tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17596360407850579782024-02-19T22:31:45.718-08:00Through my eyes...Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-2459211498959999812023-11-17T10:37:00.000-08:002023-11-17T10:37:07.388-08:00<p> I am writing after a long time. This time on Medium. Here is the link https://medium.com/@kshyju/the-curious-case-of-net-run-rate-43f7a8de944d<br /></p>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-28160853762248114082012-10-07T11:32:00.001-07:002012-10-07T11:33:53.393-07:00She told me to lick...and I had no other option.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Let me start with one information, I am currently in USA. If I were in India, this would have been nothing worth mentioning. I would have done it without her asking. I would not have hesitated a bit and neither would I have looked around to see if anyone is noticing. But here things are different. I thought here no one would be licking it that way and it was treated as unhygienic.<br />
<br />
So when she told me, I asked her if I had any other options and she told I have to pay for anything more. That did not make sense. I really felt I should have come prepared. I was just out on a quick lunch break extension. So without thinking much I looked around once again, licked the envelope edge, sealed it and handed it over to the clerk at the post office. From next time on I would take care to bring it sealed or carry a glue stick whenever I go to a post office in US.</div>
Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-42875004376872465832012-09-23T11:13:00.000-07:002012-09-26T21:34:44.506-07:00I am back !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is now more than a year since I published my last blog. I don't exactly know the reason(s). There are multiple reasons, but most predominant one is laziness. Another reason is I liked my last blog very much that I could not find any topic that close to my heart.<br />
<br />
A lot of things happened in last 15 months or so since I published my last blog. I lost my father in-law last December and I could not see him before he took his last breath. During the last year or so me and my wife stayed away from my son for three months, then me and my son stayed away from my wife for three months, resigned from Infosys after 9 year stint, moved from IT service company to product company, bought a new car, moved from Android phone to Windows phone and deactivated and re-activated my Facebook account at least 3 times. <br />
<br />
All these while I thought about writing again, but could never get over the inertia. So I thought about making a commitment and then keeping it. I hope I will be back in the frequency of about one blog per month. Stay tuned.... <br />
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Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-89123361944937584982011-06-18T22:49:00.000-07:002011-06-18T22:49:18.199-07:00Father is child of a man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the years. But still it can't help in sharing human feelings. While I was a kid, I never understood why parents are so concerned about their kids, caring for them and feel proud of them. Even if we (me and my brother) disobey smallest of things, my father would become very angry and depressed. In our smallest failures, he used to become sad and of course he would tell the world our least important success stories. Whenever we asked, his answer used to be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>"You will know when you become a father". </i>I did not understand. I did not understand for years. I just thought he was an extremely sentimental person.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Now that I am a father of a 2.5 year old myself, I am starting to understand the feelings. Now I understand how you feel when your kid fall sick or when someone praises him. I understand how tough it is to stay calm while dealing with a kid and I also know how one smile can make the world turn around for you. More than the feelings, now I understand my father. Some of his words make sense only now. I am realizing that what I thought as some of his weaknesses were actually his greatest strengths. I was always dad's son but today I know him more than ever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Whenever my son breaks or spoils something, I naturally get angry but one incident keeps coming to my mind always and helps me cool down. We bought our first television set when I was in class 7; I think the year was 1990. (We still have the same TV at home in working condition!) . Those were the Doordarshan and above the roof fish bone shaped antenna days. So once you set up the TV, there was nothing much to change other than the volume. One day, within 1-2 weeks after buying the TV, my brother was explaining me the controls like tuning and color and brightness control. He showed me how turning the color control to 0 changes a color TV to a black and white one. He did that and increased the color back to previous setting to make it a color TV again. I was impressed and tried my hands on. I lowered it to nil, looked proudly at the B&W screen, watched from a distance and then increased again. But nothing changed! Screen remained black and white. We tried all sorts of things to set it right like turning color full on, turning to zero and bringing up again and switching on and off. But nothing worked. It remained monochrome.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> We were shocked. Our financials were not so sound that time. Those days my town Mattanur had 2 TV technicians compared to probably 20 doctors. Doctors' fees for a visit used to be Rs 10 or 15, but TV technician used to demand Rs 250 on top of parts cost. 250 was a big amount. If I remember right, our monthly grocery bill used to be around 400. So if the TV had to be repaired it would have been a big impact on our budget. So we were sure that father will get angry. When he came home in the night, my mother presented the issue while all three of us were waiting for him to explode. He remained cool and just said. "<i>I know my boys wont break anything that belongs to anyone else. If they can't experiment on their own things, where will they do? But I need some time to arrange money to repair it</i>." Every time my son breaks something much more affordable and insignificant, like an egg the other day, I get angry but remembering this incident cools me down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Apparently the issue was not with the TV. Kannur relay station had some technical issue that turned the signal to B&W and it was fine by next day noon. It was the ultimate coincidence of timing. If we had a phone at home, we would have probably known same day evening itself. Thank god we did not have one. Else I would have been a much worse father today. My father did not survive enough to hear this story back from us or read this, but I am sure he knew he taught us a life lesson.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> There are some things which I don't understand about his behavior even now, like getting up half an hour before the alarm time if we had an important exam or getting worried if we were a little late from college than normal time even when me or my brother were 20 year olds. But the way things are going; I think I will understand those also in a few years time. Definitely not through technology growth. Also by then I need to find answers to my son's questions .<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div><br />
</div></div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-60353565146868000532011-05-07T19:58:00.000-07:002011-05-07T19:58:03.179-07:00Escape to Victory<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This post should have been published a week or 10 days back. There are two reasons for the delay. One, I was very busy. Second, I was waiting for the another news item to appear which will make my blog irrelevant and unnecessary.<br />
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I am putting three links below. I was waiting for some follow up news to happen on first and second, but nothing happened which I noticed. I still hope Rajdhani staff will get some more amount after enquiry is completed. There is not much I want to give in terms of my views about these news items. Please read it yourselves.<br />
<br />
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govts-top-award-for-firemen-bravery-rs-100/149633-3.html<br />
<br />
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/rajdhani-pantry-staff-get-rs-3k-for-saving-lives/149654-3.html<br />
<br />
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/bcci-increases-prize-money-for-indian-wc-winning-players/663413.html</div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-40225495383381473472011-04-10T18:33:00.000-07:002011-04-10T18:33:20.890-07:003 mistakes of my life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Purpose of the title was just to catch attention. This is not about any big mistakes which affected my life, but three blunders happened in my college life in fact all related to CSI computer exhibition which I mentioned in another blog before.<br />
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The Not so bad :<br />
This was on the last day of our 1998 exhibition at Mahatma Mandiram in Kannur. Since there were lot of computers and other accessories in the venue some of the organizers stayed at the venue for security and I was among the few who were supposed to come early in the morning so that those staying overnight can go home. In the hurry to reach as early as possible, I forgot to ask for cash from my father. I had some money with me, sufficient enough to last a normal day. Problem was I never realized I had limited cash with me. So I had a good lunch and then I was left with only a few rupees, around 5. I just needed less than Rs 2 to reach home on a normal day. In Kerala, student concession applies from 7 AM to 7 PM. Exhibition stalls were closed by evening around 5:30 or so, but it was well after 6:30 when we left the place. When I reached the bus stand it had crossed 6:50 and I did not have enough money to pay for the full fare and I realized the fact only then. There was no bus in the bus stand about to leave towards my place. Also there was none of my friends around from whom I could borrow. Going back to exhibition venue also would not have helped as everyone had left by then. I did not know what to do, but luckily a bus came at that time which was to leave just after 7:00 PM. I had travelled by the same bus once or twice before and they had accepted the concession. It was the same conductor this time also and I was saved.<br />
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The Bad :<br />
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This happened in our second exhibition in 1999. Event was bigger this time with more participants, bigger stalls, more advertisements and bigger venue. We were doing it in Kannur Town hall this time . I was the secretary of the CSI college unit at that time. It was on first day of the event when some of the companies were still setting up the stalls. A few of our batch mates were cleaning up the place and they could not find a place to put the thrash and they came to me asking. We looked around together for dust bins but could not find any. Then we moved to the side of the building and saw some old banners and advertisement boards and some "trash looking stuffs" lying there. Seeing that all of us concluded it is definitely a trash place and we put all the trash we had there and came back.<br />
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About 15 minutes later someone came asking for the organizers of the event. I went to him standing tall (as much as I can) and head high in pride and asked how could I help him. He started shouting saying "some guys from my team" has put trash in front of their office. I followed him with another guy, who was not originally part of "the team", to the place and he pointed to the place where we had put the thrash and asked me. "Can anyone think this as a place to put waste? This is right in front of our office". "Definitely not" I said.<br />
<br />
<br />
and the Ugly :<br />
<br />
Back to the first edition of exhibition. There were two batches senior to us still in college. They were doing all the important things of marketing, arranging venue, getting the press to cover the event etc. They also covered most of the establishments in Kannur. Our batch was supposed to cover 2-3 shops in nearby smaller town Thalassery. Three of us were in one of the computer institutes trying to convince the owner that participating in the exhibition will benefit him. He was not convinced and had his reasons not to spend money and effort on an exhibition happening in a different city. We had run out of the points our seniors had given us while going. All of us were trying their on sales skills and suddenly I got a brilliant a new idea and said. "Look at your classroom, there are so many empty seats and machines. Participating in our exhibition can help you fill it all up" ! Our prospective customer stared at me for some time. My friends looked at me with their expression asking are we here to sell something or to tell him his shortcomings. <br />
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No point in guessing if that institute joined the exhibition or not. On our way to next destination, one of the other two guys remarked. "We did our best" !</div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-5725302935184216152011-04-03T18:17:00.000-07:002011-04-03T18:17:17.654-07:00Their cup of redemption<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Everybody is busy dedicating the victory of Indian cricket team to Sachin. While it is an all-deserving world cup crown to the Master's head, he is a legend even without it. He already had every thing else in his showcase related to cricket and if you consider each international run is equivalent to running 20 meters, he has already run more than 650Km in the cricket pitch i.e. equivalent of running from Bangalore to Madras and back from Chennai to Bengaluru. He probably has all major batting records except highest individual score in a test innings. Of course stats gurus have created new stats that other players can also have a few records. (Like highest score from 41st to 50th over in an ODI while chasing)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>While the credit of the victory goes to all the players, support staff and their family, I feel especially happy for two of them, Dhoni and Zaheer Khan. When the tournament started and even though India was not losing any matches, we were neither winning them comfortable nor winning it at all. Facebook and teatime discussions (thank god that is still real and not online) were all pessimistic of Indian prospects and critical of MSD. All experts including myself thought he was a fool who cant bat or just a fool at best. But in one week of knock out matches, every Indian is a Dhoni fan now, of the batsman and captain. What makes him even special is he did not try to steal the limelight after victory, his feet was firmly on ground even after his hands and the last ball he faced touced the sky, he did even dedicate victory to past great players like Ganguly, Kumble and Dravid for the steady growth of the team over the years and did not push Pawar out of the podium. Take a bow Dhoni and sorry for the early criticisms and lack of trust. I am an average Indian cricket fan after all.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If any player wanted this trophy more than others, it would be Zaheer Khan. Not to show off, not to tell stories to his grand children, not to be part of Indian cricket history till the time cricket is played in India, but to sleep well without the nightmares of his first spell in 2003 cup final. In South Africa 2003 India had lost the final in the first over bowled itself. He definitely needed a cup victory to erase those memories. And oh boy what a tournament he had and what a terrific first spell in the final. Zak you carried the Indian bowling throughout the tournament and you can very well forget your last 3 overs. Relish the glory and get some sleep.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-52381594350792752912011-01-01T19:17:00.000-08:002011-01-01T19:17:44.371-08:00Two plates cutting<div> There is an old not-so-high quality joke in Kerala, which got classic status because ace filmmaker Sreenivasan used it brilliantly in one of his films. Joke goes like this. An elderly man (who has a weak hearing and eye sight) steps into a hair-cutting salon mistaking it as a restaurant and asks “What all you have”. Barber replies as “Cutting and Shaving”. Elderly man’s reply is “Give me both one plate each”. (That is the end of joke, if you did not feel it). I had a very long vacation in India this time spanning two haircuts and lot of food plates in between the two. </div><div><br />
</div><div><div>I had prepared a list of things to eat while in India and could get almost all of that. I had the taste of many food items whose taste I had missed during last two years of stay in US and most I had missed for last 6 months when my wife was in India. Party started on the day I landed at brother's place with sister in law’s special <i>fish fry </i>and ended with <i>Jackfruit</i> preparation by mother on the day and I left. This is not yet beginning of the Jackfruit season but was lucky to get it delivered in Mangalore by my loving mother in-law.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div><div>Since my mother stayed with us, I could taste all of her specialties including <i>Pradhaman, Koottu curry</i>, <i>Tapioca and Fish curry</i> and <i>rice payasam</i>. Even though I was missing wifey’s cooking only for six months it was great to taste the <i>Avial, Fish fry and Kara Para dosa</i> again. Also had the full <i>Sadhya</i> prepared by my wife and mom on the birthday of my son. Two weekends we could spend at in-laws place made sure that my mother in law made all her specialties like <i>Avial, Neyyappam, Chicken curry and fry</i> and more of <i>Tapioca</i>. The <i>Pal payasam</i> at one of Smitha’s relatives was just heavenly. </div></div><div><br />
</div><div>After eating all these I realize the difference of use of fresh ingredients make to taste of any dish, other than the obvious ones like Fish and Coconut even the milk and fresh curry leaves add to the taste of food. And more importantly the amount of love you add to the dish just takes it to next level. If anyone feels jealous reading all this, it is not my fault that I got such loving wife, mother and in-laws.</div><div><br />
</div><div><div>My eating out wish list was left incomplete for two items. Had the <i>Gadbad</i> from Ideals, <i>Laddoos</i> of Balettan , <i>Kinnathappam</i> of Brothers bakery and Mangalore style <i>Pomfret masala fry</i> but two items in the list, <i>Some like it hot</i> from Cherry Square and <i>Malabar Chicken Biryani</i> from Kairali were left unfulfilled. Next time!</div></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-13602782628611328522010-11-13T09:27:00.000-08:002010-11-13T09:27:22.115-08:00Missed Call Part 2Water was very cold. But to Sanjith that was just good enough to cool his head. He stood under the shower for ten minutes before applying soap. It was yet another bad day for him. Standing below the shower he relived the conversation he had just half an hour back.<br />
<br />
From the voice at the other end on his third attempt to call Manjusha, it was clear to Sanjith that it was not she. So his reply hello was more of a question than a greeting. Then there was a silence.<br />
“Can I speak to Manjusha ?” he broke the silence after a few seconds.<br />
“Manjusha is not here, this is her friend”<br />
“Oh.. Did she forget the phone while going out?”<br />
“Err.. Well she has gone home since we don’t have classes for next two days and then it is the weekend. “<br />
“Oh and did she forget the phone? “ Sanjith asked in a disappointed tone, thinking about the lost chance to meet her during the weekend.<br />
“Not actually. Well, I want to tell you something, only if you have the patience to listen.”<br />
<br />
As if anyone is going to tell he does not have patience! “Yeah tell me”, preparing to hear something not so pleasant. “ By the way, may I know your name?”<br />
<br />
“My name is not important Sanjith. I can tell you any name. So please leave that. We are a group of students; some of us doing MBA and others doing masters in psychology in same college. We have been reading about many affairs developed over missed calls and lot of guys using this modus operandi to trap girls. We once had a long discussion on this and decided to experiment and analyze how many people, male and female, call back on missed calls and how willing are they to talk to strangers. For that study we collected phone numbers through different methods and contacted many people. We girls used to keep one phone for talking to guys and boys had another phone from which they had called girls. Normally we used to talk two or three times and then not accept calls from them any more, but somehow you and Manjusha got along. We wanted to stop her from...”<br />
<br />
“So I was one of the guinea pigs” Sanjith spoke as partial statement and partial question.<br />
<br />
“It was not that way Sanjith. She really became good friend with you and neither of you can be blamed for that. From what we understand, you two are developing into something more than friendship. You are probably a nice guy too. But the thing is that Manjusha has a boyfriend who loves her very much and he has been an important part of her life for many years. We had a long session with her today and she wants to end this too. She could not tell you directly and we were thinking about stop using this phone number. We will probably do that from tomorrow, but when you were trying so hard to reach her I felt it was better to let you know. From what I understand, you are a sensible person and would understand. All I have to tell is that…” Sanjith did not wait to hear rest.<br />
<br />
He did not know what to do. He was not in love with Manjusha. He considered her to be a good friend and like her friend told probably they were getting into something more than friendship. What pained Sanjith was that he was kept in the dark throughout. He did not even know for sure if her name is Manjusha. He is not even able to talk to her one last time to shout at her. And there is no way for him to find who she is. He felt helpless and powerless. For a moment he wished if his father or uncle were a police officer or if Google could search address details by phone number. He did not want to do bring any harm to her, just wanted to trace her and tell her that he can reach to her if he really wanted.<br />
<br />
Just when he was drying himself with the towel an idea struck him. Once when her cell was switched off, he had got the automatic message from service provider and hence knew who was the service provider. Sanjith had a friend who worked in the IT department of the same company. So probably he can try to get the name and address of the person who took connection. No assurance that he will be able to trace her, but some possibility at least. When he quickly changed dress and took his cell phone to call his friend, there was a missed call and it was from his manager Sunil.<br />
<br />
Sunil never calls any one after office hours unless it is really important. So Sanjith decided to call Sunil first.<br />
“Hey Sanjith. There is a new project for our client starting next Monday and we have identified you as the onsite co-coordinator. Can you travel this weekend to US? ”<br />
“ But Sunil… it’s already Wednesday night.”<br />
“Yeah I know Sanjith. Actually the role was for slightly senior profile and I had to try hard to get you this opportunity. So please don’t let me down and don’t let such an opportunity slip through your hands”. Then Sunil gave a brief about the work and expectations from Sanjith.<br />
<br />
By the time he disconnected the phone, Sanjith had already mentally started preparing list of things to do in next two days. He was still holding the phone in his hands. When he unlocked the screen to call his parents to inform them the news, he remembered that he was about to call his friend. He stared the phone screen for a moment and then he could not stop a smile slip through his lips.<br />
<br />
*********************************************<br />
<i>I got the thread of this story from newspaper reports about many girls and housewives falling prey to missed call lovers and psychologists and criminologists explaining the reasons why people call back and develop relations. One such report - http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dial-missed-for-murder/649579/</i><br />
<div><br />
</div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-40673207437479083002010-11-08T18:35:00.000-08:002010-11-08T18:35:46.723-08:00Missed CallWater was very cold. But to Sanjith that was just good enough to cool his head. He stood under the shower for five minutes before applying soap. It was yet another bad day at office for him. He got his US visa stamped nine months back but did not get opportunity yet to travel. He has been having multiple meetings with his managers in the last few weeks. He knew very well that he would fly to US some day, but the wait was getting unbearable. His good friends were all either at onsite or had moved to different cities. When you don't have good friends to share, small frustrations can take you to depression.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><div>Sanjith's meeting with his senior manager was a disaster today. His manager got angry because he felt Sanjith was not trusting on his efforts and the discussion went really bad. Sanjith previously had a very good relation with him and he knew that last two meetings in three weeks really did some serious damage to that. He left office early just after the meeting, came home directly and switched channels for an hour before proceeding to take bath. Once cooled down, he realized his outburst was a little too much. He wanted to call Sunil, his manager and apologize. When he changed dress and took his cell phone, there was a missed call from an unknown number.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Call had come half an hour back; he did not hear the ring due to TV volume. Number did not look any familiar to Sanjith but he decided to call back and check.</div><div> </div><div>"Hello" It was a female voice at the other end.</div><div>"I got a missed a call from this number about half an hour back"</div><div>"C'mon. I was studying for last 2 hours and I don't remember making any calls. And I don't know you as well"</div><div> "You first check your call history. Hold on.. let me tell you exactly...ummm.. You called 35 minutes back"</div><div> "I don't need to check my phone. I know guys do all the kind of tricks to start talking to girls. Don't try those with me" and the line was disconnected.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Sanjith was furious. His blood had enough boiling for the day even before this. He wanted to call her back and blast, but did not know what exactly to tell and he was never good at winning an argument. For once in the entire day his common sense prevailed over emotions and decided to attack the ice cream in the fridge instead of the stranger girl. He was in no mood to call Sunil now.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Just when he entered the kitchen to take the bowl, spoon and ice cream packet, his mobile started singing again. It was from the same number.</div><div> Sanjith said hello in harsh tone.</div><div> "Hello.. It's me again." she continued after a short pause. "I am sorry, actually my friend had called from my phone. I didn't know that. She just told me"</div><div> "Do I know her?"</div><div> "No..actually she was trying to call someone else and it was just one number in the middle which she , you know...typed wrong"</div><div> "hmm..."</div><div> "I am very sorry for whatever I told you sometime back. You know I had no clue that she had called from my cell."</div><div> "Hmm..Ok, may be you should be a little more careful next time before shouting at someone"</div><div> "Yeah I would definitely be. So can I believe I am forgiven this time?"</div><div> "hmm. What else I can do. I can't take you to court for this" Sanjith's tone was still harsh.</div><div> "I guess you are still angry. I don't know what to say now. Are you in Bangalore ?"</div><div> "I am not. If I were, would you have offered me a coffee ?"</div><div> "I didn't mean that. I was just asking. Anyway, sorry again. Bye for now" and she disconnected the phone without waiting for his reply.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div><div>A few minutes after the call Sanjith started feeling that he could have handled it differently. There was no need to be that much rude. At least towards the end of conversation he could have been more pleasant. After all it was a girl at the other end and she had apologized multiple times for a mistake, which could have happened to anyone. Calling her back now would not be good without any good reason. First he thought for finding some ideas to call her but could not find any. Finally he decided to send an SMS.</div><div>"Sorry for being rude on the call. I know this mistake could have happened to anyone."</div><div><br />
</div><div>In less than 30 seconds of sending the message she called again. "Thank you very much. You know, I was feeling very bad after I disconnected last time and my ego was not allowing me to call again"</div><div>"Ha ha. Same here. I hope you will be fine now"</div><div>"Yeah, actually, I was telling my friend that I am going to kill her for spoiling my day"</div><div>"Hm..Now she is safe right? By the way not all guys do tricks to talk to girls"</div><div>"Yeah I agree. You would have heard the joke that 99% of boys give bad reputation to the rest"</div><div><br />
</div><div>Both had a good laugh and the conversation went on. They talked for about half an hour before saving each other's number in their phones. Manjusha was her name and she was doing her MBA in Bangalore. She had the same mother tongue of his though she was brought up outside of his state. She talked very nicely except for the over usage of "actually" and "you know". They started calling each other almost every day, but the duration seldom exceeded thirty minutes since she always had assignments and lot of things to study. She was always busy. Many times his call would be returned after an hour or two only.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It was a Wednesday. Some of his classmates had planned to arrange a re-union next weekend at Bangalore. It was a quick planning. Sanjith did not like quick planning, but this time he had another reason to go to Bangalore. He can sneak out for a few hours and meet Manjusha if she is ready to. Knowing that she will have classes till 5:00, he called at around 5:30, but she did not pick up. Normally she calls back when she gets free. So he waited for a few hours and finally called again at around 8:30. Still no reply. Close to ten, he called again.</div><div><br />
</div><div> *****************************************************************</div><div><br />
</div><div>Rekha and Reena looked at each other after staring at phone screen showing "M19 calling" for a couple of seconds. Rekha stretched her left hand towards the phone and declared. "I am going to tell him."</div><div><br />
</div><div> (To be continued)</div></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-4813622314617215572010-10-31T20:37:00.000-07:002010-10-31T20:37:29.438-07:00I am in US, thank you Mr. GibbsCouple of posts back, I wrote on the 10th anniversary of completing engineering. Last month was 10th of starting my career. A career in IT was not thought about till about sixth semester or so. Being an Electrical and Electronics Engineering student, my wish and aim was to be a "good" Electrical engineer. "Engineers make the world" used to be the proud phrase for engineering students at that time (Most probably it still is) and I had the belief that only core engineers make the world and not software engineers. Stories of <i>middle class millionaires</i> and news of some seniors or someone known getting to IT companies and their salaries created desire to join software industry, but only temporarily. Loyalty to EEE was unshakeable. Most of my classmates thought in similar lines and probably the fact that my brother was also EEE and he continued on same field further helped to build the loyalty.<br />
<br />
When we were into seventh semester and started attending interviews, reality crept in; jobs are available only in software and there were many there. However an average percentage of marks, below average English and communication skills and not so high level of confidence made sure that I don't get through any of the interviews attended.<br />
<br />
I had joined the CSI (Computer Society of India) college chapter because some of my seniors thought it is a good idea. We did not do anything for 11 months a year, but once in a year we conducted a computer exhibition in Kannur. In 1999, our exhibition was just a month before the cricket world cup and one of the participating computer education center had a world cup prediction contest offering two winners 50% discount in one course. I predicted Australia, I don't know why and forgot about the whole thing. <br />
<br />
Almost a month after the world cup, I got a post card saying only two people predicted it right (!!) and without any lottery, I got the 50% discount on a course. After consulting with many people who knew about software or about whom I thought so, I joined for a Visual Basic 5.0 course. The course of course was very basic and I tried many times to stop it for many reasons like study leave, project, semester exams etc but the Principal at the institute kept calling my home after every break. Finally taking almost a year I finished the course and got a certificate as well.<br />
<br />
After the final semester exams, on an infrequent visit to college, one of our lecturers told me that a friend of his is in town and his company is hiring a few visual basic programmers. I had a telephonic interview next day and a week after that I landed in Mumbai to join my first job. After 3 years I got my lucky break and joined Infosys. Right now I am in US working in one of the most respected companies of the world. And thinking about it, it is all due to Herschelle Gibbs dropping that catch of Steve Waugh. Thank you Gibbs, you never knew that the catch you dropped helped someone far outside of cricket world. I don't know if knowing that will make you feel any better about that.Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-14299505793793888972010-09-04T19:50:00.000-07:002010-09-04T19:50:17.064-07:00A lot can happen over a coffee<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">This is a story I had originally published in our office newsletter. Since I was the editor of that as well, I am not violating any copyright to best of my knowledge and belief.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">-----------------------------------------</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Reminder: request all of you to assemble at conference room now for discussing about Onam plans". Sanjith normally ignores meetings and mails, which are not related to his work. But today was a different day. Morning he had a fight with his onsite co-coordinator and he was in no mood to work all day. Abhishek, his onsite counterpart had sent a list of nine comments about the misses in the code and document, which Sanjith delivered previous day. Out of the nine, one was Sanjith's mistake, one due to a communication gap but rest seven were correct as per requirements doc and Abhishek had not read it carefully. Sanjith was fully agitated not because someone made a big list of issues in his delivery but because he had copied everyone related to the project, account and unit the mail. He went through all the points again and again and finally replied with his comments inline. He replied only for the first 5 points. The valid points were 6th and ninth. After 5th he wrote, "Since all the so far mentioned points are incorrect, I did not read the rest of the mail". What followed was expected, a conf call with Abhishek with onsite and offshore Project Managers involved, a meeting after that with Project Manager and then seniors meeting the PM and asking the details. After all this, Sanjith had no interest to work during the day. So when he received the meeting reminder he locked the computer and proceeded for the meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Sanjith had thought that he might be the only one not attending such meetings; he was surprised to see that only about twenty-five people were there. He did not take part in any of the discussions but found the whole thing interesting. Only unwanted thing happened to him was he was "volunteered by someone" to be part of some committee which had one more guy and three girls. Anima was one of his teammates. Immediately after the meeting got dispersed, she came and introduced herself to him. Anima started pouring out her ideas and others in the team Ramesh and Shalini joined soon. Neetha the last of their committee member did not join the conversation. Anima had lot of energy and Sanjith somehow felt at ease after feeling very uneasy being in the committee. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Sanjith was always a serious student and "meant business" employee. From the college time itself he was more fascinated by the shape of cathode ray tube than hourglass. Now he started finding that talking to girls was not that tough or boring. Neetha was beautiful to Anima, but he became more close to Anima because she was full of energy and somehow he felt it more comfortable interacting with her. Within a few days they had become good friends. They had many things in common. Both were coming from village backgrounds, both had school teacher fathers and working mothers and both had a younger sister each. Both of them used to make fun of Neetha's talking style as well. Ramesh and Shalini seldom used to be part of the team meetings. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> One day, just as they were going out towards the airtel shop, Sanjith got a call. It was a 2-3 minute long call and from the conversation, Anima understood it was some close friend of Sanjith and Sanjith celebrated his birthday just a few days back. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Classmate? " She asked<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Yeah, my best friend during engineering "<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "So it was your b'day and you did not tell me. When was it?" <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "It was last Saturday"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Belated happy birthday wishes from your latest friend"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Thanks"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> " Your best friend missed your birthday by 3 days and you did not get angry on him? If my best friend did the same thing to me I would have killed her" She talked with a surprise tone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "No in fact I felt good that he missed it"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "What?" Now she was really surprised.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Yeah, that at least means he did not use any reminder tools to remember my birthday and remembered it himself, a little late though. That made me feel good" Anima's eyes widened. This guy is different and she was hearing such a point of view for the first time. She started having a little admiration for him for the first time and Sanjith definitely noticed it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> On the Onam day, as per planning he was supposed to have lunch in the second trip and she in the third. By the time he finished his onsite call and reached food court it was already full and he had to wait outside. Anima and her roommate came down in another 10 minutes and they started talking and it happened that they went together for lunch together. During the lunch conversation, they realized that both of them were going home that evening on the same train and in same compartment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Sanjith had reached station well in advance. He was waiting there for Anima. As the time passed by he felt restless and impatient and then he had the self-realization that he has started loving her. Just ten minutes before train's departure time she arrived, with her was an handsome guy. Sanjith had not seen him before and was sure that he is not a colleague. Anima spotted Sanjith and introduced the new guy, Rajesh as her classmate in college and he was now doing MBA in the city. Three of them sat together and talked till it was night 10 and time to switch off the lights. It was clear like daylight from their behavior that Rajesh and Anima they were very close. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> It was early in the morning when train reached Sanjith's station. So could not meet Anima while getting down. Throughout the weekend he could not stop thinking about Anima. He wanted to reveal his love towards her but was now in doubt after seeing her and Rajesh together. His mind was taking him to both directions. Some time he will console himself saying that Rajesh is just a friend and within few minutes he would think otherwise. For a moment he would think that he never saw Anima talking over the phone for long, a clear symbol for somebody in love. Suddenly he would remember Neetha telling that once she tried to reach Anima on her cell at night and it was busy for long.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Onam was on Monday but Anima was on leave for one more day. By Wednesday morning, when she resumed office, Sanjith was sure that if he does not clear the doubt and express his love, he might go mad. He just pinged her on messenger and after few "how are you" and "how was Onam" formalities he asked if they can have coffee together in the evening. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Why don't we have it now? " She asked. “I am feeling sleepy after the night journey”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> " I have a conf call in 10 minutes and it can probably go till 12:00" <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> “Ok then I am not disturbing you, carry on with you work. See you in the evening and yeah even I have something to talk to you".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Last sentence was more than what Sanjith could live with till evening. He managed to push the call for 30 minutes and pinged Anima to come for coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Okie dokie. I will be there in 5 minutes".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Sanjith could hear his heartbeat; he knew his face would show that he was tensed. Anyway he wanted to tell it to Anima before it was too late but more than that now he wanted to know what she has to tell. He washed his face, took some deep breaths and walked towards food court.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> When they settled down with their Lattes, he told a lie to start the conversation that his onsite Abhishek postponed the meeting just 5 minutes before the call. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> “Oh. These onsite people think they are dictators who can decide anything on their own. But that’s good this time, we could have coffee.” She stopped for a second and then continued “Hey how did you find Rajesh? ".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Yeah he is very friendly and smart .....Nice guy". Those were the first few good words came to his mind two seconds after the minor tremor. “Your friend after all” Sanjith added with a pale smile or attempt to smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Isn't he? You know he has a girlfriend; our junior and they may soon marry against the will of their parents. I could be the one probably signing as witness.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Sanjith was on top of the world. Anima and Rajesh are not lovers! No news could have been better than this. He was ready to get a hundred people for being witnesses or even to physically protect the lovers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> "Ok, here is the big news. Among my friends I wanted you to know first after Rajesh". She took a sip, caressed her hair and with a smile continued; "One guy working in Microsoft had come over to see me on Saturday and my marriage was fixed yesterday." <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> Sanjith was shell-shocked. He did not know what to tell. Anima was not noticing that and started again. " You know all this happened in 3 days and he was telling...". Suddenly her phone started ringing. "Hey it's him. I need to pick this up okay ? Will introduce you to him sometime this week, bye " Without waiting for his reply, Anima just walked away with the coffee in one hand and phone close to her ear.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">-------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">*Onam - Harvest festival of Kerala. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-39234035988866502652010-08-15T21:37:00.000-07:002010-08-15T21:37:33.576-07:00Is Time faster or the changes it brings ?Last week I was reminded by a mail from one of my engineering classmates that it's about 10 years since our engineering got over. As far as I could remember it was some time in July 2000 that we finished our eighth semester exams. 10 years indeed. Does not really feel like it is 10 long years. Time flies ! no doubt. That made me think how much me and some of my batch mates have changed over the last 10 years.<br />
<br />
Biggest worry coming out of college was getting a job. A degree in Electrical and Electronics engg with not much computer knowledge and not so high percentage did not help much. Very few classmates were placed before our S8 exams. But within next 6 months or so most of us could get jobs and majority within a year. And me, predicting the 1999 cricket world cup winners got me a job (Will write that story later). <br />
<br />
In 10 years I changed 3 jobs and worked in 3 cities in India and one in US. I had never even dreamt that I will be seeing America in my life. Doing a flight journey itself seemed a big thing. The numerous Kochi trips for "Shreds" tests and desperation at the end of it looks funny now. After clearing the tests, getting a chance to get into a three star hotel itself was thought of as a big incentive. :-)<br />
<br />
In the 10 years time, I got married and became a father as well. Being a "responsible" father was unthinkable then.<br />
10 years back I used to think more for spending Rs 50 than I do for 100 $ now.<br />
10 years back getting a chance to check mails once or twice a week spending Rs 60/ hour was a big thing.<br />
10 years back if someone had promised a me a career with my current salary in ten years time, I would have signed a life time contract without thinking twice.<br />
10 years back if someone told me that it will be so tough to control body weight, I would have laughed off.<br />
There are lot many other things which have changed but most of them would be common with forward mails coming in "growing up in 90s ..." etc. Coming back to the topic, I think though the time was very very fast, changes have been faster. What do you think ?Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-53247989321672739952010-07-05T19:01:00.000-07:002010-07-05T19:01:55.256-07:00Winning changes everything. Losing, at a higher degree<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sportswriters, at least football writers, have become what finance "experts" are. When a team keeps winning, they will come with all stats and reasoning to support the team and when they lose, they have all the explanations ready as if they knew the result in advance. When the pre tournament favorites A team and B team of this World cup were winning, they were all praise for Dunga and Maradona. When both these teams lost in quarters, same writers were blasting these coaches. While Dunga is being punished for playing defensive and not keeping the attacking style of Latin American football, Maradona is being criticized for not giving importance to defense and concentrating on attacking. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don't know if Argentina stood any chance against Germany even if the initial goal had not happened, but Brazil could have done better if the lapse by defender and goalie had not happened. If they had won against Holland, I am sure all the critics would have praised Dunga, at least till the next match. If Ghana had scored through the penalty in the injury time of the extra time, writers across the world would have been busy praising the "Arrival of Africa". At the round of 16 stage, everyone was busy finding the reason for Latin America's ascent in this cup, they are now busy praising Europe's domination. I would just love to see Uruguay win against Holland just to read some nice articles from experts, though Uruguay in final wont make an exciting one. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Like stock market, football is also very much unpredictable. Experts need to tell something to stay as experts. I will keep reading their artices for their wonderful language but giving them as much respect as I would give a stock market expert.</span></span></div>Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1759636040785057978.post-21830614174027645942010-07-05T18:34:00.000-07:002010-07-05T18:34:00.554-07:00In the blogging arenaAfter waiting for many years, finally I have created my blog page. Though I don't really know at this point what to write about or how long I am going to continue, like all new businessmen dreaming of becoming a Bill Gates or Ambani one day, I too dream about being the best blogger on the planet one day. Well, I know that is not going to happen, but at least I hope to write once a month.<br />
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Thanks for reading.Shyju Kozhukkunnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03023657274748492176noreply@blogger.com1