patience pays...

I felt that my selective amnesia for important matters had struck again when I realized that I had forgotten to send my entry for the T.T and pool matches being held in my firm. On enquiring with the organizing committee members I found out that the slots have been made and there was no scope for any further additions. So for the past few days I have been giving the recreation room a perfunctory visit without any drive to spend the maximum of my office hours there. Never the less I continued my daily jaunts to the rec room.
So today when my friend asked me to join him for a T.T match at the REC room, I never expected that I would get a chance to play in the tourney. By a strike of fortune one slot was empty and the organizer asked if I was free to play in it.Oh boy!!!was I happy to hear that. I said “yes” and there I was against a colleague relatively elder to me. I was happy,in a shallow way,that I had an edge of youth against my opponent. I guess he had other plans.
The first game went in my favor with relative ease and as happens with me always, complacency crept in. I had my chances to finish off the game in the second set but didn’t capitalize on them eventually losing out in the third set. I felt my opponent’s patience of continuing with T.T for such a long time overshadowed my relatively lesser patience of going to the REC room. I have no regrets though, at least I got to play and the crowd was treated to a great game of T.T. It might sound like a loser’s approach, but given the fact that I lost gels with it :).

uDon'tCuDon'tCu...(The ICICI Way)

There are lots of good things about parents and one of the best is that they are nature's "Alarm clocks" for everything.From waking you up early morning to reminding you that the last date for filling up the application forms for the management schools is near, they raise an alarm for everything.So here I was all worked up,after a call back home, about the application forms that I still need to fill up and the demand draft that each institues demands for.So I started with the important thing first...the demand drafts.Now that I'm wiser I figured out that even if your form is not filled properly but you have the demand draft attached to it, you have a very good chance that your form will not be discarded :).So with this in mind I went about with the task of getting the demand drafts done.

The bank closest to my house is the Punjab National Bank.I was a bit skeptical to go there as the image of these banks is that they take a lot of time even for simple tasks like getting a demand draft done.I went to the counter where the drafts are made and the lady there gave me form. I took a minute to fill it up,another minute to give the money and 3 more for the drafts to get done (along with a smile from the lady at the counter) and zoom I was out of there.How wrong was I about these banks.God forgive me !!!

On the way back I figured that I forgot to get one more draft done.So I thought of getting it done at the ICICI branch close to my office.Now these banks are private banks and unlike the public sector banks have a reputation of swift service.So I figured that it should take me max. 5 mins there too.So with full faith in the service of ICICI I entered it.

The first obstacle in my path was to figure out where exactly is the counter for getting the drafts done.The counter names were hanging from the ceiling rather than being mentioned on the counter itself.Voila! there it was the blue rectangular strip hanging in the corner which read "Demand Drafts"...first hurdle cleared...2 minutes.

I went up to the counter and the lady was busy catering to another customer.Even though I have put on weight it seemed to me that the lady did not notice me at all.Once she was through with the customer she threw a glance at me which said "Whats with you moron?"...2 minutes.Instantly my knees went week and I felt as though I was back in school and my teacher was scolding me."What can I do for you?"...flash..I returned to the present."I need a draft to be done for Rs 1000/= & I'm paying by cash",I said."For cash the service charge is 150 bucks and if you have an account with us then its free".

Fortunately I had an account with them and now that I'm wise I decided to save those 150 bucks."You have to fill a D.D form which is kept there" she directed me to a counter which was across the hall.Why can't they have it at the same counter? It still beats me. So I went there,filled up the form and gave it to the lady.I thought it was all done but how was I to know that the most annoying experience was still to come.

The lady said that I had to get a customer dd receipt from another machine which was in another corner of the hall.This machine prints out slips with a serial number on it, I pressed few buttons and there it came 'CHJIX51'.I was all happy that my dd has got an identity now.I took the slip to the lady and what she did with it I will never forget in my entire life.She rolled up the slip and threw it in the dustbin.If this was what she had in mind then why the hell did she make me walk so much?...by the way it was already 10 minutes.What sadistic pleasure would she have drawn by such an action,I need to try it on someone too.

So after another 5 minutes ...total of 15 minutes I was out of there,without a smile and a profound pity for me and the slip'CHJIX51'.I never knew that a simple thing like getting a demand draft done can leave a person with an all time low morale.

Hail Dilbert !!!

Though I might not be as blown up as a polar bear but the advent of winter surely brings out the hibernating best in me. By hibernation I mean indoor recreation.You would have guessed that I would be dead by now considering my dreadful work profile but it wasn't to be.The firm makes sure that people like me don't die,thats why they created the "Recreation Room".So thats where I was for the past so many days.Days and nights passed by playing TT and pool and I'm still as poor in both as I was in the beginning :).
All play and no work makes jack a loafer,so I thought of doing something worthwhile during the time I spend in office.Its said that wisdom comes with experiance,so I started out on a mission to become more wise. I guess I have found the right role model...u guessed it right its "Dilbert".His clarity of thought and immense knowledge of the way in which the corporate world operates will have almost everyone awestruck.So here I was with my mentor and asked him how would have appraised me had he been my manager and here is his response :

"His work may greatly impact the company and such an employee demonstrates the importance of proper recruiting. He has a wide variety of interests and pursuits. His core values show through in his work. Mr. sreenivasan frequently thinks "outside the box". His usefulness to the division is self evident and as an employee, he is a management textbook example. He fully understands the extent of his responsibilities and his full capabilities have only been recently discovered. Mr. sreenivasan handles assignments with unlooked-for creativity."

Isn't that great to hear and this is not that far from reality :D. I was once a productive "Engineer" but the alien creature called the "Manager",who felt such a productive creature will cause him to work more,saw to it that I was slayed by the sword of "Appraisal".So here I'm loitering around and getting paid handsomely for doing so :).

You can have your appraisal done by dilbert at : http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/career/html/questions.html

Enjoy :D...