the end of the road @ intertouch

its been an eventful 2+ years, and this happens. i’m now free of thinking of another excuse to sleep the morning off and go to work late. no more headaches and heartaches. no more grouchy bosses, and no more spending a bomb on parking and traffic offence tickets. but there will be some things i’m going to miss from intertouch. and i have a list here.

1. My colleagues at CAM – Simply the best i’ve worked with in terms of flexibility and dedication. MAny a times, i may have been looked as a complete bufoon, but i think i brought some form of humanity in here. what ws once a melting pot for mental breakdowns, it just shows that with a little bit of love, and to treat your colleagues, especially people who are going to work for you, with a little bit of respect and understanding, will go a long way. thank you, to all @ CAM.

2. Helpdesk colleagues – i started my adventure here. it was accidental, that i found the company by chance. indeed, i was looking for a career change, but coming to helpdesk support, to assist customers over the phone? man, that was wicked! and fun! i made alot of $$$ and most importantly, friends. and a career in managing people. many thanks to the people who saw the potential in me, although, i have to admit, at times, i was the firebrand here, but that didn’t stop me from putting in my whole there. gonna miss you guys from the bottom of my heart.

my cubicle – so far, the biggest i’ve had. i had a whole quarter to myself, that means, endless piles of files and documents, just the way i like it! the more chaotic it is, the better. well, at least, it shows that i’m at work. or something like that.

the iMac – ’nuff said. i’m getting one. anyone with spares?

driving back to work and home with sukhu – ah, truly spiritual sessions. and not to mention the numerous times i had to speed off when sukhu manages to lure a girl’s attention by wolf whistling!

many more to list. the more i do, the more sadder it becomes. intertouch has been a great place to work, sans some of the idiots that i had to put up with. but there are also people who really cared for integrity and honour. these are the people i’m truly going to miss working with.

back home now. i’ve been officially nominated as “BEST PART-TIME UNEMPLOYED BUM OF THE YEAR”. have to work on reclaiming my award last won almost 2+ years ago……

2/4 most important women in my life

Another one of my older posts on Friendster Blog… 🙂

I’ve just had a wonderful weekend. well, not exactly the weekend that i had in mind, but special in a way. nothing much happened, actually, it was a weekend of lazing around, total escape from the dreadful routines of work and its complementary headaches, bags of tension and pocket full of crap it comes with.

if nothing happened, why bother writing? wait, i do have something to say. actually thought about it while driving back to work this afternoon. and it goes like this………..

I’ve always had a very tumultuous relationship with my sister (the elder one of the two, the other is kinda my pet). we’ve just had a year apart from us, and going through adolescence together is like bringing down hell, twice in my household. i didn’t go through the normal devil may care rebel attitude wannabe type during that time, but i always saw my sister as a rival, in all aspects. to me, she was the popular one, the likable one, the lovable one, the you know where I’m getting right? the perfect one, and me, the goat that lost its way, ready to be slaughtered in her name. this started from the years i can remember, err, remembering, and right till recent times.

the introduction of my youngest sister did calm the waters a little, but it was just a small truce, somewhat treading a no-fly-zone kinda situation. the battles became more cerebral now, cynicism and sarcasm was the order of the day. and the usual battles to grab the cable remote. and the food fights, the i-tell-mom-you’re on the phone episodes.

until that night, 17th November 2000.

elders often said, that two incidents will unite people. marriage, or the demise of someone close. the latter happened, most abruptly, without warning, without prejudice. as swiftly as it came, i hope that its effect will go in the same speed, but it didn’t. it never will. but out of it, many things have changed. so did our rivalry.

the responsibility of being the moral support and the pillars of strength for my mum and younger sisters did change me in many ways i never thought i would have done. and the same goes to my sister, being the closer one to my mum and the youngest, she too, went through a phase of change that was non-existent before this. forced change, and this at times was the most difficult thing to cope with.

and so did our relationship. but the road was not easy. it was even more intense than before, with a power struggle involved and the virtual mantle of being the head of the family jousted between us, unintentional of course, but the signs of a hostile takeover of sorts was always lingering in the background.

over the years, and its been 6 years now since that fateful night.

we’re somewhat different. things have ironed out rather smoothly, and its been almost perfect ever since. the isolation i go through here when at work is another plus point, but the major fact is that we’re now treating each other with respect and admiration of what we’re capable of. once upon a time, i really wished i had a brother instead of a sister, where we could joust our battles the right way, fist fights, wrestling, name it. fighting with the fairer sex is the most challenging fight you can ask for. and i went through almost 18 years of it!

now, i can rest assured, that she’s the rock that i can lean on when times are bad, an so does she, i’m the pillar she looks for. driving back this afternoon was somewhat different today. in a few years she’ll be a home maker in another family, and our times together might be somewhat limited. i seriously wished that we had grew up the way we are now, rather than pick on each other like tom and jerry. but, i guess its all that chasing around that has lead to this beautiful feeling we have now. and i have two sisters too. the youngest one has a long time to go, but we’re somewhat closer that i could have ever imagined.

sisters, i know you’re not reading this, but i guess, its not wrong for me to say,

” I love you very much, and thanks for being my sisters!”

okay, enough of getting all sappy here. get those tissue boxes over here!

weapons of mass disruptions

i love watching movies. they’re my utopian escape route to a surreal world that pits me as the watcher, the observer kinda role. i think alot about movies too, not to the extent of idolising heroes (although, i dont mind doing it to the ladies :P), with the exception of star wars. themes, at times, are rather disturbing. and one such movie was JFK, a masterpiece by oliver stone.

well, the movie is rather simple, its about a real guy. JFK. dont know him? its either you failed your history test, dont read enough, dont give a damn, or just well, dont know. well, i didn’t, know him until i watched the movie a few years back. with a little research, i did find out who he was. but more importantly, whats the hoo hah is all about.

the movie depicts the assassination of JFK, John F Kennedy in short. well, he’s the normal ivy league guy who became the president of the country that brought to you the cowboy, baked beans, ford cards, atomic bomb and the Gatling gun to name some of its famous inventions that helped shape the world we know it to be today. but its not the direct theme that disturbs, but the plot that got him killed in the first place that startles. and the CIA. Black ops. sigh….

I’m no conspiracy theorist alright, but doing research and thinking about the movie makes my heart sink. war and peace will never cease to exist without each other. you want peace, then wage a war. you want peace, fill the coffers of the war mongers first. you want war, the create peace first. its a bloody closely knitted sort of relationship that’s even more slapstick than abbot and costello.

so, whats with war and peace and JFK?

think about this. lets take a little step back to the years when the world was at war. its WW2… the world’s at war. countries that were directly involved were also churning out two things that are neeeded to run the war. soldiers, and weapons. soldiers are the human components of the war machine, while the weapons were catalyst to many things. better weapons means more in depth scientific research. that means more money churned. that means more jobs for people. it also means that the owner of a factory that produces bullets, for example, a really rich dude. simply put it, there is no other bigger and more efficient economic component of a developed country than the war mongering and war support industries. and its not only restricted to weapons dear friends. science, the encapsulation of our intellect to make our lives richer is used here to make war a more efficient effort. look at the money spent by countries to build armies, to research for more weapons, and to build new ones. its our money. our hard earned money.

but, without them, the sanctity and the peace that we are so accustomed to will cease to exist. so, without armies, there’s no guarantee of peace. it was never said that peace can only be achieved by firing a round at those who fails to respect it. we created it. war, and peace.

so, whats JFK gotta do with it? i leave it to you. there can be many catalysts that spurs the mind to think. a falling apple inspired a certain someone to understand further God’s mechanics, and we’re learning about it in school. I’ll not elaborate further. go get the dvd/tape. get the original. or watch it over cable. and think.

think…………..

so, back to being an observer and all that crap, well, lets just say, this movie did a lot of thinking. The Centre was buzzing with Sukiyaki yakking away about the movie, on how the shots were so artistic and all, and me ranting away about the theories that was presented. in the end, we just left it to Gus. we sat about, thinking, what the whole plan was all about. we left the center scratching our heads harder than before. such is, Gus’s magic!

Hello world! Hello world! hola mundo!

Hello World! 😛

now if i’d just understood the concept of getting this idea of having your very first program written in any kind of language to shout out “HELLO WORLD!” all the time. all i can remember off during my years in class is that i would laugh out loud, and continue to change it to something like “DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR???” or something like that.

HELLO WORLD! HOLA MUNDO!

Barley Mint is here. let me introduce the gang…

Barley Mint – The leader of the pack. Sometimes broody, otherwise all the time positive, so much so it irratates the gazeebers out of Sukiyaki. ’nuff said.

Sukiyaki – a non reformist, life loving rebel who just happens to be Barley Mint’s best friend, well, most of the time, at least.

Sankhoo – The techie extraordinaire and the sound of reason to somewhat dilute the tempremental and most often meltal discussions the Gang has.

Gus – Returning hero, who happens to be the Gang’s spiritual guide of sorts. always listens, never bored, wish He was our school teacher of sorts.

The Centre – The Gang’s base of operations. where Gus somehow finds a way to, err, guide them on their daily misadventures.

Sheep Doctor (SD) – The Gang’s friend, who’s found a life less ordinary in the land where the grass is greener, the milk is milkier(???), and the town just as sleepy as it sounded in the map. Keeps in touch via spirit, and through emails.

Mini – The Doctor’s sister, and perennial voice for femal leads in the plays and drama’s that we sometimes produce for kicks. Soon to be Aunty Mini, just counting the days though. she’s a rock of a character, a little bit annoying at times, but the official elder sister for us all.awwwwwwww

Subbu – Sankhoo’s sister, who is often seen sitting in the centre, meditating, and singing her heart’s out. Another big-sisterly character, and the maths whiz. Kind soul. Crazy and fun too, otherwise, will be out of the Gang.

Nushkie – Has a bright future as a politican or a hot shot lawyer, but chose to become a chemical engineer. She’s as feisty as it can be, but, as her namesake, indeed is a blessing in disguise at times.

so there you have them. The Gang. Adventures will continue after the commercial break. Stay tuned!

-Barley Mint –

ps- Barley mint is also a giveaway for my name. Guess it if you can.