Who said it rained in Chennai?

chennai rains
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

First it was the quake, then the floods across the country especially in the region below the Vindhyas, now the Delhi and the terrible rain mishap in Andhra. As my Amma would prefer to term it, its the peak of "Kali Yuga". Truly, it seems to be Nature's pay back time.

Setting aside the abstruse topic, lets move to the rains which lashed Chennai city on Thursday. 42 cms on OFD (One Fine Day that is) - which is actually one year's quote for the city completed in one single instalment.

Before we move to the main subject of the blog, first the trivia. We need to name this recent nature's fury (on the footsteps of Katrina, Rita and Wilma in USA). With two mega releases on Diwali , Asin is the sought after actress in Kollwood. Hence Mr Weatherman (not the recent Nicholas Cage movie which is yet to hit India), please refer to the rains as "Asin".

Well if someone had been out of Chennai on Thursday and had come back on Friday, he would have exclaimed as my friend did "Who said it rained in Chennai..I dont believe it". Except for the periphery and the suburbs, the whole city was parched dry the very next day and the very familiar sun was out popping. Just cannot believe that the city can actually get back to normalcy in a day with no signs of rain the previous day.

Guess, the massive and mandatory rain water harvesting drive has yielded rich dividends - the water above the ground level receding super fast and the water below the ground level rising to dizzying heights, unheard of in the city.

"Rainy Chennai"was always an oxymoron. Albeit it was proved wrong for atleast one day.

Anyway, catch you after my "thalai Diwali" (first Diwali after marriage for the uninitiated).

Cognizantised...

CTS
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

If you are wondering what this ubiquitous logo that you get to see a lot if you are a Chennaivasi, is doing on my blog....well I have stepped forward to be Cognizantised...joined CTS (Nasdaq : CTSH) on Monday in marcom function and now getting acclimatised to the new ambience slash work culture..

The best part is yet to come ...I would be stationed at their Cathedral Road office (in the heart of the city) and thankfully not at the IT Highway Development Centre. Old MahabalipuramRoad with its battered - pothole ridden - rain lashed- semi dug up tracks scares the daylights out of every car driver...But then thankfully my Santro and its worn out 3 year old & 35000+ kms traversed tyres are saved from further misery of a gruelling close to 2 hour journey every day....

Good times are here again.....(borrowed from an old cola ad)

Gracias Mr Self Styled Management Guru

arindam c
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

Dear Mr Arindam "Self Styled Management Guru" Chaudhri

Accolades to you for paving the path for India bloggers to enter the hallowed precincts that hitherto American bloggers enjoyed (who can forget how Indra Nooyi's speech at Columbia was thrashed out and the latest one involving the sacking of an American employee for bitching about his employer in his blog).

With IIPM actually retaliating in a major way to the blog postings of Gaurav Sabnis (gauravsabnis.blogspot.com/ 2005/08/fraud-that-is-iipm.html ) and Rashmi Bansal of JAM, Indian blogs seem to finally gather the kind of momentum and eyeballs that the global counterparts were enjoying.

What has elated me in the whole episode is the kind of coverage that the Indian media has been showering and the way in which other bloggers have come to the support of Gaurav.

I do not want to comment on the veracity of the Gaurav and Rashmi expose but personally i do not have great opinion about you and IIPM . But thankfully the whole episode has ensured that Indian bloggers finally come under the glare of the arclight, with more people likely to take up blogging with passion to enjoy their 15 minutes "hall of fame".

Gracias Mr Chaudhri...But I guess you should start toning down the tendor of your advertising on IIPM and also retrace the steps targeted at Gaurav (media reports suggest that he has quit his IBM job to stop the embarassment that his employer was subjected to as your IIPM guys had threated to burn IBM laptops that they have received from the institute before Gaurav's office)....

Just hope you dont read this blog and stand outside my office in TTK Road, Chennai asking me to be sacked..anyways I am quitting from Hutch...

Surya wages war for superstardom with "Gajini"

gajini2
Originally uploaded by theiyer.

As I walked out of the theatre on the second day (night show), I was not quite clear whether it would romp home at the box office - quite the same feeling if you had watched director Murugadoss' earlier directorial venture & Vijaykant starrer "Ramana". But I am stunned that the film has not just got Surya superstardom status but has also proved to be blockbuster hit.

Personally I liked the film for its slick picturisation, an off beat story line, technical finesse especially in the fight sequences (a la Matrix) , tight screeenplay though it started sagging towards the end and not to forget Surya's stunning performance as Sanjay Ramaswamy with able support from Asin as his consort-in-waiting.

Rage of the town seems to be the men's straighened hair look (akin to Sanjay Ramaswamy) and not to forget "Suttum Vizhi" number which is my wife Suchitra's current favourite...She drools every time Surya comes on screen esp in that foot tapping number...

Must admit...Kamal is finally receiving competition from Surya and Vikram...its time for him to make way for the youngsters...

Adios Li Ka Shing

Adios Li Ka Shing.
Its time for me to move on and leave your Chennai mobility operations. I guess it can be attributed largely to this sunrise sector which seems to be taking its toll on people working for it. I am bidding adieu to telecom sector for the second time and this time I am sure that the industry is going to see my back side forever.

But then that does not take away the blame from the management of Chennai operations which made my life even more miserable with its rather rudderless focus of business, resulting in less and less time for personal life. Chaos and chaos all through out.

So I should be shortly moving to the IT Express Highway aka Old Mahabalipuram Road to join one of the IT biggies.

So Adios Mr Shing. Hasta la vista

PS : - I have not mentioned the name of my future employer as things do not happen for me if I talk about it. still emotional on such trivial things. will tell you once i join there.

- Yeah, just read an article on how an employee was sacked in US for bitching about the employer on his blogs. guess I am just telling the truth. check the attrition rate at Hutch in Chennai.