Diary 30: Average Day

Yesterday I slept at around 5:30 am after watching the TV episodes. Today I woke up at around 12:15 pm. Since, today was a Saturday, and I knew that Dad would be home, I didn't worry about when the maid would come in. I was relieved when I woke up because I had some horrible dreams during the sleep. Anyways, I started my day a bit differently today. Instead of watching the TV episodes, I started looking at the screens I designed for the site, and tried to look in for resources on net. I even tried a bit of raw coding, but realized that it is too time consuming, and would take ages for me to design something significant. I even started with JAVA today. I took the Sams Teach Yourself book from the office, and installed the required softwares - Netbeans, JEdit etc. I almost completed the things for Day 1. Although I was familiar with the Day 1's stuff, I took my time in understanding each concept. I went through basics of OOP, inheritance, Class, Method, etc. During the middle of the day, I started watching the TV episodes amidst slow internet speed. Anyways, I was multi tasking between JAVA and TV episodes till 7:30 pm. After that I took a bath, and started watching the IPL 2011 Final match between CSK and RCB. Well, the match was clearly one sided. CSK were off to a flyer, and Murali Vijay, who didn't click the whole IPL, scored 95 runs in just 55 odd balls. Everyone contributed effectively, and thus CSK reached a mammoth total of 205 in their 20 overs. RCB's weaponry had only one missile - the Gayle storm, and to their misfortune it misfired tonight. Gayle was out for duck in the first over itself. After that, RCB fell like a house of cards. CSK were perfect in each department today, and truly deserved the title. Meanwhile, we had our dinner, and were ready for another big final - UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona. It didn't take much time to adjust myself from Cricket to Football. Although Barca started on a low note, but they soon picked up their momentum. Man U, who were looking deadly in the starting minutes, were later struggling to keep possession of the ball. Finally Barca defeated Man U by 3-1. Goal scorers were David Villa, Messi, Pedro and Rooney. After that, I started writing this diary. Next I plan to watch the tv episodes and then complete the rest of the Day 1 requirement of the book, and finally sleep by around 4:30 am.

Diary 29: Sleeping Day

Well, yesterday I didn't sleep at all till 8:00 am. One reason was CSI:Miami, but the other reason was that I had to fill in the water in the buckets and bottles, when the water supply started at around 7:00 am. Also, I was worried that I might not wake up at time for the maid servant, which would result in no breakfast and no lunch. Anyways, I slept anyways against my will at around 8 am, and woke up with the bell rings from the maid servant. Then I ate breakfast, and started watching CSI:Miami episodes. I had slept only few hours, and hence was feeling very sleepy but I kept myself awake for the time the maid was working. After she was gone, I watched the episodes for a while, and then slept. I woke up many times in between. This went on till 7 pm. I had skipped my lunch and thus was feeling very hungry then. At around 7:15 pm, Dad returned home from his Delhi trip. Then, I started waiting for 8 pm, as today MI and RCB were clashing in the second qualifier of the play offs. Well, right from the first over, the game turned into the favor of RCB, when Gayle scored 27 runs in 6 balls. RCB kept on dominating the first innings, and reached a mammoth total of 185 in their 20 overs. MI started off well, but couldn't keep up with the momentum. They lost their way in between, and hence lost the game by a margin of 40 odd runs. Few players such as Rayadu, Pollard  and Rohit Sharma were very disappointing. Anyways, after that one of my friends from US called up to brush up the basics of SQL, and also to understand the algorithm to find the longest common subsequence between two gene sequences. I read the algorithm and explained it to her. Then I started looking for Web development tools, so that I could build a prototype of the site we are trying to build, but couldn't find a programming free software. Anyways, I downloaded Microsoft web developer. Next, I watched the TV episodes and then slept at around 6:30 am.

Diary 27: Deployment Day Part 2

Yesterday I slept at around 5 am, and woke up today at around 10:30 am. Earlier in the morning, Dad figured out the cause of power failure. It was the fuse of the inverter, it blew off due to power surge. The remaining part of the code deployment was left, and so we had a webex call at 12:30 pm. I had moved a significant part of the code already, only the database set up was pending along with the workflow connections and the DT projects. So, I started with the work during the call. It went on for some time, and I was enjoying the deployment, mainly because I never had a chance earlier to deploy a code, interact with the client and resolve issues at the first hand. In fact, I never went so deep into informatica. I had a lot of freedom while working, and it made me very happy. Anyways, I passed on the control to Ankit in between so that he can set up his part of the code. He was not at all interested in working today. He wanted to put everything on me. But I have learnt that never work extra and that too for no credit. So, after Ankit was done with the code set up, I executed a dry run, and found some errors with the look up data. I rectified those errors, and loaded my part of the data. It was nice to see everything working now. I again passed on the control to Ankit, and he loaded his part of the data. I didn't get the time to have my lunch, so I had a late lunch at around 5 pm. The work was more or less complete by around 7:30 pm. I realized that the water supply will be there till 8 pm, and so I hurriedly took a shower and filled up all the containers possible. After this tiring session, I relaxed a bit by chatting on yahoo. Also, there was the Eliminator match today between Mumbai and Kolkata. Well, it started with Kolkata in deep trouble with their batting. They were reduced to 20/4. But they recovered somehow with the help of Yusuf Pathan and Ten Doeschate, reaching 147 in 20 overs. Mumbai started off to a flyer. Blizzard and Sachin knocked the balls around at all the corners. Mumbai lost a few quick wickets, but ensured that the required run rate never went up too high. Finally, Harbhajan's six brought Mumbai home at their home ground. After the match, I started working on the user interface screens for FeastHunt. I made a prototype of that and mailed it to the other guys. I wanted it to be simple and straightforward so that people don't get too much intimidated by the look and feel. I may have a call tomorrow at around 7 pm, to discuss all the things in detail. Next, I watched the CSI:Miami episodes, and slept at around 5:30 am.

Diary 26: Deployment Day

Yesterday I slept at around 5 am. Today I woke up at around 10:30 am. Yesterday, I came to know that there would be no water supply for three days. I was already frustrated with the AC thing, and then this water problem. Then, the maid servant came in, and made breakfast. I told her that use as much less water as possible. After that, I started working. And my whole mid day went into fixing issues and working on the changes. At around 5:15 pm, we had a client call where Gotham told us that today we need to deploy the code into their server. So, we will set up a webex meeting and share control over the desktop to copy everything. I had never done this before, and it was a very new experience. Anyways, after that I and Ankit started loading the final data for testing. Meanwhile, the first qualifier match started between CSK and RCB. It was one hell of a match. RCB reached a grand target of 175 in their 20 overs. And CSK somehow managed to make that score, where they also made 58 runs in their last 4 overs, just like Mumbai did against KKR. Back to work, we and Ankit started the deployment. I was controlling the desktop of Gotham. Also, today we were introduced to Girija. She had an awesome voice. I was turned on during the call, and was very much attracted to her. Then, I saw her profile on facebook, and the worlds came crashing on me. I was able to concentrate again on the call, and focus on the deployment part. Well, today was a very bad for deployment. Firstly, there was an important IPL match. Secondly, there was some issue with the electricity in our house. Only one of the phase was working, and luckily it was the phase which controlled the ACs. So, after suffering and adjusting for so long without the fans, I switched on the AC in the children's room. I may get a hearing from the residents below, but I am ready to explain the situation. Today was a tiring day, the deployment call went on for more than 2 hours and that too continuously. After the call, I started writing this diary, and now I plan to watch the CSI:Miami episodes and then go to sleep at around 4:30 am. 

Diary 25: Mixed Bag

Yesterday I slept at around 6:30 am, after work, chatting on yahoo and watching TV episodes. But before that, something amazing happened in the match between Mumbai and KKR. As mentioned in my last diary, it was a completely KKR's game. They made a whooping total of 175 in their 20 overs, and Mumbai lost their way in between the chase. In the last 4 overs, they needed 58 runs. Wickets kept falling, Pollard was out, Sachin was gone, Rohit Sharama out. It was the last over, and Mumbai needed 21 runs to win it. James franklin was the batsman, and Balaji was the bowler. The first four balls went for four!, the next ball a single, and then 4 was needed from the last ball, when Balaji bowled a juicy full toss and it was hit for six by Amabati Rayadu. My god, I couldn't believe it. The game was for KKR till the 19th over, but suddenly all things changed. This is 20-20.
Coming back, I woke up at around 10:15 am, after receiving a call from Ankit regarding the tasks. I was low on sleep, but still I started working on the action items. I also started watching the TV episodes. Meanwhile, the maid servant came in and I had my breakfast. I also chatted on yahoo for the latter part of the afternoon. Then, I decided that I will have Burgers for lunch today. So I called up McDonald's and ordered one medium McChicken value meal, two Veg pizza McPuff, one Chicken McGrill and one McVeggie. It arrived at around 4:30 pm. I had a client call at 5:15 pm, so I had to eat up quickly. The call went just fine. I asked my doubts regarding few issues, and Gotham told us about few more issues and requirements. After that, I had another call, but this time it was for FeastHunt. We discussed a few things, and decided on our action items. After this call, I continued with my work for quite a while. Gotham called me up several times to understand something or the other. I also watched the TV episodes on and off. I also posted a new post on the PostBox - the solution to the bulb durability problem. I had my dinner at around 10:30 pm. There was no IPL match today. After the dinner, I continued working on my tasks, and received many calls from Ankit and Gotham. There were some significant changes coming up and so I informed Gil about the action items, and sent a mail to Gotham. Then I took a shower at around 2:30 am, and started writing this post. I wore the Deloitte shirt after a long time. Next, I plan to watch the loaded TV episodes, and then sleep at around 5 am.

Diary 24: Nothing much

Yesterday I slept at around 6 am, after watching the CSI:Miami episodes, and after being fully satisfied with the work I did. Today, I woke up at around 12:15 pm. I and my dad tried to figure out how to pull the AC out of the box, but couldn't. We needed to attach the pipe at the rear end, so that the water doesn't drop on the AC below ours. After that, I had my breakfast, and checked my work mail. I worked on my task for a while,and then started watching the CSI:Miami episodes. I also checked with my Feasthunt team, and postponed the call to tomorrow as Akshay had to work and Dallas was with the relatives. So, then we had our lunch. There were two good IPL matches back to back today, and I watched both of them. First one, CSK v/s RCB. Well, to start off Chennai were so inconsistent with their batting. They were never settled. They lost wickets very quickly. Apart from Dhoni, who smashed 70 off 40 balls, no one made any impact. Their batting line up was an impulse signal with peak at Dhoni. CSK managed to get only 128/8 in their 20 overs. RCB chased it down very easily. It was getting so boring that I even had a power nap in between the overs. After this match, I watched the remaining bits of the episodes, and then turned back to the IPL match again. This time, it was Kolkata v/s Mumbai. Kolkata batted very nicely and reached a massive total of 175/7 in their 20 overs. Right now, I am watching the chase by Mumbai, but I am not much hopeful of Mumbai winning it. The Kolkata pitch tends to slow down, and hence it would be tough chasing that score. Let's see where the tide turns. Next I plan to have dinner, and then continue watching the TV episodes. I plan to sleep by 3 am.

Diary 22: Frustrating Day

Well, I slept at around 5:00 am, after fighting with repositories and databases. I woke up at around 11:15 am. I checked my work mail, and general stuffs. In a while, the maid servant came in, so I had my breakfast then. After the fight last day, I was determined to move ahead and look into the issues. So, I started working. Most of the mid day was spent understanding their code and structure. There was an issue with one table, which caused a hell lot of problems later on. Anyways, I ate my lunch in between at around 4:30 pm. I didn't have any appetite till then. After that, we had a call at 5:15 pm. In the call, we explained our situation, and came to know that all the action items are to be finished by today. The deadline was ridiculous, and we already knew that it couldn't be met. Anyways, I started working on my action item. I rectified a few things here and there, but the problem with this one table couldn't be rectified. I tried all means, but every time the data failed to load into that particular table. I checked everything in the source xml files, the Informatica mapping, the DT mapping, but couldn't find anything that would cause this problem. This whole time I was trying to figure out the issue, and hence a lot of time was wasted on this. In addition to this, the person on the client side is too inarticulate to explain the issues or solutions. So, everything was haphazard. Ankit was also getting frustrated with his action items. He was facing a version issue. Gotham, the lead on the client side, was calling me regularly to seek updates, and it was a frustrating task to explain a non-technical guy the reasons for the data coming and not coming. Anyways, after lots of debugger sessions, and log search, I finally concluded that the problem is in the final stage where the data gets written to the database table. Meanwhile, I had a quick dinner and it was then that I found out that Mumbai Indians are losing the match against RR by 10 wickets. I was surprised to see the downfall of Mumbai Indians in the recent times. Returning to the work, we had a call with Gil late at night, where he gave us some direction. Using that, I moved on and figured out the root cause. Then, I proceeded step by step and finally reached the horizon - both in reality and in essence of code. It was around 5:30 am, when I mailed them that the problem has been fixed, and it is working now. After that, I slept after watching the CSI:Miami episode. I completed the season 3 today. 

Diary 21: Informatica Day

Yesterday I slept at around 3:00 am, after watching the TV episodes. Today I woke up at 11 am. Firstly, I panicked because I thought that the maid servant went back from the door itself, but I found out that she has not come yet. Well she came in, made the food, cleaned the house and then went away. Meanwhile, I was confused whether we will start working on US time from today or not. Soon, I got a meeting invite for 5:15 pm, and I figured out that it will be from today. I was very much used to the US timings as I sleep late, so I had no issues. I spent most of the mid day time in watching TV episodes. Then I had my lunch, after preparing some rice for myself. Then, today was a historic day for our business plan because we had our first call, and that too a video call. We discussed strategies, and action items, and I spoke a lot with no problems. It made me happy and content, as I was doing something that is mine. Anyways, immediately after this call, I had the client call. It was an average call, where they gave us an introduction into their system. The next part of the day was fully dedicated to Informatica. Even the IPL match between KKR and Pune (Sourav Ganguly) couldn't get any sneaky stares from me during the whole time. IPL commentary was playing the role of background music as I was working deeply into the administration part of Informatica. I had to replicate the client system in our remote desktop. Although I had no experience with that, I was able to do it, and finally start the work. Ankit was frustrated with the timings, and was on his very low on productivity. Anyways, my dinner was the only break during this time. After that, I took a bath to get recharged. A backache was causing problems the whole day, and took its peak at around 1:00 am. I was helpless then, but I somehow fought it. Another fight was going on the informatica side, where I was trying to make a mapping work. It finally worked, but still has some issues related to input files. My dad came in between, and saw me working late. He suddenly offered me a glass of warm milk, and I accepted. I was already very full, but I managed one glass of milk. Then, Ankit gave up on the work, and went to sleep, so I had to send the status mail to the client. After that, I started writing this, and now I plan to watch the loaded TV episode and then go to sleep.

Diary 16: Another Day...

Firstly, I would like to thank the blogger.com for restoring my previous post i.e. Diary 14. The post was important to me, and I am happy to get it back. 

Yesterday I slept very late, at around 5:30 am. I watched TV episodes, and chatted in Yahoo messenger after a long time. I woke up at around 12:30 pm, after getting a call from Dallas. He asked me if I am interested in watching the IPL match between MI and RR this friday, as he had an extra ticket for the same. I agreed despite the high ticket price (Rs. 1250). He will let me know the status soon. After that, I watched an episode of CSI:Miami. I had mentioned about the trouble the AC in my room was giving, and hence today we called up the electronics shop to send someone to look into the issue. They figured out that the problem was with the Gas sensor coil. It got tripped as soon as I switched on the AC. So, they removed it from the circuit so that it doesn't get tripped. Although the solution didn't seem right but they said that it would not affect the working of the AC. After that, I decided to list down the songs which I need to record properly. So, I went through the files and videos in my mobile, and shortlisted 17 of them till now. Let's see how many I can record. Also, before I can record anything, I need a mixer and a new acoustic guitar, which has the electric pick up. After that, I had my lunch at around 3:45 pm. Next, I started watching the IPL match between KKR and RCB. The match was going fine until mother nature opened up the clouds. KKR was struggling with the bat but was showing signs of recovery. After that, I just surfed through the net, and waited for the game to begin. Well, the game began pretty late, and KKR had only 2 overs left. In the end, they ended up with a competitive total. D/L method moved the target by 10-15 runs, and the final target was 102 in 13 overs. RCB started off with a flyer. Gayle blasted the bowlers again, by scoring 38 runs in just 12 balls. He even captured the Orange Cap, and that too in just 7 games. Anyways, after that I dropped off my mom at someone's house for her practice session, came back and took a bath. Then I started watching the next match on the cards i.e. Mumbai v/s Deccan. Till now, Mumbai is in control of the game by picking up 5 wickets and giving away just 77 runs. It looks like Mumbai are going to have a cake walk in this match. Next, I plan to watch the rest of the match, eat my dinner, and then watch the TV episodes till I sleep.

Diary 12: Sourav Ganguly

Yesterday I wrote the Diary a bit early. After that, just a few things happened. One of the major things was that I started a shared blog along with four of my friends (till now three of them have accepted the request). I named the blog "Post Box" for now, and I will share the link to that blog soon. Another news was that of the IPL - "Ganguly going to play tomorrow". I was skeptical this time, as I expected him to play in the last match itself. After the dinner, I tried to sleep early at 12:45 am, but was not able to. I woke up and looked up the train routes  in Harbor line, as I was planning to go to office next day. I slept finally at 2:00 am. I woke up at 9:00 am, and messaged both Sushma and Ankit that I will be coming to office. Then, I went online and had a chat with Gil regarding the salary and also discussed the work for today. It was 10:15 am, and I started feeling lazy. So, I decided that I will not go. Today, I also decided that I will not watch any TV episodes, so I started working immediately. I also posted some blog posts in the new blog, which already has many visitors from India and US. I keep on working on the assignment till lunch, and after that I just waited for the IPL match between Pune and Deccan Chargers to start. Finally, DADA was playing. Pune fielded first and restricted Deccan to 136 in 20 overs. Pune were comfortable in their chase. Sourav came in at number 3, and played a very nice knock of 32 off 32 balls. It was so good to see him play after so long. I like comebacks, and he is the king of comebacks. He hit 3 fours and a six also. Let's see what he does in the coming matches. After that match, I surfed the net for a while, and started writing this post. Right now, there is a match going on between Mumbai and Punjab, and Punjab has had a very good start till now. Let's see how much they can put on the board. Now, I plan to watch the match, and then try to sleep early again, as I need to go to office at least once. I may watch one or two TV episodes of my regular TV series.

Diary 10: Terrible Day

Yesterday I slept at around 3:30 am. Today I woke up at around 11:00 am. I checked my mails, facebook and all. Then, I started watching CSI:Miami. I had to pick up my sister from tuition by 12:30 pm, so I left home and then came back by around 1:30 pm. After that I again watched CSI:Miami for a while. Then, I went to the drawing room to have lunch. Now, something happened, a small fight between my sister and my mother escalated and I lost my temper. I left the table, and went to my room and threw my bag at the door. I was angry because my mother said that someone else wished her mother's day and we didn't, and she started crying. Personally I don't believe in wishing, I believe that everyday is a mother's day, everyday is important, every moment I spend together with my mother is important. But, no one would understand this. I try to teach few things to my mother, rectify those, but the result is that I get the red eye of everyone. Well, I have decided once in for all that I will stop interfering and rectifying others, and just focus on myself. I have many errors to correct. So, the rest of the day I just stayed in my room, and came out only for two occasions - evening Tea and dinner. Lets see how it turns out. My way of interacting and creating memories is not acceptable in this house, so be it. I will just live alone, aloof and take whatever comes my way. Unfortunately, this has become the only truth of my life. No one to talk to, no one to look forward, just me and my brain. Today, I watched the IPL matches on my laptop. First match was RCB v/s Kochi. RCB changed there jersey to green as they are promoting the "Go Green" campaign. Anyways, The match was pretty much one sided, and once again Gayle was explosive. Now, for the next match I expected Saurav Ganguly to play, but Pune didn't pick him for the playing eleven. I was utterly disappointed. I guess the events of the day just brought this up. Nothing went right today. I just wasted my whole day watching CSI:Miami, and thinking about my life at present. Presently, I am watching the match between Pune and Punjab, and it looks that Pune will win easily, as Punjab didn't put up scoring much (just 119). And as I am writing this post, Pune has won it. Now, I plan to watch the loaded episodes of CSI:Miami and then go to sleep at around 1:15 am. 

Diary 9: Nothing much

Yesterday I slept at around 5 am, after watching CSI:Miami. Today I woke up at around 10:45 am. I had no particular tasks to complete. I remembered then that I have to send some documents to NuMantra Technologies for verification purposes. So, I collected the documents from different sources and sent them by 12:15 pm. After that, I started watching CSI:Miami season 2, and continued that till lunch. After I had my lunch at around 3 pm, I continued watching CSI:Miami till 4 pm, when the match between KKR and Chennai was supposed to begin. But I found out that rain has delayed the start, and the match will start at 5. So, I just surfed net, and watched CSI:Miami till 5. Then I started watching the match (I was wearing the KKR T-Shirt I bought yesterday). The match was totally one sided. Chennai started batting but were never able to let loose. They ended up with a mere 114 in their 20 overs. KKR's chase was very comfortable and they were going on nicely, when rains started again. Finally KKR won by D/L method, and ended up with 14 points on the points table. Well, as soons as this match ended, the other was on its way. My mom and dad went out for shopping, and also to bring my sister from the tuition. I started watching the Mumbai v/s Delhi match. Mumbai started off in an amazing fashion, with Blizzard living up to his name, but soon Mumbai lost Tendulkar to a nice in-swinger by Irfan Pathan. I wanted him to play well today to close the gap between him and the orange cap, but unfortunately it didn't happen. Mumbai ended up with a huge score of 178. Delhi's chase was a shame. Sehwag lost his patience as usual. Anyways, Mumbai won the game by 32 runs, and ended up with 16 points on the points table. At dinner, we had pani puri today, and then we dispersed to our rooms at around 11 pm. I also found out that I have been rejected by IIM Indore too, which didn't affect me much. I will inform my parents tomorrow. Next, I watched another episode of CSI:Miami, and then found out that Ganguly will be playing tomorrow for Pune Warriors at Mohali. I am excited about it, although I have no high hopes from him. Now, I plan to watch another episode of CSI:Miami and then sleep at around 2:30 am.

Diary 7: Peaceful Day

Yesterday night, after I wrote the post in the blog, I watched two episodes of CSI:Miami and hence completed the season 1. After that, I just opened up Guitar Pro after a long time, and started composing something which was running in my head. I created only two tracks - Keyboard and Drums, and then slept at around 4:30 am. Today, I woke up at around 9:20 am, to attend the scheduled call at 9:30 am. But there was no call, I guess Gil thought it was better to mail the work than waste time in calls. So, I received a mail at around 10:00 am regarding a new task, which was only assigned to me. Ankit was still struggling with his task that time. I started with my task, cleared few doubts from Gil through chat, and finished the work around 1:00 pm. I was free then, but I didn't send the new task back yet. I planned the delivery in a way so that it seemed that I worked hard today also. So, I decided that I will send one task at 2 pm, and the other at 4 pm. By this time, Ankit had mailed his task. I remembered then that I had to send my resume to Raj as there were openings in Diamond Consulting. So, I just edited the resume to add my present job experience and sent it. After that, I sent the first task at exactly 2 pm. Meanwhile, I had already started watching the season 2's first episode. I had my lunch at around 3 pm, and then at around 4 pm, I sent the next task. I was now really relaxed, and hence watched latest episodes of HIMYM and Gossip Girl. Although there was a match going on between KKR and Kochi, I didn't feel like watching it, and just the scorecard few times in between. At around 6:00 pm, I was feeling really sleepy and so I took a power nap at woke up at 7 pm. I found out that Dad is already home, he has come from his Delhi trip. I checked my mails and found out that there are few changes required, and also Ankit is facing some new issue. So, I looked into both of them, rectified them and then sent a mail to Gil that I won't be available tomorrow morning from 9:30 to 11:30 (I have an interview with Numantra Technologies). He then replied that it's fine, and in fact even offered that we can relax now as most of the work has been done. I was happy to hear that, I really needed some break. Well, after that I started watching the IPL match between Delhi and Deccan. Also, my sister took the internet from me, so I took the laptop to the drawing room where I was watching the match. I took a glimpse of my resume, and then started working on the guitar pro file I had made yesterday. I found out it sounds better without the drums, so I added a bass line and a overdriven guitar track. It sounds good now. The real sound engine of the guitar pro was not working properly anyways with the drum track. Well, about the match, it was probably the  best match of IPL 2011. Deccan were awesome with their batting and made a very good total of 175 in their 20 overs. Delhi started terribly, losing wicket in their first over and soon they were 30/3. It was evident that they were going towards another defeat, but apparently Sehwag had other plans. His strike rate was below 100 at the start and also till the 7th over. Then there was a over bowled by Malhotra, who was playing his first IPL match. His over went for 23 runs. After this, there was no looking back, Sehwag hit sixes at will, and  rode his luck to bring down the required run rate from 13 point something to 6 by the end of 16th over. He got out finally but after a 56 ball 119. After this, he became the orange cap holder also. It was a magnificent knock, even Dale Steyn, who finally got him, personally went and applauded him for his knock. It was like a dream come true. I always wanted to experience such a chase, and who else other than Sehwag would have made it possible. Post match, I started watching the latest episodes of Chuck and House. After finishing those, I started writing this post. I wanted to get my resume printed but there is not a single white paper in the house. So, I will take the older version of the resume with me. Next I plan to just surf the net a bit, and then sleep at around 3:15 am. 

Diary 6: Good Day.. and Life is always about a Good day...

Yesterday, I didn't sleep at 2:30 am as planned. Instead I worked extra so that I can have a comfortable day today. Gil sent a late mail, to give us the information about the morning call, and also tell us about the next tasks on our plate. I was awake and hence started working as soon as I got the mail. I finished a considerable part of that task, and then slept at around 3:30 am. I woke up at around 9:20 am, connected to the internet and straightaway told Ankit that I won't be coming today as I was too tired from yesterday's work. After this, we attended the call with Gil, in which he just re-iterated the contents of the mail and thanked us for our efforts and hard work. The call ended at around 10:15 am. I started where I left off yesterday night, and neither Ankit nor Gil had any idea that I can finish my task off in just few hours. Today, I was relaxed and working at a steady pace, with no hiccups or issues. My brain cells were also firing the synapses in a superb way. I figured out a lot of optimum ways to implements many parts of the solution. I was happy to see how deep I was able to think, and how I have captured the software well, just within few weeks of training, which was primarily on a self-trained basis. In between work, I had lunch at around 2:45 pm and also watched an episode of CSI:Miami. Also, my Dad had to stay an extra day at Delhi because the work was not complete yet. He asked me to pay his SBI Credit Card bill, and so I did. I haven't got the salary for the last month yet, may be because Gil is too busy with the project work that he forgot to transfer the money. On another front, I got my Ad-sense account activated for my earlier blog, but will have to look into details of how it works. Anyways,I completed my task at around 3 pm. But, I didn't stop. I had a quick peek at what was Ankit's task, and I realized that he will surely have a long day ahead, mainly because it would take a lot of time to understand the complex sections which were earlier not his part of the task, and which made yesterday a hell for me. I had already figured out ways around it, but it would certainly take some time for him to acclimatize. Anyways, I knew that there was one more task, so I had a look at it, and started working on it. It was similar to the earlier ones, expect for one part, and so I decided that I would keep the rest of the parts ready. Meanwhile, there was an IPL match going on between RR and CSK. It was an important match for both of them, considering the new format of Qualifiers and Eliminators for the top four teams. 1st and 2nd team play a qualifier, the winner goes to the final, and the loser plays with the winner of the eliminator between 3rd and 4th. It is a good way to ensure that the consistent teams get more chances. Anyways, the match was won by CSK comfortably at the end. Mike hussey tied with Sachin as a contender for the Orange Cap. But later in the day, Sachin takes a lead of 24 runs. I stopped working at around 7:30 pm, and then suddenly I got a call from Shaurin, my ex-colleague. We had a nice chat, and came to know that Amlan is going to Paris to pursue Masters in management course (MIM), which is not a MBA, and is valid only in Europe. We cursed the B Schools for their gruesome admission processes. It was nice talking to him after a long time. After that, I started watching the IPL match between Mumbai and Pune. The match was taking place at DY Patil Stadium, just few kilometers away from my home. DADA was not playing, although he was sitting in the dug out of the team. Well, Mumbai batted first, and although they didn't start off well, they somehow managed to score 160, with some hitting by Keiron Pollard and T Suman at the death. Pune lost a wicket of the first ball of their innings, and they never were convincing enough. Mumbai won the match by 21 runs, and they are again back at the top of the table with 14 points. Today, again for the third consecutive day, we didn't eat home food. Today we ordered the food from a dhaba, which opened recently in our society premises. The food was good, but the quantity was a bit on the lesser side. After that, I logged in to my work mail, and found out that Ankit had not yet completed his task. I was saying to myself - What goes around, comes around. Then I watched few videos on Youtube, and then started writing this post. Meanwhile, I got a message from Gil that tomorrow's call will also be at 9:30 am and also that there is more work on the way, but now I am not that worried as my work is already ahead of what was required. Now, I plan to watch 2 or 3 online episodes of CSI:Miami, and then sleep at around 3:30 am.

Diary 5: Bad Day ! But life is not about a bad day..

Yesterday I slept at around 2:30 am, and woke up today at around 9:15 am to attend the conference call with Gil and Ankit. Today my sister didn't go to school, for no specific reason as such. The call started at around 9:45 am, and we discussed the issues around the code delivered yesterday. There were several mistakes small and irritating, and there were some changes also, which made my day close to Hell later on. The call ended at around 11:00 am. I started with the changes, and then decided that I will keep working from home. I sent a mail this time to Gil to inform about this, as he had mailed Ankit earlier about work from home issues, although I never faced any issue with him in this regard till now. As I went on making changes, I realized that there has been some major changes, which required us to go through each line of code. Those changes led to new kind of problems, and hence I was stuck big time. Also, my sections of code were the complex ones and hence took a lot of time to debug and change. There was supposed to be a call at 4:30 pm, after which I was to mail the updated project, but at around 2 pm I could clearly perceive that I won't be able to complete it. I had a quick lunch at 2:15 pm, and went back to my room. Ankit, with the smaller and easier portion of the code, sent me his part of the project at around 3 pm. I told Ankit then that I won't be able to complete as there are too many changes, and asked him to check whether the quarterly tab is fine as per requirements. To this he said that his part of the code is fine. I was very frustrated already and became more agitated on hearing this, but what could I have done- he is the director after all. At around 4 pm, I took a clever decision, and implemented the smaller portions of the code quickly, without getting stuck at the faulty parts. I did this so that I can tell Gil that only one part of the code is left. Gil came in at around 5 pm, and we had a quick status call, where I explained Gil the situation. He asked me to send him whatever I have done, and so after integrating the project I sent it. I was skeptical about the integration but it went well. After this, I started working with a peaceful mind, as I had no time limitations now. The tides turned the other way, and I figured out a way to deal with the problems ( A marker with marking as begin position was the savior ). I started implementing the solution at around 8:30 pm, and completed it at around 9:30 pm. Meanwhile, I also started watching the IPL match between KKR and DC, and before I speak more about this match, I would like to inform everyone that our very own DADA is finally back. He has been given the offer by Pune Warriors in replacement of injured Ashish Nehra. I can forgive Ashish Nehra finally. Well, we will have to wait and watch when he will be back in action, but let's hope that it is tomorrow. Pune will play Mumbai tomorrow. Back to the match, KKR didn't start that well, but awesome hitting at the death by Yusuf and Manoj Tiwari helped KKR post a competitive total of 169. DC started off very well, but lost wickets in quick succession, and hence were never really stable. KKR won the match by 20 runs, and moved to the first position with 12 points based on the net run rate. Today my sister wanted to order from McDonald's. Given my father has been on an official trip to Delhi, she feels it is safe to assume no one would oppose that. I had few second thoughts about it, but ultimately ordered our usual ( 2 McChicken medium meals,  2 veg pizza mcPuff, 2 Chicken McGrill with cheese - 364 Rs ). So, finally after a tough day with updates and alterations, I was free. I started watching the  next episode of CSI:Miami. I got the confirmation mail regarding the interview for NuMantra technologies on Friday, 10:00 am. I was just looking through the status updates and posts on my facebook page, when I came across this video:

It is just amazing to see that how a video of a Racer in some corner of the world, and at the some other time can inspire you so much. Being the emotional fool, I started crying, well, at least my eyes filled with tears. Given the recent events in my life, I was truly very inspired by this. The background music was so appropriate for this video, I search for it specifically and found out that it was a song named "Forever Reign" by HillSong. I listened to it many times after that. This small event made me change the title of the post from just -"Bad Day !" to the one at the top. My conscious resonated with the thoughts presented in the video, and I learned the same lesson again - the one in the Gita - Do your work, don't expect rewards. Well, after that I started writing this post, and now I plan to watch another episode of CSI:Miami and then sleep at around 2:30 am.

Diary 4: Osama Bin Laden dead? Really ? I am not that sure about it.

Yesterday I slept at around 2:30 am, and today I woke up at around 10:15 am, to attend a conference call with Gil and Ankit. I had already told Gil that I will attend the call from home as I was too tired from yesterday's heavy work. Anyways, the call was just a half an hour call and ended at 11:00 am. In the call, we were assigned some new work which was pretty much simple and straightforward. After the call ended, Ankit told me that we will meet in office. I said that I will leave in a while, after starting the work. Somehow, I got stuck in the starting itself due to faulty schema definition files. I figured out the main problem and told Gil about it. He advised that I make a new project for now, and we can deal with the version problem later. So, I started working on the new project and was on full flow, so I decided that I will continue working from home and not waste any time. Time was flying by and soon it was 2 pm. Ankit had already reached office by 1 pm, but the internet connection at office was giving some problems. Sushma was also online today, since she was back from her one week holiday. Anyways, before Ankit could say anything I told him that I ran into an issue with some files, and hence had to clarify them with Gil, and since I didn't want to waste 2 hours, I stayed back. He understood the point, and afterwards took the updates from me regarding the new task. I had already divided the work between us, again assigning him the lesser portion of the pie (since I want to reap the maximum benefits of the task). I had a quick lunch at around 2:45 pm, and again started working. I completed my part of the new task around 4:30 pm, but then Gil came along with some other task, which unfortunately I had to do, since Ankit had not yet finished his part. So, I again started working. Meanwhile, I also started watching the ongoing IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab online. I was eager to watch this, because it had Sachin Tendulkar. Mumbai was the first to bat, and started off slow, losing the wicket of David Jacobs in the first few overs. But then, Sachin and Rayadu introduced some stability and accelerated the run flow. The commentators today were criticizing Sachin because he was playing slowly, but in my opinion he played very nicely, understanding the slowness of the wicket, and also understanding the importance of his presence on the crease. He also regained the Orange Cap, and made a 45 ball fifty. Mumbai lost few wickets in the middle, but managed to get to 159 their 20 overs, which many people said is not enough as the wicket was good for batting conditions. I had my doubts regarding that. Anyways, somehow multi tasking between work and IPL, I saw the second half right through. Punjab didn't start well, they lost Gilchrist early, and Valthathy was on an all time low, with strike rates nearing 30-40. Punjab was also finding it difficult to make runs, and lost wickets in the middle overs. In the end, Mumbai won by 23 runs, and won back the first position from Rajashthan Royals with 12 points from their 8 games. Meanwhile, Ankit was facing some problems integrating my code with his, and so he sent it over to me to verify, and few manipulations, I was successful in doing that. So, I sent it over to both Gil and Ankit at around 7:15 pm. I was now free, finally, with all action items closed. So, I went to the drawing room and started watching the news. Well, today there was a huge announcement made at an international level by the president of US - Barrack Obama. At 8:30 am IST, he announced that Osama Bin Laden has been killed at Abbottabad, a place in Pakistan, some 50-60 kilometers north of Islamabad. Everyone reacted - the international press, the world political leaders, Pakistan government, Indian government, Indian media, Pakistan media. Most of them focused mainly on two points - Credibility of Pakistan on issues of Terrorism and Praise of US president in capturing the "most deadly" terrorist of the present times. When I saw the news, I was practically laughing at the ignorance and US biased nature of discussion. Very few, I mean, limited to numbers which can be counted by a kid studying in nursery, were actually asking the right questions - Where is the proof that Osama Bin Laden is dead ? Nobody saw any video or photograph. Why was his body buried at sea ? (may be to conceal evidence of DNA etc). Why this happened just in time, when Obama's popularity was on the decline, and was on his way to run for president for the second time?. Well, I need not tell myself why. I pity on those who cannot understand the real motive. People still think Osama Bin laden was the 9/11 mastermind, without asking any questions. This is not just the 10 years from 9/11 to today, the disease has been here for a much longer duration, more than anyone can imagine now. Good luck to the citizens of United States, but they have fooled yet again. Well apart from all this, tonight my mother said that she is tired of cooking. Hence, we ordered food from outside - veg noodles, veg machurian, chicken fried rice and chicken in barbeque sauce. I liked every item other than veg manchurian. Well, I was not much interested in the second match which was being played today between Delhi and Kochi. The epitome is that Delhi performed badly yet again and Kochi were fabulous. I returned to my room, to check my mails etc at around 10:30 pm. I also had a small chat with Gil, who fixed 9:30 am as tomorrow's call timing. I was fine with it, and I informed Ankit also. Then, started writing this post, and now I plan to watch two episodes of CSI:Miami, before I sleep at around 2 am.

Diary 3: Busiest Day in recent times

Yesterday I slept at around 3:15 am, and today I woke up at 10:30 am. There was supposed to be a call that time, but it was postponed to 12:30 pm. Within this time, I had my breakfast, watched some TV (found out that the AIEEE paper leaked, and the exam was postponed by 3 hours) and then started watching another online episode of CSI:Miami. It was 12:30, and so I joined in to the conference call where we were discussing the issues and solutions to that, but suddenly I got dropped off the call because of bad internet connection. I guess there is too much load on MTNL's broadband connection in our society as everyone is home and using the net abundantly. Anyways, this hiccup forced me to kill the tab where the CSI:Miami episode was fully loaded. As expected, the net was working fine after that. I joined in again, and the call started again, but soon Gil's internet connection gave away and he too got dropped off. So, the call ended at around 1:45 pm, and we waited for Gil till 2:00 pm.Well, he never came back, but most of the issues were clear, and hence I told Ankit that I will work on the old version and later copy paste the work in the new version. It was not very late till I realized that the changes and additions are too many. I took a deep breathe and started working. I ate my lunch quickly at around 2:45 pm, and continued working, without a care in the world. Well, soon it was 4 pm, I wanted to watch the match between Rajasthan and Pune, so I disconnected from the net, and took my laptop to the drawing room, with the 42" LCD TV. So, the next 3 hours or so I was multi tasking between work and IPL. Pune performed terribly, after getting a very good start, and somehow managed to score just 143 in their 20 overs. Rajasthan were very patient in their chase, and although Pune tried hard to pull things back, a fabulous innings by Ross Taylor crushed their aspirations into million pieces. This win put Rajasthan at the top of the table, but they have played two games extra as compared to Mumbai Indians. At around 7:45 pm, I connected back to the net, and found that Gil had sent the updated version of the project to us. I downloaded all the required files, and started updating the project with my changes. I was deep down into work, and the time flew by. After sometime Ankit sent his updated part of the project, and told me to update my part of the project there. Meanwhile, there was an IPL match going on between Chennai and Deccan Chargers, and since I couldn't disconnect from the net, I started watching it online. So, again I was multi tasking between IPL and work. Chennai played superbly Today, although they started very slow. They were just 96 in 15 overs, but ended up at 165 in 20 overs with some cruel hitting from Morkel, Dhoni and Raina. Morkel hit three consecutive sixes against Ishant Sharma, and two of them went out of the ground ( 88m, 109m, 114m). Deccan Chargers started off in an amazing fashion, but somehow lost their way in the way. All credit goes to some awesome bowling and fielding by Chennai, who pulled the game back from a crisis situation, and ultimately won it by 19 runs. Meanwhile, I had a quick dinner at around 10:15 pm. After that, I started working on consolidation and verification of the project. There were few errors and bugs on the way, but I fixed those and finally sent the project to Gil. Gil thanked me for my effort and asked me whether a 10:30 am call is fine with me. I agreed, and added that I would take it from home, and then head to office later on. He understood my point and agreed. After that, I took another deep breathe and just relaxed for a while. Then I started writing this post. Now, I plan to watch the unfinished episode of CSI:Miami and sleep by 2:15 am.

Diary 2: Working on Weekend

Today I woke up at 8:15 am to attend the conference call with Gil and Ankit regarding the issues and doubts of previous day. It started at around 8:45am and was an effective call, filled with good discussions and ideas from all sides. The call ended at around 10:20 am, and then I ate my breakfast. After that, it was pretty much work and work. We divided the sections on which we will work and proceeded with that. In between, I also practiced for my performance, often multi tasking between work, practice and online TV series (CSI:Miami). I was very happy with the work today since it was going into the right direction, where I was able to understand everything and getting the complete picture of the project. At around 1 pm, I got a call from Krittika (HR, 2S Consulting), who scheduled the interview on Wednesday morning at Powai office and said that she will mail me the final details. I told her about the change in my profile recently, and also objected on the fact that the position was a Business Analyst position, which is lower than my current position. She agreed and said that the position can be managed based on the interview in addition to the salary. So, I agreed and told her to proceed with it. At around 2:15 pm, I ate lunch, and then again started working on the code. I completed my part of the work till around 5:30 pm, and mailed it to Ankit. I practiced my song again for some time.I was so tired after all the work that I took a power nap till 6:15 pm. Then I watched the ongoing IPL match between Kochi and Delhi, which Delhi won due to some good hitting by Sehwag (finally a win for Delhi). I then went for Bath and got ready to go to the function, with my electric guitar and amplifier too, in case they don't have good speaker facilities. On the way to the place, we found out that the venue has changed, and hence there was a tense moment, but was soon resolved with few phone calls.Well, the first slot was alloted to me, and I was told that I can perform 4-5 songs. There was hardly any crowd but it didn't disappoint me since this performance was important for me in a different perspective. Anyways, the show started at around 8:30 pm, I performed four songs in all - Mitwa, Soniyo, In Dino, Teri Deewani.I couldn't perform the last two songs very well because my throat dried up, and I was finding it difficult to pull my voice up. After an overall average performance, I came back home. Also, my sister had come from tuition around that time, and she went along with my father back to the function. At home, I started watching the ongoing IPL match between KKR and Punjab. Punjab were able to reach only 119 in their 20 overs, which KKR chased down very easily, taking KKR to the top position on the points table based on net run rate. Mom, Dad and sister came back at around 10:30 from the function, and then we had dinner at around 11:15 pm. Meanwhile, I loaded another episode of CSI:Miami, and checked my mail for any updates from Ankit or Gil. Also, I checked the news that south east coast of US has been hit by around 200 tornadoes over the last few weeks, causing great destruction all around. After having my dinner, I mailed a few other documents to Ankit, and then at around 12:00 am, took a short conference call to discuss the issues and problems. After that, I started writing this post. Now, I plan to watch that loaded episode of CSI:Miami, and then sleep at around 2:30 am. 

DLF IPL 2011: Match 33 (DD v/s KKR)

Frankly speaking, this match was not Kolkata v/s Delhi. It was more of Delhi A v/s Delhi B. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, both originally from Delhi, were playing against each other this time. SRK was also present there, who again is born and brought up in Delhi, now lives in Mumbai and is the owner of the IPL team from Kolkata- interesting. Well, another feature to look out in this match was Irfan Pathan v/s Yusuf Pathan. Unfortunately, they didn't face each other's bowling or batting, but Yusuf Pathan was caught by Irfan Pathan at long on. 

The match started off slowly, with Irfan Pathan showing some amazing skills with in-swingers. He ended up being the most economical bowler of the match with a crucial wicket of Jacques Kallis ( 4 overs 16 runs 1 wicket ). KKR's batting was pretty much ordinary and not living up to the strength on paper. Manoj Tiwary was the only one who made an impact with 61 not out, leading KKR to 148 in their 20 overs. I really liked Irfan Pathan today, he surely reminded me of the time when he took that hat trick against Pakistan in a Test Match. He was able to swing almost every delivery. Morne morkel had to bear to burnt on the other side with 42 runs in his 4 overs. Everyone was skeptical with the score, but nonetheless it was competitive enough.

Delhi's batting started off well, but they lost Warner early. Sehwag was looking in good touch, before hitting an awkward short ball to fine leg for an easy catch. The middle order was never very stable, and crumbled very quickly, reducing Delhi to 85/6. Venugopal Rao did what he does best - reviving the innings. His fours and sixes almost led Delhi home, but the wickets kept falling at the other end. After Venu got run out by some fantastic athleticism shown by Brett Lee of his own bowling, there was no ray of hope left. Kolkata won the match by 17 runs, which brought them to the second spot with 8 points, again behind the mighty Mumbai Indians. 

DLF IPL 2011: Match 32 (DC v/s KTK)

Now, there are few moments which are bound to be captured. Especially, when you see the best bowler in both ODIs and Tests being hit to boundaries and on the contrary, the bowler with the lowest skill set possible - Ishant Sharma, has picked up 5 wickets in just three overs. I never thought of writing about this match after I saw the first innings. Deccan Chargers, as usual, were not able to deliver anything special and ended up with a very average score of 129 in their 20 overs. I was pretty much sleepy throughout the innings, with usual stuff going around. 

I was just bored with CSI:Miami episodes, when I went to the other room to sneak a peek on the score-card. Within those few micro-nano seconds, I believed the score to be something like 25/0, 15/0 or at worst 20/2 etc. But, I couldn't believe my eyes and was about to pinch myself when I saw bottom left corner of the TV screen. It was 6/5. Now, when you know Dale Steyn is there in the bowling attack with likes of Ishant Sharma, Manpreet Gony etc, I would expect it was him who ruptured the Kochi balloon. I was just out of one shock, and I suffered another blow when I came to know it was our very own Ishant Sharma. Yes, the same bowler who was hit for the maximum number of fours in the previous season. The same bowler who was the perpetrator behind KKR's most of the loses. His figures were 5 wickets for 6 runs in 3 overs- Incredible indeed. 
There is nothing more to speak of after 6/5, but I am amazed by Ravindra Jadeja's effort under those conditions to prevent an early collapse of the whole batting. Not only this match, he has transformed himself very nicely in this new season. After seeing his own team mates lifting the precious cup few weeks earlier, he has realized the importance of his form in IPL. Even, few of the notable commentators were praising his shots and confidence oozing out of each shot. He certainly has developed some muscles under the skin. Kochi were bowled out for 74, a good recovery from 6/5 and 11/6. This loss would hurt Kochi both point-wise and net run rate wise, especially when so many teams are tied at the same points. This season may soon, turn out to be a race of run rates. We just need to wait and watch, where the tide turns in the coming matches.