2012, Q1 - A Cursory Summary

Its been long since I wrote, isn't it dear BLOG??? It isn't because no body told me :P. Its just that there was nothing exciting to write and I was not really inclined on bothering you with the details of my average 'Common Delhite' life. 9 to 5 each weekday it was - Office Home Sleep and Office. There wasn't anything I was looking forward to. I was just there, waiting.. biting my time.

But all things come to an end and so did my non-active low energy consuming life style. As the new year arrived I had already sprang into action setting objectives for myself. Objectives - not because I am gonna send a rocket to Mars, but because some one once wisely (although I'm not sure) said - If you shoot for the stars then you will perhaps reach the moon. So much for low self-confidence.

Lethargic bones do take a little time to warm up to the action and it was not before late January that mine came to life. 28th January it was and I was headed to a friends wedding at Dehradun. It was a hectic one day Straight In Straight Out journey for me and the booze did help me and my fellow passengers to keep our wits together.

Come February and I was on a different journey. This time on a holy mission - to visit Salasar Balaji. My group of friends have been trying to go out on this journey for a while now (yes we felt jinxed) so the impromptu decision to do it in Feb. Weather being just about OK (a bit hot for my liking). February was also the period when I forged new friendships. I met her so should I say our paths just accidentally crossed. It was some confusion about so many Gaurav's in the organization not knowing who is who. But as destiny had it we chatted and we met over coffee. I'm happy to have come across her in life. I hope the feeling is mutual between me and her.

March it was before I could guess how busy life has gone between weekend getaways,  late night movies, inexpensive buffets, cricket/football action and other stuff here and there. March marks the period when I got my first feedback on the kind of work I have been doing in my new organization. It came out as expected. I could only expect the % hike though. Those numbers are still to be out. Another adventure in March was my trip to the Taj at Agra with my mom and aunt. My mom have been at my life for a while to visit the Taj. On a Sunday we went out to the gr8 Taj and made it back alive :D. And my new friend, she has been busy all this while. Nopes I haven't seen her in March but hope to see her soon.

I know I had almost given up writing but something / someone is inspiring me to write again. Say tuned for more.. :)

I have left something behind...

Its been almost 72 hours now but I haven't had the chance to reflect even 1 second on what is it that I m leaving behind. Leaving a job, a company is not that simple after all. Its not the just the job or the company you leave its a lot of other things - the routine, the people, the environment, the zone that you are so use-to now. But then life has its ways to surprise you, bring you new opportunities, expand your horizon and you make that call. The call to move on.

I have just been through the same and I too am leaving a lot behind me. But it will be unfair if I forget the people who have been so selflessly good towards me before I make the move. Here is what would make me remember them:

# Suresh Chahal, Krishna Joshi and Sudip Arora: for being awesome team members and my default event subscribers :P

# Rajat Jain: For being one of my true genuine fans in this world. Respect is mutual.

# Dheeraj Verma, Bhawna Gupta and Pratibha Shukla: For all the XAML help.

# Uday Mehta: For bearing me all this while. Truly, the one person whom a really gave a tough time.

# Gagtandeep Singh Randhawa: For 'Shandigarh' and 'Shotu'

# Anurag Mohan: For being an awesome friend and support to me.

# Kshitiz Sharma: For forcing his friendship on to me. LOL. Jokes apart Kshitiz will remain a dear friend.

# Divya Aggarwal, Ramanpreet Singh, Manish Kumar and Deep Kaur: For being my fellow Scrum Masters and making me feel I belong in their league (although I think otherwise). There is a lot one can learn from each one of them.

# Saurabh Panthri, Ankush Gupta, Amit Bharwal: For 'quick' code reviews and 'review comments'

# Subhash Chand and Harish Kushwaha: For being my fellow cab-mates.

# Swekriti Sharma and Jatin Khurana: For making me believe that its a mistake that we ever met. :P

# Anurag Aggarwal and Gaurav Jayal: For raising very few bugs on me.

# Hitesh Kathuria and Amit Jain: For believing in me.

# Mohit Bansal and Rajesh Sachdev: For pushing me in the right direction.

# Rohit Tandon, Sumit Jain, Arun Kumar Garg and Sunit Jaglan: For their awesome support when I was just starting in Nagarro.

# Gaurav Arya: For being an awesome source of inspiration. I salute this man.

# Jyoti Arora: For the opportunities she provided me in Nagarro.

# Isha Gupta: For being my first student. I gave her a session on Model Views. My first and last.

# Ankit Jain: For his politeness and calming nature.

# Sushant Khurana: For being a psycho equal to me.

# Vipendra Singh and Vipin Khari: Coz I could not get to know you more.

I wish everyone with whom I have worked (mentioned here and otherwise) a very bright future. I wish and hope you guys reach your true potential and reach where you want to be.

When I look back

Seems like yesterday when I was first introduced to the term Program/Programming. The year was 2002 and I had just joined college - a computers degree. I still remember the hard time I had writing my first C++ program. Though, I copied it I could not get 'the thing' to compile. It still brings a smile on my face when I think of it.

Not everyone in college was fond of computers but one guy was - and that wasn't me. It was one of my closest buddies. He was and still is one of the reasons for making me what I m.. god bless him. By the time I was in final year, I had experimented with C++/VB 6.0/ASP 3.0/HTML and I had actually started liking the whole things - i was falling for it.

College had to end someday and it did in 2005. And I had no idea what to do with my life. I appeared for a few call centers but no luck. Life is not so rosy after all -is what I was learning the hard way.

All things end good or bad. I got my lucky break in a very small company and the deal - work free (almost) for 6 months and we shall see if you are worth it. I had nothing just determination and I slogged for 6 long (very long) months. And on the 19th Jan 2006 my first salary was decided. I wanted to touch the sky wished I had wings. Silly I know, but such was the joy.

Initially, it was just ASP 3.0/HTML/CSS/Javascript for me. But then some1 thought I can do .NET and hence I got introduced to OOPS. It was a nice experience. I use to stay in office alone late at nights to work. The feeling of accomplishment is amazing - yes it is.

I stayed there for a while 2.5 years to be exact and then left them in Jan 2008 to join another company. A new boss, a new team and lots of new challenges. The first few months were hectic we were working on a high profile website. It ended and other challenge arrived - a VISA and PASSPORT application. Things were not always quite between me and my project manager but when he left it all came down upon me. The team was new or shud I say fresh with not much exp of programming. We toiled, we fought, we won. Yeap, we delivered the project.

It was time for a shift and I landed in Nagarro. One of the companies I heard has the toughest interviews. I got through somehow. And my first assignment was a WPF project. Wow.. .NET 3.5 and WPF and I had no idea. Life is not so simple after all is what I told myself. Well I didn't last long in the project. Got pushed to a web app. Something I had some clues about. I worked on the app for 1 year, fighting my way through some not so well written code, building things in and around the app. Then I got a chance to work on iPhone apps and I was just wowed by what could be achieved here. Just awesome stuff. I worked on a 2.0 release for a dating app and I was amazed by what is lying under the hood.

Well that didn't last long either and I got moved to a WPF project again. This time an awesome framework with clear distinctions on what goes where. I was amazed but still skeptical since last time I tried WPF it didn't came out that great. But this time I had the resolve and the will to do well. I worked on this app for almost 1 year before resigning from the company all together. I will be joining somewhere (a little secret :P)

Now, when I reflect back on where I have come I still pinch myself just to make sure it is not a dream. And if at all this is a dream I don't want this to end, I refuse to wake up.

I Wished a Lil for Any1, But Now I wish for U !!

I wished a lil for any1

but now wish for u

to see u always smile

is all i wanna do

those eyes they tell me something

i m still to figure that out

and when i do i promise

m gonna say it to the world aloud

hope i cud do this for ever

to sit and look and gaze

being trapped and locked and lost

like some1 in a maze

ur voice is the music

my ears can continue to hear

losing what i have found

is now my only fear

and u be u,

u be nice is what pray

and u be always special to me

is all i gotta say

coz i wished a lilfor any1

but now i wish for u

u see u always

smile is all i wannt do...

Not gr8 stuff, but this was and still is for her..

Gaurav

Loved U Once, Still Love U and Shall Continue to Love U!!

You know there are times when I believe that I don't love u and then there are times when I believe I should not have loved u ever. But the reality doesn't change itself just bcoz i so badly wish it to, it remains that I still love u.

When I first saw u, i was drawn by ur beautiful black eyes, ur nose pin and those straight black hair of urs. You looked just perfect and I believe u still do. I was bowled over my dear, out for a duck as a cricket lover might want to call it. And the way u walked, u had an absolute aura of beauty all around u.

I would look at you from a distance, always thinking if ever I could get a chance to speak to this girl, the girl - of my dreams. And then it so happened that destiny had indeed planned something for me. The day came when I first came within 5 feet of u. I still remember how difficult it was for me to keep my eyes off u. I was smitten.

But it doesn't end there. It so turned out that we met again, of course u initiated it, won't take that credit away from you. And I told myself what r u waiting for man, she is here, reachable. And hence began my quest to win u over. And I tried. The more I came to know you, the more I felt u r the one for me. I enjoyed every moment I was with you. Life was so nice. And my quest gave me a chance to write 1st(or may be 2nd) of my poems. I poured my heart out in every word I wrote and knew this could be the moment I can tell you what you mean to me.

But, little did I forgot, that one can see the moon but cannot reach out and touch it. You said 'No'. I was devastated. I knew u have already chosen a companion on this journey called life. I wanted to hate u and I tried my hardest at it.

But men fail, and so did I, in my attempts to draw myself away from u. You know today when I see u, i might not say a word, but that's just because words fail me.. and I cannot tell you how much I still love u...

I know u mite never read this.. and never will u ever understand what i wanted to say then and what I want to say now... but the fact shall remain 'Loved U Once, Still Love U and Shall Continue to Love U!!'

- Gaurav

Letting GO!!

In ur life u come across a lot of people. Some become special, some become a part of u. But things not always remain the same. Confusions, confrontations, conflicts are a few things which drive u away from the ones u love. I have been through something similar. There were people who were my soul. But then as always I screwed up things.

People moved away from me and I kept standing looking at them leaving me behind. My world shattered, I had no1 by my side.. I kept trying to bring them back to me.. but life doesn't always gives u what u want.

Mornings came, evenings went.. time went by.. my loneliness kept me company. I was down, alone, wandering in emptiness. But now I have learnt to live through all of this.. I don't need people to kept me going.. I was always alone and alone I shall be... I have learnt to let go.

Letting some1 go is not that bad at all.. as I m realizing it now.

I M Missing Some1

Yes, I actually m missing some1. And no prizes for guessing - it is a girl. She is not the usual types. She is intelligent, straightforward and knows how to carry her head on her shoulders.

If u wud have asked me 2 years back - will I ever miss her? The answer wud have been a definite - NO. But then, things change with time and as u discover people u get to know their true personalities.

She believed she knows me inside-out. I wud say she knows me quit well. We were friends for almost a year. Our conversations were mainly on calls. I met her only twice during this period. Once on her birthday, she gave me a card - saying a lot of gud things abt me.

But then something happened, something that drew me away from her. It takes 2 to tango - so 1 can blame both of us.

I m clueless how to reach out to her again. And if she cud listen - Yes, I Miss U.

--

Keep Rocking.