Balaji Ramakrishnan

A colleague in team moving out is a common happening in any work place and all would have seen enough of farewells during such move outs. But movement of Naresh has shaken me to the core. Its difficult to explain the reason, I think I would need a quarter cutting to get out of the un-explainable discomfort. Naresh is such a nice person that he could be compared only with God. It is said that only God will take the form we like. You think Him as Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, Lord Shiva, Infant Jesus, Allah, God is there for you in that form. You think Naresh as a friend, he is there advising you. You think him as drink buddy, he is there accompanying you with drinks. You vent out your frustrations about your job, current family situation, self-personal problem, he is there patiently listening to you and comforting you and motivating you. Feeling of missing such a friend is very hard to digest. I am repeatedly commanding my heart, "Don't be selfish. Your friend is going to get a bet

My manager will make a good OOP professor. "Why are so many details unknown to us? Why are some processes not transparent to us?", I asked my manager. "Often better than not, it is better that few things are hidden from team, for proper functioning of the org. I might have hidden few things because they were unnecessary overhead to you. Why do you want to worry about flow of electrons when fan goes ON with just press of a switch? Leave the worry to us and enjoy the wind. Abstractions are part of every manager's duty and responsibility", replied my manager in his characteristic inimitable style. I was mesmerized, for he made me understand the concept of abstraction, that I was unclear for ages. I had nothing to ask him then, but what I never understood till now was, what did he refer to as 'flow of electrons'? what was the switch? and what was the wind, btw? Managers are tricky people, they are well trained in playing with words and they can get away wit

Our trip to Pollachi was not all that uneventful, despite our bad choice of season. Our challenges started right from planning. Thanks to Raja and Praveena, they did intense googling and meticulous inquiry over phone about places to be visited. They had also booked a room in Hotel Vinayaka for Saturday morning, which was required to get ready to set out on our tour the first day we arrived in at Pollachi (on 23-Mar-2013). We were fortunate that the hotel did not demand extra payment though we were four of us using a single room. I wonder if the hotel would do a similar favour to anyone else in future. Kannan was the first one to reach Pollachi and to the hotel. He had come from Chennai by bus. Raja, Praveena and myself went from Bangalore. I had a ticket in Kurla express till Coimbatore and I utilized it as a cost saving measure, else I would have gone with the other two.  I got down at Tiruppur Junction at around 5:40 am and boarded a government mofussil bus to Pollachi at 6:00 p