My second week in Copenhagen

I got discharged from the hospital on monday and moved to the apartment that was allocated for me.My HR manager took me to the place where i would be spending the remaining days.It was a big apartment,well furnished with all necessary items.I had to stay there alone and it was too scary.The temperature was around 4 degrees,but the warmer inside the rooms kept me going.I was still feeling weak and tired and wanted to be back in India.Went for a walk around the place where i was staying.There is a beautiful lake nearby and the shops were closed for christmas.Got to see 2 churches and enquired abt the chritsmas service timings.Everybody speaks danish here and english only on demand.The people are so friendly and kind.I went to the church here at Wilimosgade,the place where i stay.The sermon was in danish but still felt happy of having found some church to spend christmas.Had lunch with my HR manager's family and we had a great time.Planning to leave Denmark tomorrow.Feeling so happy to meet my family and spend newyear with them.The end of the year 2008 was really a great tragedy for me and i want to praise God for helping me and guiding me throughout the difficult and toughest times of the year.

My first week in Copenhagen

A great disaster totally....Landed in my hotel room on sunday evening(14 dec)tired ,dehydrated,but somehow managed to make my way to the hotel.Physically very weak,i was not able to withstand and became unconscious,and the next 2 days was a total mystery.I don't know what happened to me ....i woke up and understood that i was in the hospital on wednesday morning...The situation was very bad...My colleagues had managed to come to my room and got me admitted in Rigs hospital..Things are getting better now and attended a church here in the morning...Feeling better now....Its christmas time and a time to celebrate...The hospital is full of christmas decorations,trees and lights...The weather is too cold out here....A very bad start,i should say...for a person on a first international travel...alone in a foreign country with nobody to take care of...it really needs a lot of gutts to come alone to a land far away from urs..and it will definitely take some time to overcome all these...
Missing Indian food,my family,most of all, my hubby and my dear son...

Silver Metro

Went to Silver Metro for a party,the place is amazing with totally a different look.The unique thing about the place is that it looks exactly like a Metro train,with comfortable seats,an engine driver and many such things to impress.No doubt,there would have been lot of hard work and pain behind designing the metro theme.To add more reality to that,there are vibrations which u can feel when u sit there,simulating the train effect.They have a wide variety of dishes,veg and non veg buffet,which is reasonably priced(around 300 bucks).Variety of starters,soups,desserts and u have lots of options to choose.The taste is good and Kids will enjoy more b'cos of the Metro look and feel.In addition,they provide good Customer Service too.

A dream called IIT

That is what an 18-year-old has shown in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. With not enough to eat, and no money even to burn the midnight oil, in a village with hardly nine hours daily power supply, the boy managed to secure 453rd rank in the IIT entrance exam. However, he has won only half the battle yet.At Garikapadu village in Khammam district, the IIT entrance rank holder, Narasimha Rao, is a labour under the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.With the daily wage of Rs 80, Narasimha wants to repay dues for borrowing books from a reference library.
Even at work, his thoughts revolve around science."When I am working in the field also, I think of questions in physics. I just can't understand how these mobiles work? How the waves travel?" says Narasimha.
Narsimha's mother Lakshmi can't tell what exam her son has passed but the labourer parents say their son has made them proud."My boy said he would buy me a gas stove to cook after he gets a job. I know he is grown up now. My eyes burn when we burn wood," says Lakshmi.
Narsimha managed to get coaching in an IIT institute in nearby Vijaywada with the financial support by some elders in this village. Now the 18-year-old has to attend counselling at IIT Madras on June 18, for which he does not even have travel expenses.
"After I am settled in life, I promise to pay back the money. I will be so thankful," says Narasimha.

Food in the Cafeteria

I have heard that the food in our cafeteria is so bad.My colleagues who are yet to get married or married guys whose wives are unwilling to cook food for their hubbies(vice versa) in the early morning hours,don't have any other option other than to fill their stomach with the cafeteria food,however bad it may be.Thank God,i don't have the problem,since i take homemade food everyday.Today morning,while having breakfast in the cafeteria,we saw a group of boys sitting in front of our table.They were 5 of them and were seriously immersed in eating food from a single tiffin box,brought by one of them.It looked like they have been craving for good food for so long.This shows the quality of food that the caterers are providing.People are ready to pay a handsome amount for getting quality food,but still the caterers are trying to make profit out of that,by providing cheap sabji,watery rasam,which look literally like plain tamarind water.Inspite of all the complaints raised to the management,they are sitting dumb to all these happenings.If the complaint reaches the senior management,then they change the caterers.The new caterers on getting the contract start providing good food for a week or so.U can see a long queue in the cafeteria once the new caterers take charge.But this will go on only until the management confirms them.Once they are confirmed,then they too kick start with the same old procedure.Why don't people understand their duties and act accordingly? If everyone begins to do his duty with utmost perfection to his knowledge,then noone will have a complaint to raise against the other.Will we get a chance to see such a transformed INDIA?

Who's gonna win

Who said that there are no new job openings in the market? I updated my profile in one of the famous job search engine recently,and was flooded with calls from consultancies and recruiters.Almost 2o-25 calls on a single day.Every person who called me was telling me not to give my consent to anyone else,other than theirs.Tired of handling the phone calls,i had to finally switch off my mobile.I know it's not the right time to look out for a change.It obviously makes u feel happy with the hike that u will be getting there.But r u gonna be safe?If once again, due to global meltdown,they start firing on a last in first out basis,then u r gone,for sure.

One of the consultancies have even gathered the interview questions from people who have already given their interviews and say that they will be forwarding the questions to us,if we are willing to go with their consultancy.

Another consultancy told me that they will be sending the job code and reference number and asked me to go with the first come first serve mode,even after i told them that i was not interested and have given my consent to somebody else.Good marketing strategy,huh!!!

Now i seriously do not know who is processing my CV.A total messsss altogether.

Impact of job change

A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question. The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the footpath, and stopped centimeters from a shop window.   

For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said: "Look mate, don't ever do that again. You scared the daylights out of me!". 

  

The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap would scare you so much." 

  

The driver replied, "Sorry, it's not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver - I've been driving a van carrying dead Bodies for the last 25 years....... 

Superstitious world

We just shifted to our new house in JP Nagar last week. It all went well, and we are getting accustomed to the new place.On Sunday, I caught a high fever all of a sudden with shivering cold.I am taking medicines but still the temperature is fluctuating,coming down and going up…As I woke up today morning,I asked the maid for a coffee.I didn’t get out of my bed and she immediately started giving me advice that I should wear a scarf while going out,blah,blah..The height of her ignorance was when she said that “there is some problem with the house.The day we came here,we are getting one or the other problem.”I literally blasted her for living in a world of superstition.In this 20th century,its really shameful to see people with such superstitious beliefs..

The Google Story

Having been using “Google”, the most powerful and widely used search engine for quite a long time now, wanted to read about the history of Google, how it emerged and who were the masterminds behind the scene. I went to the Library and luckily caught site of “The Google Story” and picked it up with no further delay. Its really amazing to read the stories of 2 young boys Sergey Brin and Larry Page who became billionaires at the age of 31.And can you imagine, where do we stand at the age of 31? R we going to accomplish something remarkable like this? Or just lead the common man’s life with a “who cares” mindset..
Now,coming back,Google which was earlier called “BackRub” actually means “A very large number”.It was derived from the word “googol” which means the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeros.Google gets paid for every search that happens, and this is how they make money.

Few Google Search Tips
1)Google can be your phone book

2)Google can be ur calculator-Type a math problem in the search box and it will compute it.

3)Use quotation marks when precision matters-"query"

4Google can be ur dictionary-Type define followed by any word.

5)Browse the world's bookshelves online-Search for a topic at print.google.com

6)I'm feeling lucky-Enter a search term and click this button below.Google will bypass a long list of results and go directly to the top matching web page

7)Weatherman-Type weather followed by a zip code or city name

8)Scholar.google.com-will retrieve scientific and and academic journals

9)Put ~ before the word with no space in between to have google look for pages with both that term and its synonyms eg:~query

Power of Failure

Have u ever watched a butterfly struggle to break out of its cocoon.After making some progress to work its way thro' a small hole,the butterfly appeared to simply stop its efforts.For some time it seemed to make no headway,so i concluded it was stuck and decided to lend a helping hand by forming a larger opening in the cocoon with scissors.Afterward the butterfly emerged easily but with small,shriveled wings and a swollen body.It turned out that the struggle to emerge from the cocoon would have forced the fluid from the butterfly's body into its wings,a necessary process for enabling it to fly.As a result of my well intentioned help,i had interfered with nature's life strengthening process.The butterfly was now doomed never to fly,but to crawl around with its swollen body and shriveled wings for the rest of its life.Many of our failures in life present us with the same kind of challenge that the butterfly faced.We cannot hope to become really successful in our lives unless we learn to fail well in a way that prepares us for greater success.We need failures in life to provide us with the opportunity to wrestle with the kind of challenge that can squeeze the life giving fluid we need to strengthen our wings for succesful flight in life.
"If you want to be more successful...double your failure rate"

AV Angelism

Sounds like Evangelism?? AV Angelism is using Audio and Video for spreading the word of God.I got an opportunity to attend a one day AV workshop.Led by Mr.Ashley,a wonderful narrator who stole the whole day with his lively speech and interactive training.We were around 15-20 of us,the session started with the basics of AV.We had our cameras,laptops and handicams.The morning session was just theory and post lunch we had practical workshops ,where in we were asked to photoshoot anything and everything that we liked.The main objective is not to take a photo,but to make a photo.The picture that we take should convey some meaning by itself.First thing is that u should have a theme,a story board and then decide how many shots needs to be taken.The shots are classifed as Long shot,Established shot,Medium shot,Closeup shot,Favouring shot and so on.Then compile all these individual photos or shots into a single movieline using Windows Moviemaker with some music appended onto it.On the whole,it was a good package.Now i have started experimenting AV Angelism.

House Warming Ceremony

My bro has bought a flat in JP Nagar and we had a prayer meeting on sunday.Not the usual family gathering,only 7 of us,mom,dad,hubby,bro,me,Shawn,maid and Pastor.The prayer started at 8 AM with a song.Then a modified version of the old traditional way of boiling milk and letting a small quantity to spill over the pot.Everyone has to pour half a cup of milk into the pot with a word of prayer and blessing.Just a matter of 30 minutes,we had some sweets,drank the milk and came back.Everything went on smooth and the beginning was good.Hope and wish that the house brings happiness,prosperity and good luck for people who are going to live there.

A gift for my betterhalf

If u had been reading my previous blogs,u would have come to know that my hubby is a bookworm.He has a huge collection of vast number of books,comprising of bio and auto biographies,novels and some technical stuff.As we all know,books are precious and good companions with lots of knowledge in store.I wanted to gift him a bookshelf,to safeguard his precious treasure.I heard that Shivaji Nagar has a lots of such stuffs,and that too for a reasonable and affordable price.I made my way to Shivaji nagar,visited so many shops,and finally did like one.Decided to buy that,I thought i would pay him by cash and thus save the extra few bucks which they would deduct for cards.The storekeeper said that there is an ATM nearby.I went to the ATM and inserted my card.My bad luck..the power went off and the card got stuck.Luckily the power came much more quickly,the machine got restarted,but no clue where my card had gone..The next person in the queue started moving and it worked fine for him..I had no other option than to block the card.The bank rep said that i would have to collect it from the respective bank after 2 days.But i wanted to gift the bookshelf the same day.So i swiped my Credit card,no matter i lose the extra bucks(afterall its for my soulmate,so no Compromise) and finally bought it.

Mishap on Oct 2nd

My 7 months old son(Shawn),has now started crawling and exploring things around him...Its really impossible to leave him alone nowadays.Yesterday,we had our lunch and my husband went out for a haircut.My bro,who had come for some of his personal work also started his way out.I was with Shawn,playing with him on the bed.I got a call and just went to pick my cellphone on the other room,putting my son towards the inner side of the bed near to the wall.Just a fraction of a second and i heard a boom.I rushed in to see my son,lying on the floor,with tears on his eyes.I quickly picked him up,shook him,applied some water and gave a gentle massage...He stopped crying after almost 10-15 mins.My hubby and bro were in now.We wanted to take him to the hospital to have a checkup..But unfortuately,no docs were available as it was Oct 2nd,a holiday..Then we took him to Sagar Emergency Ward and the doc did simple tests - dilation of eyes,responsiveness and probably checked his bones by touch.She said that he was doing well and there was nothing to worry.All was fine, but it made me realize how fast disasters can happen,and i still couldn't stop blaming myself for this mishap.It's these little things that keep us parents on our toes!!!!!!

Experience Uncertainty !!

As soon as I reached office today,the news of Washington Mutual being sold out to JP Morgan Chase made me dumbstruck/flabbergasted, as I had been working for Wamu since a very long time…I was part of the Wamu Offshore team and had been contributing to the development of the bank,in one or the other way…Though we were not directly involved,this news definitely posed a question to our future assignments..This was least expected..that too with such a big concern…May be this is what they mean by "Experience Uncertainty".When we experience uncertainty or when we are not sure of the consequences in life, either personal or professional, we usually tend to procrastinate(delaying things not knowing what is going to happen next).I was in a perplexed state for quite some time,until I finally made up my mind to face life as it comes,rather than letting such problems eat my mind...In other words, at the moment that you think that the best plan of action might be to walk away, "JUST GET STARTED".

தாய் மொழி

என் முதல் ப்லோக் தமிழில் ...

Modern Technology Owes Ecology an Apology

With the rise in the number of IT firms,large amount of space is being grabbed by IT Giants for creating their workspace with all possible amenities for their employees(Swimming pools,gym,clubs etc).They are forgetting the fact that this action of theirs is affecting the ecosystem in a lotta ways.The climate is getting hotter day by day,the trees are being cut,the amount of rain has considerably reduced,the Arctic is changing before our eyes,it is warming faster than expected than the rest of the globe and what not...the companies have now kicked off with Cost cutting too to reduce the usage of paper,pen,notepads and so on...It's the duty of every individual to own responsibility for the damages caused to the ecosystem and perform activites that nurture the environment...such as following the "Go Green" mantra and planting as many saplings as possible and saving water.If things are goin at such a high pace,where is the world goin to be?If at all we had understood the importance of the environment and the factors influencing them,we could have delayed this, atleast to some extent and given our children and the future generations a better & healthy place to live in...

"Heal the World

Make it a better place

For u and for me ..."

Six Sigma

For aspiring professionals who wish to take a Certification, here is one…
Six Sigma like TQM(Total Quality Management) is a process of implementing a business strategy to achieve profitability, while the latter concentrates on Process Improvement to achieve Customer satisfaction. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities(DPMO).Based on the expertise level, we have many roles/Certifications like Green Belt, Black Belt, Master Black Belt and Champions. I am planning to become a Six Sigma GB Certified professional soon.

Empower the Disadvantaged

Sukrupa is a community that helps underpriviledged slum children to escape a background of poverty,illiteracy and ignorance and replace it with as good a future prospect as any mainstream child's.They prepare products like candles,photo frames,paintings and sell them.The paintings are made by the children themselves.The money they get by selling these are used for the purpose of educating the kids.Our company is one which offers good support for such organisations that extend their help to people in need.Some days back,we had a fair organised at our campus by the kids of Sukrupa where they had exhibited lots of things for sale.We bought candles and paintings to encourage and support them.We could see the innocent smile on their faces as we bought those stuff from them.By the end of the day,it made us feel that we have made a valuable contribution to the organisation by buying their products.It may be a small thing for us,but it's definitely gonna make a huge difference in their lives.So whenever and wherever possible,try to spend money for such good cause rather than wasting on something that is of least importance.A kind & thoughtful act,how big or small can be of immense help.

Home Or Weekend Spot?

In today's busy world,people working almost 24/7,life has become so hectic and difficult that we can't even spare a day for the family.With moms working from morning till evening and Dads staying out-of-station for most of the time,the kids have no other option than to spend their time with the maid or other family members. Life has become so mechanical in recent years,waking up with monday morning blues,starting off to work travelling hundreds of kilometers,with only books being their sole companion,staying away from the rest of the family for almost 5 days a week and coming back home for weekends...It makes me feel as if the house is no more a home but has become a weekend spot for such workaholics. It makes me remember a poem that i had learnt in my school days

"In this life, full of care,

there is no time to stand and stare"

Oh,how true it is!! It took me 15 years to understand the true meaning of this... Home,once filled with love,care and warmth has now turned out to be a weekend spot...What a pity !!!

Scribblings of my 7 months old son

The first letters/alphabets keyed in by my chotu when i was working on my PC
zzzzzzzfgyyyyyygg7tytytytytytytytytytytytytytytytyty1 `1
`1e'/

Bone Mineral Density

We had a Bone Mineral Density Checkup organized by Medplus in our campus. It was conducted to check the strength of bones and create awareness among the associates. They had a small machine kinda thing where I was asked to keep my feet. Then they applied some gel in that area and got the results in the click of a button. For a good bone density, the result should not exceed -1. If it exceeds -1, then it indicates that u are at the initial stages of Osteoporosis. You have to take Calcium supplements if you don’t meet the required level. It is advised that 1000 mg of Calcium intake everyday is mandatory for a healthy lifestyle, which food alone can’t provide you on a daily basis. People with less density of minerals in the bones are prone to more fractures and backaches. So u have to compensate for the loss by taking Calcium supplements. Certain food products that are rich in Calcium are given below:

1 Cup of Milk : 240 mg of Calcium
1 Cup of Curd : 210 mg of Calcium
1 dish of Spinach : 73 mg of Calcium
1 dish of Soyabean : 200mg of Calcium

So better start giving your body the required level of calcium, so that you can lead a healthy lifestyle even at ur 70’s.

Best ways to Invest

So you have your money and are ready to invest. You've determined how much you will put aside, when you will need your money, took care of your debt, and determined your goals. Now it's time for you to find out what investment is for you and your goals.
One type of investment that you are probably familiar with is the boring old bank account. Here you can get about 2.5% a year ($2.50 for every $100) for the money you have in your account. Not the best way to invest but an easy way to start.
Another type of investment is the certificate of deposit (CD). CD's are a type of lending investment. With a CD you lend your money to a bank for a specific time, say 6 months, and they give you your money back with an interest rate of 6 to 7 percent compounded onto that amount. CD's are a guaranteed safe investment.
Bonds are another type of lending investment similar to CD's. Bonds can be issued by a bank or company. Through the next four years you can earn 7 percent interest through a bond (Calculate that for a $100 investment and it comes out to about $130 after four years).
The best way to make your money grow is through the stock market. Historically the stock market has on average returned 11 percent annually. However, the stock market can be the most volatile place in which you can lose a lot of your money. You must realize that risk and return go hand-in-hand.
For example, you have $1,000 to invest and you find a company that is currently selling for $10 per share. You can buy 100 shares of stock in that company. The next day, while you're drinking your coffee and looking through the business section, you see that your company is now selling at $12 per share. What does this mean? How much did you make? You bought 100 shares and it's now $12 per share. Multiply the two and you have made $200 with a current balance of $1200 (100 x 12 = 1200). That's a 20 percent return in one day compared to a bond's sluggish 7 percent return each year.
So which one is for you? Risk is a factor that plays a big role. How much risk do you want to take? If you're a low risk taker that needs the money in 1 year, a bond or CD is the best choice. If you can take a good amount of risk, without having your stomach churn every time you hear "The market dropped 200 points today", invest in stocks. Stocks are also a good way to invest if you don't need the money for another five years.
History has shown that financial markets recover. And the longer you keep your money in the stock market the better it will grow to achieve your goal. Remember that the biggest risk is not taking one at all.

Who is he.....

He's
A music maniac....

A football freak....

A workaholic....

A tamil literature guru....
A well trained cook....

A bookworm....

He's none other than my husband!!!!!!!!!

God's gracious gift - Shawn Calvin

Manali -What a place! What an experience!

It was in the month of May 2004 that I completed my B.E Degree.It was a hot summer day and it has been a very long time since we had planned for some long vacation. One of my Dad’s friend who resides in Delhi had been calling us for a long time to spend our vacation with them. So my dad planned for a trip to Manali via Delhi. But I was least interested bcoz I knew that the temperature was around 45 degrees in Delhi and the scorching sun would be unbearable. But somehow we packed up and started towards Delhi. We went to Chennai, stayed there for 2 days and then to Delhi.
We reached Delhi at 6 am and my uncle had come to receive us. We reached his place by car, met his family and had breakfast. Uncle had made arrangements to take us to Manali.
We started in the eve and reached Manali at around 11 pm . Manali, in the Beas River valley, is an important hill station in the Himalayan mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India, near the northern end of the Kullu Valley.It can be called as the originating place of the 5 rivers Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The route towards Manali was too narrow with more hairpin bends,which made me feel dizzy and frustrated. By the time we reached Manali,I was sooo tired.We stayed in a hotel that night and the next morning started our way towards Rohtang pass, the highest point on the Manali-Keylong road that provides a wide panoramic view of mountains rising far above clouds, which is truly breath taking. The atmosphere was soooo beautiful with snow covered mountains, gracious trees found in the tropical areas, apple orchards and lots more... Being a well known Honeymoon destination, u can obviously find more couples there. Got a chance to look at the rivers Sutlej,Beas…as we had to pass thro’ them to reach the glacier…. Finally we reached the snow point at Rohtang pass, covered fully with snow…
We were given woollen clothes,socks and shoes to wear as it would be too cold and sticks to help us climb the snow clad mountain.There were so many people,playing in the snow,people posing for photographs,children throwing ice cubes on one another and women selling out the traditional himachal dress.I bought one of them and wore it for a snap.There were so many games to play with…U can hardly see any dry land in and around that area….There was a dome and a sage was sitting inside it…The dome was the starting place of the river Sutlej. There was a small crevice from which the Sutlej was emerging…Down the valley it was becoming wider and wider descending downwards…Throughout ur travel from the floor of Manali, till u reach the glacier..u will be accompanied with the melodious sounds of the beautiful rivers striking against the pebbles and stones…We spent the whole day there and in the evening,made our way back to the footsteps of Manali..We did some shopping in the town, visited a temple and the location where the movie ”Roja” was shot. The next day we started our way back to Delhi crossing the states of Himachal Pradesh,Haryana and Punjab.In Haryana,we made a halt to visit Kurukshetra, a place where the Kurukshetra war as depicted in the Mahabaratha had taken place centuries ago. It was altogether a very beautiful experience and I’m still looking forward for a chance to be there again.What a place! What an experience!