My first auction

I have been helping my friend in terms of house hunting over the last few months. Yesterday, had the opportunity to get a first hand experience of an auction. It all started a month ago when his buyer's agent provided the details of house. We went for the first open inspection, the house was a very nice well maintained and rennovated house in a great location. So after all the ground work and verification he decided to participate in the auction. I was more excited them him and when it started, our agent placed the first bid and slowly 3-4 people joined the auction.It was interesting to observe an auction particularly the body language of people.
The first to bow out were a young couple. Once it crossed a certain figure, the wife started nodding and the faithful partner never spoke a word again. The second to bow out were another young couple, the wife kept nodding but the agent pursuaded the partner to increase the bid in $500 but after while they gave up. After a fierce bidding we had to give up as the price went over the actul estimated price and the price we had in our head. If i was bidding for myself, i would have got a bit emotional and been there for a little more. May be that's why they say it is not advisable for the buyer to bid.

Majestic Melbourne housing market with MCG and Yarra taken from Eureka Towers in 2011

Now, the only two people left in the race were two father-daughter combinations. My agent said this combination is every bidder's worst nightmare and a seller's dream. I could easily understand why he said so in a few minutes. Whenever they got outbid, the daughter's face shrunk and seeing that the father just kept up the bidding. This was getting more emotional. Finally one of them had to give up and the other ended happily buying the property way above the market price. It was nice to see the smile on the daughter's face and the satisfaction on the dad's face.

When you look at this from a third person's view it doesn't make sense to pay above market price but from my perspective getting your daughter her dream home is priceless and money doesn't matter. Personally for me when it comes to family it is always emotional and money never comes into the picture. That's how my parents have brought me up.

Yesterday evening was fun, there was dinner plans at a friends place. It started with a few drinks and a nice dinner. I was expecting a bad hangover today morning but am here writing my blog early in the morning.A long day ahead with updating my resume, linked in profile, cleanup, catchup, shopping and a couple of big ones restarting my training for the marathon and ironing my clothes...

Business is ruthless - Nothing personal

The first that comes to my mind waking up on a weekend is to blog. After a week of slogging it is relaxing when you take things out of your heart and mind and blog them.OMG, I am addicted to blogging and i am loving it.

Professionally had an awesome week, achieved a huge milestone on schedule after overcoming a lot of challenges. When i started to work on this nearly 2 years ago several people said this was impossible. However i have a great feeling of satisfaction when this milestone is now completed. Received a lot of appreciations and my leadership team is taking me out for dinner next week to recognise my efforts in getting this across the line. So with the end so near and one final hurdle to go just when i thought it can't get more challenging, it gets better.

My manager has moved on to take a different role, I was told i have to take up her role apart from my role. That's manageable but it doesn't stop here it gets even better. Since i am contracting there are no other opportunities after i deliver the last hurdle. This means i have to start looking for new opportunities now. Now this gets emotional for me. On one hand i have a project very close to my heart and i can see this finish line. On the other hand i am a bit selfish, i want to quit and choose my next assignment and not leave it to the last minute for anyone to ask me to quit.

Speaking about quitting, it makes me wonder how things have changed over time. This week was a short week to commemorate ANZAC day. There was a time when quitting was something that people could not even think of and today here i am shamelessly blogging about quitting. Respect the great souls and the people who even today dedicate their lives for the country.

"Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do & die,

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred"

ANZAC day celebration @ Canberra 2011

Coming on to my next assignment, the ability to find a job doesnt freak me. However the ability to find a job equally challenging freaks me. I have not made up my mind whether i want to continue contracting or settle down in a permanent job. A few things makes me lean towards a permanent job. Firstly, my friend has taken off for 70 days and starting on a road trip across Australia. I can only do that if i have a permanent job and the peace of mind. Secondly, the face of business has changed a lot most of the accountable management roles are now with partners which means the chances of me getting a challenging role is higher when i go for a permanent role with a partner. Lastly, my parents think it is high time i settle down with a permanent job.

Ideally i would have liked to cross the finish line and then start the next race, but given where i am now i might end up starting a new race before i finish the current one. Mr NRN chief menor of Infosys used to say "Never love your work as you may never know when it will stop loving you". This one is a tough lesson for me, i hope i dont have to burn my fingers to learn this the hard way. Having said that life will be boring if everything goes as per plan. Such is life.

The good thing about this is that it can only get better from here.The other good thing amidst all this is that one of the astrologers has told my mom that she should go to a couple of temples every week and god will find a good girl for me in a couple of  months. So she is focussed on the temples for a while. This means i wont have any decisions to make in my personal life for the next couple of months. That gives me enough time to sort out my professional life before i face a similar dilema with my personal life.

I had a lot on my mind when i started this blog but now i think i have a more clearer view of what i want. I should thank the person who inspired me to start blogging, i owe you one.

Things to do before you die

This weekend watched back to back episodes of "Things to do before you die" in Nat Geo Adventure featuring Australia and New Zealand. Surprisingly I have covered more activities in New Zealand than in Australia.

My personal top 10 things to do which I highly recommend are

10. Mud Bath and Spa in Rotorura, NZ: Start of the adventure trip in NZ, Dec 2008. The very first activity was to have a day long session in the Rotorura mineral mud bath and spa. A relaxing start to a great trip.

9.  Zorbing in Rotorura, NZ: It is an amazing experience when you get into a sphere filled with water and you are rolled over down a hill.  Rotorua is the place where zorbing first started and hold the records for the longest zorbing experience.

Zorbing at Rotorua, New Zealand

8. White water rafting, Grade 5, Shotover river, NZ: Awesome start to the new year 2009 with a grade 5 white water rafting.  Queenstown is the best adventure and holiday destination. The trip to the shotover river was equally adventurous.

7. Theme park and Surfer's paradise in Gold Coast, AU: During winter 2007, took off to the warmer parts of the country. Surfer’s paradise is truly a paradise for beach lovers, regretted the fact that I could not surf. However, the theme parks Movie world, Sea world and Wet and wild were pretty amazing. Superman escape and Police academy were unforgettable.

6. Maori Hakka Dance, Rotorura, NZ: Booked a dinner in one of the maori villages in Rotorura. The highlight was the hakka dance, which is a tradition by the kiwi to mentally break and scare off their enemies. This is made more famous by the All Blacks, Kiwi Rugby team. Learning the hakka was fun, kammate kammate ….

Hakka dance, maori village, New Zealand

5. Great Ocean Drive, Victoria, AU: This one is a beauty, have driven several times and will drive several more times on the great ocean road. The best trip was with my parents in 2011 because we had an overnight stay and I didn’t had to share the wheels with anyone else.

4. Sydney New Year Celebrations, AU: Had an amazing new year’s eve during 2010 new year with my parents. Got a seat just outside the opera house and witnessed the most beautiful new year celebrations after a wait time of 14 hrs. Absolutely worth it.

Sydney New Year 2010

3. Scuba Diving and Snorkelling in Great Barrier Reef, AU: One of the seven natural wonders of the world, Great Barrier Reef is famous for its scuba diving and snorkelling. This is also made famous through “The best job in the world campaign”. It was an out of the world experience diving in the reef and swimming with the colourful fishes and reefs. It was so excited that my mask went off and had to be rescued from underwater by the tour operator. Snorkelling was another interesting story, I knew I was a poor swimmer but jumped into the ocean with a floating noodle. Could not manage it so just clung to the boat . However one of the tour guides jumped into the water with a floating tube and asked me and 3 of my friends who could not swim to cling to it and she took us around the reef. Amazing woman could not stop thanking her for the wonderful experience.

Photo taken by our tour operator's photographer

2. Bungee Jumping over Kawarau river, NZ: New year 2009, after white water rafting in the morning. Came down to Kawarau river for bungee jumping. This is the place where bungee jumping started and it one of the busiest bungee jumping sites in the world. So if you don’t book in advance you will not get a slot. As usual, only the married guys were not given the permission so they just had to watch us. Didn’t feel much excited as I thought 200ft of bungee jumping should be easy. However, it all changed soon, the feeling when you get to the spot and your legs are tied and you are standing on the edge waiting to jump. Your instincts stay don’t do it you crazy fellow but your brain says do it look at the 12 yr old kid who jumped before you. Finally I jumped and it is all about that that few seconds before you hit the water. Amazing experience, you can’t describe it in words. I knew my jump wasn’t as smooth but am sure I will make it perfect next time and will jump tandem in the only place where you can jump along with your loved one.

Bungee Jumping @ Kuwarau river, NZ

                                         
1. Sky Diving over Great Barrier Reef, AU: The wait is over and the number one spot goes to Sky Diving. This was something I never planned or aspired to do but ended my being my best experience. After scuba diving, we were roaming in the streets of cairns looking around for activities for the next couple of days. My friend found out about white water rafting and wanted us to do it, my other friend was asked why not sky diving, he was kidding and myself and my other friend said let’s do it. My married friends didn’t get the approvals and my first friend went for white water rafting. So it was three of us, all excited but didn’t know whether it was really safe. So my friend called up his dad who is a doctor and asked if it is medically safe to do a sky dive? Surprisingly his father said it is safe go and jump. So we all booked for the next day’s slot.

                I didn’t feel much when I booked it but the more I thought about it I more scared I got and it was the longest night of my life. I called up family and friends and everyone was asking why I have become so nice suddenly. Next day got picked up from our cottage and it was a 2 hr drive to the destination. The plan was to fly in a flight to an altitude of 12k ft and jump. However, the weather was not that great so they had cancelled all jumps in the morning. We were pretty sad and spoke to the operator telling them we are tourists from india and came all over from india for sky diving. So he said he will put us in the first batch if they got the clearance. Finally @ 3pm we got the clearance and that is when it started to get strange. First they got my signature stating they are not responsible if something happens to me. Then the guy who was taking the video asked us to tell our last prayers.

I jumped from this plane ...

                After some training, we boarded the flight with parachutes and each one of us were tied to an instructor. In no time we were flying in a plane which had no seats, no doors and the pilot was sitting just ahead of us. We reached 12k feet and the pilot signalled the instructors and quickly the first guy jumped out, it looked as if he was sucked out into a turbine. Then my chance came and it was scary sitting on the door and viewing down at an altitude of 12k feet. He instructor gave a push and I was falling freeing from the plane, I was still in the state of shock. Forgot all the training lessons and the instructor had to forcibly open my arms. It became fun after a few seconds and It was an amazing feeling freely falling. The view was awesome as we jumped over the great barrier reef and plan was to land on the beach. Suddenly @ 3k ft felt something strange, the parachute had opened and the instructor gave me control to guide the parachute. Finally we landed on the beach and overall it was an amazing experience which I think I will do it again..

Other things which got added to my do list after watching the show

5. Drive a Lamborghini, AU

4. Trip to Uluru, AU

3. Learn to Surf, AU

2. Tasmania, AU

1. Aussie Road Trip - Outback , AU

"Fear is temporary, regret is permanent. Go take the plunge" 

Character vs Reputation vs Perception

Last week one of my friends posted his friday night experience on facebook. He went to a pub and approached a girl who said he was ugly and short. He was so devastated that he posted this on facebook about how he is such a nice guy and how he was deeply hurt by her words. How not being Brad Pitt is his fault. My advice for him

Firstly, you should not use facebook when you are drunk.

Secondly, the girl is right in expressing what she thinks.she has just met you and can only judge you by what she sees.So ignore her words and move on to the next girl.

Thirdly, the timing was wrong. You approached her @ 9 pm, may be if was a couple of hours later you would had a better chance.

Character is what you are when there is no one is around. Reputation is what people think of you based on what you have done. Perception is what people think of you without knowing you. Speaking of character can't stop thinking about two legends whom i admire the way they manage their professional and personal life. I had the privilege to see both of them live in action.

Sachin Tendulkar true character @ MCG 2012 which may be his last game at MCG

The second person is Roger Federer taken @ Aus Open 2011

Building a character takes ages, reputation some considerable time and perception is the quickest. The only thing in common among these is that all of them can be lost in the same duration very quickly.

However it is easier said than done. We give a lot of importance to perception trying to impress people at first sight.You have to do a lot of homework to get it right. On the other hand to reject someone is easy often you just need one reason and sometimes you dont need one either. We dont think twice before rejecting someone but when the same happens to us it hurts a bit.

Not sure why am thinking so much today. May be it is just my hunger, ordered veg pizza and pasta and the guy delivered chicken pizza and pasta. Eagerly waiting for the actual order.

The road not taken ...........

A couple of instances during the last week made me think of the key decisions in my life (which i never knew when i took them) and what could have happened if i had chosen the other road. Last weekend caught up with my friend's cousin and his room mates who are currently pursuing their post graduate in Melbourne University. They had stayed at my home when they landed in Melbourne so they invited me for breakfast and catch up as i could not meet them after that. They were awesome hosts and served me several types of dosa with sambhar and chutney. I felt jealous of them enjoying their college life and at the same time feel a bit sad analysing the hardships they undergo. They have to get part-time jobs, work late nights and then study and these are kids who have not moved a spoon back home.

On their careers, they have to study one more PG course to be eligible for permanent residency and then apply for permanent residency and then start looking for a job. It is a tough life and gets tougher when you have to start your career with a huge debt to clear. However, i also have a lot of my batch mates, friends, colleagues and juniors who have gone through these hardships and who came out stronger and have well established careers. My junior last week posted in Facebook about her interview as "Women achievers in NASA". Since i have not travelled this path i will not comment on what is right or wrong. I will talk about the path i travelled and the roads i chose. 

Speaking of road, cant stop thinking about Great Ocean Road, Victoria.

After School: I was an above average kid at school who use to be in the top 5 percentile in the class. I never had any specific goals in terms of career path/colleges. My dad knows me and my psychology very well and so he used to say i would never even step inside the gates of CEG, Anna University (the top ranking college in my state and within the top 10 in the country). That kind of drove me crazy, my year 12 and entrance exams results were out. I was in the top 4 percentile in my state, still that was not sufficient to get me a good course in CEG as we had reservations/quotas. So had two choices, either pick up a course in PSG which is another reputed college or compromise on the course and pick any course in CEG. My dad, family and friends suggested that i should go for PSG as courses are of higher importance. For me there were two key drivers, firstly what my dad said about me that i will not even step in CEG and secondly the college fees of PSG was 5 times more than CEG. I told my parents and everyone i will choose PSG and finally when i was asked the option, i choose CEG and a course that changed my life.

                                 I took the one less traveled by,

                                And that has made all the difference.

After College: College life was fun and especially my course and never regretted the decision at any moment. I could write pages about my life in college but that will have to wait for some other day. In my third year of engineering we had to start thinking about our career seriously. My course was an emerging field in India and hence had very little career options. So it was either MS in the US or get into software. So i had registered my self for GRE classes and booked a date for GRE. Meanwhile during the end of third year our placement seasons started, the first company i attended was a leading software company. Started with a written test on puzzles, which i was confident of making through thanks to Shakuntala devi's puzzles. I got shortlisted for the interview and was offered the job, felt very proud that day. I know had to choose between a career in software and higher studies in US. For me there was only one driver this time, i didn't want to start my career with a huge debt so the decision was easy. Cancelled my GRE booking got the refund and partied for getting a job which transformed me from a student to a professional.

Easter Road trip towards Sydney 2011 - 4 days, 3 states and 2k kms

MBA: My professional life started well, could not have asked for better start than the training in the company's mysore campus. In my first project interview, i was asked how would i feel to go to the Australian beaches and work for an Australian project. I thought they were kidding, however after 5 months at Bangalore i boarded my first international flight to Melbourne. I was working for a leading banking project and then after  6 months move into a leading Telecommunications project. After a couple of years in Melbourne, it had to choose between pursing my higher education or continuing with my career. I enrolled for GMAT and planned my vacation around CAT. Before my GMAT exam there was a long weekend which is when i planned to prepare myself. However, my friends planned a trip to Cairns which i could not say no. Had an amazing trip scuba diving and snorkeling in the great barrier reef, skydiving on the reef and landing in the beach and relaxing in a beach cottage. Got average scores in GMAT and CAT and i never took a decision here, just moved on with my life. My friend who shared the same dream, gave up the job and prepared well for CAT and has now graduated from IIM Calcutta. From her perspective she took the right decision, from my perspective i don't have any regrets of not taking a decision here.

Career: After 5 years with the software company, i started to feel very comfortable and badly wanted a change. I knew if i  was not able to come out of my comfort zone now, i will never. Started looking out and got an offer as a contract position. Contract position meant good money and no job security and since i was on a work permit if i loose my job i have 28 days to leave the country. It wasn't a tough decision for me but my family and friends were worried as this could break my career. I took the plunge and i knew i had to work smart and prove myself to survive.Two years down the lane, this is one of the best decisions in my life and has taken my career to a different league, gave me permanent residency and a lot of confidence in my career.

Based on my experiences, when you choose a road the whole world around you provides their opinion whether it is right or wrong. My only advice is to ignore them all, they don't see what you see ahead. Deciding on what you want to do is the easy part, the tough part is to never regret it, confidently move on and work hard. Then you will prove it to the world you took the right road. It is all in your hands, never ever give up.

The short week that was never short

Even though last week was a short week, it has been one of the most longest week of my life. The good news is that after spending the 4 day Easter break in the Royal children's hospital my little friend was back home on Tuesday. He is back with a bang and having loads of fun. It is such an amazing thing to see kids smile, they define a new meaning of life. Also, my nephew has grown up, it was nice to see his snaps and videos. I am also very happy that he doesnt fit into most of the dresses i hand picked for him, need to buy him bigger dresses the next time.

The change of season in Melbourne has triggered the start of flu season.I had sore throat during the start of the week but my spicy pepper rasam killed the flu. However, the flu still likes my other friends so i am the only person out the 6.5 people in our group who is not hit my the flu. Touch wood. This also means i was incharge of dinner last week and my poor friends had to cope up with flu and my food. Looking forward to wednesday to get the flu shot at work.

Finally the week is over. Melbourne sunset taken earlier from my apartment

"Will you ever give up?",  i have heard this sentence 3 times in the last week. The last two times i have heard that sentence, it has been an awesome feeling.It has been a challenging week at work with my manager on leave, i was running the show and the last 4 days was hell. My program director was quite impressed with the way me and my team stepped up and delivered. It is a awesome feeling when your work gets recognised. This is even more special, given that you dont have any sane reason to continue in this project other than pure passion. I promised my self a year ago, i have started this and will take this over the line whatever happens. It has been a tough ride but i can see the finish line. This also means i need to start looking for my next challenge soon.

 "Will you ever give up?",  The first time it was more of frustration from someone. It is a tough decision as i never given up until it is over and also, i would never want to hurt anyone. It was a tough decision but in this conflict i kind of gave up. Giving up doesnt always mean you are weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough to let things go, they will come back to you if they were really yours. The good thing is i am back to the normal state from the excited state i was a couple of weeks ago and i feel stupid over the things i did over the last two weeks but no regrets. Having said that, technically i have still not given up. i am still trying out the Inception technique to dream and plant an idea into someone's dreams to change their thoughts. How easy would life be if we could do it ?

In all this chaos, forgot the Tamil new year until my mom messaged me. Looking forward to finish the weekend with some lost sleep and a long list of family and friends to call .

Easter @ Royal Childrens Hospital, Melbourne

My little friend is down with viral and was dehydrated yesterday, hence he went to the Emergency dept and was told to get admitted as he was clinically dehydrated. We went to the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) yesterday on the way back from the Yarra Valley trip. He looked tired and was sad to see him on saline, but he was excited seeing us and started shouting. Gave him my hand to bite and by the intensity of the bite i could make it he was exhausted.

This was the first time i went to RCH after the new block was inaugurated by the Queen last year and it is truly one of the best hospitals in the world. The facilities are world class and the attention that has been given to every minute details are commendable. All the lifts are called by a colour so that is is easy for people to remember the way and every floor has a theme starting with Underwater, Beach, Earth, Forest, Tree Top, Mountain Top and Sky. The best part is the two storey coral reef aquarium in the emergency section.

Today morning, he was excited to see us again. He had to be shifted from Possum, the short stay ward in Underwater to the Cocktoo ward on the Mountain Top. It was amazing to see how the hospital was setup for Easter. There were bunny footsteps all around the hospital and my little friend was greeted in the morning with an Bunny soft toy and an Easter Egg. It was also amazing to see how lively and helpful the doctors, nurses and medical staff were even though they could not celebrate Easter with their family and friends. Medical profession is truly a noble profession. I always wanted to be a doctor when i grew up but the day i drew my first cockroach everyone knew it was not my field.


My Easter gift to my little friend

It is always a difficult when someone dear is in a hospital and it is even worse when it is a kid. He is much better today, am not a doctor but i can tell that by the intensity of his bite which still hurts.Wishing him a speedy recovery and looking forward to playing with him @ his home again soon.

Yarra Valley vineyards - Easter Weekend 2012

To follow the Easter weekend tradition of Easter road trips, chose Yarra Valley vineyards this year for a day trip. Planned to have a nice breakfast in one of the vineyards as it is around 80kms from Melbourne.

Bulong Estate, Yarra Junction on 07-Apr-2012

 

The night before the plan changed to brunch, on the morning it changed to lunch. Finally when we started we picked up pizza for lunch and reached there @ 3:30 pm. The restaurant was closed and ended up taking a few snaps.

Awesome place, the drive around the yarra valley was amazing..

Bulong Estate, Yarra Junction on 07-Apr-2012

Love my friends the way we plan for trips and execute them, literally execute them :-)

My First Post

Nothing much to do on a long Easter weekend so created a blog to post my photos ...

Koala conservation centre, Philip Island, VIC

This is how i feel on a sunday morning. Happy Easter Folks ..