From one Project to the next One..

It feels like an end of an era.. :) I am still trying to come to terms that I will no longer be doing what I have done faithfully for the past 10 years of my life! i.e. wake up and go to work. There will be no morning rush to make, no morning traffic to beat, no morning greetings to share, no morning escalations, no client calls, no forecasts to make, no targets to meet, no manoeuvring my way through a labyrinth of emails. It was all instilled in my DNA and suddenly from 31st March 2014 I will be leading a different life..

It was my last day at work yesterday before maternity leave and my team showered me with a lovely farewell and good wishes for upcoming motherhood. I was still struggling with words and emotions of sadness as if something I held close to my heart will no longer be with me. I am aware it is not the end but it is definitely a big pause, a pause I am trying to come to terms with. It is a pause which will be soon filled with happiness beyond bounds but until then as I stare at the emptiness with a heavy heart I will miss every single moment of the so called hectic work life and my TEAM. The issues, the analysis, the reporting, the risks, the management, the innovation demands, the Telstra clients and my colleagues, the beeping Blackberry kind of made me 'alive' during those 10 hours of the day :)  The friendship, concord and merriment we share is too hard to find and something I will cherish for a lifetime.

They say bosses can make or break you and I am amongst the lucky few to have one of the most matured and level headed bosses, who guides concisely and appreciates openly. Thanks Kaushik. I have been equally lucky to have this wonderful and energetic team, everyone with their unique skills which makes the battalion an extraordinary one. Team, you are the best!

My typical day would start greeting Peter and Ketan and Venkat first thing (or vice versa as it was always a 'who comes first' game with Peter, even if it meant by few milliseconds!) Shardul would follow soon and before you know he would be ready with his bowl of cereal at Ketan's desk. Once rest of the clan Naveen, Raju, Murali, Preethi and especially Heera made their way the buzzing would start on the floor :) Application being down or an unannounced escalation made the mornings hectic but the cool attitude of the team made resolutions easy and working hassle free.

There would a pile of work at everyone's desk and I may have cluttered their mailboxes with more but they would still bear it with a smile (or maybe with a grumble too that I wouldn't hear:)) I looked forward to our daily lunch hangouts as that would be the place all discussions right from sports to politics to vegetarianism to funny videos to the latest buzz and technology would get discussed. It was quite a lovely time to open up and share our views.  I have been lucky to handover the reigns to Veni the most wonderful of PMs and human beings I have come across who knew pretty much everything be it OOMs or ELFs or BVAs to what the clients like and what the senior management demanded. My new team the most structured bunch - the AIT heroes have been equally amazing. Effectiveness and diligence was like second nature to everyone I worked with. I will dearly miss the weekly catch up where we quizzed each other on various topics and I really hope the team continues to increase their knowledge and bonding through this medium.

I don't know if I will be able to work again with the same faces so I dearly and sincerely wish them all the love and luck in their personal and professional endeavours..! Adieu until we meet again!!

And a new life is forming..

4th Aug 2013, The most memorable day in 2013 and probably in all my life :) The two pink lines announced the arrival of many things to come in life and I guess the most important things in life. We were going to be parents and that was the most emotional and thrilling moment we ever experienced :) A little one was going to be with us in 9 months, God was blessing us with a child and the world was going to have one more set of happy tiny feet bouncing around spreading the message of love. Could we be more happier? I guess all parents will read this with a smile as they recollect their moments which by now would become a hazy memory amongst the conundrum of life with kids and aspiring parents would read this with a can't wait to experience this moment in life! I am 26 weeks now and Tejas kind of announced our news on the social media our very own Facebook so there is nothing to hide only prayers to make that all turns out smooth and I am able to perform my best on the big dag day and of course we become the best parents to our kids

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The wonder called Infosys!

This was my very first entry in the Infosys blogs and my tribute to Infy. To mark my completion of FIVE years here are some words straight from my heart!
Just squeezing some time out, sneaking away from work I wanted to put some lines on this blog server and make my mark into the Infy bloggers history books!..

Years of work so close to my heart, late nights, weekends, dead lines, deliverables, overflowing mailboxes, labyrinths of pst's, piling desk, presentations, discussions, appraisals, coding, debugging, extracurricular initiatives, trainings, exams, competitions, untrodden travel assignments.. all resonate in my mind with nostalgia and absolute bliss :)


Just like many of the Infoscions around ..Infosys was a turning point in my life! I still remember the day I entered the Pune Infy campus awestruck and amazed at the infrastructure and beautiful landscape, discipline and culture.. At once I knew I was amongst the God's favorites :)

Every evening when I travel back by the Infy bus and circle the Electronics city I cannot help but admire Narayan Murthy and his team who created this wonder called Infosys. I thank them each day from the bottom of my heart not just because of the nice pay cheque at the end of month..but for creating abundant job opportunities for so many..for giving us all a platform and everything we need to leverage our knowledge and reach out to the world..for providing us a world class infrastructure to work where only sky seems the limit..for spreading smiles into so many homes.. for giving a peaceful sleep to so many parents across India..for putting India on the world map and making us all proud to be Indians! As I travel to places abroad I eagerly wait for people to ask me which company I work for because I love to see the admiration in their eyes when I say 'Infosys' with a twinkle in my eye and with a pride in my heart!

I value my association with this organization because I know its roots are strong and it breeds on intellect and values which are here to stay for eternity..Long live Infosys and the spirit behind Infosys!

Will be back with a detailed post on the experiences from 19th Jan 2004..a historic day for JanSC04!

Heaven can be a place on earth...

Ever wondered where the world is heading to??? yes we are definitely progressing in science and technology..we have made our abodes in the space and have started creating clones..but nations continue to fight amongst eachother, brutal killers are still on the prowl, maniacs continue killing innocent school children, terrorists continue their attacks killings thousands like you and me, in short the evil on our earth is on a forever increase. I hate to see when people hate eachother to an extent that they ruin eachothers life, take each others life, conspire against eachother.. there is so much hate, so much greed, so much evil, so much malice that the world is loosing its humanitarian face.

At an individual level..How hard is it to really really dream or hope of a world where human beings have no grudges against eachother, everyone gets along with eachother, everyone makes an attempt to be happpy with eachother and live peacefully (even if you dislike a person just learn to tolerate and accept our differences as we all have our own ways to live life).. let everyone have equal rights to live a happy life devoid of misery and sufferings..

Imagine a world where everyone tries to help eachother..everyone treats eachother as equals.. everyone tries to support the other be it by imparting education to the poor, helping the needy with some money or spending some good moments of love with the needy and less privileged where everyone is honest and satisfied in life. I sometimes feel like walking down to the anti social elements..the terrorists and the killers and the robbers.. and ask them what makes them so heartless?.. dont they also want to live a peaceful life with a nice loving family?..dont they fear God?.. why be so cruel and accumulate sins?..coz we have just one life to live then why not live it with love and compassion, in peace and harmony? World is so beautiful and so many things are awaiting for you to explore..

I believe all hatered, all cruelity is in the 'mind', we need to cure these people of their angry and derogatory thoughts, they need to be educated and be taught to love their fellow human beings..they need to be given a good direction to live a life devoid of violence and full of love and honesty..
I can go on and on..on this topic.... as I strongly feel to spread the message of peace.. imagine a world without any fear, without any hatred, without any malice..just peace, love and harmony...

The best investment!!

Investment ..Investment.. It's as if the only mantra to get rich! BEFORE the economic crisis ofcourse.. well I used hear it everywhere...people talking about saving and investing. Real estate.. trading... or how about food or retail or manufacturing .. pharmacy ..gas station and the list is endless. I never understand anything except shopping anyways ;)

On a serious note :) Today I wanted to share the best investment you can make above all the ones you choose to make everyday. It is also the cheapest investment trust me and will give you life long returns of happiness and good health :)

So here it is :: The best investment you can do is --> for yourself and your health. After all you should put your money where your heart is :)

Join the gym, join some sports club or any physical activity, dance, yoga, pilates, cycling, swimming, tennis..anything..just get the ball rolling (if you have not already!)! Its a know fact you would never force yourself to exercise on your own unless you are paying for it!!! and if you are one of those disciplinarians you are really lucky. For two years of my professional life I never moved a leg except a few times when my friends joined aerobics but the party didn’t last very long and soon I was back sticking to the glue on my computer chair. Office became my second home and work was worship (it still is! ) and I know my friends were mad at my madness but what else would I do in a city like BBSR ;) !! Time lost cannot return and health lost will also not show any mercy. My dad and my husband keep saying to deaf ears that exercise a little each and everyday of your life!..you cannot starve for a week and then make it up for it over the weekend!! can you? and finally I had company and I joined this world of health and rewards and that has prompted me to share my experience to help everyone make wise choices.

So breath in fresh air each day.. let your heart race each day.. and let the blood pump in your arteries each day. You will be alive and rejuvenated and blessed again. You will have the stamina and positiveness you always wanted! Also you are what you eat..so remember to eat healthy on most days and treat yourself over the others and exercise regularly for a longer and happier life. After you start, you will never stop when you will know what you were missing all these years!..... so good luck and good health.

It was a dark stormy night...approaching an enless abyss...we were aboard a small ship, not very big and not very modern but yes very strong... the storm shook the ship, it swept us all off our feet, water splashed across and flooded the deck as we struggled to keep a hold and keep the ship asail..we kept going as we fixed our eyes on the destination shore a few miles away.. it was an endless night.. a long dark one..

when our eyes opened, suddenly the storm was gone, dawn was breaking and there was a strange silence around.. strange peace.. we could hear the soft breeze and gentle waves spalshing against our ship now making friends with us..
that is the feeling you get when you enter steady state after a fierceful transition stage with unending days!!! may be this is the silence before the next storm!!???!!

The land down under!!!

Its been quite a while I wrote now! Life's been super super busy since I landed! This country is really really beautiful..and I am here at the right time of the year..spring is about to begin with the climate treating you good! Well of all things in this worl I am married and life seems even more beautiful :)) but not the best time to sneek out and have some fun at least for some months!! Its one of the (like all of them always are!) high priority high visibilty tight schedule blah blah projects! and we are expected to meet the client expectations and even exceed them and super exceed themm and apply all the success synonyms to our work and eat sleep and drink it too :)) well well inspite of all the hullabaloo it matters what you do with the rest of time and make the most of it(which you can count on the first finger!)
One great thing.. M into cooking and learning some great things from my hubby! he is an amazing amazing cook! yes do drop over when you feel like having some heavenly food :) lots to write from the past few months since my London return. Will do some day when I again manage to sneek soooo many minutes from work on a sunday evening ! hehe..:)