Flex the flexi timing

Whoa! So this is how it is when you reach office before 9 AM. How did I manage to do this? It has been 2 weeks since I decided to venture into this new territory and leave my goddamn principles behind (waking at 7… I am not kidding). The view is filled with vacant seats and I hear an occasional sound of somebody scurrying past my desk. Working hours across all offices are from 0900 to 1800 but not expected to be followed religiously. We call it flexible timings, time that suits us to come to office and that suits to return home irrespective of the work at hand.

It has been more than 4 years since I started working, or shall I say “I was employed”. Sorry for the wisecrack and I assure you I would refrain from making any smartass comments further. I used to step into office at around 1100; a switch to a different company in between (after 3 years) didn’t make any impact. I usually go out for lunch with few friends of mine and have a long chat after that in the lawn within our office premises. It was during one of those chat sessions, one among them voiced out his opinion that we should make a habit of being in office between 0900 and 1800 not more not less. He further added that it augers well for a work/life balance. I initially had an apprehension to this but saw others agree to his view. It took me 2 more weeks to implement and I felt good about this. I had always left home late because I didn’t have much to do at home. But now, I get few new books and have started reading them. I even get some time to catch up with a cousin of mine in the evenings for a snack chat.

This self imposed work timings though are to our convenience now, would definitely hinder us in a long run. Why can’t we complete our work within the time and leave home to spend some time with our family (or friends if not staying with family). Of course, there could be some exceptions when you have to stay back for a release or for a production support but definitely should not be accommodated in your routine.

Circus.... err...... sorry, did you say politicians?

As any salaried class men/women I never thought I had an allegiance toward any political party. To go further, I never gave a damn to the ideas or vision that the parties were projecting for the welfare of people. But deep within me, I had my own preferences of who should lead our country in the global arena. I am not a BJP sympathizer but knew I was anti-congress and I don’t have many reasons why I should not be.

They have been ruling the country after our independence except for few years and most of the time it was one family that dominated the space. You could draw comparisons with the political stage in Tamil Nadu. I have always felt the congress party didn’t have the nerve to hold against the bigger players in the world arena. We were never good in negotiating with the foreign players, be it the boundaries or the free trade market.

These things made me yearn for a change in the rule. The alternative could only be BJP and I carry no notions of being represented by the communists. 2 months back, when the general elections were on, I was expecting a change at the centre as it was projected that the incumbent government would not manage to get the people's mandate in the opinion polls. The result however was in favour of congress and not to my pleasing though I was not hurt. But recently when the BJP had its general body meeting to determine the reason for their poor outing, what ensued was a pandemonium. Internal fighting is not a rare occurrence in our political parties but of this magnitude was the first of its kind (honestly, that I know of). Was it the same party that was led by a stalwart, Vajpayee?

After the 2009 debacle, Advani started distancing himself from party affairs and all the smaller players glimpsed a chance of their lifetime to admire themselves as the future leader, saviour of the party. The stage was set for the clash of egos and for sure, few were bent and many broken. What more, war of words in front of the media. They definitely would have thanked god for the electoral result. I felt a tinge of sadness for the party but there was something that hit hard on my face, thanks to the hindsight. If this party had won the elections, this scenario would have occurred but with a different reason. How would they be able to run the government when they could not find a consensus within themselves? This was one time I was not unhappy that congress (a stable government) was at power.

Congress: “Sit still and revenge will visit thine enemies”

Could this be a coincidence? Draw a parallel to England and the only difference is that the ruling party is in tatters now. Gordon Brown has to have some magic up his sleeve to turn around the tide in his favour if the labor party has to win the elections next year. The opinion polls point to an all time low for Mr. Brown and to make matters worse most of his cabinet ministers have deserted him, an ominous sign. Can they overcome the glitch and win the elections? Anything that BJP could come up with to resolve the impasse? God knows …………

When the bubble burst...

The T20 world cup 2009 is far from over, still in round robin stage to be precise but the Indian contingent has hopped in for the next tour of their never ending FTPs. But what was the atmosphere like within the dressing room when they were doomed. In a cricket crazy nation like India, it was the least of all that could happen and the reverberation was deafening on the day when it became ineligible for the knockout stage.

Who do we blame for India’s early exit from the tournament? I feel no one is to be blamed but the keen followers of this damned game. Do not forget the expert analysts at private television channels who vouchsafe for our team’s immortality and rip them apart when the result reverses. The most intriguing factor is how come the newscasters are privy to the captain’s/coach’s thoughts and air them disregarding its authenticity. The truth goes for a toss here and viewers get to mull over the garbled story.

The argument goes by, India being a defending champion, this was totally unexpected. But what was the basis of this expectation on the team? Statistics never lie and a win percentage of less than 50 (around 40) between the end of the previous World Cup and the current suggest that we never were dominating this form of cricket. The Indian team was performing better in other formats but never on this. So why was this hyped?

Coach Kirsten’s comments “we thought we were clever, but the other teams caught up with our strategy.” When did we ever have a strategy? Why are we reluctant to believe that the victory in 2007 was a “flash in a pan”? Consistency has been an issue with the Indian teams throughout their cricketing history and this team is no exception. A bubble was spotted 2 years back and its immediate burst was never acknowledged. It is time to move on rather languishing at our team’s dismal show. After all, it’s just a game. J

The Devilish Al

I watched the Al Pacino/Keanu Reeves/Charlize Theron starrer Devil’s Advocate last Wednesday and what a movie it was. Rating given at the IMDB website was around 7.2 but that didn’t deter me from watching a Pacino movie. I am a self confessed Pacino fan and probably what I write might be a bit biased but definitely can’t help that.

It is always going to be a monstrous effort to share the screen space with geniuses but with Al at his devilish best, it could no more be a litmus test for Keanu. To be fair to Keanu, he didn’t do a bad job either given the challenge but avoiding comparisons is inevitable. It is all the way a Keanu’s show until the last half hour with Al filling in and out but the final scenes where Keanu confronts Al; it was a display of a master at work. I didn’t keep counting but I would have watched the last half hour for a dozen times since.

People are not called Geniuses just like that and to supplement the theory, Al has 7 academy awards nominations and a win. An actor needs a right platform to display his armory which I believe was provided in Godfather and there was no turning back for this devil.

Once the movie gets over, what remains at the viewer’s heart would the portrayal of “Satan” by Al and won’t you call that mesmerizing. To recall a quote from the scene where Al boasts of himself to Keanu, “Who, in their right frame of mind Kevin could possibly deny the 20^th century was entirely mine.” That may be from the Satan’s standpoint but I would ask “Who in their right frame of mind could possibly deny the last quarter of the 20^th century was, though not entirely but to a considerable percentage Pacino’s.” Mind you, I forewarned me being a Pacino fanatic.

Vanity……. is definitely my favorite sin.

Backtrack

On an afterthought, I felt this might not be the proper forum to share my new found skill (!), so I have decided not to post my work here. But, for those who like me having nothing to do, let me know and I would be more than happy to share my masterpiece. I call it a masterpiece because that would not be called so by anyone else.

A Story from my Stable

Soon I would be following this up with a short story. For long, I had this notion to write a story/novel and you can put this down to me reading many books and being influenced. As the idea of eventually writing a novel has been established to the readers, I intend to have my characters and the places global (intended target audience). The theme is ready though first draft is yet to be finished.

Disclaimer:-

The story is fictitious and any resemblance to the persons living or dead is purely coincidental. :)

Am I a Nonstarter? If not, then who is....

Note: Readers are requested to bear with below content if it looks gibberish as this is my honest attempt to start blogging.

This being my first blog, it’s worth mentioning the reason behind the title provided for this. As the name suggests, I am a nonstarter.

Planning: This is a word which I use quite frequently though never reveal to the ever conscious public.

Execution: This is a word which I am still trying to comprehend or rather stumble upon. I have been planning to wake up early (7 AM is early by my standards) for a very long time and jog/walk along the beach given the fact that it is few yards from my house and try to burn the excessive fat that has grabbed a lot of attention/space in my body. The above statement does not need any completion. This is one among the many which most of the people could relate to as this person is also a humble employee of an IT organization. I can’t think of even a single act which I had started to see it through halfway let alone its completion.

It’s a never ending list and to prove that I can break from this mould, we will have to see if I am not lazy enough to blog again.