Farewell MJ

What a dreadful start to the day ... King of Pop is no more.

Since it was Friday, I was happy while coming to the office ... even though the Metro was crowded than usual ... I was still happy and listening to the radio (usually 95FM) ... and suddenly Sharthak (RJ) announced that today they would be paying tribute to MJ because he passed away. And I was like ... WTF ... this can’t be happening ... I must have misheard him. So I switched the channel to 102.6FM and there I heard “Bad” ... and I then knew that MJ is truly gone. The RJ re-confirmed it. I was pissed because the RJ showed no emotions ... he simply said that today MJ died and we are gonna play few of his songs ... and then took some requests and laughed. I mean ... OK ... being a RJ ... you gotta entertain people ... but why do they forget that it is only because of the musicians their channel is in the air ... they should have showed some respect ... and this is MJ we are talking about ... the biggest star/entertainer/musician of this century. Anyways ... I guess I was pissed more because of the news that MJ is no more ... what a bummer.

I was (still am because music will never die) a big MJ fan. When I say I am a fan, I mean I am a fan of his music. I never judged him for all the allegations or his eccentricities ... they don’t concerns/bothers me. I loved his music and I am not ashamed to admit that. I still remember that when I was really young and living in a small village ... where no one ever heard of any English music ... I saw his album “Thriller” in front of the cassette player (those were the days ... ahhh). I curiously picked it up and saw this strange looking man on the cover of it. Probably I was 6-7 years old then ... and I never heard any English song nor have I seen any English music album. I looked around and I asked my mom who is he ... she said she don’t know ... may be Kishan Kaka (my uncle) bought the cassette ... he must be knowing. Anyways ... I played the cassette and I was instantly hooked. Never mind I could not understand a single word he was saying ... but such was the magic in his music. As time went by ... and I shifted to Delhi ... the first album that I bought was ... you guessed it right ... a MJ album ... “Dangerous”. And today I have every hit MJ song in my collection.

Lately his life was in turmoil ... with child abuse court cases ... his albums not doing well ... his surgeries ... his change of faith (he died a Muslim if you care to know) ... things were not looking up for him. Whenever you talk about him or even about his music, people raised their eyebrows ... but why must they forget that the guy gave some wonderful music. He was (and forever will be) known as “King of Pop” for a reason. Why do people judge him for all the other stuff ... which frankly is none of anyone’s concerns. He was king and forever will be ... and it would be hard to get someone like him anytime soon. Recently he tried to put his house in order by planning a series of shows to get him out of debt troubles. He named the tour as “This is it” tour ... how ironical. Well the man is gone ... but I know his music will live forever.

Rest in peace MJ and thank you for the music.

Three Zero: The Beginning

OMG !!! What a weekend (and its aftermath). The relevant world seems to be experiencing some amazing (and sweeping) developments.

First and foremost – yours truly is finally in the 30s club ... an exclusive but somewhat depressing company (d’uh!!!). I would be honest ... I wasn’t too happy about it. On 15th night ... I literally felt like crying. At exact midnight, I received a call from my sis and bro-in-law (expectedly ... the first ones to wish me) and then I heard the voice of my niece ... she also wished me in her own kiddy lingo (albeit forced by my sis ... ahahahaha). My niece is just 17 months old ... she doesn’t care if it’s my birthday or whatever ... she kept on yelling “neenu neenu” (translation ... I want to sleep ... ahahahaha). But when she realized that my sis is having none of it ... she reluctantly said “yappy budday” (translation Happy Birthday ... cho sweeeeeeeeet). If only life can be so cute and sweet all the time.

16th evening ... mom made some delicious pizzas ... I cut a cake (no candles ... thank you very much) and celebrated my life (or should it be AGE) altering birthday with my family ... quite and peaceful. The next day ... it was time to go out and celebrate with some good friends ... and by that I mean ... reason to booze out ... ahahahahaha. So I called up Sonal, Honey and AnnuMan (did not came because of his dental appointment).

16th was general election result day as well ... and beating all the pollsters ... the Congress led UPA gained an unexpected majority. Wuhuu ... I was supporting them ... not because they are the most honest party or whatever ... but more because there is no real alternative. And we need a stable government to handle these turbulent times.

On 18th, the stock market seemed more excited than a kid in a candy store. It raced ... no zoomed ... no went berserk. For the first time in history of secondary markets, the Indian Stock Exchange (both BSE and NSE) hit the upper circuit breakers (twice). Less than a minute of trade happened and the entire day has to be suspended. It is nothing sort of a miracle if you ask me. Who in their right minds would have predicted this ... and that too when the whole world is in recession.

Finally some good news from neighboring country ... Sri Lanka. They ended their decades old civil war by eliminating the militant organization – LTTE. India is surrounded by a very bad (and most dangerous) neighborhood. It is in our favor that some part of it may return to normalcy soon. Amen to that ...

So ... all in all ... a very exciting last 3-4 days. My 30th started with some positive news ... hope the good times just keep on rolling like that.

Cheers !!!

Friends updates

Great things happening to my friends ... Sonal became a father of a baby girl couple of weeks back ... Chawla getting married in couple of days ... Anshuman moved to a new house ... Deepak’s wife opened her first private dental clinic yesterday

Amid these happenings ... some sad news as well ... couple of acquaintances in GL got the pink slip ... well ... that’s life isn’t it ... sometimes its full of hope and cheer and sometimes it can be a real bitch.

I wish all of them good luck and best wishes for the new events :-)

Adios GL

Today is my last day in GL. After 3.5 years, I am saying goodbye to a workplace, which was full of professional experiences (more good than bad) ... made so many good friends ... learned so many things ... changed my carrer path from TW to QA ... good stuff ...

Just getting the final NOC form signed by various departments (Admin, IT, Finance, HR, Manager) ... and by evening I will be all set to leave GL one last time as an employee.

Incidentally ... writing this post from office ... one last time before they terminate my mail/internet account ... so goodbye GL ... you been the best working experience so far ... hope we cross our paths again ... someday.

(Sulk and Cheer !!!)

GL ... going going !!!

Well the day finally arrived ... the day I was anxious about ... and secretly wished didn’t come soon ... but things usually don’t go according to my wishes or plans ... I quit GL few days back and had the pre-exit interview today. Well ... sometimes you gotta take decisions which are not of your liking but you gotta take them anyhow ... Having worked here for 3.5 years and having liked most of it ... it was not the easiest of decisions ... Last 6 months, things were not very comfy-comfy ... I tried very hard to keep going on but I couldn’t found enough reasons (well not any) to stay any longer and weather this turbulence.

In the pre-exit interview, after hearing my reasons for quitting, the HR gal asked me – what can she do so that I reconsider the decision ... she told me that if I want the promotion (which I firmly believe that I should have got in the appraisal) ... she can make it happen in the next cycle ... if I am worried about job security (due to recession, things are not very hunky dory in GL), she can get me a project. She said if these things happen... will I reconsider. I thought for a sec (should not have) ... but when I ran the montage in my head of all the things that made me do this, there was only one answer... NO. I asked her that I was not given the promotion last time because the management didn’t thought I was ready for it (I know they are wrong) ... and having been on bench for almost 3 months (the time since I stopped working seriously) ... how can I get the promotion ... on what grounds GL will give it ... If I was not good enough 5 months back ... what wonderful things I have done to deserve the promotion ... and why I am being given these options now when I dropped the papers. Obviously she didn’t had any answer ... she asked me alright since you are not happy (!!!) what do you wanna do ? To serve the one month notice or want early release ... I opted for the latter. So 26th it is ... the last official day at GL ... never thought I will bid adieu to the place so soon ... but ... whatever ... you know ... shit happens.

3.5 years may not be a great deal of time frame at one workplace, but if you are an IT person (read IT coolie) in India, it is a lifetime. I made few wonderful friends and I absolutely loved the place for the first 2.5 years ... I don’t think many organizations in Delhi-NCR have such an work environment ... but for the last 1 years... GL has grown too big for its own good. It got big ... and started to act like one. The huge influx of new people has surely changed the atmosphere ... sadly not for good. In addition, the recession made things worse. Anyhow, like they say ... all good things must come to an end.