THE YEAR THAT FLEW BY...

"Each life is like a letter of the alphabet.
Alone it can be meaningless.
Or it can be part of a great meaning."

The last one year has been the most eventful year of my life, showing me - The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful! It has been fascinating, took me to a different world altogether, helped me learn and realize a lot. At the same time, it has been disturbing, heartbreaking and absolutely challenging. Each time I wiped the tears of Joy & Pride, I was reminded that there were few of grief & loneliness eagerly waiting for their turn. In all - a mixed bag, full of surprises. Might have won hearts but lost people, should I say "Ajnabee aaye par, apne gaye."

Today, I sit back to see how much I remember and what I can put down. These are the days I'll ever remember and cherish!

Starting from the same time last year...

Deepa & Vicky visited us in the last week of December (27-Dec-2006)

My sis (cousin) and bil had come down from US for the first time in 5 1/2 years. They were not able to spend much time but the time we spent was worth much. We had a great time laughing, cracking jokes and pulling each others legs. Everyone at home kept good company and ensured that we chill out, make the most of the time available.


Aditya, my bro joins the Air Force Academy (2-Jan-2007)

It was a dream come true. He was born to fly, fly high! He was doing MS in IT from prestigious IIIT, Hyderabad. But he had to follow his heart and chase his dream. I knew that we are going to miss him a lot at home when he is away but well, the country needed him. Managed to capture a glimpse, on the evening before he left home.

Now he has successfully completed two terms, proving time and again that he was the best. He won quite a few laurels which helped their squadron emerge champions. His life changed, a lot!

He spent the last 2 weeks of the year at home, before he heads to Bangalore for his third sem. He goes there as a topper among the pilots short listed for Transport aircrafts.

Celebrating Maternal Grandfather's 98th Birthday (14-Jan-2007 @ Mumbai)

This is the time of year I visit Mumbai and hope to continue going further. Mom and I travelled to grandfather's place, had a get together with cousins and relatives there. It was fun as usual.

Grandmother is usually not for any big celebrations and hence we decided to just chill out at home. We all met, talked a lot and laughed a lot more.

A moment to cherish, a reason to be happy - for they are still with us. We are again getting ready to visit Mumbai same time in 2008.


Ora-Ovations, our annual mega bash (17-Feb-2007)

This is the best time of the year at work! We compete, entertain and celebrate each day of the week long festival. I took part in the fashion show. It was a good experience and I also got a chance to make some new friends.

We had KK performing for us and the event was a big hit as ever. The man to the left of the screen, Gurpreet was crowned Mr.Oracle-07 and the man next to him, well! Mr.Oracle-06. I was also among the panel of judges for Mr. and Ms. Oracle. This particular event is gonna become bigger each year... so we are all eagerly waiting for it to happen in Feb, 2008


My favourite day of the year, my birthday (21-Feb-2007)
It was a regular day at work but I did not work as much :P for once. Reached office with great difficulty. The bike was in the office, missed the bus and then the local train and finally had a tough time with the autorickshaw as well! Indeed a great day to remember.

Had a nice time with the team and spent the evening at home with family. Went out for a dinner with my parents, missed my brother though.

The demise of my granny (27-Mar-2007)

One of the most shocking days which I wished had never come. She had been fighting with health for a month but being mortal, it was eventual. She left us all leaving tonnes of memories.

This is one cool pic of her which most of them might have not seen. I liked this and hence put it here... miss you granny!

Ms. Medi Goker, our Vice President visits India (17-May-2007)

It was her second visit to India. She was here with the vision for FY08. We had a meeting & party at Lahari Resorts in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

I was also awarded a certificate for my consistent performance and high customer satisfaction scores. For this event, we had shot a video which came out amazingly well. It was a great film and shooting outdoors was a memorable experience.

Customer Champion Award - FY07-H2 (11-Jun-2007)

It was day for our quarterly team meeting which also marked the end of our performance cycle for FY07.

Its one of the top notch awards for us and is based on the feedback received from our customers for our work. I had 100% success rating with zero neutral or negative feedback. So it does matter a lot!

The beginning of Prima, a management program (26-Jul-2007)

It was the batch-II for the Prima training for engineers. Its a training delivered for would-be team leads and managers. A wonderfully packaged program which would span over a year covering various topics related to management.
It started off with some trekking... can you believe it!

We were put up at Srinidhi Resorts for 2 days. To start off, were taken to Kondamadugu on the outskirts of Hyderabad for a trek, rock climbing and rappeling.

It was the first time I was trying rock climbing and believe me, it was not easy for me to carry my weight up the rock. My foot was too big to grip the small cuts / support on the rock. Hit myself against the rock a couple of times but finally made it.
Rapeling was the best part. We had to go down 80 ft. My legs initially shivered but then it was a cake walk all the way down (coz I never looked down enroute.. lol). Made it look pretty easy and was comfortable.

The second day was a class room training relating our adventure to leadership, overcoming challenges, etc, etc. It was worth a training and adventure!

A great reunion of old souls (22-Jul-2007)

An unbelievable day in the recent years. I happened to get in touch with a couple of my classmates through Orkut that week. They too were in touch with a few others and finally on 22nd july we decided to meet up. I was meeting these guys after 13 years! Never met them after school and all of a sudden we were reliving our school days, cracking jokes, bursting out in laughter, remembering our beloved teachers, pranks we all played, the girls everyone admired, the punishments few got... aaah and what not! It was thorough fun.

As Rajen rightly said, "The flame of X B-94 which was dwindled and rekindled on this day to share the experiences and best practices for the years to come."This was just a beginning and the hunt is on to trace all our batchmates.

We have also started a community on orkut and through various contacts, could trace about 15 of our batchmates.

Won Man-of-the-Match for a nail biting encounter (28-Jul-2007)

Oracle Cricket Team played the forth league match against Magna Infotech in the SBH Corporate Cricket Cup. It was the last league for both the teams. The team winning this had chances of qualifying to the next round. A draw would see both the teams out of the tournament. In such cases, its not very often that the match goes till the last ball to even predict the result.At the end of stipulated 20 overs, Oracle scored 150 for the loss of 6 wickets. Manga started off on a flying note, hitting boudaries all around right from the first over. By the end of 8 overs, Magna were cruising ahead comfortably at 75 for loss of just 1 wicket. I bowled the next over which turned the tables. I started off with a beautiful slower delivery which dislodged the bails of the key batsman. We also had a run out and another catch in the covers. Three crucial wickets fell for just one run in the over which proved to be the turning point for the match.

Oracle was back in the match with greater confidence and energy. We went on to win the match with 1 run and also made it to the next round. For my match winning performance with the ball (3/17), I was awarded MOM. Being the captain of the team, it was a great feeling to steer my team to a much needed victory.

Stepped into Team Lead Role (1-Aug-2007)

With my dearest buddy and TL moving on, there was a vacumn created. I was bestowed with a new role at work, to manage the team of five members. It was big challenge thrown upon me and I was also looking forward to it. It was like going up one step on the management ladder. Its been hectic and tough but a great learning. Thanks to my manager and team :-) yes, everyone matter... afterall, its about the TEAM

The demise of my grandfather (14-Aug-2007)

Yet another set back to our family. Things at home were not as good, since my grandmother passed away. My grandpa too fell ill, was hospitalised, battled until the last breath. The loss can never be recovered.

My grandparents were the key to our family and a reason for relatives to continue visiting us very often. They lived together all their life, through thick and thin, joy and sorrow, finally departed one after the other. They were supposed to be together, forever. While they continue to live in our heart, we pray for their soul to rest in peace. The picture is only to say, granpda, you rock!

Global Volunteer Days (16-Sep-2007)

Like every year, we had the global volunteer days and I took part in a art camp. Our motive was to spend quality time with the kids of Don Bosco Navjeevan, a NGO which moulds the life of street children.

We presented few videos and ran through a PPT with a sneak peak of various professions. This was to give the children, an idea on what they could become. Also what needs to be done to head in that particular direction.

Then we held a drawing / painting competition for the kids, where had to showcase their dream with colors. Over 100 students of different age groups took part and the event was a success. Cheers to all the volunteers, the staff of DBNJ and the participants.

Touring Karnataka & Kerala (Sep & Oct-2007)

On the eve of a team mate's wedding in Bangalore, few of us went to Bangalore. Others left after the wedding but I was scheduled to stay there for a couple of weeks to spend some time with my team. I went to B'lore after two long years and had a nice time with the team. I stayed at my cousin's place, could spend some quality time with them and also had great fun.

It was also a great time of the year to travel. Luckily few others were also ready to go around with me. We toured on four consecutive weekends and it was mind blowing. We had amazing trips and an awesome time. Thanks for the company.

On my first trip, I visited Udipi, Kateel, Mangalore, Kolluru and Murudeshwar. The pic here is from Murudeshwar, an eighty feet statue of Lord Shiva. This place is on a seashore and the view is breathtaking.

On my second trip I toured Sravanabelagola, Halebeedu and Belur. In this pic, you can see the the single stone statue of Gomateshwara.

The sculptures at Belur and Halebeedu were a marvel, a true class of its own. There are carvings all around and each one tells you a story. I could not help clicking over 200 pics.

On my thrid trip, we headed to Hogenakkal Falls, on the Tamil Nadu & Karnataka border. There were over 50 waterfalls, each of different kind. It was fun to be at the place, spent one full day there. We took a good oil massage and a soothing bath in the water. They beauty of the place was a pleasant surprise to me. It was a wonderful experience.

On the fourth trip we toured Wayanad, a region of North Kerala. This was by far the best of the four trips. We had been to places like Edakkal Caves, Soochipara Waterfall, Pookot Lake, View point on Calicut highway, Banasurasagar Dam (for a drive in a speed boat), Thirunelly Temple, Kuruva Island and few fields, tea gardens, hillocks enroute.

We experienced a drive through thick greenery, heavy mist, severe rain, clear sky and also a warm sun. We lived the seasons of the year in just two days. The place in itself had too much to offer, a great getaway indeed!

Completed 5 years of service at Oracle (5-Dec-2007)

Not sure how to start off... Well, that was how it was when I stepped into this corporate world, fresh from college! But then things changed pretty fast and I have come a long way in life! Every passing day offered something to learn, either from work or from the people with whom I worked.

Today I stand on a stage which I can share with very few. But I would not have been here if it were not for the team work, help and support from lot others which contributed to my success. A sincere thanks! Special mention to AR team, Employee Club and Cricket club! Still wondering whats this all about... well, its been five amazing years on the rolls of Oracle and approx 5.5 years of association with Oracle family. I am happy and continue to celebrate LIFE!

Attended Combined Graduation Parade at Air Force Academy, Dundigal (16-Dec-2007)

It was the end of second term for my brother and a day marked for the passing out parade. We enjoyed an amazing display of drill and a passing out ceremony.

It was followed by an air show. Then we checked out various aircrafts and choppers. It was a true treat to the eyes.

Spent some good time with my brother before we returned. He then returned home on the next day on a break for a couple of weeks. We are currently having a great time at home.

Won the Service Excellency Award - FY08 H1 (17-Dec-2007)

It was yet another quarterly team meeting, at the end of another performance cycle. I was awarded for my performance over the last six month. Another big award when it most mattered. Its a Level 1 award, another top notch award for the overall contribution at work.

The last 2 weeks of 2007

Since my brother had come home, we have had a great time. I took a leave for one week and spent time at home. Ofcourse, I had to work for a few hours from home on my queue but still managed to go out for movies, dinners and parties. We laughed a lot and also lazed a lot but relished every moment.

I am also looking forward for the new year-2008 to unfold...