.

eg: inga vanthu kudhu

Lookku vudaradhu

To check someone out, especially if it's an attractive person.

eg: enna look vudura ???

Maams

Same as "machi".

eg: enna maams panra

Machi

Synonymous with "dude", used in a positive sense.

eg: vada machi! valaikai bhajji!

Mama velai

Pimping both literally and figuratively.

eg: enna mama velai panriya da?

Mary

Female version of Peter.

eg: semma mary da ava

Merusal

feared

eg: machi merusal agiten avana parthu

Nambitten

"I don't believe you"..

eg: ok ok nambiten

Neat-a-po

Head straight

eg: left la thrimbi neat a po uddu varum

OB adikaradhu

To waste time.

eg: ellarum sernthu ob adikalam after class

OC

Free, at no cost.

eg: oc la kudutha inna vennalum thunuviyae

Outte

Same as "Gaali".

eg: avan outte da

Pazham

Easy Task, gullible person

eg: itho varan parru palam.

.

Peter

Male of Tamil origin who speaks English in preference to the Tamil even with other Tamil speakers, especially if his intention is to impress opposite sex.

eg: anga paaru peter u

Pistha

Someone who is a big-shot. A lower version of "Dhaadhaa"

eg: petta pistha da avan

Pisthu

Person talented in a certain field.

eg: periya pisthu va nee

Pilimu kaatradhu

To show off.

eg: enna pilim katuriya

Poramboku

Orphaned, abandoned.

eg: poda porambokku

Saavugraaki

Verbal abuse against bad drivers.

eg: saavugraaki varuthu paaru

Sight adikaradhu

Same as "Jollu".

Sokkakira

Looking good/beautiful.

eg: sokkakira naina nee

Thunradhu

To eat.

eg:inna thunrathu nu theriyala?

Udaans

To lie.

eg: machi udaans vidatha

Voodu

House.

eg:vooduku polaya nee?

Vootle solltiya?

Used against extremely unsafe drivers.

eg: saavu kiraki vootanda sollitu vantiya