Thursday, August 17, 2006

Birthday Blues

The day I had the privilege of visiting RGIT was S’s birthday.( S is a class mate of mine from school). And I got to know it was her birthday, when she called me in the morning and asked me to be at her place for the treat. Later in the day RGIT left a lasting impression on D and me, and I was back at my home by 5. I wasn’t too keen on S’s treat cos firstly I never knew it was her bday before she told me, secondly we have renewed our acquaintance only a few days ago in that reunion and I thought it wouldn’t be that great barging onto her treat, thirdly I had no gift for her.
Just when I thought she would have forgotten that she invited me (believe me I have been ‘forgotten’ quite a few times :-P), she calls me and insists that I be present (aint that sweet of her). I though I might as well take Kirik along but he was busy so I am off to her place alone. Chungi (who knows S better) was stuck at office and told us that he’ll be able to make it only by 9.
Believe me it isn’t easy striking up a conversation even with your old class mates after six long years (unless you are a female). I must have repeated the words “Motorola August 9” at least a hundred times. So I sit there smiling, laughing at all the jokes and leg pulling going on around me (lots of it goes on I was to learn) trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
One great thing was that I found a person who could eat more slowly than yours truly! That’s D folks. Just when I thought I wouldn’t be the last one again, S’s mother forced me into a second helping and I was the last one again (Duh!). By this time I’d exhausted all points of conversation and was a lame duck all ears.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder, I found that I was the only one who hadn’t a gift to give and these guys have this weird idea of calling out the names of the people who contributed to the gift-for-the-bday-girl fund!! I sunk deeper into my chair wishing for the evening to end right there!! That was embarrassing moment 2309.
At last it was over and I guess only a person as stupid as I am would write such a post …..
Hmmm whatever….
And history repeats. It was M’s birthday on Aug 15 of all days! And again I confess I didn’t know it was his bday till he called me up and asked me to be there for the treat. And again I’ve renewed M’s acquaintance only a few days back.
Hmmm something’s wrong ( or is it?).. I am getting treats free me!!!
Chal yaar… Never look a gifted treat in its mouth.. (Duh!!)

What do I do?

What do I do?
The first day at the Compnay ended with a bang. Mr. V met me at CVR and told me that I was going on a team bonding/building session for two days the next morning. I didn’t know what to say, and so had to go through with it.
The next morning had to get up at 5 30, (such a pain!!) and had to go all the way to CVR campus. Then we were off to Angsana, this spa resort not five kms from home.
The team( CDMA) is great. Met all kinds of people, the sweet ones, the career oriented ones, all kinds. This was the second time I have had to spend more than a day with complete strangers, the first being the SSB interview at Mysore. I am not a natural conversationalist and it took a lot of time to really get to know my team.
Over these two days we were made to play all kinds of games. A nice way of getting the bonhomie going was to divide us into groups of three and making us share such things as our most cherished childhood memories, one or more dilemmas that we may have faced, our achievements (mine was zilch in this case) etc. Other things like synchronized dancing, a lunar version of Lost etc added a dash of excitement.
The second day involved lots of introspection. We were made to depict by way of a “dramatic” skit, the undercurrents of the company. I thought it was just for fun, but was rather astonished by the way our ‘take’ was interpreted by the HR and the Managers. Hmmm why were we asked to make it ‘dramatic’ and then made to listen about we deviated from that utopian ideal??
Later we had a postmortem session where each side (the two being the developers and the managers) were asked to list out what they would do and what they expected of the other to achieve that ideal.
Meanwhile met my sub team called AS. The up side is that it’s a great team and I’ll work with C/C++. The downside is that I’ll probably have to move to Marathahalli which will mean I’ll have to travel over 30kms just to get to work. Man maybe if the place had a name that sounds better, things would be a tad better; whoever thought of ‘Marathahalli’?
I have to talk to my manager and sort out issue out.
If I have to move to Marathahalli, then we may be forced to move out of dear old Yelahanka after all. Having spent all my life here , that wouldn’t be a walk in the park would it?
It was a gruesome experience for Patty. She sat there crying and her head hurt while the paramedics did their job on her. The tears wouldn’t stop, even with Daddy trying his best to console her. Patty a pretty six year old had just been on the receiving end of a botched up kidnap attempt. The kidnapper wearing a baseball bat, had apparently timed his move pretty well, just when Mr. Jose had left Patty alone, to get her a cone of her favourite vanilla ice cream, but had failed miserably in the execution. All he got away with was a fistful of poor Patty’s hair, leaving behind a badly shaken six year old whose head hurt like hell.
Detectives Steve and Laura were upon the scene in ten minutes. And it was Laura who finally managed to stop the flood of tears.
Luckily a Samaritan had noted the no of the SUV in which the kidnappers, apparently there were two of them, had fled.
In two days the kidnappers were caught. And Patty made a positive id of the Baseball cap guy. The interrogation that followed, threw up a few surprises. The kidnappers claimed that were private detectives hired by one Mrs. Michelle. The kidnappers/detectives claimed they specialized in restoring lost/kidnapped children to their parents. Steve on checking up the State Private Eye’s office found that indeed the two kidnappers were private hires. Steve and Laura promptly turned up at Michelle’s place. To their surprise, Michelle was expecting them. Michelle went on to claim that Patty was her child. She claimed Anna (that was what Michelle called her girl) had lost her way when she was a year old. Michelle was arrested on charges of aiding/abetting kidnap.
Upon preliminary trial, the kidnappers and Michelle were granted bail, on the condition that they must not be present within 500 yards from Patty’s house, school or play ground. Later in the day, Michelle was found violating the order and was promptly arrested again.
When Steve checked the database of unsolved lost/found cases, he was astonished to find that there indeed was an Anna who matched Michelle’s description but she was presumed dead in a road accident. But her body had never been found.
So, Steve and Laura came to the conclusion that Michelle was suffering from a psychological disorder, having been under severe trauma, losing both husband and child in a single accident. There were in for a surprise.
DNA tests on the handful of hair that Baseball-cap had grabbed on to, revealed that Patty was indeed Michelle’s child!
Now the onus was on Mr. and Mrs. Jose to prove that Patty was their child. And prove they did, in a convincing fashion. They produced a valid birth certificate; moreover they had recorded the birth of their only child on tape.
How could Patty be both Michelle’s and Mrs. Jose’s child??
Laura had a hunch, which was to be proved correct.
Guess what?
Wait till the next post! ;-)