Prashant Ivaturi

No no, it is not the cartoon character that I am talking about. It is an exam at work place that had become a menace for me as I was unable to clear it last year. Yes, after two unsuccessful attempts, it spilt over to this year. One full year had passed and here I was again trying to overcome my biggest nemesis ... this DE*** exam. Despite noble thoughts of preparing in the best possible way, all I could do was negotiate with myself on losing some sleep and trying to cram up as much as possible. In the end, statistically, I had prepared for 30% of the syllabus. As things turned out, I had to muster my memory from last year's preparation and I scored 70%. I could not believe that I had passed! This was such a relief especially after not being able to prepare as well as I had expected. I cant believe, especially because I had prepared so well and still failed to clear it last year. I can't believe, especially because the network connectivity was lost half-through the exam and I w...

Driving on the highway in India, it is quite common to notice that the truck in front of you has a stylishly written " Horn Please " that would make caligraphics in the world proud of their community. It is the most polite way in India to 'horn' (honk) in order to ask way. Horn is a device that will help a motorist gain his right of way. It is not used as a device to remind the erring motorists. Lane driving is a thing of the distant future. A couple of years back, I was in London. In the six months of my stay in London, I got used to the low sound levels of the traffic. There would hardly be anyone who would honk. And if someone really did, then it would be an embarassment to the driver. In India, it was different. I had to cover my ears for an instant when I heard constant honking till I realised that it was the way of life in India. So much so that people honk out of fun even if they dont see any traffic in front of them. I once asked my uncle why he honked once ev...

In the IT field, people switch companies in search of better roles, better challenges and better salaries. Once they know that they have taken enough, woh nikal jaate hain . Take, nikal... So, now when some one says " I have lot of experience in take-nikal (technical) aspects ", you know you can have a good laugh. Well, dont take it seriously. The weekend is here and I am just cracking up! ;-)

I smiled when I heard the little girl in the movie "Cheeni Kum" say "Tum sad sad kyon ho, happy sad kyon nahi?" Well, people who make you feel sad whenever they meet you and then hurt you again at special occasions make you "sad sad" And the people because of whom you feel happy hurt you, then you become "happy sad" What a concept!!! I am so "HappY HappY" with this concept because I can smile thinking of this concept irrespective of the person with whom I am or what they do to me :-)

Manager: "It is very important that you complete this task over the weekend." Employee: "I had some personal work planned this weekend." Manager: "I understand it, but this is very important and it needs to be sent out first thing on Monday morning to the bosses." Employee: "Hmmm... OK" This is a very common conversation that we hear at work and many a times, we change personal plans to accomodate official work. At times, it makes sense when there are really important and priority matters that need immediate attention. However, with conversations such as the one above, it does not really make sense as to why there would be so many important/ priority tasks within every project/ organization. I have come to learn that it is basically two things - 1. Our (over)commitment to work and to outperform others 2. Poor planning, prioritization and judgement by higher management When we are passionate about what we do, we tend to overdo things without reali...