Whats up with Whatsapp? Part-19

‘Hi Rasika’ greets john
‘Hi John, so is this the time to come office?’
‘i stretch till late night’
‘Hmmm.. y stretch, instead u can come early na?’
‘Good point.. but leave that..So u were talking to ur boyfriend is it?’
‘Huh??’
‘I overheard ;-)’
‘No, he is just a …..’
‘Oh then your to be boyfriend??’
‘Hey shut up, he is a guy whom my parents have chosen for marriage, so we are just in the getting to know phase, if everything goes well then i can give some name to this relationship, else no meaning for this, so i was hesitant on wat to tell abt him’
‘So you like him?’
‘I have not come to any conclusion’
‘So how u met him?’
Rasika tells the entire story that had happened as they walk back to their cubicle.
They reach Rasika’s place, so they stand there…
‘ok best of luck, do tell me the updates wen u find time’
‘For gossip??’
‘Hmmm… just to know if i can get marriage food in the near future’
‘For that i will get the costliest meal from any hotel u prefer, y wait for my marriage’
‘Ha ha ha’
They both laugh and John leaves for his place.
Rest of the day goes working on critical issues. In between she sees msg from Pranav , but does not reply as she is busy with her work. Rasika get the late night cab to her house so finally when she gets into the cab she replies
‘Just got into cab, very tired’
She puts her handsfree into her ears and listens to her favorite songs and enjoys the cold breeze through the window.She rewinds the things that has happened over the past few days with Pranav.
‘Madam you are the last, where should i drive?’Interrupts the driver
She tells the route to her house and reaches home.
‘Ya it happens,that’s y they pay you’ replies Pranav.

These regular conversation goes for a week.They wake up to each other message and sleep after saying good night to each other.One day Rasika reaches her office too early.She dials his number from office landline.

‘hello’ answers Pranav
‘Hey hi, Rasika here, this is my office desk no.’
‘Dont you have any work in the office, u call me this early’

The conversation continues….

After she cuts the call she goes into a deep thought of analyzing if she could take things further

‘Morning’ Rahul greets her..
she replies with her smile.Half the day goes without much work.Suddenly at 12 they get a production issue. Rasika takes the responsibility of finding the Root cause and providing a fix for the issue.She struggles and toils so much before she could provide a fix for the bug.Around 4 she takes her lunch box to food court to finish.

‘Good job Rasika..so late lunch is it?? Oh ya i get it.. Hmmm.. thank you for taking the ownership for the bug and providing the fix’
‘Its my job Rahul’
‘Ok have your lunch in peace now, i dont want to disturb u, take care’

Half way eating ,she meddles with her mobile and finds few msg from Pranav.
‘Ya tell me Pranav, just saw ur msg’
‘Wat doing?’ instantly comes a reply from Pranav
‘Having Lunch’
‘Oh hmmm… ok.. Can we meet this weekend??’

Rasika types ‘Yes’ then types ‘No’ then erases and thinks….

‘Confused??‘ pings Mr X to Rasika

To be continued…

Disclaimer:This is a piece of my own imagination, any resemblance to real life incidents in coincidental

Whats up with Whatsapp? Part-18

Rasika wakes up early the next day without sound sleep.

‘Ma, i will have lunch in office saying this she leaves the house.

Its a cold rainy day,she waits in the bus stop watching the rain drizzling, and the wind blowing.Sometimes the cold rainy weather is all that is needed to soothe a troubled soul.Her office bus comes , she takes the bus and reaches her office listening to slow songs.

‘Morning Rasika’ says Rahul

‘Hi Rahul, gud morning’ 

‘We have a call at 10, i will include u as well in the invite, u join so that u will get a grip of whats happening in our team.

‘sure Rahul’

She tries joining the call from her extension, but unable to,also finds none beside her cabin till 10.She tries to ping John through office communicator, he is also offline, so she goes to Rahul’s place to join the call.

‘Rahul ,i am unable to join call from my extension, so i came here’

‘Its ok, we will go to the meeting room , there will  be too much of noise here’

So they both walk together towards a meeting room, with Rahul carrying his laptop.

‘I dont see anyone in today, its already 10 na?’ says Rasika

‘Ya, girls beside your cabin are on planned leave for the long weekend, john will always be late to office’

‘Oh ok’

The call starts at 10 sharp, with some much to discuss and argue the call continues till 12.Finally at 12 the call ends.

‘Rasika , u may leave, i will send this email and come to my desk’

‘Oh, its 12, ok let me go to the food court, else it will be crowded by 12.30’saying this to herself Rasika goes to the food court

She orders food and eats it alone in one corner of the food court.

‘Oye’ Pranav pings

‘Ya’replies Rasi.

Oh shit i replied, sometimes lonely time is when we message people which we regret seconds later.

‘Whats up? u have been quite for a while’instantly replies Pranav

‘Oh, i was busy’

‘Hmmm… ok i believed’

Rasika ignores the message and continues to eat.She washes her hand and open the door of the food court to walk towards her building, but to her surprise when she opens the door she sees lot of people waiting outside in the shelter as it is raining.

‘Had lunch?’ comes a voice from behind

She turns back to find Rahul standing behind her.She gets partially wet because she is standing just at the end of the shelter, so they both move through the crowd to find a suitable place so that they dont get wet.

‘So had lunch?’ Rahul asks again

‘yes, u?’

‘Ya, i too had’

Silence prevails for a while, then she breaks the silence ‘I should have brought an umbrella to food court, i have it in my desk’

‘hmmm oh i c, but i love watching rain, sometimes that’s a relaxation i get amidst all the pressure’

‘Ya, dat is also true, i also love watching rain, but i like getting drenched too,i am not doing it here cz i have to go and sit in AC ‘

‘Ha ha ha i understand’

They have a formal not so exiting conversation on the professional,academical front.The people in the crowd move here and there making the environment not so comfortable.This in turn gives an accidental magical touch between the two.The two refuse to acknowledge the touch, nor move apart to avoid the touch.

After a breif silence Rahul interrupts that he saw Rasika in a coffee shop without mentioning that he saw her with a guy.

‘Oh is it, i was with Pranav that day’Replies Rasika

Though intrigued to ask who Pranav is, Rahul restricts himself to be formal.The rain stops and also the conversation comes to an end.

‘Come lets go its only drizzling.’

The two walk towards their building, take the lift and reach their desk.

‘So had lunch?’ Pranav pings 

Rasika comes online but ignores the message.So Pranav calls Rasika, she doesnt pick up the call as well.

‘Come on Rasika, i know u will be a bit hesitant to meet my parents and my parents will feel odd if i keep talking to u over phone without them meeting u, so i had to do this, i know u r angry on me, but this is how it is’

‘Wat this is how it is?Dont u feel we should come to a conclusion on how we take this forward before making the families meet?’

‘I liked the first day i saw u, dat is all is required for me to make my parents meet u’

‘I just want my parents to meet the gal i liked, dont make it complicated’

‘who is making things complicated? u or me?’

Phone rings, its Pranav and Rasika now picks up the call..

‘Hi Rasi’

‘i am not making things complicated, u r making things complicated by involving our parents’

‘Ha ha ha, so u are talking from the point we left over the msg is it? now since we are fighting and u have a point to prove that i am wrong u picked up the call, without even telling hi u r scolding me, poor me,’

‘U r poor huh’

‘ya of course.. i am poor innocent boy who is trying to calm u down..i just wanted u to pick up the call and talk to me, may be i am making things complicated , but i wanted my parents to c the gal i liked , i also wanted to meet the beautiful u again so i had to do that.. sorry :(… pls dont scold me’

Rasika cannot handle flattering words on face.So the intensity of the fight cools down and finally changes into a light hearted conversation

‘Ok Pranav Byee, i have to go in’ saying this Rasika cuts the call..

Rahul overhears the last sentence as he walk past her in the corridor……..

 

To be continued…

Disclaimer:This is a piece of my own imagination, any resemblance to real life incidents in coincidental

 

Happy birthday Singapore

I am an Indian, i love my country and i am proud of being an Indian.But 2014 was a crucial year for me, a year i was questioning myself, my identity , my strength, my belief and my core values.It was a time when i was not in peace personally nor was i getting job in India despite having an engineering degree with IT experience because i had a carrier break of less than a yr due to my marriage.There was  lot of frustration, anger , feeling of helplessness within me that i was dealing day and night.On the other hand my husband had shifted from Malaysia to Singapore and amidst lots of painful events i was waiting to come to Singapore.It was also a time when many people around me wearing the mask of well wishers just wanted to see how my life was going to take its path.I know their intentions yet i refused to react….

Finally i reached Singapore with zero expectations of having any growth or happiness in my life.I was like a dead meat whose ambitions, dreams and image had been crushed without any mercy due to many life events.I had heard a lot of positive things about Singapore from people around me back in India, but nothing went into my head for i was not interested in anything. I dont know if the stars of destiny looked at me or my virtues of past life ,took control when i reached this country,but things started changing slowly  and finally life took a ‘U’ turn when my husband agreed on me working and i got a job here in Singapore.This job helped me in building  good memories over bad, got me back my respect, my confidence and most importantly peace.I have had moments of bliss, gratitude and tears of joy in this country.This country had helped me in fulfilling many of my dreams even if it was as simple as getting a chocolate on my own money.I had traveled alone in taxi with a sense of security even when i did not know the route properly because i trust the people of Singapore.My husband and I have walked  on streets @ 12 in the night without any fear because we know we are in Singapore.I am greatly indebted to Singapore for helping me find myself again.I was reborn here again.I know life is always full of hardships, but the positiveness that this country gave me will be remembered for years to come.

I know many people out there will also have gratifying story for this beautiful country.So here is wishing Singapore Happy 51st Birthday.I always believe what u give shall come back to u one day.Singapore had given me so much to cherish and i know i will give it back to this country through my incarnations.

Majulah Singapura!I LOVE YOU SINGAPORE!!

 

Whats up with Whatsapp? Part-15

‘Hi this is Rasika, hope u know me’

‘Hmmm sorry’

‘My parents gave me your no. and…’

‘Oh ya now i got you’

‘Hey hi, i am Pranav’

They get into the first formal introductory conversation for a while.

‘Ok Pranav, nice talking to you, its getting late…’

‘Sure Rasika,it was nice talking to u too..Take care bye… ‘

Saying this he cuts the call

‘Ma , Pa I spoke to him’

They get exited and wait for her reaction.

‘Ok go ahead, so???’

‘What so, u wanted me to talk so i talked,thats it… i am not interested in marriage now’

‘Dont talk like that Rasi, u must get married soon, u go and meet him once , then we will decide, he is a well settled guy, he has no sisters, he is the younger son, not much responsibilty, he also works here only’

‘Ma, just because he is well settled and has no sisters i cant marry him, stop talking abt this now, ‘

The conversation intensifies and Rasika picks up a quarrel with her mom. ‘Leave me in peace Ma, i am sleepy’ Saying this she goes inside her room and bangs the door.And her parents quarrel outside abt her.Rasi doesnt get sleep and so she browses through her lappy for movies/songs to watch.Half way through she falls asleep.She wakes up as the daylight reaches her eyes through the gap in the curtain.

‘Good morning ma, good morning pa’

‘good morning  Rasi’Her dad wishes,she gets no reply from her mom

‘Ma sorrieee ma..Give me coffee ma, have u got filter coffee powder, i miss your coffee’

‘Haah,for all this u will need me.. u have a long tongue, i know abt u and i have it for you, wait i will get u coffee’

Saying this her mom goes inside the kitchen, boils milks, pours the thick decoction inside a cup, adds sugar and finally pours the hot milk in the cup.The aroma of the coffee reaches the hall.

‘Ma u are simply superb, its been so many days i have had this kind of coffee’saying this she sips the coffee

‘Yay, thats because u dint come to chennai itself, we called u so many times, when have you listened to what we tell’

‘Ma, pls dont start, i am fed up’

‘U and ur Dad both will be frustrated on me only, u guys get angry on me, i am only a scape goat’ saying this she weeps,she also takes her pallu to wipe tears from her eyes

‘Ma, dont cry, y are u crying now? i have just come out of a lot mess in my life, pls understand’

‘U must also understand us Rasi, we are worried abt your future,its time for you to get married’

The arguement continues.. suddenly her mobile beeps.. in between the arguement, she sees opens her whatsapp

‘Can we meet today or tomorrow if you are free?’ reads the message

When Rasika opens the message, her mother also reads the message

‘Haaah… see i also told the same thing once u go and meet him na then we will decide’

‘Ma, pls dont force me’

‘Rasika pls just go and meet him, i dont expect anything from you’

After lot of persuasion, finally Rasika agrees to meet Pranav

‘Ok, lets meet today evening’replies Rasika

Instantly he comes online and types

‘Sure, when and where?’

They decide and plans to meet at 5 in a coffee shop

‘Ma, i am meeting Pranav at 5 today’

‘Okie :)’ she replies with a smile

Rasika gets ready in a red top and black leggings, wth free hair.She doesnt put any make up , yet she glows in her own natural way.Pranav reaches the coffee shop on time.Rasika arrives late as every gal in the world ;-).

They meet and shake hands……..

 

 

 

 

 

Whats up with Whatsapp? Part-14

After a weekend its a boring gloomy monday morning
The door bell rings.
‘OMG is it 6.30??’ rasika half awake looks for her mobile to snooze the alarm.
‘WTF its only 5?? then wer is the sound coming from?’
The door bell rings again..
‘Door bell?? at this time?’
Rasika tip toes to the hall and peeps through the hole to c who it is.To her surprise she finds her parents standing out.
‘Maa Paa??!!’ Rasika opens the door perplexed.
‘Y did u come?i mean how ? for what?’
‘Rasika u dont even want to let us in and posing so many questions??’
‘Come in come in …’
‘Hahh u have become so thin.. do u eat properly?? OMG c the hall .. full of unfolded clothes.. c the floor.. dont u sweep regularly?’
‘Ma stop this, i m sleepy, i am going back to bed.There is nothing at home except cornflakes for breakfast, u only have to buy groceries and veggies if u have to eat at home’
‘Look at u, how irresponsible u r.. i dont know how u r going to manage a house after marriage.. u are going to get screwed by ur mother in law.They are going to question me only for bringing u up like this.I am very worried. Pls be responsible’
‘Ma, early morning dont start, i am going to sleep, wake me up at 6.30, i have my bus at 7.15’
Saying this Rasi hits the bed.
After an hour she gets up and gets ready for her office.
‘C u mom dad’
She boards her bus and reaches the office.
‘Good morning Rasika’
‘Hi john, good morning, its been a week since i saw u’
‘Ya i fell sick and was on leave’
‘Oh k, so how are u now?’
‘I am gud now’
‘ok :)..’
‘So how did last week go?’
‘Boring, i just went through some PPT’s’
‘Oh wat PPT?’
‘Here c, these’
‘Ok, then let me ask u some questions from that to c if u really went through or u were sleeping’
‘John, y? 😦 ‘
‘Haha just kidding’
‘Ok Rahul has asked me to give KT(Knowledge Transfer) on some modules that u would be working on’
‘Oh k fine’
‘Come to conference room, we will have our session there’
‘Ok :)’
The session goes for an hour.

‘Ha that’s it for the day, i am done’ says John
‘Hmmm… ok’
‘any doubts?’
‘no’
‘So u dint understand anything or u understood everything?’
‘No unless i myself work on this i will not get doubts’
‘Hmmm valid.. So how r u finding the project, work environment, colleagues in this company’
‘I dont know anyone except u and Rahul’
‘Is it?? wat ant the gals who sits in ur cubicle?’
‘They hardly acknowledge me’
‘Haahhh, thats gud, then friends?’ saying this John extends his hand to Rasi to give a hand shake
‘What??’
‘If those girls have not acknowledged u, then u are my friend’
‘Haann??!!!’
‘Chill, u will get to know abt them soon’
Rasi kills time rest of the day doing nothing fruitful.Evening when she reaches home, the aroma of her favorite food comes as she opens the door.
The house is cleaned and arranged.
‘Mommmmm thanku :)’
‘Dear fresh up, lets have dinner, had made ur favorite food’
‘Yaa, i know, good aroma fills the air’
Rasi refreshes quickly and sits for dinner.
‘Its been a long time since we all sat together for dinner’
‘yes mom, i miss ur food’

Rasi and her parents eat dinner and chit chat on old nostalgic memories.
‘Rasi , we had come here to discuss about your marriage’ Rasi’s father interrupts
‘What?? y all of a sudden? wats the necessity?’
‘U r 25, and its high time we atleast start searching a guy for u’
‘Daddd Noooo’
‘Rasi listen to us, we had created an account in a matrimony site some time back and we got many requests which did not materialize due to many reasons, but last week we got a request from one family wer the horoscope had matched perfectly and they want u to meet the guy’
‘Mom this is radiculous’
‘How can u do it this way?’
‘Stop arguing Rasi, just listen to us this time, i will give u the guy’s mobile no. just talk to him today and c, if u dont like no issues, we will not proceed, but we want to start searching for a guy so that atleast by next yr we can get u married’
‘Mommmm…pls no, dont do this 😦 :(‘
After an hour of arguements she notes the no..she hesitates to call but finally calls.The ring goes and the phone is picked.
‘Hello…’ a voice answers.

Whats up with Whatsapp? Part-13

Rahul continues with his explanation and Rasika patiently listens.

‘So clear now?’ Rahul asks
‘Ya :)’

After a while she sees three girls filling the vacant seats. They give a weird look seeing Rasika but continue to do their work.
Rasika goes through the remaining PPT for the rest of the day and then packs home.

She reaches home tired, eats her dinner and then hits her bed.

Morning she gets up and takes her office bus and manages to grab a window seat.
Its early morning and the breezy atmosphere makes her doze off.
‘Good Morning Rasi, Have a nice day’A text from Mr.X.
‘U look gorgeous today’
Rasi wakes up with these messages in the Bus.

‘Is it?’Replies Rasi
‘Ya’
‘How do you know?’
‘cz i am near you always’
‘Wer?’
‘Everywhere’
‘Stopping playing with me, i am not going to reply you after this if you are not going to tell me who u are’
‘I told you, i will sort things out and then reveal my identity na?’
‘No, tell me your identity first’
‘Hahhahh… u replied c..Ok Rasi carry on, will msg u later’

‘Haah he is really an idiot, is he God or wat to sort out all my problems,i am not going to msg him after this’ Rasika mumbles to herself

She goes to her seat and find the girls already in their places giggling and laughing
When she enters they stop their talks and gives her a look.She quietly walks to her place.She starts off her day with the PPT’s again as she has nothing else to do.

‘Good morning girls’she hears Rahul’s voice.She turns back and sees him talking to those girls.He introduces Rasika to the three girls.The girls welcome her formally.

A week passes by without much work for her at office , Friday finally comes and she packs home.She puts her favorite music on her mobile and boards the office Bus.Suddenly she remembers Mr.X and realizes that its been few days that he had messaged him.Yet she ignores typing him a msg.She reaches home and makes her dinner , eats and hits bed.

Meanwhile in Chennai, her parents decide to visit her in Bangalore.

‘Good Night Rasi, All your problems will soon come to an end, Be practical and not emotional in your decisions cz you have to make wise choices soon’Reads a msg from Mr.X

 

8 Stressful things about IT

All jobs have their share of hiccups.I had been working for IT , so i can pen down the day to day scenarios where we feel stressful In IT.

1)Client Calls on a Friday Evening: Any calls in IT has tension, stress and quarrels to be sorted out, if that’s on Friday it becomes even more unpleasant.

2)Production Issue:When a bug is found in the production environment it becomes the talk of the town and requires immediate fix even if it is midnight.

3)Weekend-support:The two enjoyable days of the week become more tiresome when we are asked to work on weekends.

4)Meeting deadlines :Although deadlines are postponed,they almost scare us to death because the same stress would continue till deliverable are delivered on par the next deadline.

5)Work from Home:Though it may sound as a boon, it has its trick to be a burden.

6)Team meeting:Meetings are either waste of time or a time to get blasted, in either ways it is bothersome.

7)Documentation: It is necessary to document, but documentation becomes the only tedious work sometimes although they are least gone through by anyone.

8)Release:Project release is what we would have worked hard for, but when the project is live we would be under tremendous pressure to meet the expectation of the client

Have you felt the same??

Whats up with whatsapp? Part 12

‘Come to my cabin’ says Rahul and Rasi follows him.

He explains about the project and also tells about the module they are currently working.Her mobile vibrates and it is the reply from Mr.X, When she tried to look into her mobile, Rahul caught her medling with her mobile, ‘Later pls’ he says

‘Sure , no probs’

After a while the discussion with Rahul comes to an end.

‘I will send you some self explanatory slide shows through ur mail id, BTW u have not received your id na?’

‘Yes not yet got’

‘Ok, then will send you in IP-messanger, u can go-through them for the day , Ur work location is the 1st seat to the left’

‘Thanku Rahul :)’

Saying this Rasi marches towards her place.To her surprise she finds only vacant chairs beside her place. and gets disappointed.With no one around, she goes through the boring PPT and yawns horribly. Suddenly a voice interrupts.

‘Hey u r the new joinee to our project na?’

‘I am John, had been in this project since a fresher and as well your trainee’

‘Yes..Hi John, Nice meeting u,I am Rasika’

‘Nice meeting u too, the first few days will be very boring,  then u wont get time to feel bored in this project, so enjoy now’

‘ok :)’

‘Coming for coffee?’

‘No not feeling like having coffee’

‘Ok then carry on, will catch u later, going for coffee breakkk ;-)’

‘Sure , c u’

Rasika continued with her PPT, but the thought that she declined going on coffee went through her mind now and then, and she was not sure if the way she behaved was correct.

‘So now happy?’ .It was a message from Mr.X

Seeing the current new msg vibration she remembers that she has not seen the reply for her last question.She scrolls through the message to find a reply which read

‘Me only, who else ;-)’

Seeing this msg she smiles :).

‘Ya kind of, but tell me atleast your name na?’

‘Call me Dal’

‘Mr.X is fine’

‘Clever girl’

‘Hmmm’

Rahul crosses her work location.He is very handsome,fair guy in his early 30’s, with a french beard.He is witty in his talks and classic in the way he carries himself.Her eyes gets stuck on Rahul,she looks at Rahul for a long time , that he actually notices her looking at him.

‘What?’ asks Rahul

Feeling embarrassed of what to reply, she replies ‘Doubt’

‘Ok, hold on a sec, coming’

The time he delayed coming to her desk,Rasika uses it to scribble something on her notebook and prepares a few questions.

After a while he comes to her desk, ‘Yes Rasika’

She interrogates him with a doubt, to which he patiently explains.While coming close to Rasika, he experiences the mesmerizing smell of her perfume, her hair tucked behind her ears and her beautiful skin tone.He becomes oblivion to the world around them, but suddenly comes back to senses when she calls out her name loudly.

‘Rahullllll’

‘Ya ya,head ache’and he continues with his explanation.

Disclaimer:This is a piece of my own imagination, any resemblance to real life incidents is coincidental