That sorta day...

Yesterday I went through that sort of a day when you reach work thinking there is so much to do and realise on reaching office that you have been so damn efficient the previous day that there isnt much to do that particular day. That is confusing..lemme go through it again...well..you get the point..everybody's gone through a day like this..
Typically one would have reached office early on such a day...
You brace up to do some serious work, something proactive..the type that has your boss saying.."I appreciate the lead taken by you". Begin by checking official mails. And then maybe just a quick check on your personal mails, maybe orkut, just a sec more on ryze, your blog..what is this..a quick search on wiki..hmm interesting.. by this time you are off on a tangent...maybe just check who is online, aah..that girl from school who you have added from orkut is finally free..maybe a quick hi, lest she feels bad...desktop background's not changed for sometime now..wait..how abt changing the look of your blog..yeah..will do that..no..its boring..wait, you have a visitor..that beautiful summer trainee you handpicked for her good grades...you ask her to wait, obviously you cant let her think her project guide doesnt have work, meet her after 10 minutes, during which time you have checked your blog once more, give the trainee some gyan on market research and brand building..(that extra 5 minutes spent in the morning going through Brand Equity does pay off afterall)...lunch, post-lunch chatter and then some more wiki, orkut, ryze, wise crack on another frequently visited blog ...you start feeling guilty by now..its 3 in the afternoon and you havent done much work..spend the next hour calling up the ad agency guys and shouting at them for that bad creative that they have delivered, send a stinker to the guys at media about a competition report that was due a couple of days ago....happy that you've worked so hard..tea break..shucks, just realise that you are not so efficient after all...that launch plan report needs to be ready in the next one hour and you have left the final bit of number juggling for the end..rush back, call up the agency guys again to ask for some inputs, only to be told everybody's in a meeting (two can play the game, you can hear them snigger), call them on their mobiles..no response..10 minutes to go before you need to present the report...and you finally get a call from the ad agency, to be told that they dont have those specific details..go back to the presentation..fudge a few numbers in the hope that your boss will not notice 'em..and then he goes ahead and asks you pointed questions on that exact same slide...I guess you just develop a sixth sense when you become a boss and know when to catch the poor manager unawares...umm and aww your way through the presentation...6.30 by now...you want to go home, but the nice sales manager from Radio City wants to discuss a release plan with you for 5 minutes only, right away, because she has her deadlines, you see...the poor lady. You oblige and the 5 minutes ends up being an half-hour discussion...check personal mails, in the hope that the consultant you had spoken to, the other day, has found you that dream job...hungry....call for coffee even as you desperately search for those damn biscuits that you had kept on your table....a couple of biscuits and you should be off for the day, you think...coffee arrives and with it, your colleague who doesn't have a life..so another 20 minutes trying to wish him away and you are finally free to go...and on the way back home, you shudder at how busy the next day is going to be..and how you will do that "proactive" thing defnitely the next day...
PS: You owe me one, "blaahblah"

A rip off

Did you know that the minimum parking charges at the Bangalore airport is Rs. 60 for cars and Rs. 30 for two wheelers?

Early bird or the night owl..take your pick..

I have always been accused of reaching late to office, and my standard excuse is that I get up late..Now for all those bosses of mine, who think that it is a bad alibi to be floating around, here's something to think about...I read this article today and could instantly relate to it..:))

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/06/17/stories/2007061750060400.htm

Should have been on first page, if you ask me..

Bliss

Vada, followed by Masala Dosa and a hot cup of coffee in Janata Hotel, on a Sunday morning, after a hard game of cricket in Malleshwaram 18th Cross grounds....thats bliss...

Ashtaavadaana

'Ashtaavadaana' is an ancient art-form of our country, where a highly knowledgeable scholar is grilled simultaneously by eight other scholars, on virtually any subject under the planet, in a small span of time - around an hour. However, the questions posed to the Ashtaavadaani (the scholar being grilled) is generally restricted to literature, culture, history and/or any of the arts.
The Ashtaavadaani is typically, a scholar with extreme levels of concentration and intellect and somebody who can think on his feet and can reply to questions posed to him, with a dash of wit and humour as well.
The 'sport' has its roots in AP and is quite popular in parts of AP even today. While originally, the Ashtaavadaana was conducted in Sanskrit, current versions of the same, apart from being held in Sanskrit, are also held in other regional languages, most notably Kannada and Telugu.
Questions can range from being asked to construct and recite a poem (describing, say, a Goddess) using only one single alphabet / letter of the language, to being asked to fill up a grid with numbers, with some sort of a conditionality attached to the sequence of the numbers & the resultant sum, to being asked to play with words and create a poem that satisfies some sort of a mathematical condition with regard to the placement of letters within the poem (say, every fourth word of the line, when put together should form a poem on its own!!!) .....and... this is the best part....the answers are all in extempore!!! None of the questions are known to the scholar answering the questions, until such time he gets on to the stage and begins facing the volleys.
In the midst of all this, there is a joker sitting outside the arena / stage, who is doing oddities like say, ringing a bell, or shouting some inanities, etc. and the Astaavadaani is supposed to point out, at the end of the exercise, as to how many times the joker stuck the bell or recited the inanities!!!
The interesting bit is the there is something called a 'Shataavadhaana' where 100 scholars grill one person, all at the same time. Currently, there is only one person (one Dr. Ganesh of Bangalore), who has actually performed a 'Shataavadaana' and can lay claim to the title.
My personal claim to fame in this regard is the fact that my elder brother, a doc by profession, is an ardent member of this small fraternity of Sanskrit scholars and is an Ashtaavadhaani himself.
While I don't profess to be greatly influenced by either him or his scholarly time pass, I am interested in the fact that there are still people around who have the love and the noble thought of wanting to carry forward a proud and highly intellectual tradition.
In fact, though my brother has been participating in the activity virtually every week for the past 10 years, I have not even once attended an Ashtaavadaana. You might want to call me names, but.... that's how it is :)
People interested in wanting to attend one, can leave behind a note and I shall only be glad to let you know when the next one is taking place in the city.