Lot of raving about onsite - offshore model isn't it? Global team!! One team!! Bah!!
Now imagine entire team of developers / analysts / testers out sitting in US and you one and only poor developer stationed in offshore-India (for the heck of it); intentionally or unintentionally you will end up feeling like a foster child of the project ... hmm or the entire project FAMILY.
Client is in east coast of US and the team (Apart from the poor developer) is on the west coast, so you will never be able to talk to the client... time difference!!! If you are going to complain and raise a bawl then be ready to forgo you night sleeps, be alert in the calls that start at your 2 am or 3 am (that is the only slot client has). And of course the team out there will try their best to remove the feeling of unwanted ness that has grown into you, they will ask you take the notes and to promptly send them the MOM (minutes of meeting) before their EOD (end of day)!!!
You will burn midnight lamps to meet the deadlines and in the status call you will jubilantly announce that you have completed your tasks well within time... only to have the entire team chuckle because the deadline was pushed for the following month, months ago. #$@$@#$!!!
You will cry, scream and jump around to find out what is happening there. Unable to bear your bawls the family there will give you some work, which doesn’t need much of your brains. Try standing unnoticed; hoping someone will understand you, will allocate you will some work that is of your caliber (!!!), if you think so you shall continue to remain unnoticed.
As days pass by in the project, you will resign to the fate of receiving only end tasks, which are monotonous and boring. Don’t bother to complain, you will get to hear only the management jargons. Just start praying and hoping that your next project will come offshore and you will have just onsite team member!!! Every Dog has its day!!
God's smiling face
Yesterday night, when I lifted my eyes to see the sky, I saw a beautiful sight.
I saw God's smiling face. Moon positioned itself to be God's loving smile and the planets Venus and Jupiter positioned themselves as God's beautiful eyes.
I tried capturing the image on mobile's camera, but in vain. Then I tried in a camera, I did get the image but it no where matched the God's face.
I saw God's smiling face. Moon positioned itself to be God's loving smile and the planets Venus and Jupiter positioned themselves as God's beautiful eyes.
I tried capturing the image on mobile's camera, but in vain. Then I tried in a camera, I did get the image but it no where matched the God's face.
Lamp and Prediction
I got this article as a foward. Found it very intresting, putting it up on this blog.
In all the prasna, or in all karmas, the lamp plays a prominent part, a messenger of the future. If the flame is plaeasant and bright, it forebodes good. Lets see how the knowledge about the lamp and the flame helps us in finding out more about a muhurtha or an event.
Evil is prognosticated, if the flame of the lamp
1. moves in anticlockwise direction
2. is not bright
3. emits sparks frequently
4. too small in shape
5. suddenly put of inspite of good oil and wick
6. extinguishes even after continuous effort to keep it lighted
7. makes cracking sound
8. it shakes to and from without wind
Following conditions of the flame forebode auspiciousness, prosperity and success, if the flame of the lamp-
1. is fairly dense and long in appearance
2. moves in clockwise direction
3. strady and bright
4. produces no sound
5. pleasant to look at
6. has golden or jewel like hue
7. burn straight and without bending
The different parts of the lamp represent following parts of a native:
1. Oil in the lamp- Physical body- Moon
2. Wick- Soul- Sun
3. Flame- Longevity- Fiery element (Mars, Sun)
4. Brightness or otherwise- Happiness or misery (Jupiter/ Saturn)
5. The can, its size and shape- The house
6. Breeze/ Wind- Friends/ Associates/ Enemies
From the cleanliness of the different part of the lamp, different things can be predicted. For peace and auspiciousness at home, the lamp is supposed to be clean and sparkling. There should not be any dirt and carbon shoot in the body/ oil or wick.
Because lamp represents fiery element, it should be made of articles represented by fiery planets Sun or Mars, such as gold, copper, brass or even earth. It should never be made up of silver or glass, whichh are governed by watery planet Moon, otherwise this might forebode great danger shown by Gandanta (Combination of Fire and Water).
The bent of fire towards different directions shows different things such as:
1. East (Indra)- Prosperity
2. South East (Agni)- Fear from Fire
3. South (Yama)- Death
4. South West (Nirriti)- Diseases like epilepsy or sudden fits
5. West (Varuna)- Peace, improvement of conditions
6. North West (Vayu)- Poverty, decline in the present conditions
7. North (Kubera)- The native had recovered from great danger to his life
8. North East (Isana)- General good health
9. Vertically upwards (Anant)- The native shall gain and success in his endeavors
While putting the query, if the articles given as donation to the astrologer is kept in the direction which happens to be signified by the rasi occuypied by Gulika at the time of query, in the 8th from the prasna arudha or 8th from the janma rasi of the native, then great danger to the native’s life is awaiting hium.
In all the prasna, or in all karmas, the lamp plays a prominent part, a messenger of the future. If the flame is plaeasant and bright, it forebodes good. Lets see how the knowledge about the lamp and the flame helps us in finding out more about a muhurtha or an event. Evil is prognosticated, if the flame of the lamp
1. moves in anticlockwise direction
2. is not bright
3. emits sparks frequently
4. too small in shape
5. suddenly put of inspite of good oil and wick
6. extinguishes even after continuous effort to keep it lighted
7. makes cracking sound
8. it shakes to and from without wind
Following conditions of the flame forebode auspiciousness, prosperity and success, if the flame of the lamp-
1. is fairly dense and long in appearance
2. moves in clockwise direction
3. strady and bright
4. produces no sound
5. pleasant to look at
6. has golden or jewel like hue
7. burn straight and without bending
The different parts of the lamp represent following parts of a native:
1. Oil in the lamp- Physical body- Moon
2. Wick- Soul- Sun
3. Flame- Longevity- Fiery element (Mars, Sun)
4. Brightness or otherwise- Happiness or misery (Jupiter/ Saturn)
5. The can, its size and shape- The house
6. Breeze/ Wind- Friends/ Associates/ Enemies
From the cleanliness of the different part of the lamp, different things can be predicted. For peace and auspiciousness at home, the lamp is supposed to be clean and sparkling. There should not be any dirt and carbon shoot in the body/ oil or wick.
Because lamp represents fiery element, it should be made of articles represented by fiery planets Sun or Mars, such as gold, copper, brass or even earth. It should never be made up of silver or glass, whichh are governed by watery planet Moon, otherwise this might forebode great danger shown by Gandanta (Combination of Fire and Water).
The bent of fire towards different directions shows different things such as:
1. East (Indra)- Prosperity
2. South East (Agni)- Fear from Fire
3. South (Yama)- Death
4. South West (Nirriti)- Diseases like epilepsy or sudden fits
5. West (Varuna)- Peace, improvement of conditions
6. North West (Vayu)- Poverty, decline in the present conditions
7. North (Kubera)- The native had recovered from great danger to his life
8. North East (Isana)- General good health
9. Vertically upwards (Anant)- The native shall gain and success in his endeavors
While putting the query, if the articles given as donation to the astrologer is kept in the direction which happens to be signified by the rasi occuypied by Gulika at the time of query, in the 8th from the prasna arudha or 8th from the janma rasi of the native, then great danger to the native’s life is awaiting hium.
Kukke Subramanaya
Location: Subramanaya is located at around 280 kms from Bangalore.
Importance: It is the abode of lord Subramanya and Vasuki. Importance of this place is mentioned in Skanda Purana. When Garuda attacked Vasuki (king of serpents), he came and took shelter in this place along with his family. In Satya Yuga, Lord Subramanaya was the senapathi for the Gods against demons; battle was fought on the banks of Kumaradhara. After he killed Tarakasura, he washed his spear in the river of Kumaradhara. Lord liked the place so much that he decided to make his abode. In Tretha Yuga Parashurama bathed in the river to absolve his sins of killing kshtriyas.In dwapara yuga, Samaba son of Sri Krishna bathed in the river to get rid of leprosy.
Temple complex has Samputa Narashima and Uma Mahaeshwara too. At a little distance away is Adi subrmanaya and Bhilwadhwara.
Travel: From Bangalore this place can be reached by train or road. By road it takes around 7 hours and 9 hours by train. If you can drive, you can enjoy the luscious green forests, little water falls and pollution free air.
We took the train at 9 pm from Bangalore city station. We reached Subramanaya road at around 5:40 am. Train waits there just for 5 minutes. Once out of the station there were hoards of jeeps and autos ready to ferry us to the town. We jumped into a jeep, which charged us 40 Rs per head. We reached the town in 20 minutes.
Stay: we had tried booking a room two days in advance, but everything was running full. We thought we will go and try our luck; if not there is the temple lodges to manage for half day; because, by noon most of the lodges are vacated. We got a room in Suraksha lodge, the room was a nightmare. It was tiny, about 4 feet by six feet. The window was covered with a plastic sheet, walls looked like they would fall off any moment and there was nothing called bathroom. There was a big toilet which was supposed to be both bathroom and toilet. We paid 300 Rs for it and stayed, hoping to get a nice room by noon.
We were tired after the journey and we went into immediate sleep, woke up by 11 am, freshened up, had breakfast and started hunting for rooms. We got one almost immediately at Kenchamba Lodge. This room was so very refreshing. Lodge was new, room was neat and furnished.
Some lodge numbers are:
1. Anugraha Lodge, Ph: 08257-281283. This is very close to the temple.
2. Shanmukha Lodge, Ph: 08257 281232, 9448548572
3. Mayura Residency, Ph: 08257-281336
4. Sheshanag Ashraya, Ph: 08257-281215,281219,281279
5. Shreenikethana Lodge, Ph: 08257-281261, 281221
6. Suraksha Lodge, Ph: 08257-281306,281782
7. Vailankani Sadana Lodge Ph: 08257-281291,281801
8. Kenchamba lodge Ph: 08257 318914/M 94805733298.
9. Forest Resort and IB, Gundya, (20KM from Temple)
For Booking contact DFO Mangalore, Ph: 0824 2423913, Fax: 0824 2411242
Room rents range between 200 to 1600 per day.
Food: There are two restaurants Neo Mysore Cafe and Kumara Krupa hotels on the temple road. Free lunch at the temple starts at 11:30 am and free dinner which starts at 7:45 pm. The queues will be very long, but even if you are at the end of the queue you will reach the dinning hall within 20 minutes. Food service in the hall is fast and food is extremely tasty, you will want more.
Getting around: Just jump into any auto. They charge minimum of 15 Rs from any point to any point.
Temple timings:
Subramanya temple is from 6 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 9 pm.
Adi subramanaya temple is from 6 am to 6 pm.
Pujas:
If you want Abhisheka / Ashlesha bali or Naga prathista done then be in the temple before 9 am and get the tickets for the same.
The main reason for people to visit this place is for Sarpa Dosha. Each astrologer suggests different methods.
To get rid of this my astrologer suggested the below steps:
1. Get the date and time to enter the temple of Adi Subramanaya from your astrologer.
2. Bathe in the Kumara Dara River and get dressed in new white clothes.
3. Enter the temple at given time.
4. Get any puja done for the lord
5. Perform 9 Pradakshinas.
6. Collect the prasadam and the miritka (mud of the ant hill).
7. Go back to Kumara Dara rive, throw the white clothes into the river.
8. Return to the lodge and make sure you don't go anywhere but straight home.
Return: Trains start at 10:30 pm and KSRTC buses start from 2 pm.
We planned our return by bus. We took the 2:30 pm bus and reached Bangalore by 9:30 pm.
Importance: It is the abode of lord Subramanya and Vasuki. Importance of this place is mentioned in Skanda Purana. When Garuda attacked Vasuki (king of serpents), he came and took shelter in this place along with his family. In Satya Yuga, Lord Subramanaya was the senapathi for the Gods against demons; battle was fought on the banks of Kumaradhara. After he killed Tarakasura, he washed his spear in the river of Kumaradhara. Lord liked the place so much that he decided to make his abode. In Tretha Yuga Parashurama bathed in the river to absolve his sins of killing kshtriyas.In dwapara yuga, Samaba son of Sri Krishna bathed in the river to get rid of leprosy. Temple complex has Samputa Narashima and Uma Mahaeshwara too. At a little distance away is Adi subrmanaya and Bhilwadhwara.
Travel: From Bangalore this place can be reached by train or road. By road it takes around 7 hours and 9 hours by train. If you can drive, you can enjoy the luscious green forests, little water falls and pollution free air.
We took the train at 9 pm from Bangalore city station. We reached Subramanaya road at around 5:40 am. Train waits there just for 5 minutes. Once out of the station there were hoards of jeeps and autos ready to ferry us to the town. We jumped into a jeep, which charged us 40 Rs per head. We reached the town in 20 minutes.
Stay: we had tried booking a room two days in advance, but everything was running full. We thought we will go and try our luck; if not there is the temple lodges to manage for half day; because, by noon most of the lodges are vacated. We got a room in Suraksha lodge, the room was a nightmare. It was tiny, about 4 feet by six feet. The window was covered with a plastic sheet, walls looked like they would fall off any moment and there was nothing called bathroom. There was a big toilet which was supposed to be both bathroom and toilet. We paid 300 Rs for it and stayed, hoping to get a nice room by noon.
We were tired after the journey and we went into immediate sleep, woke up by 11 am, freshened up, had breakfast and started hunting for rooms. We got one almost immediately at Kenchamba Lodge. This room was so very refreshing. Lodge was new, room was neat and furnished.
Some lodge numbers are:
1. Anugraha Lodge, Ph: 08257-281283. This is very close to the temple.
2. Shanmukha Lodge, Ph: 08257 281232, 9448548572
3. Mayura Residency, Ph: 08257-281336
4. Sheshanag Ashraya, Ph: 08257-281215,281219,281279
5. Shreenikethana Lodge, Ph: 08257-281261, 281221
6. Suraksha Lodge, Ph: 08257-281306,281782
7. Vailankani Sadana Lodge Ph: 08257-281291,281801
8. Kenchamba lodge Ph: 08257 318914/M 94805733298.
9. Forest Resort and IB, Gundya, (20KM from Temple)
For Booking contact DFO Mangalore, Ph: 0824 2423913, Fax: 0824 2411242
Room rents range between 200 to 1600 per day.
Food: There are two restaurants Neo Mysore Cafe and Kumara Krupa hotels on the temple road. Free lunch at the temple starts at 11:30 am and free dinner which starts at 7:45 pm. The queues will be very long, but even if you are at the end of the queue you will reach the dinning hall within 20 minutes. Food service in the hall is fast and food is extremely tasty, you will want more.
Getting around: Just jump into any auto. They charge minimum of 15 Rs from any point to any point.
Temple timings:
Subramanya temple is from 6 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 9 pm.
Adi subramanaya temple is from 6 am to 6 pm.
Pujas:
If you want Abhisheka / Ashlesha bali or Naga prathista done then be in the temple before 9 am and get the tickets for the same.
The main reason for people to visit this place is for Sarpa Dosha. Each astrologer suggests different methods.
To get rid of this my astrologer suggested the below steps:
1. Get the date and time to enter the temple of Adi Subramanaya from your astrologer.
2. Bathe in the Kumara Dara River and get dressed in new white clothes.
3. Enter the temple at given time.
4. Get any puja done for the lord
5. Perform 9 Pradakshinas.
6. Collect the prasadam and the miritka (mud of the ant hill).
7. Go back to Kumara Dara rive, throw the white clothes into the river.
8. Return to the lodge and make sure you don't go anywhere but straight home.
Return: Trains start at 10:30 pm and KSRTC buses start from 2 pm.
We planned our return by bus. We took the 2:30 pm bus and reached Bangalore by 9:30 pm.
Bundle of Joy
My brother was blessed with a son on 20th Sept 2008. In the photo below, the baby is 14 hours old. Isn't he a bundle of joy?
Where is the Restroom?
This incident is the most embarrassing; and most humorous incident of my life. I did think a couple of times before I decided to put this up.At college all I did was study. I never watched any English serials or movies. Relevance of Why I am mentioning this, you will know towards the end. I got selected to Trigent Software through campus. I joined this company in my last semester.
My first project lasted just 2 months. It was a proof of concept, which was destined to fail from the start. There were fifteen of us on the team (14 seniors including my manager); so proof of concept didn't fail because I was on the team :-)). Since all were seniors, interaction with them was limited to project talks.
Second project, as destined I landed under a manager who was the nastiest amongst all the managers and leads till date. I forgot his name, must be Ravi or Naveen or Chandrashekar. Let me assume it was Chandra. Chandra was around late 30's or early forties. He moved to IT from insurance company. We were a team of two under him. He took upon himself to monitor how much time we spent talking to which person, how fast we ate, how much coffee we drank, what time we came or left. If he realized we are free, he would mail us a word document and ask us to covert it to a PowerPoint presentation or vice versa. He sat few cubes away from where I sat, but he exactly knew how many times I opened yahoo mail / chat, how many forwards I got so on and so forth. I can't figure out even to this day how he did it, maybe he had a sniffer :-).
The facility we were using was under construction, and one day our senior manager called for a meeting to talk about the progress. In the talk he mentioned that the new restrooms looked good and elegant. Now, I took the literal meaning of restroom. So I pictured it to be a place with couches/ a coffee vendee machine / newspapers and magazines. I had never seen any such room in the office. How could such a place be there and I not be using it? You see the disadvantage of not watching English movies or studying too much or not interacting too much with the seniors.
Immediately after this meeting, I had a meeting with Chandra at his desk. I casually and innocently asked him “Where is the restroom here?”
Chandra stared at me a bit shocked, a bit puzzled, a bit amused. He covered his mouth with his hand and asked "You don't know where the rest room is?" Maybe he meant, how are you surviving the whole day, without using the restroom? :-). I innocently replied, "No, I don't know, thinking that it was a pretty evident place and I am too stupid not to be aware of it". Then he paused, raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the toilets. I was shocked and all that I could blurt out was "Oh!! Those are restrooms." Well!! the signs on the restrooms just had a man and a woman, no mention of restroom anywhere.
I was pretty embarrassed at my ignorance. I later laughed after narrating it to my parents. Chandra too must have had a hearty laugh. I don't know where he is now, but must be teaching some managers about monitoring their teams.
The Tale of My Eyeliner :-)
Well, when I go to office I am a plain Jane. I wear crisp cotton dresses a matching watch, many times matching bindi, rarely matching earrings. Babitha comes to office dressed to perfection. She wears matching earrings / watch / lipstick / bindi and always puts on eye liner. Many a time I complimented her for her neat looks. She sugested I put on eyeliner or at least lipstick which would enhance my looks too. Put on eyeliner and lipstick!! No way!! What an effort to do that. And I wasn't good at putting on eyeliner. I asked her to give me a demo of the same sometime :-).
Today, Babitha noticed I wore watch and earring matching my dress and she offered eyeliner and lipstick. We went to the restroom and she put some eyeliner on me. It could immediately see the difference. I applied some lipstick too. I thought I looked good.
Now, B and I headed to meet Prashanthi. Prashanthi was almost shocked to see me :-). By then I had smudged some of my eyeliner. So Babitha and Prashanthi cleaned it for me.
So much is happening in Cube then how is it possible that Rajan would not react. Rn along with Sarferazul sang "Sajana ne re muje...." :-). Asked me why I was decorating myself. Sarferazul said that adding eyeliner enhanced the beauty of the eyes; only person who gave some good complement ;-).
Rajesh saw me and he came down to my cube and said, "Did you listen to Radio mirchi today, they were talking about how much time women spend in dressing and they spend about 300+ hours" :-)). I walked to Rajat's cube to get some suggestions, he gave a strange look and said U look like a ghost!!
Prasad saw me and said "you look so different. Something different about your eyes. Were you wearing glasses before? Or are you wearing glasses now!!!" rofl. Then I had to tell him that I am just wearing eyeliner.
Next, it was Arul's turn. He looked at me quizzically and asked, "Are you not well!!!”. Prasad and couple of others could make out the difference and they went into peals of laughter. Arul, apologetically asked "Is it something I shouldn't have asked". I explained that it was my eyeliner.
Back at my desk, Prashanthi suggested I clear off the eyeliner as they were thick. I said who will look at me now and half day was done. I added "well, it is just Rajan around". Instantly Rajan added, "You dressed for me. Wow!! I am feeling shy”! We went into peals of laughter.
How I miss the evening walks with you mom!
Till I got married in 2004, I would go out for evening walks with my mom every weekend. I enjoyed this walk so much, mainly because my mom would be giving me all her attention. We would walk all the way from home to Bhasayam circle, which is the shopping area in Rajajinagar. We would buy vegetables and groceries. Mom would buy me bindis / bangles / clothes / slippers / purses what not. I always admire the way she bargains. Even to this day she always succeeds in getting a very good deal.
We would talk about everything - relatives, about my future, about my brother and father, her childhood, her married life, trails and tribulations of life. She would often consult many astrologers and tell me how bright my future will be.
We would got to Shanti Sagar and have some chat. She loved to eat Dahi puri and I would eat Masala puri. If we didn't eat chat, we would eat some puffs or toast at the bakery. We would drink some tender coconut or some juice.
I miss those walks so much. I wish I was not so busy in life. I wish I lived closer to my mom’s house.
Hic...Hic...Hic...
Hic .. hic .. hic ...
I went on and on for 30 minutes. I gulped down lots of water....swallowed some sugar... drank hot water... still I went on hic... hic...hic...
People working around me were getting disturbed. Few gave me methods of stopping them like - holding the breath, opening mouth wide, talking or getting scared. They even suggested I wear a helmet so that I don't transmit signals. Ha ha ha.
Then I thought google is the best place and searched for "Hiccups remedy"
The first result that came up was
30 Second Cure For Hiccups
A cure for hiccups that takes only 30 seconds and requires no props.
I clicked on the link; there were usual disclaimers from the author and other related stuff. My hiccups were driving me crazy. Where is the 30 second cure????????? I impatiently scrolled down and I found the material.
Later when I went though the page again, I did see a link where it directly leads to the cure.
So this is what I did:
Open your mouth, inhale deeply till the point you feel you cannot inhale anymore. Ensure you don't let air out anytime.
Once you feel full, swallow the air. Ensure you don't let air out.
Do not exhale, again open your mouth and try to inhale as much air as you can. Do not let out any air. You can close your nose if needed.
Keep repeating the step 3, till you cannot hold anymore air.
Then exhale.
It just worked.
I tried this and it just worked!!! My hiccups just vanished.
I went on and on for 30 minutes. I gulped down lots of water....swallowed some sugar... drank hot water... still I went on hic... hic...hic...
People working around me were getting disturbed. Few gave me methods of stopping them like - holding the breath, opening mouth wide, talking or getting scared. They even suggested I wear a helmet so that I don't transmit signals. Ha ha ha.
Then I thought google is the best place and searched for "Hiccups remedy"
The first result that came up was
30 Second Cure For Hiccups
A cure for hiccups that takes only 30 seconds and requires no props.
I clicked on the link; there were usual disclaimers from the author and other related stuff. My hiccups were driving me crazy. Where is the 30 second cure????????? I impatiently scrolled down and I found the material.
Later when I went though the page again, I did see a link where it directly leads to the cure.
So this is what I did:
Open your mouth, inhale deeply till the point you feel you cannot inhale anymore. Ensure you don't let air out anytime.
Once you feel full, swallow the air. Ensure you don't let air out.
Do not exhale, again open your mouth and try to inhale as much air as you can. Do not let out any air. You can close your nose if needed.
Keep repeating the step 3, till you cannot hold anymore air.
Then exhale.
It just worked.
I tried this and it just worked!!! My hiccups just vanished.
God's Ways of helping
I work on Oracle BI (OBIEE). I was working on the project called Portfolio management (PFM) along with MBR channels. Work was overwhelming, I was working late night and over weekends (something I never did all through my career till this point). Aug 29h 2008 was the deadline for me to deliver the reports on the PFM. I received the data model on Aug 18. I plugged it into the existing data model. It worked. I decided that just few minutes of work is left and I can wind up on the weekend.
Weekend when I started working, I realized that the data model is wrong, I cannot sum the values!!!. And of the 6 reports that have to be completed two reports can't be created in OBIEE. On 25th Aug, I pinged the database team and asked them to give the right data model. Now they were busy and they could give me only by end of day. Now, I was getting scared. :-).
Database team was co-operative and by end of 25th Aug I got the data model on the development environment. I copied the repository file from the production server on to the development server, and then imported the data model. I created the joins and deployed on the development (dev) server, hoping it will work. I brought the UI up and when I tried to add the fields from the data model. It started throwing up errors. The error was straight; it said that tables were not found. I guess I was already worked up, I thought the problem was in the data model. So I went about doing umpteen numbers of trails and errors to fix the data model. It failed. I was at a loss.
Next day, while driving to office I kept thinking on how to bring up the system. I pinged the database team and requested them to look at it. But they were already overloaded. I kept on with my trail and error. At that point, my PFM manager Chandra pinged me. He asked me why was the development server was showing production data. Eureka!! It then hit me; the repository file was pointing to production database, while the new data model was in development environment. I hadn't changed the repository file to point to the development environment after I copied it from the production server. So I was getting the error. I replied to my manager saying he was great and he had helped me debug the problem. He was perplexed. Then I explained to him, I guess he had a good laugh.
Now, I changed the repository file to point to dev and Aaiye La!! It worked!! Phew!!
If my manager hadn't pinged me and asked me about data, I don't know how long I would have taken to debug the problem.
God's ways of helping are really unique.
Coorg - Part 1
Coorg was one of the destinations on our minds for long. Finally we decided to go there for our fourth anniversary.
Beautiful Coorg
Travel
I Booked the KSRTC "Airavatha" buses to and fro from Coorg. We took the last bus to Corrg at 11:30 pm on 15th May 2008. We reached coorg on 16th May, 4 am. I had booked return for 18th May 2008 at 3:30 pm. We could have driven all the way to Coorg, but we decided against it.
We had contacted a kown person at Coorg and had a taxi booked for the 16th and 17th May.
16th May - Morning
We were scheduled to start at 7:30 am on 16th May, but we woke up only at 7:30 am. We asked the taxi to come in at 8:30 am, but the time we boarded the taxi it was 9 am. The taxi driver Sharat was very friendly.
Bhagamandala
We started off to Talakaveri via bahagmandala. Bhagamandala is 33 km from Coorg. At bhagamadala is the confluence of the rivers Kaveri, kanika and an underground spring Sujyothi. There wasn't much water in the rivers. At a very short distnace for mthe Sangama is the Bhagandeshwara temple. Here we have Bhagandeshwara (Ishwara), Maha Vishnu and Lord Subramanya. Hence, this place is called Bhagamandala. The temple wasn't crowded. We took a ticket for Arithi. The temple complex was in the typical Kodagu style. There was no major pujas or commotion in the temple.
Talakaveri
Talakaveri is the place where the river Kaveri originates on the Brahmagiri peaks. It is located 8km from Bhagamandala. There is a small enclosure around the spring, it is called the Gundige. The spring water from here surfaces one kilometer below in the peak. Close to the Gundige is a tank, where devotees can have a bath. The priests there will fill a pot of water from the Gundige and pour it on the devotees head. EVery Tulashakranthi day which is around 17th October the spring overflows from the Gundige. IT is believed that Goddess PAravathi herself apears in the Gundige on that day. During that period devotees throng Talakaveri.
We got kumkuma archane done for the Goddess Kaveri and proceeded to the temples above. There are two temples, one with Shivalinga and other with Ganesha. It is belived that sage Agasthya performed his peanace here in the Brahmagiri peaks. Close to the temple is a Banyan tree, which is belived to be from the root of the Banayan tree underneath which Sage Agasthya perfomed his penance.
From Takakaveri we can climb the peaks of Brahmagiri. We didn't have the energy to climb 400 steps, so we returned to our taxi. We headed for our hotel.
We had lunch at our hotel and started off to see Abbey falls at 3 pm.
Abbey Falls
Abbey falls is around 2 kilometers from Madkeri and is in a private estate. Taxi took us till the entrance and we walked around 200 meters through a coffee estate, from entrance to view the fall. A hanging bridge is built from where we can view the falls. There wasn't much water when we went, but got to know that during Aug - Dec lot of water in the falls.
Around Coorg - Raja's Tomb
Raja's tomb has royal tombs of Virarajendra and Lingarajendra. Along with the royal tombs are the tombs of Raja's priest and two Commander-in-chiefs. The tombs are in Islamic style.
Around Coorg - OmKareshwara Temple
Omkareshwara temple was built by Lingarajendra in 1820. It is said he got the Shivalinga from Kasi and got it installed here to wash away the sins of killing a Brahmin. There is big tank in front of the temple which is calm and serene. But, we cannot touch the waters of the tank.
Around Coorg - Madkeri Fort
Madkeri fort was renovated by Lingarajendra in 1812. It was disappointing to see that it is converted into a government office. So it is less of a fort and more of a bustling office. There is a small museum outside the fort which closes right at 5:30 pm. There are two life size elephants in the fort. We climbed the fort wall and we could get the view of the Madkeri jail and its inmates.
Around Coorg - Raja's Seat
This place was just 100 meters from our hotel. It is a park, where kings of Coorg would come and spend their evenings watching the spectacular sunset. Park has a breathtaking view point of the valley and mountains. Sight of the Birds returning to the nest in the evening combined the sunset and cool breeze will take us to a magical land.
The park was crowded with people and hawkers. There is toy train in the park. There was a musical fountain show at 7 pm; we weren't much impressed with it though.
From Raja's seat we retired to our hotel as we had a long day waiting the next day.
Travel
I Booked the KSRTC "Airavatha" buses to and fro from Coorg. We took the last bus to Corrg at 11:30 pm on 15th May 2008. We reached coorg on 16th May, 4 am. I had booked return for 18th May 2008 at 3:30 pm. We could have driven all the way to Coorg, but we decided against it.
We had contacted a kown person at Coorg and had a taxi booked for the 16th and 17th May.
16th May - Morning
We were scheduled to start at 7:30 am on 16th May, but we woke up only at 7:30 am. We asked the taxi to come in at 8:30 am, but the time we boarded the taxi it was 9 am. The taxi driver Sharat was very friendly.
Bhagamandala
We started off to Talakaveri via bahagmandala. Bhagamandala is 33 km from Coorg. At bhagamadala is the confluence of the rivers Kaveri, kanika and an underground spring Sujyothi. There wasn't much water in the rivers. At a very short distnace for mthe Sangama is the Bhagandeshwara temple. Here we have Bhagandeshwara (Ishwara), Maha Vishnu and Lord Subramanya. Hence, this place is called Bhagamandala. The temple wasn't crowded. We took a ticket for Arithi. The temple complex was in the typical Kodagu style. There was no major pujas or commotion in the temple.Talakaveri
Talakaveri is the place where the river Kaveri originates on the Brahmagiri peaks. It is located 8km from Bhagamandala. There is a small enclosure around the spring, it is called the Gundige. The spring water from here surfaces one kilometer below in the peak. Close to the Gundige is a tank, where devotees can have a bath. The priests there will fill a pot of water from the Gundige and pour it on the devotees head. EVery Tulashakranthi day which is around 17th October the spring overflows from the Gundige. IT is believed that Goddess PAravathi herself apears in the Gundige on that day. During that period devotees throng Talakaveri.We got kumkuma archane done for the Goddess Kaveri and proceeded to the temples above. There are two temples, one with Shivalinga and other with Ganesha. It is belived that sage Agasthya performed his peanace here in the Brahmagiri peaks. Close to the temple is a Banyan tree, which is belived to be from the root of the Banayan tree underneath which Sage Agasthya perfomed his penance.
From Takakaveri we can climb the peaks of Brahmagiri. We didn't have the energy to climb 400 steps, so we returned to our taxi. We headed for our hotel.
We had lunch at our hotel and started off to see Abbey falls at 3 pm.
Abbey Falls
Abbey falls is around 2 kilometers from Madkeri and is in a private estate. Taxi took us till the entrance and we walked around 200 meters through a coffee estate, from entrance to view the fall. A hanging bridge is built from where we can view the falls. There wasn't much water when we went, but got to know that during Aug - Dec lot of water in the falls.
Around Coorg - Raja's Tomb
Raja's tomb has royal tombs of Virarajendra and Lingarajendra. Along with the royal tombs are the tombs of Raja's priest and two Commander-in-chiefs. The tombs are in Islamic style.
Around Coorg - OmKareshwara Temple
Omkareshwara temple was built by Lingarajendra in 1820. It is said he got the Shivalinga from Kasi and got it installed here to wash away the sins of killing a Brahmin. There is big tank in front of the temple which is calm and serene. But, we cannot touch the waters of the tank.
Around Coorg - Madkeri Fort
Madkeri fort was renovated by Lingarajendra in 1812. It was disappointing to see that it is converted into a government office. So it is less of a fort and more of a bustling office. There is a small museum outside the fort which closes right at 5:30 pm. There are two life size elephants in the fort. We climbed the fort wall and we could get the view of the Madkeri jail and its inmates.
Around Coorg - Raja's Seat
This place was just 100 meters from our hotel. It is a park, where kings of Coorg would come and spend their evenings watching the spectacular sunset. Park has a breathtaking view point of the valley and mountains. Sight of the Birds returning to the nest in the evening combined the sunset and cool breeze will take us to a magical land.
The park was crowded with people and hawkers. There is toy train in the park. There was a musical fountain show at 7 pm; we weren't much impressed with it though.
From Raja's seat we retired to our hotel as we had a long day waiting the next day.
Comedy of Errors
Ri just leaves her home keys carelessly on the desk at office. One day, I noticed her keys lying on the table unattended. I picked those keys and dropped into Rn's bag. Rn, willingly hid them in his bag. After a couple of hours, it dawned on Ri that her keys are missing. She went around asking the more notorious people for the keys. Finally Disappointed, she descended at my desk, asking for her keys. "I don't have the keys" is what I kept telling her. She checked my purse and drawer. Finally she asked me to promise, which I did. Well, I wasn't lying. Was I?
Now, her attention turned towards Rn. She asked him for her keys, obviously he said he didn't have them. For some reason, she picked his bag, and started shaking it vigorously. And she could hear the sound of keys. Suspecting them to be hers, much against Rn's wishes she dug his bag. She found her keys and Rn's home keys. As revenge she took away his home keys too, though Rn tried to desperately explain to her that I as the culprit.
Rn just forgot to collect his keys before leaving for the day. He reached his home at BTM layout only to realize that he has no keys. He called his room mates, and they were to return after two hours. So, Rn had to spend two hours on the roads and in the rains. He called me, cursed all of us. All I could do is laugh and laugh. Poor guy!!
Now coming to Ri, fearing that Rn might take away the keys hid her keys and his keys in the drawer. While starting for home, she forgot to collect them. She reached her home and realized no keys. So she had to return to office. When she returned, she had forgotten the place where she had hid the keys and went on searching. Finally, she found them and called me to tell her story.
All I could do was laugh and laugh.
Glass Painting
hmmm.. I resumed glass painting. Well! If you ask when was I even doing it, to have stopped it and then resume it :-). Then, let me tell you, I was doing this when I was at school, hmmm or maybe when I was in my initial years of college. Now, after
saying a "Wow", you are going to ask how many such paintings did I do and for how long did I have this hobby going? Right ???? Well, I just did one painting :-).
Now, a casual conversation with one of my friends prompted me to resume this. She had just completed one glass painting of hers. The conversation bought back into my memory those vivid and bright colours. Now this was all way back in January 2008.
In June 2008, I happened to visit Sapana Book Store and then I bought a set of glass paints. My company had given us photo frames for attending an event. That was just lying on my table. It looked like it was just waiting for me :-). Searched the internet for some good designs on glass paintings and found quite a lot. I chose the one with parrots. I took print of it.
Now I was all set.
Procedure for Glass painting:
1. I stuck the print of the design underneath the glass.
2. Traced the outline of the design with the outliner that comes along with the glass paint.
3. I left the design to dry for an hour.
4. Used a blade to make the outlines even and thin.
5. Then clean the glass with a cloth.
6. Started filling the colors.
7. Left the painting to dry.
Sounds easy, isn't it? Well! It isn't.
First time when I put the outlines, they became really thick. Later scraping those using blade became a pain. So I removed the entire outline and re-did everything. When I put the outlines second time, I did it part by part, so scraping out the lines was easier. When I started filling the colors, I realized that, I shouldn't fill two different colours, adjacent to each other at the same time. It will just mix. I had to scrape out some colours. So I filled in one colour, waited for it to dry and then used the other colour. The whole process took me around one and half months of time.
When it stood ready all painted, it looked beautiful.
I was proud of myself.
saying a "Wow", you are going to ask how many such paintings did I do and for how long did I have this hobby going? Right ???? Well, I just did one painting :-).
Now, a casual conversation with one of my friends prompted me to resume this. She had just completed one glass painting of hers. The conversation bought back into my memory those vivid and bright colours. Now this was all way back in January 2008.
In June 2008, I happened to visit Sapana Book Store and then I bought a set of glass paints. My company had given us photo frames for attending an event. That was just lying on my table. It looked like it was just waiting for me :-). Searched the internet for some good designs on glass paintings and found quite a lot. I chose the one with parrots. I took print of it.
Now I was all set.
Procedure for Glass painting:
1. I stuck the print of the design underneath the glass.
2. Traced the outline of the design with the outliner that comes along with the glass paint.
3. I left the design to dry for an hour.
4. Used a blade to make the outlines even and thin.
5. Then clean the glass with a cloth.
6. Started filling the colors.
7. Left the painting to dry.
Sounds easy, isn't it? Well! It isn't.
First time when I put the outlines, they became really thick. Later scraping those using blade became a pain. So I removed the entire outline and re-did everything. When I put the outlines second time, I did it part by part, so scraping out the lines was easier. When I started filling the colors, I realized that, I shouldn't fill two different colours, adjacent to each other at the same time. It will just mix. I had to scrape out some colours. So I filled in one colour, waited for it to dry and then used the other colour. The whole process took me around one and half months of time.
When it stood ready all painted, it looked beautiful.
I was proud of myself.
Trip to Nanjangud
Nanjangud was one of the pilgrim places I always wanted to visit.
Temple:
Temple is the abode of lord Nanjundeshwara. The temple is said to built during the 9th century the Ganga period. Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan both had close association with the temple. Legend goes that, one of Tipu Sultan's favrourite elephant lost its eye sight. Its eye sight was restored after Tipu Sultan made a vow to the lord. In return he made a Shiva Lingam of jade with emrald necklace. He also gave the title Hakim Nanjundeswara to the lord.
Journey:
Nanajungud is 24km south of Mysore on the Mysore-Ooty road. So the best approach to Nanjangud is via Mysore. April 5th 2008 we started off from Bangalore to Nanjungud. We took a train from Bangalore to Mysore at 2:30 pm. We reached Mysore by 4:45 pm. The journey was peaceful and easy as Dad had already reserved tickets. From Mysore there are manybuses to Nanjangud. As soon as we entered the bus stand we had a partially filled bus waiting to leave. We reached Nanjangud by 7 pm.
Stay:
Dad had booked for 3 rooms in a guest house Eshwar bhavan. This guest house is about 200 meters from the temple. The guest house was neat and clean. There is a Arya Vysa choultry just 2 buildings away. We went for dinner there at 8:30 pm. Dinner was tasty and well prepared.
Puja at the river:
We woke up by 4:45 am next day, 6th April. We headed for the Kapila river for a scared bath. Water was warm. It was fun bathing in the river. I was glad that there were rooms where women could change. We poured that many mugs of water on our head which is equivalent to our age. It is supposed to clear out sins till date. We Left the wet clothes on the steps of the river. Mom had packed all the puja articles. We made Gowris in Turmeric and placed it on the steps, lit mud lamps. We worshipped Gowri and the river with flowers / incense sticks and camphor. We offered rasins and bananas to the Goddess Gowri and Kapila.Puja at the temple:We reached temple by 7 am. We took tickets for Rudra Abhisheka. We could go into the inner sanatorium of the temple and watch the abhisheka. It was a quick one. We were given Pongal / Kesaribath / Laddus as prasada. Each one of us lit mud lamps in the temple, Mom had packed them from Bangalore. My Sister-in-law and me gave two bananas / betel leaves and nuts / blouse pieces / bangles to five married women. We then fed the elephant with bananas and idlis, equivalent to our age.
Raghavendra Swami Mutt:
On the way back from the temple to the Guest house we went to Raghavendra swami mutt. The mutt doesn't have a brindhavan but actual statue of Raghavendra Swami. The legend goes that, a dhobi was using that stone for washing. One day Raghavendra Swami appeared in the dreams of one of the Wodeyar Kings and asked him to install the statue in Nanjangud. Along with Raghavendra Swami we have Vaayu Devaru too.
Return:
We took a bus from Nanjangud and started off to Mysore. At mysore we went to Mysore palace "Varah Dwara". A temple to Lord Varaha is inside the compund of the palace. It is the only temple in Karnataka.We had a return train to Bangalore at 2:30 pm.
Regretting not taking enough photos :-(.
Temple:
Temple is the abode of lord Nanjundeshwara. The temple is said to built during the 9th century the Ganga period. Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan both had close association with the temple. Legend goes that, one of Tipu Sultan's favrourite elephant lost its eye sight. Its eye sight was restored after Tipu Sultan made a vow to the lord. In return he made a Shiva Lingam of jade with emrald necklace. He also gave the title Hakim Nanjundeswara to the lord.
Journey:
Nanajungud is 24km south of Mysore on the Mysore-Ooty road. So the best approach to Nanjangud is via Mysore. April 5th 2008 we started off from Bangalore to Nanjungud. We took a train from Bangalore to Mysore at 2:30 pm. We reached Mysore by 4:45 pm. The journey was peaceful and easy as Dad had already reserved tickets. From Mysore there are manybuses to Nanjangud. As soon as we entered the bus stand we had a partially filled bus waiting to leave. We reached Nanjangud by 7 pm.
Stay:
Dad had booked for 3 rooms in a guest house Eshwar bhavan. This guest house is about 200 meters from the temple. The guest house was neat and clean. There is a Arya Vysa choultry just 2 buildings away. We went for dinner there at 8:30 pm. Dinner was tasty and well prepared.
Puja at the river:
We woke up by 4:45 am next day, 6th April. We headed for the Kapila river for a scared bath. Water was warm. It was fun bathing in the river. I was glad that there were rooms where women could change. We poured that many mugs of water on our head which is equivalent to our age. It is supposed to clear out sins till date. We Left the wet clothes on the steps of the river. Mom had packed all the puja articles. We made Gowris in Turmeric and placed it on the steps, lit mud lamps. We worshipped Gowri and the river with flowers / incense sticks and camphor. We offered rasins and bananas to the Goddess Gowri and Kapila.Puja at the temple:We reached temple by 7 am. We took tickets for Rudra Abhisheka. We could go into the inner sanatorium of the temple and watch the abhisheka. It was a quick one. We were given Pongal / Kesaribath / Laddus as prasada. Each one of us lit mud lamps in the temple, Mom had packed them from Bangalore. My Sister-in-law and me gave two bananas / betel leaves and nuts / blouse pieces / bangles to five married women. We then fed the elephant with bananas and idlis, equivalent to our age.
Raghavendra Swami Mutt:
On the way back from the temple to the Guest house we went to Raghavendra swami mutt. The mutt doesn't have a brindhavan but actual statue of Raghavendra Swami. The legend goes that, a dhobi was using that stone for washing. One day Raghavendra Swami appeared in the dreams of one of the Wodeyar Kings and asked him to install the statue in Nanjangud. Along with Raghavendra Swami we have Vaayu Devaru too.
Return:
We took a bus from Nanjangud and started off to Mysore. At mysore we went to Mysore palace "Varah Dwara". A temple to Lord Varaha is inside the compund of the palace. It is the only temple in Karnataka.We had a return train to Bangalore at 2:30 pm.
Regretting not taking enough photos :-(.
Fun at work
I work in a IT firm. So how the office looks and how people sit can be easily imagined. We all sit in cubes of four. At my office the placement of people changed, to bring people in same project together.
Over a period of time, the board looked more creative.
My whole cube was occupied by P (she) and me. Two other seats were vacant. Since R worked in my project, he was relocated to the cube adjacent to me. He is known to have a good sense of humor and also to crack many wacky jokes.
Now we were two girls against a guy. So the day he moved, we started our campaign of irritating him :-). Firstly, P and I decorated his cube with stickys bright pinks and yellows. Those stickys were noticed by one and all that passed the cube. R went crazy with all this. But...... But........ He didn't remove the stickys. So we went ahead added some lines on the white board "Welcome to the cube warming - R". This attached more people to his cube. We had our office admin put up two bright orange stickys and a note "Whenz the Party".
R kept THREATING us, saying that he would talk to our manager to change his place, which he never did.
We had an ultimate laugh when one of our senior colleagues, sitting in the adjacent cube walked by and requested "R can I have a sticky please. I need one and you have so many".
But, R preferred to take out his sticky book and give him a sticky, instead of pulling out one from the board. Senior colleague a little puzzled, and then said "oh, I see that stickys have a pattern". All of us were rolling with laughter.
Over a period of time, the board looked more creative.
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