How to select a doctor?

When my father had a heart attack on 22nd of October, I had to learn many things about doctors and heart attacks.

Heart attack is the common name for Myocardial infarction. The details could be found in the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myocardial_infarction

Briefly, the following are the risk factors for heart attack:

• Diabetes (with or without insulin resistance) - the single most important risk factor for ischaemic heart disease (IHD)
• Tobacco smoking
• Hypercholesterolemia (more accurately hyperlipoproteinemia, especially high low density lipoprotein and low high density lipoprotein)
• Low HDL
• High Triglycerides
• High blood pressure
• Family history of ischaemic heart disease (IHD)
• Obesity (defined by a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m², or alternatively by waist circumference or waist-hip ratio).
• Age: Men acquire an independent risk factor at age 45, Women acquire an independent risk factor at age 55; in addition individuals acquire another independent risk factor if they have a first-degree male relative (brother, father) who suffered a coronary vascular event at or before age 55. Another independent risk factor is acquired if one has a first-degree female relative (mother, sister) who suffered a coronary vascular event at age 65 or younger.
• Hyperhomocysteinemia (high homocysteine, a toxic blood amino acid that is elevated when intakes of vitamins B₂, B₆, B₁₂ and folic acid are insufficient)
• Stress (occupations with high stress index are known to have susceptibility for atherosclerosis)
• Alcohol Studies show that prolonged exposure to high quantities of alcohol can increase the risk of heart attack
• Males are more at risk than females.

These days doctors are performing Angiogram in the first 3 - 5 hours after the attack. Angiogram is a invasive procedure, where there is a microscopic x-ray camera sent through the groin of the patient to find the possible blocks in the vessels of the heart. These blocks cause heart attack. If the blocks are simple enough (small), then an Angioplasty would be done.

An empty and collapsed balloon on a guide wire, known as a balloon catheter, is passed into the narrowed locations and then inflated to a fixed size using water pressures some 75 to 500 times normal blood pressure (6 to 20 atmospheres). The balloon crushes the fatty deposits, so opening up the blood vessel to improved flow, and the balloon is then collapsed and withdrawn.

If Angioplasty doesn't clear the blocks, then stenting is done in that vessel. A stent is an artificial 'tube' inserted into a natural passage/conduit in the body to prevent, or counteract, a disease-induced, localized flow constriction.

For more information on Angiogram:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiogram

For more information on Angioplasty:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angioplasty

For more information on Stent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stent

Now, let's talk about doctors (in India). In India, the following are the levels of doctors:

• MBBS -- Basic graduation. Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
• MD/MS -- MD is Doctor of Medicine. MS is Doctor of Surgery. This is a post graduation course. One can opt out for specialization in a field at this level
• DM or DNB/MCh or DNB -- DM is Doctorate of Medicine. MCh is Doctorate of Surgery.

An MD or a DNB (general medicine or paediatrics) is the basic requirement for specialization in Cardiology, Nephrology, Neonatology, Gastro-enterology, Neurology, etc while an MS or a DNB (general surgery, ENT or Orthopaedic surgery) is the basic requirement for Neurosurgery, Urology, Cardio-thoracic & Vascular Surgery, Gastrointestinal Surgery, Paediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery, etc.

Now, if you want to choose a good doctor, always prefer a DM. If you want a good surgeon always prefer a MCh. If possible, also look at the college from which they passed out.

The best colleges according to a survey:

1. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi
2. Armed Forces Medical College, (AFMC), Pune
3. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Puducherry
4. Maulana Azad Medical College, (MAMC), Delhi
5. Grant Medical College, Mumbai
6. Madras Medical College, (MMC), Chennai

Khaleja Review

Plot:

It's about a remote village Pali in Andhra Pradesh, where people die with a strange disease very frequently. The villagers believe that there will be God arriving in the village very soon. Meanwhile, Mahesh is in search for a guy to whom he has to hand-over a cheque as an insurance policy. He ends up in Rajasthan for this.

After a series of fights he ends up meeting the guy whom the villagers have sent to search for him. He tries to deny saying that he is not God. But all the proofs point to him that he is indeed God. How he rescues the villagers form the rest of the story.

Analysis:

Mahesh babu has shed lot of weight. The movie is out and out a Mahesh babu entertainer. Unlike his previous movies, he never stops talking. That was good for a change. Anushka put up little weight. But was OK. As usual, Trivikram dialogues had good punch and meaning.

Rating:

4/5

Robo Review

Plot:

It's about a scientist, Dr. Vaseekaran, who creates a Andro-Humanoid Robot. He names it as Chitti. Chitti is all powerful and all knowledgeable. Vasee tries to get this Robot into Army so that there wouldn't be any human loss during wars. Dr. Bora, who is a professor of Vasee rejects the idea of this Robot going into Army as it doesn't have any feelings.

Vasee tries to induce software hormones to make Chitti have human feelings. This takes a drastic turn which Vasee doesn't expect. Chitti falls in love with Sana, who is the fiancé of Vasee. But, still Vasee tries to get Chitti into Army. Chitti starts reciting love poems. Vasee gets disgusted and dismantles Chitti and throws in junk yard.

Chitti re-assembles himself with the help of Bora. Bora introduces a bad behaving chip into Chitti to make him a monster. Chitti makes 100s of replicas of himself and kills Bora and kidnaps Sana. How Chitti was made to become normal forms the climax.

Analysis:

Excellent graphics. Marvellous songs picturization and excellent background music. There are couple of scenes which are touching also. Like, in the scene where Vasee introduces Chitti inthe Artificial Intelligence seminar. One of the guys asks "Is there God?". Chitti asks him back the definition of God. He says God is creator. Then Chitti says "Yes. Then God is there. Vasee is my God"

Rating:

4.5/5. Don't miss it.

New Arrivals at Office!!!

I am writing this on the request of my friend. There are couple of improvements (if you really want to call them improvements) in the office.

1. We got better chairs. Of course, they are used ones. But, getting them itself was a herculian task. They are good. I wouldn't say excellent, but fairly good.
2. We got a coffee machine. Man!!! This is one weird thing. When you hit coffee on that, you expect to get coffee. But, it gives you liquidated milk powder with a spill (which is probably by mistake; if they could avoid it to spill 3 gms per cup, they would have done it) of coffee powder. If you hit cardamom tea, you will get lemomom tea (cardamom + lemon mix). By, the way all of them have tons and tons of sugar in them. God help diabetes patients!!!
3. Today we got a oven. I thought it would have been at least Kenstar. But, I never heard of a company called Pigeon. And that too, this is 100000000 years old one.
4. Rest rooms have mirrors now. Good thing. But we still have to wipe our wet hands on our asses.

Good Morning!!!

September month is always little weird. It being my mother's birthday month doesn't help. She has left to Bangalore now. Many things are happening.

I miss my mother dearly. I have been feeling all alone yesterday and day-before-yesterday. Couple of more people from Cypress have joined this street of VLSI companies.

Blueeyedboy Review

Author: Joanne Harris

Plot:

The weird thoughts of Brendan Brown about his mother, brothers and a girl named Emily. All of them are revealed in Webjournal named badguysrock. There is another girl named Bethan alias Albertine, who also writes her thoughts.

Analysis:

It sucks. It is like Nokia N97. It's not what it promises to be.

Recommendation:

0.5/5. Don't even begin reading it.

Battery Saving

I don't know, if it is new or everyone already knows this. I found few tricks of the trade to have a long lasting battery.

MAC Book Pro:

1. Keep it fully charged (100%) battery
2. Don't charge it again till you are below 15% of battery or so
3. If you charge in between 30% and 99% frequently, your maximum battery power will be shown as somewhere in the 90s and not 100%
4. Make sure you turn of your Wi-Fi, when not in use
5. Make sure you don't keep getting the display on when you are not using it. Many have the tendency to poke around the mouse or keyboard, even when they don't really use the Laptop.

Nokia Phones:

1. Same as above
2. Only difference is, don't wait till it reaches 15%. Charge it when you have about 2 or 3 bars up on battery. If you wait, till it reaches 1 bar, there are multiple problems. 1) The waves will be little powerful, when your battery reaches its fag end. So, your brain might get hurt. 2) If you have to talk for even 10 - 15 minutes, your battery might be drained immediately, and you wouldn't have a cell phone to talk with.

Night and Day Review

Author:

Robert Parker

Plot:

It is about a peeping tom who peeks at women's naked bodies. He calls himself as The Night Hawk. He increases his activities by going to women's houses in the morning and makes them stand naked and takes their photograph. He doesn't touch them. Once, he takes the photographs, he leaves.

Police Chief Jesse has to solve this case. Ultimately, The Night Hawk tries to take the photograph of the assistant of Jesse, Molly. He gets caught and is shot down.

Analysis:

Man!!! This is neither a pornographic novel nor a thriller. Everyone in this novel, flirts with another. The main character Jesse is a weird guy, who sleeps with his ex-wife and many other women. His ex-wife Jenne also sleeps with many men.

Recommendation:

1/5. Don't even think about buying this!!!

The Bodies Left Behind Review

Author: Jeffrey Deaver

Plot:
Late in the night, there is a 9-1-1 call which says "This" and the line is cut. Tom Dahl sends in Brynn Mckenzie to the place to find out if there is anything wrong. By the time, Brynn is at the crime scene, Steven and Emma are killed by Hart and "Compton" Lewis. Michelle is a survivor of this scene. She tries to shoot Hart and Hart gets shot in his arm.

In the process of saving Michelle, Brynn also gets caught in the scene. She doesn't have her cell phone. Her weapon is lost because her car crashed into a small lake. Now, she and Michelle have to survive from these two people who are behind them. In the meanwhile, Graham, who is the husband of Brynn is trying to contact Brynn without any use.

He informs Tom, Brynn's boss, about why she didn't turn up even though it is very late in the night. In the meanwhile, Brynn and Michelle go through a national park which is wild, to get off to a place where they can have a phone so that they can inform police about their whereabouts. A cat and mouse chase follows between Brynn's group (Brynn and Michelle) and Hart's group (Hart and Comp). Brynn finds herself having to help Amy, an orphan girl, whose parents were just killed by Comp.

Graham arrives at the crime spot and guesses where his wife might have went. He talks Eric Munce (another police) into searching for her in the right place. In this process, Eric Munce is killed. Graham saves Brynn. Hart shoots Comp and runs away on the freeway.

Michelle is brought to Brynn's home by Brynn to take rest. She realises that Michelle was there at the crime scene to kill Hart and Comp. She was the one who hired them. She has to kill them to make sure that there is no evidence of killing Steve and Emma. Michelle shoots with her gun at some walls and finally at Anna (Brynn's mother), by chance and escapes.

After a month, Brynn manages to catch Michelle. The police department understand that she had to kill Steve (Emma had to be killed as she would be a witness), because Steve knows that Emma is abusing her step-children. Hart is killed by someone, after he comes out of hiding knowing that Michelle was arrested.

Analysis:
Good story telling. The cat and mouse chase is pretty good. The twists in the tale are at the right time.

Rating:
4/5. Must read

Dogs of War Review

Author: Fredrick Forsyth

Plot:
In the fictitious republic of Zangaro, John Mason (a big mining industrialist in London) finds deposits of Platinum. He plans to topple the dictator/president of Zangaro, one Jean Kimba to get control of the republic. He hires a mercenary (Cat Shannon) to accomplish this.

In the meanwhile, Russians get a word of it. In parallel, Shannon is organising his own group of mercenaries to plan the attack. He is found by Simon Endean (who is a right hand to John Mason and who has hired Shannon) with Mason's daughter (Julie Mason). Endean can't reveal that Shannon is sleeping with Julie as that would make the identity of Mason and Endean known to Shannon. Of course, Shannon knows who has hired him and who is Julie's daughter.

He has 100 days to plan and execute the attack on Jean Kimba. He and his group of mercenaries attack Jean Kimba. He is killed and as are couple of Shannon's friends. Ultimately, in the end the group of mercenaries turn against John Mason. They give the power to some locals who are good warriors and can rule the country in a better way.

Analysis:
The story is good. As like any other Forsyth's novels, the novel has painfully detailed. Each step of planning is told in a great detail.

Rating:
3.5/5. Good read.

Cell Phones

List of phones, I ever used. My first phone was in January 2002 (after pongal holidays, when my college shifted to Deshmukhi)

1. Nokia...Don't know what model I used. But it was fat and bulky with an antenna. This was a good mobile.
2. Siemens (which worked for 2 days). This mobile model was good. But it didn't ever work.
3. Siemens (worked for 2 years). This one didn't have any good feature. It had about 2 centimeters height of screen. This didn't have vibration (which every phone had in those days). It looked cute of course.
4. Sony Ericcson T100. This was meant to be used by my mom. But, I stole it.

5. Nokia 3310. This was my dad's office phone. He was given another phone by government and he didn't return this by that time. I used it may be for 2 days.

6. Nokia 3315. This was given to me by my company (CA). It had some weird kind of keyboard. Performance wise, it was OK. But it was a mirror-breaker when it came to looks.
7. Nokia 6610. The best keypad ever did by Nokia. Steel finished keypad with an excellent look. I gave it away to my dad on their anniversary.

8. Nokia 1100. This was real tough. I threw it from 5 floors and it still worked. I didn't like the keyboard of it. Pretty basic phone.

9. Samsung C110 (I washed it in washing machine. But, it still works). My friend had C100 and I thought this would be equally good. But, this had this weird feature of Ring after Vibrate. No parallel ring and vibrate and I ended up having 100s of missed calls.

10. Nokia 6600: One kick-ass phone. But, the problem with that was the joystick always seemed vulnerable to break. Also, if you use the phone for about 3 - 4 days continuously, it gets very very very slow. You have to switch it off. Take the battery out and switch it on again.

11. Nokia N70-1 (SECOND BEST TILL NOW): I thought of buying a Nokia 7710 and ended up buying this. It was good. But, it had this weird network chip problem. I can't make calls nor can I receive calls even if I have full network. So, I sold it off after bearing it like that for 1.5 years.

12. Motorola Rokr E6: A very decent phone by the standards of Motorola. Touch phone. Good features and sound quality.

13. HTC Touch (WORST EVER): Man!!! How can anyone ever design such a bad phone!!! It sucked in terms of battery, features and usability.

14. Nokia N95-8GB (THE BEST TILL NOW): Like GSMARENA tells "King is Back". This one is the best phone probably Nokia ever made.

15. Nokia N97 mini: Good hardware with pretty bad software.

16. Nokia E71: Didn't give me a problem till now. Excellent build, software and sound quality

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e71-2425.php

17. Samsung I9100 Galaxy S2 (present): Excellent phone. I thought of never to use touchscreen phone after using Nokia and HTC. Samsung changed it all. http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9100_galaxy_s_ii-3621.php

The Aquataine Progression Review

Author: Robert Ludlum

Plot:
Joel Converse is an attorney who has a forgettable past when he served as a pilot in Vietnam war. After 20 years, a man who he forgot (Preston Halliday) comes and says a shocking news about a General (Marcus Delavane) who is trying to get the world under his control with the help of people in Paris, Bonn, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg.

Joel is joined by Preston's brother-in-law to stop this. At one point, both Preston's brother-in-law and Joel are kidnapped. Joel gets out of the place and somehow manages to go to Amsterdam. His ex-wife, Valerie, sends him a signal that she will be arriving in Amsterdam. He meets and her and tells her what this is all about.

Subsequently, after a great cat-and-mouse chase, Joel kidnaps the 3 big guys from Paris (Bertholdier), Bonn (Leifhalm) and Tel Aviv (Chaim Abrahm). He makes them commit what they are planning to do. Preston's brother-in-law also escapes in the final attack. Ultimately, General Marcus Delavane is killed by his own guard.

Joel and Valerie decide to get married again.

Analysis:
You just can't stop reading this novel. The novel is fast paced with lots of twists, never losing the occasional humor.

Rating:
4.5/5. You should never miss it.

U for Undertow review

Author: Sue Grafton

Plot:
n April 1988, Kinsey Millhone is hired by a young man named Michael Sutton to investigate a memory that he claims to have recovered of two people burying a body in the woods in the exclusive Horton Ravine neighborhood in 1967, when he turned six years old. He claims that the burial took place on his birthday, two days after a famous unsolved kidnapping of a four-year-old named Mary Claire in the neighborhood, in which the kidnappers requested $25,000 but never picked up the ransom after police were called. She was never found. Although Michael's memory is hazy, he and Kinsey manage to locate the spot of the burial, but a police dig uncovers only the body of a wolfdog named Ulf. One of the bystanders watching the dig, a banker named Walker McNally, who was a high school classmate of Kinsey, then spends the entire weekend drinking and kills a young woman in a DUI on Sunday night.
Kinsey learns that Michael was involved in a past "recovered memory" event that proved false. Bothered by this, Kinsey traces the dogtag back to the dog's owner, who told her that the dog had been euthanized around that time. No one has any idea how the remains ended up in Horton Ravine. Upon returning to Horton Ravine to talk to the neighbors, Kinsey learns that Rain, the four-year-old granddaughter/adopted daughter of the couple that formerly owned the lot, had been kidnapped in a similar fashion just before Mary Claire but was returned unharmed after her parents paid a ransom of $15,000 using marked bills, which also never turned up.
A parallel story set in the 1960s is initially told from the viewpoint of Deborah Unruh, Rain's grandmother. Greg, the Unruhs' son, returned home with his pregnant girlfriend Shelly after dropping out of college in 1963. Five days after she gave birth to their daughter Rain, they left, leaving the baby behind. Two years later, the Unruhs formally adopted Rain. Two years after that, in 1967, Greg and Shelly (now calling themselves Creed and Destiny) returned to borrow $40,000 against Greg's trust, but the Unruhs refused to make such a loan, and Greg and Shelly left unexpectedly not long thereafter. Almost immediately after they left, Rain was kidnapped.
Kinsey talks to Deborah, who believes that Shelly was behind Rain's kidnapping because of the $40,000 total ransom. However, Kinsey learns that Greg and Shelly had hurredly fled the area because the Selective Service had been tipped off to draft dodger Greg's location, ruling them out as suspects. Michael's family finds evidence that the date Michael claimed to see the burial was actually a week earlier, making it prior to Mary Claire's kidnapping, discrediting Michael and leaving Kinsey at a dead end.
In another set of flashbacks, the story of the successful writer Jon Corso, Walker's best friend in high school, is told. Walker and Jon became friends with Greg and Shelly during their second visit, and Jon started an intense sexual affair with Shelly. Shelly told Jon her plan to kidnap Rain for ransom, but Jon decided to implement the plan on his own so that he and Walker could afford their own apartment when they started college in the fall. Walker, in fact, was the person that tipped off the draft board about Greg. Jon and Walker buried the ransom money after realizing it was marked, but they moved the money and substituted the dog after being seen, to make their digging look harmless. Still needing money after burying Rain's ransom, they kidnapped Mary Claire, but she died from an allergic reaction to Valium, which they used to keep her sedated during her kidnaping.
Back in the present, Michael Sutton sees Walker at an AA meeting (which Walker has attended since his DUI) and follows him, remembering him as one of the two diggers. Michael calls Kinsey to tell her, since no one else believes him any longer. Panicked by his role in two deaths (the "undertow" of the title), Walker calls Jon and says he is going to turn himself in for the kidnapping, despite the lack of evidence. Jon talks him into a small delay and then shoots and kills Michael. Since Walker has an airtight alibi for the time of the killing, Kinsey immediately suspects Jon due to their close friendship in high school. She heads to Jon's house, where she sees him leaving with suitcases, and follows him to a secluded meeting with Walker. Jon's plan to murder Walker and flee the country is foiled by Kinsey, who shoots him after he pulls a gun on her, and both Jon and Walker are arrested. Mary Claire's body and the marked money are both recovered on Jon's family's property.
In a side story, Kinsey is invited to a family event (the first return to her family backstory since "Q" Is for Quarry). During the preparation for the event, which Kinsey resists attending, she is given letters from her grandmother that her Aunt Gin, who raised her, had refused. She learns that, far from ignoring her, her grandmother had wanted to adopt her after her parents' deaths and had even hired a private investigator to gain custody of her. In a final irony, she learns that Gin and the private investigator had had an affair, and that little Kinsey had gone on outings with them. In the end, she attends the family event, where her grandmother, who is increasingly senile, mistakes her for her late mother and tells her how happy she would be if Kinsey were to come visit her.

Analysis:
The story telling of the book is not solely by Kinsey Millhone. It is supplied with information about other characters (not in their own voice, but by the author). Lot before the end of the book you would realize who killed the girl (suspected to be the dead body being buried and witnessed by the guy who approaches Kinsey). In a thriller novel, I expected the suspense to kill me. But, this is pretty much predictable.

Rating:
2.75/5. One time read. It's ok even if you miss it.

Shantaram Review

I have finished reading the novel Shantaram. I bought the book when my friend, Srinivas Reddy, told that the book was great and critically acclaimed.

Plot:

Gregory David Roberts is a armed robber who got penalised for 22 years. After bearing the torture for 2 years (by the guards in the Australian Prison) he escapes and lands in Mumbai in India, with a false passport. He renames himself as Lindsey (which the New Zealand) passport says. He befriends a local tourist guide named Prabaker. Prabaker takes him to his village and stays there for 6 months. Prabaker's mother renames him as Shantaram.

Once, he is back from the village he is robbed and he doesn't have anymore money which he brought with him and the one that he earned in India (through showing foreigners where to buy hashish, marizuana etc). As he can't stay in the hotel he stayed previously (because his visa expired and he doesn't have money to stay in a hotel), he stays in a slum (Zhopadpatti). He starts his own clinic to treat the locals.

Linbaba (which he is dearly called by his friends), then falls in the eye of Abdel Khader Khan (who is an Afghan and a mafia leader in Mumbai). He slowly turns out to be his pet. They share a father-son relationship. Abdel Khader Khan takes Lin to Afghanistan to fight against Mujahideens. In that war, Khader gets killed and Lin returns with 2 or 3 people to Mumbai. During his stay in Afghanistan, he finds that Karla (the woman whom he loved) recruited Lin to do the dirty work for Khader. He stops loving her after knowing that truth.

In the meanwhile, his friend Prabaker is killed in an accident. He thinks his mafia friend Abdullah Taheri is also killed. But, Abdullah returns after an year of hospitalization. In the end, Lin gets prepared to fight in Sri Lanka.

Pros:

1. The novel had a very good English, keeping in mind that it came from an ex-convict on run.

2. The author definitely loves India (and I being an Indian like it when a foreigner loves India)

3. It had all the ingredients of a good novel (love, hate, passion, struggle, war)

4. Couple of philosophical lines are extremely good:

1. All horse good, All men not good

2. The universe has to move forward. What all can make it go forward is good and what all

that stops it going forward is evil (there are many more like this)

Cons:

1. The novel is too lengthy

2. The author gets out of focus every once in a while. Satyajit Ray (Oscar winning director) says that there should be no scene in the movie which doesn't have any purpose to story telling. I feel that even novels have to follow this. Once in a while, going out of focus might be okay. But, every now and then the novel goes out of focus.

3. It looks as if he was trying to fill in the pages rather than real content going into them.

4. At certain times, you will little boring because the topic at hand is not dealt properly and goes way too much out of focus.

5. Except for few things, the author seems to lose his chronograph. Paanch Paapi movie was released in the year 1989. He says this has happened first. After that, he says Indira Gandhi was shot dead. This happened on 31st October, 1984. Where is the chronograph???!!!!

6. It's certainly not as gripping as Papillon. Papillon is about a guy who gets sentenced and tries to get out of jail for 7 times and then succeeds. The story telling was absolutely gripping and entertaining.

Rating:

2.5/5

Recommendation:

I would recommend this to people who are willing to spend lot of time to read the book to know about someone who is an ex-convict on run. Otherwise, don't bother to waste your time on this.

Seating in New Office

Yesterday, as we didn't have internet, myself and Kalyan sat in a conference room with our Laptops. Today, they changed us back to our places and gave us internet in our own systems.

None of the cubicles or chairs are for tall people like me. They don't give enough back rest and they have absolutely no head rest. I started getting aches in my upper back and lower neck.

I don't know whether they will change the seats and keyboards ever. Both of them are sloppy, ugly and uncomfortable.

Villain Review 2

Villain (2010):

Cast: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachhan, Prithviraj, Prabhu, Priyamani, Karthik, Ranjitha

Basic Story Line:

Vikram's sister (Priyamani) gets caught by police, when the police try to catch Vikram (Veerayya). They ill-treat her (kick her and rape her). She commits suicide because of that. Verayya wants to take revenge of the police officer Dev (Prithvi Raj) who did this. He kidnaps his wife (Aishwarya Rai) to kill her after 14 hours. But, she tries to escape and gets hurt severly. Verayya and his entire clan take care of her for the rest of the days.

In the meanwhile, Karthik (suspended forest guard) helps Prithvi Raj to find his wife. Ultimately, Verayya and Dev have a breath taking fight. Of course, both of them live. After that, there is a climax which is not normal. I wouldn't say it as a normal ending.

Analysis:

Vikram was stunning. But, the sound clarity like in any Mani Ratnam's dark movies (like Nayakudu, Roja, Bombay etc) sucks. Music was good. But, the background score could have been lot better (for an Oscar winner, A.R.Rehman). Prithvi Raj was good. Priyamani and Prabhu were alright. Aishwarya Rai, seemed dumb. She might still have to learn lot of acting.

Cinematography was absolutely marvelous. Locales were mind boggling and fantastic.

Verdict:

Boring, unless you are fan of either Vikram or Mani Ratnam

New office

Today, at last we moved to our new office. There are absolutely no good things to talk about. Only bad, may worst things.

1. We don't have good chairs. So, obviously working is painful

2. Because of my height, I can't use the keyboards properly as they are meant for normal people and not for taller people

3. Coffee machine sucks

4. Only one dustbin for every two people

5. No landline phones

6. This is the best thing. We don't have inter-fucking-net. I don't know where we are living!!!

7. Cubicles are so damn short, that I can see everyone in the office, without getting up from my place

8. The boards in our cubicles are just about the size of two A4 books...What in the hell should we do with them???

9. Basically, this office sucks...

Villain Review

I saw Villain on Friday (day of release). Man, almost after 4-5 years I bought tickets straight from the counter. I didn't even wait. The tickets were open and they were ready to give us any number of tickets. I was little scared before I went into the theatre.

The movie wasn't bad. But, it was good neither. I would give about 2/5. Vikram was just amazing. Prithviraj was OK. Aishwarya Rai still needs to learn a lot of acting. Prabhu was alright. Priyamani gave herself so much of hype, but she is just OK. None of the songs are individually picturised as in the case of any Mani Ratnam's movie. They just go in the background of some scenes.

Overall, the movie was a disappointment. Can be watched once for Vikram's histrionics.

New Office Blues 3

What we thought happened!!! Initially, we were promised to get two data ports per cubicle. One for laptop and one for normal desktop. Now, they got "Cost Cutting" into picture and we don't get two ports. We just get one port.

Funny part is, they are not even planning for a land line phone. The cubicles suck. Chairs are the most un-ergonomic in the world. Also, the "new company" is going to use "OLD" systems...Oops sorry! Not systems, just monitors and some C**k sucking key boards and mice.

The cubicles are so damn small that I don't think I can type easily. My hands are bound to get screwed royally. Anyway, we are going into the so-fucking-called "NEW" building on monday. We are going to have lunch there in that building (which means, neither can we get our own boxes or can we eat decent food). The food is going to be supplied probably from SoCtronics cafeteria. Rs12/- per plate...Hmmm...

Anyway, at last we are going on monday afternoon. I don't know what to expect there except the worst and the cheap.

Raavan/Villain

Today is the release of much awaited film Raavan. Of course, it is Villain in Telugu. I liked the movie name in Hindi and Tamil (Raavan and Raavanan respectively). In telugu, because of some ass hole who has already booked this name, the movie name became Villain....

Oooofffff!!!! Mani Ratnam should have screwed that guy by naming it something like "Neti Raavanudu" or "Chiyyan Raavanudu" (remember the Yuvaratna Rana long back of Balakrishna??). Just for record, Chiyyan is the nick name of Vikram. Anyways, I want to go to that movie in the evening.

I will write comments on the movie once I see it.

New Office blues 2

After 3 months, we are still in a temporary facility. The chairs suck, the A/C is useless and the facilities are just not there.

I drink coffee whenever I feel sleepy. Here, I have to drink only when it comes, whether I want it or not (because if I don't drink at that time, I wouldn't get a second chance).

Every evening, I along with my friends, I go and eat very very very very unhealthy snacks (like mirchi bajji, masala vada, egg bonda etc) which are full of OIL (saturated fat is dangerous to go into the body).

We have been promised to go to the "NEW" (so-called) building on May 15th. We don't still see a hope of going there till this weekend (at the least). My mother said something very funny, when I said "Amma! These problems would go away once we go to the new building". She said, "No! You will lose the hope also that there would be something good in the new building".

Hmmm...I guess she is right. We have been asking about our chairs since 2 months and they still want to give us the old "partially used' (what in the hell does that mean?!!!!...Something like "Slightly pregnant")...chairs...

Choosing the chairs was like Elections. You chose between worse and worst. We chose the worse. We were asked to choose, if you want hands, arms, back and neck pain or just hands, arms, back and more neck pain. We chose the 1st. They have been saying that they would give us some good chairs from some other company (come on...what do you expect...do you think they are new....Naaaaaaaaaaa!!!!)....we are still waiting for them.

The cubicles in the new company are so big that if I stand kicking my chair lightly, the chair would end up in another guys cubicle kicking him out....Man!!! The only thing stopping us from not leaving is the work....If work sucks, there is nothing here that would keep us back. By GOD's grace work is good (for now)....

Apple Apple Apple!!!

Today I have read about this article regarding Apple:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/198209/how_does_apple_stay_in_the_spotlight_secrecy_steve_appeal.html

My two cents worth about Apple products:

1. Mac OS is the best I have liked after Linux. The reason being:

1. It's so much like Linux and it makes my life easy for tasks like seeing the tasks that are running, killing

processes etc

2. It has a great look and feel (of course, you have to get used to it)

2. Macbook Pro is one of the finest laptops. Every time, I see non Mac laptops, I have something for them.

Macbooks (be it pro or air or whatever), don't ever put any sticker on them saying they have Intel Processor, ATI

or Nvidia Graphics blah blah blah. Why bother sticking them, when you can see if you boot the machine? The

stickers tend to stick out after some heavy usage and you will feel your hands sticky when ever you are using

your laptop.

3. They are damn expensive by any country's standards. They could be made little cheaper. But, at the end maybe

it's worth paying that much because of the features and quality.

4. Newer macbooks give you a single button large mouse, with multi-touch capabilities. That is just excellent.

5. Magic mouse is amazing. I would buy it very soon.

6. iPods are the best in class personal MP3 players.

7. iPhones (pardon my language, but) suck. They don't have many features that I would want from a high end phone.

Typically:

1. They don't have phone to phone blue tooth transfers

2. They don't have a louder ringtone (I living in India would want them to be very high, because of the

surrounding noise)

3. They are not operator independent (you should have either Airtel or Vodafone...Hmmmmmmm!!!!)

My favourite quotation

Soon there will be war. Millions will burn. Millions will perish in sickness and misery, The world will look up and shout "save us" and I'll whisper.......NO.

New Office blues

The A/C here has a weird problem. It starts leaking water after every 4 - 5 hours of usage...So, I had to shift my place. Here, there is no A/C. But lot of privacy and cell phone coverage....

Still getting habituated to this kind of working style, especially after 6 years at Cypress. Work is good so far....Need to see how things go in...

New Office

I joined my new office on March 18, 2010. It was fun there. First, we didn't have parking lot. So, we put our car on the road. Coming from Cypress, this was a little different experience. After coming in, we couldn't carry our bags and our tiffin boxes to our places. We had to put it in a locker and come down to our places.

The place we were sitting in didn't have cell phone coverage. It was even more fun. But, new office and a startup would have these teething problems.

Ireland roam

On saturday, I have taken a rental car for roaming in and around Cork. The car I got was a Toyota Avensis. Not at all a good car.

Anyway, first I went to Ross castle. I had to wait for about 45 minutes there because the guided tour starts at 10:30 AM in the morning. I happen to be the first and only visitor at that time and therefore could get the full attention of the guide. It's a nice place to visit. Photography is prohibited there. I don't know for what reason. However, they allow you to take a photograph in the top most accessible floor seeing outside of the room and not the interiors.

Then I went to Muckross house. Parking at the nearest place, I had to walk about 2 - 2.5 Kms to get to Muckross house. I really didn't go into it. I just watched around it. Going into it is really costly. It costs about 7 Euros, which I didn't want to spend there. Torc Waterfall is about another 2 Kms walk from Muckross house. I didn't go there.

Next, I went to Ladies view. I went to some view point (I think!!!), could get a glance of beautiful valley and lake. Then I went to Blarney castle to kiss the Blarney stone. The castle is much smaller than Ross castle. But, the kissing of Blarney stone was something of a fun. The castle guys themselves take a photo. You can see it in the store and if you want can take it or leave it. All in all, Blarney castle was very very costly (10 Euros for entry and 10 Euros for photograph).

At about 5:00 PM, I returned my car and came back to the hotel room. The whole of the day was pleasant, actually cold, but manageable.

Colorado Again

I got a mail from Paul Ruths, with whom I have been working since I started my design career. The following are the mails between us:

Chaitanya,

Thanks for your comments. You struck me as a bright and quick learner! I'm sure you are going to do well in the future given the capabilities and knowledge I've seen from you and the results of your hard work.

I will keep a copy of this email for future reference...

Best wishes at your new employer!

Cheers!

Paul

Just in case, my home email is mtn_man@mailmcafee.com

Chaitanya wrote:

> Paul,

> It has been wonderful 6 years for me at Cypress. I have worked with you for almost 4 years till now. All throughout, it was a fantastic experience for me, working with you. I learnt from you, how to get energy even when things are not going in the right way. I learnt, how to debug chips from you. I learnt, how Flash works. "YOU" are my mentor for all of these. I learnt what it takes to become like you. I personally respect you for your technical capabilities and problem solving approach.

>

> I am going to miss you at my new company. I sincerely hope, some day our paths might just cross again. I justed wanted to let you know that my last day at Cypress would be on 15th March, 2010. I would still like to be in touch with you. If ever, you are in India or require anything from me, you are most welcome to contact me anytime of the day, throughout the year.

>

> My personal mail ID : chaits@gmail.com

>

> Cheers,

> Chaitanya

I got a call from Shiva Prasad again to ask me to work at least as a contractor for the next 6 months as they are desperately looking for me. Again....this is such a nice feeling to know that Cypress values me a lot.

Nostalgia

Today, I started becoming nostalgic about the time I spent in Cypress. "The" company, that made me what I am today, the company which got me lot of life long buddies like pradeep, two satishs, kalyan, srinu, rao, murali, the company which taught me technical aspects, the company which saw me through my personal ups and downs, the company which had unique culture. I am leaving it on Monday.

The reason for this might be the mail sent by Kalyan:

"Hi all,

Looking at the last day emails from our former colleagues who left us in the past 1 year, I wondered when I’ll get such an opportunity to thank all those people who have supported and stood by me throughout my 4.75 year period here. The day has finally arrived and Today is my last day with Cypress. I feel sorry for not being able to continue my journey with Cypress. It required an external push in order to overcome the CY-inertia proving the Newton’s I law once again in my life. I have finally decided to part with Cypress and move forward in my life. This is the toughest decision in my life till date and it took couple of days for me to come in to terms with it.

I still remember the day when Pidugu called me up into his room to give the offer letter. As a fresh-grad just out of college, I was really thrilled to get an offer and signed the copy immediately without even having a cursory look into the offer document. I went and looked into the figures only when one of my friends queried about the offer details. I loved the work culture a lot and most importantly the fellow team-mates here in INDC-H and I am sure I’ll really long for such work-friendly atmosphere after leaving this place. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the assignments that came in my way, my sincere thanks to Pidugu for showing confidence all through. I really admired the way Pidugu used to get technically involved with the team during any crisis and I loved all those brain-storming sessions we had in his office. He is no doubt a role model and huge inspiration for all of us.

I’ve had an opportunity to work for 3 different managers in my short-stint here and loved working for each one of them. Madhuri (KOD) was my first mentor when I was an intern working on NSEs verification. I sincerely thank Murali for all his support both technically and personally. I am grateful to both Pradeep and Srihari for the technical assistance and personal guidance they provided as and when needed. It was my pleasure working with most of the people in INDC-H and it has been an enriching experience for me. The team-mates here are wonderful to work with and the commitment & attitude of guys is something that I really liked. One of them just thinks that any programming language is nothing but "if, for and while" which just shows the way to look at new unconquered things and the other just accepts any work that comes in his way and finishes it with utmost zeal and dedication, even though if it was THE first time (this is about me!!!) and many others have their own unique special skills. Its so satisfying to be part of most of the successful projects executed out of INDC-H.

‘Wherever you go in Life, Leave your mark’ is my favourite tag-line. Don’t know if I was able to leave any sort of mark at Cypress, but I can confidently say that it was Cypress that left an indelible mark in my life. It's really tough to leave this cute little world.

It was really nice knowing you all and I wish you all good luck in all your future endeavours. Please do stay in touch. My contact number is: 9885265104 and my personal mail-id is kalyan.kanni@gmail.com

I am going to miss you all and this wonderful place of work a lot!!! Thank you all for your patience.

INDC-H just ROCKS……

SIgning off for now,

Kalc aka XKC

(INDC-CYberabad) "

It was truly touching mail from him. Cypress allowed me to buy a car, a series of watches and cell phones. It was fun working at Cypress, leaving the minor inconveniences. Maybe, one day I may be back in Cypress again. But, I know, no other Cypress design center is as different as what it is in Hyderabad.

Last day at Cypress

I composed a mail to be sent on March 15th for my last day at Cypress:

All,

This is my last day at Cypress. It is very painful to say this, but I have to. Through the 6 years at Cypress, I have worked with all of you in many different ways. It was pleasure working with you and sharing knowledge with you. I am grateful to Cypress, which turned me from an ignorant NCG to a wide-eyed professional. It was a good roller coaster ride for me at Cypress. I had promotions, DP wins, Engineering awards and appraisals on the high side. I had to attend RCCAs which are not really good, on the low side. But, throughout the ride was exciting.

I had the opportunity to work with stalwarts in various fields like: Ryan Hirose (RTH), Paul Ruths (PFR), Murali (DNM), Rao (RAO), Pidugu (PLN), Hans van Antwerpen (HANS), Bert Sullam (BSU), Tim Williams (TIW) and Michael Amundson (MBA). I am sorry if I had missed any names.

Especially, I want to thank Murali (DNM), Paul Ruths (PFR), Pradeep (VPU) and Rao (RAO) for believing me, for bearing with me, for understanding me and above all for mentoring me even when they were quite busy. I am sad that I would be leaving my long term buddies, Mallik (MFY), Satish (TZA) and Srinivasa Reddy (RQI). But, world is so small and I am sure I will meet you all again. If you wish to contact me:

My personal ID is: chaits@gmail.com

My phone number is still the same: 91-9866222381

Ireland Trip

It had been good 4 days since I arrived in Ireland. It's a very very very cold place. I thought Seattle in USA was very cold in the whole civilized world. But, Ireland beats it by a huge margin.

The Irish people are really good right from taxi drivers (or what you call cabbies in USA) to engineers at Cypress Semiconductor. First time, when I went to USA, I had tough time getting a taxi to go back to my hotel from Office. First of all, the admin assistant at the reception says "Oh! Is it my duty to book a cab?". What the f$#@? I had to literally plead her to get one, as I didn't know how to book it. Neither were the engineers there at Cypress, Lynnwood especially helpful.

When I came to Cork, Ireland, I was invited with a Mercedes Benz taxi waiting with my name as placard. Wow!!! It's a good feeling. I came to the hotel. Though the hotel people had little difficulty with my accent and my name, they lived through it and gave me a room.

Here, I have to tell you about my hotel. The hotel's name is Clarion Hotel at Lapp's Quay, Cork. It's the 2nd best hotel in the whole of Cork. Excellent hotel, good food and marvelous treatment. You feel as if you are the only guest they care about. This is something which you miss totally in USA.

Next, comes the people whom I work with. The first day when I went to Seattle, nobody even knew me. I didn't know whom I supposed to talk to. I didn't know where I should be seated. But, ultimately a manager showed me around.

Here in Ireland, a day before I started from Hyderabad, the guy with whom I was supposed to work with mailed me asking if there is anything what he could do. I understood then, that this was the guy with whom I should work for the rest of my trip at Ireland. He immediately showed me the cafeteria, rest rooms. The other guys with whom I have worked with previously talked to me very nicely and treated me properly. When I wanted a taxi back to my hotel in the evening, one guy has given me a number which is Cypress account and therefore I need not pay for it and they would know where to pick me up from.

When I called the taxi company and ordered a taxi, they talked very politely and arranged a taxi within 2 minutes, which was amazing. Today, I booked my rental car for this saturday so that I can see some places around Cork. I am leaving back on Sunday morning. I am too lazy to go around places every evening. But, I would compensate them this Saturday.

Especially Brendan O' Regan, David Keating, Stephanie O' Leary were very helpful. Not to forget Kieran Kelly who is the Design Center Manager here.