21.9.07

Typical Day

The door bell rings.. it rings again and again.. it seems like a dream.. then the phone rings..
with great difficulty my eye lids open.. its my roomie.. he's awake but jealous that i'm enjoying the last few moments before war.. so he decides to call me and wake me up as the door bell is not doing the job..
so after a lonnggg time, the door opens... the bai gets the house back to normal and tries to wake us up before leaving.. i still have no idea why she envy's our sleep. we blabber something from which she understands that she has to just close the door and leave. its like she has a 24 hour amnesia.. everyday, till we blabber, she does not seem to leave. this make me think she's a spy from the enemy lines which we are going to encounter soon...
after 10-20 alarm signals on the phone, we get up, get ready and prepare ourselves for the battle.
the catalyst for this is a cutting chai or a home made instant bru...
on the way,we think of ways to get over with the battle soon... but we know its all going to go in vain...
swipe in... indicates we are ready... like we have a choice.. but still we like to think we were born ready...
First attack was as expected, there's a Build.. we were prepared for this..
so as per plan,we execute things perfectly..and it all seems we are well prepared for the battle..
Dawn approaches and we know it is the most vulnerable time for attack.
suddenly a guy comes from the testing team quoting that he has found a severe fault and wants me to have a look at it..
then,i get a mail saying i have to look into an urgent change request and needs to be delivered very soon and the impact needs to be sent tonight...
within seconds me and my roomie get a mail that we are on build support today... which means we need be in the battle field atleast till midnight..
well, there goes our idea to watch the new movie tonight...

i take a deep breath.. but it does not seem to help...the testing guy is staring at my face for an answer.. words just come out of my mouth without any thought.. "let me go for a tea break and i'll get back to you in 15 mins".. its like my mind is used to these challenges and reacts with a set of protocols..
i go down to darshini.. and order for a cutting..
ok..calm down... says my mind.. my heart has missed a couple of thousand beats already.
my mind struggles to set a flow for all the work in hand.
should i continue coding for the RFC in hand.. or should i start the analysis for the CR.. or should i look into the fault which came in freshly..
the situation that i'm in almost looks ironic and unfair as to how all the weapons can be used at once.. well almost.. but i dint get up and come today to lose this battle.. i put in a few more words of self motivation and i'm back again..
i go to the tester's desk and look into the scenario.. i find out that its cuz of a RFC done by another guy thats got checked in lately.. i ask him to raise the fault.
i come back to my desk and use one of my weapons.. mail.. "please look into this" is sent to the concerned person.. its amazing how these 4 words have so much power.
next i plug in the ear phones for no more distractions and complete the code for the RFC i was working on...
i start getting into a trance of self praise.. i'm so very overjoyed with the way i've encountered the attacks till now..
then i remember that i have another job in hand..
analysis.. so i plan to use my other weapon.. the phone.. the discussion is done and the impact is clear.. i send out a mail to my lead about this...
now.. now i'm ready..
i hear someone say.. manas.. he deserves a great hike and a trip to the UK soon..
my heart cries out and says.. this is it.. its all been worth.. all those late nights.. all those weekends.. atlast you are going to be shifted to another battle field..
the battle field where every soldier dreams of..
the battle field where the cream of the crowd is sent to..
this has been the best news ever!

the phone rings....the mail pops up...
i reluctantly come back to my senses... just to realise that everything i heard was in my mind as there are only 2 people on the floor.. me and my roomie...
the phone call is from IVVT team to inform about a severe live defect... and the mail is about a build failure...the time is 11:00 PM.

battle not over yet. soldier severly wounded.....

Story which tells us why INDIA is still a developing nation.....

Ant and Grasshopper

OLD VERSION...

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION


The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter,the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are
cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt
support as against the w rat h of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout.
Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Institutions & in Govt Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ...

As a result we are losing out on a lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers.
is this why India is still a developing country......