Nick Second Life

I understand that I had been late.

A little too casual about updating my blog. My apologies to all my readers.

Welcome everyone to my new life, Nick Second Life.

Wish to see you all there.

Nick!

Happy New Year 2007

I came to US in Feb 2006. A lot has changed since then. With the coming of the new year, I wish all of you who have made your way to this page and also those who will do at a later point of time.. A very very warm wish for a very happy and prosperous new year to you!

May all your wishes come true and you get the best in your life. May 2007 bring lots of luck for all of you and you be the best in your field and you shine with glory and smile in happiness.

With this new year, let us make a new year resolution.. I would love to see all your new year resolutions on the comment section.. Let me start with this first resolution!!

I will not bore all people with regular updates to the blog!! :))

Thanksgiving day in the USA

What is Thanksgiving!!!

Broom.. Brrrooom!!Zoooom!!
The 1996 Toyota Corolla breezed past the lonely American interstate highways - I 91! 1 30 AM in the morning. Only cars on the road appeared as if shining red dots 10 blocks away on the road. Darkness everywhere and the only other thing glittering were the roadside malls and the traffic lights! Shubh on the driving wheel. Sushovan and Dharmesh bhai on the Navigator and the Moral support group. Any idea where these IBCNRI (Indian Born Confused NRI) were moving in the middle of the night??

It was Thanksgiving day!! People thank god that there is atleast one day in the year when things comein cheap!! Thatswhy its thanksgiving!

Say this to any Indian in US and you would see him imagining BestBuy, CircuitCity, Walmart, Buy and other superstores and the long lines which start from 9 PM in the previous night and goes on till the end of the morning the other day!! It was my first time experience to dare to stand in the chilling cold in the queue!

We reached CircutCity shopping mall in the middle of the night..parked the car and were suprised to find the line already there!! I had never thought in my wildest imnaginations that the American junta over here would also be here! I had a nostalgic feeling of the BSNL office distributing SIM cards in Bhubaneswar!! Here the stuff were different, language was different, but the intent was the same - to be in the line first to grab a better piece of the cake.

When we parked the car in the already full parking lot, it started drizzling! And the drizzles grew into rain and then downpour!!Know what.. we had umbrellas!!and all the other people in the line too had! chilling rain and the wind blowing from all sides clearly told us that there is no use of carrying the umbrella. We were the last ones in the queue. And we stood still for nearly 1 hour and then turned back to see the people after us. and there were nearly 100 behind us!!

Some sitting on chairs, some knitting, some drinking, some smoking, some chatting some reading newspapers books and what not. And the que had a homogenous mixture.. Indians, Chinese, Americans, mexicans and who not!! All were there and lined up for the laptops, camcorders, digital cameras.. And yes, it is not a hoax that 800$ laptops are available for 250$!but yes, the numbers are very less. just 8-10!

So the key to a thanksgiving queue is that either you are prepared to go to the store in the evening itself and stay there till the shop opens at 5 Am in the morning or there is another group too!!People of our clan have also taken that way! they come in around 4 30 Am and then barge in the line at the front when the store just opens!! not only people like these but also others do so, so there is chaos as nowhere else. SOme thing flew from the developing country!!

Police comes in too, so watch out as cops at this place are dangerous than the crocodile in water which has your left foot already inside the mouth!! The hot list items are Camcorders, playstations, digicams, SD memory cards, external hard drives and Ipods! the list is never ending.

Thanksgiving is more than this. The day is celebrated by eating turkey! This is a bird which tastes good. But honestly speaking, I also enjoyed eating turkey... till i saw the bird live.. it appeared so disastrous to me to that i never thought of eating Turkey for life!! Now even if you kill me for that, i will never put turkey in my mouth!

Thanksgiving is gone.. Keep watching the space..

Shortly I will be back with the New year bash and the New York Trip!!

Halloween and November Release!!

Nopes!! There is no connection at all!!

Well November release D-day made all us feel that even Halloween is a rejoice!

Whats Halloween!!??

A really strange festival where the people make merry making fun of ghosts and spirits and Halloweens!!

It is the last day of October which is celebrated as this. We in India celebrate when we kill the demons and here the scenario is a bit different - they celebrate when they make fun of evil spirits! That is all I could know about HALLOWEEN.
More links to what it actually is and how it was traced back is on the side bar - the Halloween origin and History!

In Mexico, the custom of El Día de los Muertos — the Day of the Dead — may sound much like the U.S. custom of Halloween. After all, the celebration traditionally starts at midnight the night of Oct. 31, and the festivities are abundant in images related to death. But the customs have different origins, and their attitudes toward death are different: In the typical Halloween festivities, death is something to be feared. But in el día de los muertos, death — or at least the memories of those who have died — is something to be celebrated.

Many of us never bothered to know why the pumpkin cut with eyes and nose mark this occasion - Here is the fact from American mythology - This is based on an old Irish legend about the drunk, Jack. One day he was out in the woods and tricked Satan into a tree to throw down some fruit. Once Satan had helped him he carved a cross into the tree and trapped him there. He then struck a deal that Satan would leave his soul alone when he died. This backfired when he died since heaven would not take him either. When he kept bothering the Devil to let him in the Devil gave him a burning ember instead. He carried the ember in a hollowed out turnip (sometimes described as rotton) to light his way as he wandered through eternal darkness on the earth. Eventually this was replaced with the pumpkin in America and became the modern Jack-o-Lantern.

Enough of this one- Now some news on how Aetna celebrated Halloween. It was actually fantastic. This was my first time when i was actually seeing this happening in the office. An entire production floor was decorated as graveyard and was based on various themes. I caught a few pictures on my camera mobile. Here are they for you. It is actually hard to believe till you see them yourself. Boy! All darkness in the floor and various themes- as if it is the Infosys Cubicle decoration competition!!

Now.. November 2006 Release in Aetna!!

Ask anyone in Aetna about November and you would get a cold shrug of shoulders!

God knows how the time went.. I, along with all the others - be at onsite or offshore, all were actually begining to think if this will be the end of the world and will never end!
Anytime you open the mailbox you will find 45 emails atleast in the email box. All the systems crashed, thousands of defects open, boy it was nothing but plain and simple brutal torture of hell. At a point young modulus of elasticity also would fall short!

When the Nov 11 date was done, there had to be a chit chat go merry phase which was badly need to rejuvenate the entire crew. And for that the Party place was organised!

It started at 7 and ended at 10, but it was real fun.
Photo Links at the side as usual.. :)

Have a look at the snaps to know more!! :))

Diwali in USA

Was SriLanka actually the cause of Diwali? Was is only because Lord Ram conquered the small island and cleared the evil from earth and the homecoming was celebrated by jubilant Indians? Was it Goddess Durga who killed the demon on this day that we got to celebrate this day? Whatever be it Diwali brings a streak of joy into our lives. Theoritically demolishing the darkness and bringing us rays of new hope and clearing out the hazy mist of gloom surrounding us, Diwali rejuvenates us.

Back in India, for people, it is one day off from office and worse if it falls on a weekend! Lots of Fun, and excitement. The louder the cracker is the better Diwali gets. When I was in India last year this time, it had been so much fun. Know what, i had friends who could actually go to a countryside where the actual manufacturing units were! We got loads of all sorts of stuff as if we were going to fight the world war! Dozens of friends' faces suddenly come live from just being email IDs to person coz lots of them come home on a vacation and it is real fun.

In US, the scenario is completely different.

Not a sound. Complete silence of the cool fall season with some leaves rustling in the evening. My devilish mind was thinking of ways how to burst something and the only way which came to me and was feasible was to fill a polythene bag brought from IndiaMart and Foodmart with air, close the mouth of it and slap it hard so that it bursts!!!! - Happy Diwali to Indians in the USA.

Osama.. Bin Laden..
If you try to burst something which makes a larger sound that that above, then chances are that you will get a complete green card to stay in the US on the charges of being a terrorist and the color of your skin will make you the best candidate for that. All kinds of Zajeera, Quaeeda will suddenly start making sense to you and the 911 number!

People tell me that at the local Middletown temple, we have a puja and there are lamps lit so that people here atleast remember a day when we lit lamps to celebrate the victory of light over darkness. Complete ABCD - American Born Confused Desi! Met a girl in Orkut (Thanks to the Google Accuisition, Orkut is common place Open Bathroom now!) who is Indian by name and American by everything else. I asked if she knows about Diwali and she said yes- Know what?

The price of the airline tickets to India at that time of the year soars up and we avoid travelling to India during that time. This is Diwali to people over here in the US. Often at times when i see people at the temple, i think about myself. We are all here because there is something which has kept us away from our homes but the culture we have of faith in God still remains, and the longer that message gets passed on to the newer generations the better for all of us.

Well, it is not that bland.

In US, in areas as New Jersey and Boston, we do have Diwali celebrations and in the mini-India - New Jersey, you could actually find people with crackers. And there are cultural nites organised so that people chill out in the evening. Contrary to Indians in India, here the better if Diwali falls on a weekend so that every one can enjoy the occasion.

Whatever be it, Howsoever environment friendly it might be by reducing the pollution and noise pollution, nothing like holding a Taal Futkaa, watching it Zhur Zhoor a bit and then blast it!!

KEEP WATCHING THIS SPACE..

NICK will be back soon.

Nick in his new attire

No!!!!

Please don't look at the T-shirt which I am wearing. Now dont go back to take a look once again! Actually good thing about the snap was i am only half exposed! The other half wore a sneakers!!

::Software Engineer's Daily Diary::

It has been nearly 8 months of my stay over here in the USA. Life here is pretty fast. The day dawns for every software engineer in the US at 7.15 AM in the morning( Dont kill me if I am not exactly accurate!!) And for the bachelor's with 3 people staying the same 1 BHK apartment, the rush to the restroom door is a sight to see! Each has a time slot and the first one comes out and goes to sleep again. The second one comes out and wakes up the third one. The third one comes out, puts milk in the microwave and wake up others! All three get ready for another hectic but enjoyable day ahead!


Who will drive the car?
Luckily for me, Sushovan and I drive alternatively so there are no hassles!And the cool breeze of the October falls swishes past and tells you that you have forgot your jacket inside! Once you get into the parking lot of the office, the fight starts - the first one- find a parking place, remember it and walk to your desk. As you walk down the aisle to the secure entrance, you are reminded of the the corridors of the company which sent you here and you thank God that you are here away from the place! :)

And you reach your desk! The red color blinker on the phone at your desk reminds you how important you are and how many people miss you when you are not around. Keep your pen and pencil ready to take the numbers from the voicemails when the computer starts booting. Once all set, Press Alt+Ctrl+Del and start the day ahead. I usually open my email box at 8.40 AM and find 40 emails staring at me, each waiting for their turn to be read! One by one I reach to the one which had come last and then look up in the chain in inbox to see another 15! And the mails keep coming like that for the rest of the day! I forgot.. Some find their way into the PSTs( People who are not software engineers - PST is a local folder on your machine where you archive your old emails!). Oh No! Do you think i keep looking at emails all day? I reply to them! And in a day i get around 230 odd mails and i reply to them each! But yes, it is all taken for granted that there has to have valid content which makes sense to the recipient or else the number of mails increases in the inbox! The matter is being escalated!!

Boy! Its time for the L1 meeting. The Level1 Meeting- What is done here? No idea. People dial in. Wait for your turn to speak up your name. 'Hi this is Subhendu from EPDB! - Subhendu Patta Nick!' Then press the #5 to mute your phone! And you dont need to learn Microprocessors to understand what multitasking is! - You have to respond to the emails which keep coming when you are in the meeting! Boy! The typing speed grows like anything! The meeting ended! Drop down saying - Thank you.

Another window goes red. Another meeting is due in next 15 minutes.. :)) The triage meeting. The Weekly Status meeting. Let me introduce some characters here! -
The Project Manager( Project level)- He knows something about the project and needs status if a person sneezes regularly and is not sneezing today!
The Delivery Lead - He needs to explain the Project Manager why the person si not sneezing today and asks you to explain it!
Other App tester/Developer - He needs your sneeze to trigger his application sneeze! He needs data from you.. He is the Downstream system!!

Boy! The lunch time is gone.. Did you miss the lunch? How could you? Time to take a break. Checkout the restroom atleast twice a day! Finally it is 2 PM in the afternoon and the Mail storm seems to subside.. The client team is calling it a day and reclining! :) Take the offshore issues now and sit with the development team..

Few more hours which include the gruelling setups, xpeditor and what not..Finally the clock strikes a 6 15PM and you are out to shutdown the machine. Lock the computer if you want to save sometime tomorrow early morning! Time to call Sushovan and Dipayan over the IM!

Finally you reach home. If my grandson asks someday to tell me a story, i will teach him english and make him read out this blog of mine!! The day is not yet done..

Time to clean the utensils and check the writing on the wall- My turn to cook!! God.. Take up all possible vegetables if they look greeen. Cut into small pieces. Peel off the skin if the vegetable looks brown or black! Put all of them into water. Put the Ruchi masala from India Mart, tune the Burner to Medium and take a nap. Dont forget to set an alarm! Wake up and stir the bowl and food is ready.. To be thrown out!!:) I have very understanding roomies.. they never complain, but they rely on the packed ready-to-eat items bought from the India Mart!

Its 9 45PM. Time to get ready for the offshore call! Open the mailbox over the Xtranet once more and start responding to the piles of emails since you left office! Its 10 30 now means Offshore time starts now! 7 AM Indian time!

11 people come over and take their seats in a conference room. And then mass ragging starts! :)) My offshore team is real nice and efficient. But still my calls extend till 2 3o AM in the morning. Hey you missed the dinner too! No probs. Take it when you enjoy Sarabhai V/s Sarabhai over MusicnMovies.com! Its 3 AM in the morning. Time to go to sleep now.

And the software engineer calls it a day!

It may seem hectic, but i enjoy every bit of this life. Coz you know my parents back in India take pride in telling people that my son is working in USA! And for them, anything it takes.

Keep watching this space!

How NICK was born!!

Subhendu .. This guy was the same 26 years ago as you see him now.. But he inherited the name pattnaik from his family. never did he know it would undergo a transformation!! That too so suddenly once he was out of the first silver jubilee year of his life!
In a matter of days..his name changed to PattAnik.. read it again! then the last 3 words remained.. Nik.. or Nick! Well people now call him so.. and he loves his name too!

MY FIRST TRIP TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!

All in my life since my childhood, i had dreamt of 2 things- that I will sit on an aeroplane someday and second is that I will fly in it for free!!

I started thinking more of it and the noise of the aeroplane buzzing overhead made me rush to the window to have a look at it. The more i looked at it, the more it did fascinate me. The more i heard it, the more i started falling in love with it..

My fascination did not make me work nor did i know what it takes to reach to that place! my Dad and Mom came along.. Having been to the erstwhile Soviet Union in his youth, he told me the path to the goal is not always well built, many have to carve out their own. I neither could understand the meaning of the line, nor could figure out how I would reach the sky.

Curiosity took the better of me one day and i decided to fly. I took an umbrella and climbed on to the attic! I opened the umbrella and jumped! The flight with the new parachute lasted just 2 seconds but i felt nice!! Wright brother story book had definitely inspired me.

When i grew up, all along silently i kept thinking of the people sitting in there whenever i heard the thunderous noise of the Air India flight overhead!I would envy them. Still silently i looked up and used to see the flight spreading its mammoth wings and tearing thru the heart of the clear blue sky. A tribute.. and a silent prayer always came out in muffled voice. i too will sit in an aeroplane.

I went to the College which was the best in the state in the intermediate stage..The BJB college. And then somehow i made thru to the best engineering college in the state..People of our times call it the Regional Engineering College, kids now call it the National Institute of Technology. When i walked on the deserted road from the Electrical department to the Halls of residence in the hot summer sun, i would steal glances at the sky to hear the same melodious thunderous roar..the sound pulled me to it..Sometimes i looked too much foolish but not many could appreciate this coz this had been very serious aspect of my life now but to many it appeared routine!

On the eventful day of August 16,2002 something happened which brought me closer to my dream. A bunch of people came over to our college and aksed me a few questions. Not that i answered them correctly, but impressed were they with what i said. Somehow they saw something in me which they thought they could polish and make shine. Infosys recruited me.Supravat Rath- the man behind had a smile on his lips which i still see as the smile of the gods.

Then walking on the same road, i could see the plane close to me. inviting me with its arms spread, pulling me to it. In moments, i changed from the Electrical engineer to a software engineer which once in school had failed in the preliminary computer test!

Days flew and i landed in 2005. A year and half old then in Infosys, Radha baran Mohanty, my project manager asked me to go to Calcutta, the entry point to the coveted aeroplane seat..The lady at the VISA desk asked me a lot of questions but somehow made thru and got a valid Visa too. Know what.. all my family and I was elated!

But still the flight kept me waiting!

Came 2006. And soon january was gone!

February 18,2006.
Never thought it is actually materialising! I was actually going to fly! And not by a open umbrella, not in dreams but in the best of the best dreams turned reality. All my family was there at the Biju Patnaik International airport to see me fly! I thanked God for having given me the opportunity to see the drop of tear of happiness in the eyes of all who cared for me. Know what.. who was happy the most - My Baba and my Uncle! Baba saw it as his reflection going to board the flight and Uncle saw me as his nuturing going ripe. And my sisters Rosy Tiki were so proud..

It was dusk when i kissed the ground at the airport and boarded the first flight of my life to Delhi. Indian Airlines- the same carrier which had sown the seeds of my dream was going to make it a truth. I pulled my seat belts and took the window seat. When the plane took off, all i could feel was a tinge in my stomach which made me crazy!! Boy! I was loving it!! I cried and thanked god that i could bring happiness to the lives of all of them who cared for me.

The ground below was going down and then i realised i was on AIR!!!!!

The flight reached Delhi and then We took over to the Continental Airlines for 16 hours to reach Hartford. When i saw the lights inside the flight, i thought may be i would see some airhostess which i saw in movies!! Alas. all i could see was the 45 year old ladies( read buddhies!) in there. I decided to sleep. I got my forst shock when i reached the toilet for meeting the nature in the air.. Actually it was it. All air and no water!!! I came back to my seat..exasperated!

When i descended the flight, it was -15 degrees outside!! But boy! I loved that i am in the United States of America.

February 20th- My first day at Aetna Inc, the leading healthcare and Insurance major in the United States.Lots of people, Majority of them white and red..with names which failed to be pronounced on my tongue! How was i to know that Phil was going to be my best pal! I had a hard time pronouncing my name to them too!
Subhendu Pattnaik. Sub as in SUBero(the Car type here) hen ( as in Hen which lays eggs) and Du ( as in DO)! I never dared to explain them the last name of mine!! And hence they decided it themselves! They could never call me Pattnaik!!

Thus came along their version of me.. PattAnik.. read it again!! ( The last 3 alphabets changed me to Nik .. NICK!!) They even gave me a mail id with this name.. Pattanik@aetna.com!!

Boy! As i sit here and write this auto-biography of my nomenclature.. i say i am satisfied with the attention i get and the salary too!! All i know at heart that there is nothing like being in Bhubaneswar!!eating Gupchup and being with my family and friends.

Still Nick loves this place!!

Nick!!