A toast for my novels past

I always loved writing, though the past few years saw me write pretty much just work-related emails, and no literature. Sometimes I blame it on writer's block, but may be I guess I'm just lazy to sit down and start writing.

Its interesting, that when I look back, the most I used to write was probably when I was in school through college, during which I authored numerous poems, about half a dozen novels/long-stories, a lot of short stories, a handful of dramas, some essays, and an earnest attempt at a book on Christian spirituality.

Defining a 'real' IT solution

Here's a day-to-day scenario to ponder: So, business wants a 'live health monitoring' of one of the products, and contacts IT for a solution. The product manager or someone from business side quickly drafts an email with "what they want" and shoots it off to the IT director. An architect or engineer is assigned to device a solution, and an email with a solution proposal goes back to business. A quick review is done if all requirements in the original email are met, funds are transferred, and the solution engineered and delivered.

Couple of months pass, and business wants the past couple of months' data from the live monitoring solution, but could not figure out how to get it from the system, and shoots off an email to IT on instructions. IT responds back informing that historic data isn't available in the 'live health monitoring' solution. Business is furious: "What!? The solution you provided does not capture historical data?" IT responds  

Highway robbers - now at Trivandrum!

Highway robbers (aka highwaymen) and their exploits have been (in)famous since time immemorial. Whether the way was through land or water, they had that their role in history, legends and folklore, and the lone travellers of the old never undervalued the importance of having their fingers wrapped around an object of defense - be a log of wood, or a blade of steel. The subject popped back into my attention today, when I heard the account of a colleague’s close bump with the kind, here at Trivandrum!

It happened yesterday night. He was driving back from Kovalam along the NH47 bypass, and heard the vrooming sound of a motorbike at his tail. The phenomenon not being an uncommon one, he at first chose to ignore the reckless rider who probably was just trying to chase a fast car for the thrill. But then, suddenly the motorbike overtook the car, and the pillion rider started throwing eggs on the windshield.

"Forget-me-not"s for your mobile apps

There’s a rising tsunami out there – in the number of mobile application developers. With mobile platforms getting more and more feature rich and powerful each release, with smartphones penetrating the market deeper and deeper, even conservative desktop and mainframe application developers have started rolling up their sleeves – some for the fun, some for the bucks!

Now, while shifting from a desktop app development world to a mobile app development world, there is baggage one drags along. While a wealth of hand-on development experience helps one to ease the learning curve, there are still items left to pick up, to do a great job with the hand-helds.

IRCTC, get a cape, folks!

I’m not the guy who thinks a glass is half empty, nor one who thinks the beautiful things in life are transparent. But I’m telling you – its high time IRCTC gets at least one thing – A BETTER SERVER!

Ofcourse, IRCTC saves you from standing in the long queue at the railway station, but, well it kinda makes you sit almost the same time in front of your computer :

• Waiting for the login page to appear, and then the logged-in page to appear


• Waiting for the train availability to load (with the wait-wheel going round and round and round…. Sometimes, I feel it even gives a villain laugh – “buhuhahahahahah”)

I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with ME!

The scene’s from “Watchmen” – classic DC comics graphic novel turned major motion picture. Rorschach’s been arrested, and dumped along with all the baddies he had put behind the bars. The rouges are excited as time has come up for their revenge, with Rorschach all alone in their midst. They plan an assault at the food court, and the protagonist retaliates, delivering the classic line:
“None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with *ME*!”

Ah! What a line!! So simple, but so powerful!!! One that makes you hunt mercilessly for an opportunity to throw on someone :-) The interesting fact is that one doesn’t have to be a black belt in Kung Fu, or bitten by a radioactive spider, to deliver it - What it takes, is a simple look around.

TUSGIR (The Unofficial Survival Guide to Indian Roads) Part 1: Introduction

I learned to ride a bicycle when I was around 10; and was promoted to an active cyclist by 12 when my father bought me a blue BSA SLR on the eve of Easter 1992 – my first public ride on it was to attend the Easter mass at our parish church.

The only ‘rules on the road’ I knew that day, were:

• Ride on the left side of the road (courtesy my father)


• Look both sides before you cross (courtesy my mother)

Simpler times, they were… and I did pretty well.