Florida: From the travelers lens ( Part 1)

We had three families and decides to go on the road trip to Florida. The purpose was to visit Disney and Universal studios in Orlando. Exploring Miami and Key West and return back to Dallas, TX.

Day 00: 12/18/2019

We have started from our office bit early as we need to receive the cars which we book way bay in October. When we arrive to the venue in Marriott Hotel in Addison. I got bit lucky as I my booking got upgraded and I got the Jeep - Grand Cherokee. I happily received the offer and drove back the car to home. It was nice car with all the required navigation features which help to drive in night such as bling spot detection and supports Apple car play and Android auto. I reached home by 7 PM and shown car to my spouse. She was also very happy to see the car and we went for small joy ride. After that it's time to fit all the stuffs from my car to this car. It took another hour and by 8:30 PM I was all set for the next day. 

Day 01: 12/19/2019

This day we woke up by 5 AM, get freshen up and all set for the long drive. Me and my friend: Vipin - along with his own family. Kids are very excited for the trip. We started by around 7 AM from Plano, TX and idea was to drive as max as possible. So that we can reach to Orlando on time next day. This also help us so that we don't have much stress to drive more miles on 2nd day. In less than 1 hr time we left Dallas and we are on the I20. Driving in interstate highway is fun, though you needs to be careful. Out goal was to follow the route: Dallas -> Shreveport -> Jackson ->Mobile. We take first hop after driving almost 2 hrs. Nidhi and Gaurvi had make paranthas and idlis for the food. Whenever we stopped the car in rest area, we had proper food and ready for drive next 2 hrs minimum. By following this we drove almost 600 miles on very first day. We decides to take hotel in Mobile, AL.

To make the rest/night stop even better we booked Admiral hotel which was the Curio Collection by Hilton. Its a kind of heritage hotels which was earlier building for some importance and then converted into the hotel. It as good night stay and over all we finished our first day with style.

Day 02: 12/20/2019

Well they second day starts very early. We woke up by 5:30 AM and got freshen up. Actually the hotel was in downtown and there is charged parking. So we decided to use street parking which was free till 7 AM. So our goal was to do check out  from hotel before 7 AM. Then next we head to Burger King and make our tummies happy. You know for long drives food is very essential and you need to make sure you are not feeling hungry. Our destination is to reach Quality Inn & Suites Near The Theme Parks. We were driving with full swag. In between taking enough breaks for coffee and gas. Almost 4 PM we were 100 miles before the hotel but as we selected the route w/t tolls.  Last 100 miles are tough to drive. First there was lot of traffic on the interstate highway. People are driving like crazy and that too on high speed. Then because of the non-toll we were routed to some country road. I was driving with great attention. Finally by around 7:45 PM I was about to reach hotel. We were very tired. Our friend: Vipin was already reached the hotel and he has checked in to the hotel room. We got freshen up after checking in to the hotel. 

Finally this is the time to get the dinner. we searched some good Indian restaurants and we got one. Ashirwad Indian food and bar. It was decent restaurant. We ordered chiken biryani. After food came to hotel room and now its time to hit the bed.

Day 03: 12/21/2019


This is official the first day of our trip and this is dedicated to the Universal Studios, Orlando. Time to wake up early guys. Hit to the breakfast and then take the shuttle to the universal. But wait, they wont allow strollers. Damm.....What should we do now. (?). Ok. Wait. Kids and ladies take the shuttle and me and my friend Vipin we decides to take walk with strollers. It was close to 2 miles walk from the hotel. Thanks to Vipin bhai that he has given me the company. We reach to the Universal by 9:45 AM. Kids and ladies have already reached. We call them to the main gate. Took and photos and went inside the universal. Now its time to explore the universal. My first ride was Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket. It was a roller coaster which i enjoyed a lot; though it was bit scary. As the park was very big we decided to explore separately as both families have different age group kids. Around two hours later when we met I have explored different rides in  Harry Porter world. “Harry Porter and the Escape from Gringotts” was good ride though the waiting was bit longer but we enjoyed a lot. Weather was bit cloudy and it was drizzling in between.


Although it as around 1 PM so we all decided to meet. Vipin’s daughter was not feeling well. After giving some desi medicine she was feeling well. We decided to explore further. Next attraction was parade  which is suppose to start by 5 PM we have gathered to the venue. There are many different tableau which was decorated with Christmas theme , pops and light shows. It was must watch for everyone. We are there till 8 PM. Totally “paisa vasool” feeling. Now we decided to step out and go to hotel. It was along walk from the exit gate. We have to walk bit further to reach to place from where we have to catch taxi/uber. We have crossed the AMC theater. Booked uber and reach to hotel it was started raining. Though the hotel was not very far, hardly 2 miles. When we reach hotel, we found that Ved bhai has reached to hotel along with his family. Now our group completed.  After check-in to his room. Not it was time to have beer. I have asked all of them to come to my room and all other folks including ladies and kids went to Vipin’s room. “Beer pe charcha” was our must have discussion on socio political issues. It was good fun. We has pizza in the night and then rest to bed. It was first day and very nonetheless very tiring too.

Indolent Winters

Drenched by mist –
Tender and fragile leaves fall to the earth.
There was no chirping,
No fluttering of the wings.
Unlike other days,
Slowly from behind the clouds
Rose the sun all in pink.

Light diffused through the fog,
To the warmth flowers turned their sides.
Stretched and steady
Sparrows chirped in joy.
Slid from the grass
Shiny dew burst into the soil.

Lost in slumber,
Under the deep blankets –
Untroubled and untouched
By worries and mayhem of life,
Dreams and infancy sprawled unrepressed.

Bubbling tea in every cup
A sigh of relief
In every sip.
Engulfed in flames,
The woods never uttered a wail
All the warmth stolen away
From the hearth
Hands besiege all day along.

Piercing winds blemish the build –
Noon serves the skin so perfect.
But true souls absorb in pleasantries
Gatherings in the porch become so often.
Spring brings in the color and valor
but winters in disguise nurture that hope.

Celebrating Failures!

Celebrating failures? Yes, you read it right. I am talking about celebrating failures, the session which I attended. During the session, the question in my mind was “Are we really talking about the failures or the inspiration behind the success?”
 
The only reason I wanted to attend this session was – It’s our own HR people who were sharing their experiences, and the host was an ex-HR. Hence, I decided to attend the session.
 
The host is very famous for his talk and his loud voice (He doesn’t need a microphone). Hence, it was obvious that the evening would be very interesting and exciting. The session started with some personal experiences of failures. It was very intriguing to listen to them as the way each speaker was articulating it, it sounded like a story.
 
“Failure stories” and how they inspired them achieve or set the goals to achieve something and take the best out of us was amazing. There were stories ranging from Appraisals to killing the product to firing stories to our ISRO stories. The way these stories were presented was very hilarious and I never thought that these small things will have huge impact.
 
I was carefully listening to all the stories but honestly, I did not get inspired as, while listening to them and their stories, my mind went back to the era of my struggling days.
 
I belong to a typical Marwari family – over-pampered and protected. I did not know what the difficulties or challenges or failures were in life. All I knew or grew up hearing was to master the art of cooking (I guess I did!)
 
Education was like a side dish – not very important. However, I was fortunate enough to have a good education, though I studied just for the sake of degree without any goal or purpose. You may wonder why I’m saying this, or if I’ve deviated from my topic.
 
No, am not deviating from the original topic. It’s again about the struggle and failure, the ups and downs I encountered and how I managed to overcome them. So for me, that was something big and I am appreciating myself. And I patted myself on my back that (Yes, I did something!). What I am today is because of the struggle which made me strong enough face any situation in life.
 
After getting back to home, I thought of just writing to my team about this inspiring session, and how our determination and will power can make a huge difference. While writing the mail, I also thought that I could write a blog about it.
 
It was great experience listening to the stories which everybody spoke from their hearts. The journey from failure to success is a transformation of yourself from being defined to determined
 
We all have our own success and failure stories. It could be small, it could big. As HRs, I am sure we encounter such cases in our professional life as well, but the important aspect is how we tackle it. We can listen to many such stories, but unless we decide to tackle or overcome the failure and turn it to success, we can’t celebrate the failure. We are our own source of inspiration.

A crisis called - Midlife!

Biggest problem with midlife crisis is that you do not know what your problem is. Until now, life has been all about setting goals and striving to achieve them – the school, the marks, the college, the job, the girl and all that. Until now, you have had something to look forward to. Until now, you have had an aim. Now, you are past that stage.

All those things that at one point of time looked like a tool to reach the pinnacle of life have dropped you to the so-called pinnacle – just that the pinnacle has turned out to be a plateau. Since it is a plateau, you find others to have reached the same place by taking different routes. You wonder if all those years were worth this present. Funny part is that everyone else in your boat thinks the same.

Human mind is a monster always hungry for thoughts. A kid’s mind is lost in his present. In his youth, human mind is lost in the dreams for his future. An old mind has too much of past baggage to think about.

Problem is with those in their midlife – there is sufficient baggage of past to think about and the future gives you more worries than hope. You are always thinking if change in handling a few things in the past would have reduced your worries for future. You are always trying to make yourself think that whatever you have is the best you could have got. Sometimes you also think that you were lucky even to have the present you have. The thing is that you are always confused between past, present and future – which part should be given the more importance in your thought process.

Deep down you know that staying in present is what will make you happy but you do not really like your present. Whatever you are doing is not what you had dreamt off in your youth. Something you dream of doing is the very same thing you cannot do now. Even if you manage to do it, you soon realize that it is not what you had asked for. It is nothing but a state of not liking whatever you do and not knowing what you would love to do. As I said, confusion is the word.

Midlife crisis is nothing less than an identity crisis. You don’t know what you are – a kid who dreamt of making it big in life, a youth who left no stone unturned to make his dreams come true, an employee who turns up every day at work so that he could pick up his paycheck at the end of the month, a son split between the duties of a husband and a father, a law abiding citizen who cannot do anything but crib about the issues out of his hands. It is an identity crisis.

Until now, you had been running a race that you did not know if you wanted to run. You hardly ever decided to take up or give up a lap. You were always told by others what to do – go to this school, this college is good, you have to take up a good job and things like that. In fact, you hardly took any decision on your own.

Suddenly, the tables have turned. Suddenly, you have become the decision maker. Suddenly you have to make all the calls. You have to choose school for your kids in a time when fee for one year is more than what your parents paid for your entire education. You have to choose a career move knowing that you do not have liberty of making too many moves now. You have to decide where to put your money so that it can guard you against old age, you have to decide which city to settle down, you have to decide which relations to hold on and which to let go. You have to decide everything. There is no comfort of others making a calls for you, you walking down the road in full knowledge that if things go wrong, the blame would be on someone else.

Risks and returns, they are all yours. There is nobody to blame now.

It is something quite new to you. This is something starting something afresh. This is something you have to start learning when you had thought you are past the learning period of your life. Mind you, making decisions for yourself is the most important aspect of life and learn you must.

There is one more thing you have to learn and that is to find happiness. Happiness is not like bad luck, which comes uninvited. You have to seek it, search for it.

You have to find out what makes you happy. Work is nothing but a rut. Family is lot about making others happy and finding your happiness in their happiness. With them, it is more about finding solace in a better future for your family. It is good if you find it but what is equally more important is what makes YOU happy, what keeps you in present. Remember, I am using the word YOU repeatedly.

Maybe it is time to pick up that side of your which you had allowed to sleep while you were busy running the rat race in your childhood/youth. It is time to dig into what could be termed as your “oblivious side”. It is time to explore YOU.

Pick up that guitar which was dumped somewhere when you could not even find time to look at it. Pick up that camera which you bought in a thanksgiving deal but have not even charged its battery twice. To hell with tracking stock markets and real estate prices, go read the stuff you always wanted to. Forget watching news and getting worried about the state of the nation and society. You getting worried will not help it much. There is a whole lot of cinema made by geniuses across the globe – go watch it all. I am sure there must have been something you loved doing without caring about anything else. There must be. Are you sure there was nothing like this?

In case if there is nothing like a “loved doing it but had to give up” thing in your life, go pick up something new. Go out and play. You will be surprised to see the agility of your mind and body that could be achieved after playing a game for a month or so, you will be surprised to see that the kid in you still breathes. You will be surprised to see that you still have the ability to live in the moment. It does not matter if you are a rookie in anything you do. Doing is what matters.

In fact, it is good if you are a rookie. Remember, you have to enjoy the process without bothering a damn about the results. If you were perfect at an art, your job would have been more difficult. You would have needed to find new challenges and the biggest challenge would have been maintaining the passion along with loads of crap life puts in front of you. What you are looking for – a kick of achievement making you happy would be a tough thing to get. Hence, being rookie is better. With steep learning curve, you would be getting the desired kick more frequently. It is better to be a rookie, it is better to pick up something new. It is always better to be in present and that is what it will do.

The gist of the story is – go deep down inside, look for what makes you happy and have a life. It will be lot better than simply cribbing about life.

Okay. I am not preaching it to anyone else. Having being stuck in my midlife crisis, I am talking it all to myself. But it can very well be true for others.

Just in case you are an old man reading this, I hope I am making sense to you. I am sure you would have done the same.

Just in case you are in same boat as mine, I hope I am making sense to you. According to me, this is the only way to deal with this.

Just in case you are a young man reading this and I am not making any sense to you, stop grinning and save these tips for future. I know you are living in a denial that you will never age. Soon you will be living in a denial that you have not aged and these tips will come handy.

As has someone has said (Okay, Rahm Emanuel said it but I do not know who he is. I just googled for a good quote) “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before”.

Who knows, while doing such a thing you may find a hidden treasure of a wonderful treasure in your midlife crisis.

Ride To Hogenakkal Waterfalls

It was one of the long awaited bike rides which I was planning to do. But because of the laziness it was not getting materialized. Finally on December 25; The Christmas day when the people are enjoying the plum cake. We have the different plan for the day. Yes the journey started. Finally !!

Place: Hogenakkal waterfalls.

Distance: 150 x 2 = 300kms (To and Fro journey - Bommnahalli to Hogenakkal)

Directions: Bengaluru – Hosur – Royakottai – Palacode – Pennagaram – Hogenakkal.

On 24 Dec Sam came to my place and after searching the best possible rotes we planned to go via Royakottai - Palacode route. We prefer not go via the NH7 since it takes more distance(approx. 190 km one way) and bike ride is not very safe due to rush of trucks.

We wake up around 5:20 Am and after the fresh up started at sharp 6 AM. There was still dark on the outside and it is little cold as well. There was small amount of fog also there on the road. So started driving approx. 45-50 speed. No doubt NH highway is pleasure to drive. In next 40 mins we reached Hosur. in midway there are lots of trucks parked here n there. So be careful while changing the lanes as they are known for bad driving. We crossed the Toll plaza. Surprisingly there is no toll charge for bikes as they charge while crossing the NICE toll plaza. While crossing use the side road..which looks like footpath. We drove through the main road and wasted 15 mins in that.

After we reach Hosur, we crossed two small flyovers. Then before starting the next one we have taken the service road and from under the flyover you have to cross and then see a board which shows arrow to Royakottai. This is state highway so the roads are not so smooth as NH but decent condition for bike drive. This road has many villages in b/w. Once you start driving on that road you the isolation from the noisy world. The cool breeze and thump sound of your collor, this just awesome feeling. You enjoy the greenery and surroundings. 

We take stop at Uddanapalli to have sip coffee and have some snacks since we have not taken anything since we have started. There are some small tea/coffee stalls on the road side. Then we drive straight to the Palacode and then to Pennagram. Road condition is good. I can rate 7.5/10. Just before 10 km to reach hogenakkal. There is one govt toll. After passing that suddenly the ghat section starts and the wesome landscape of the forest and mountains will sooth your eyes and fill you with adventure. Finally at 10:20 AM we are at Hogenakkal.

First things first. Since we are damm hungry only the food is there in mind. So after finding place to park the bikes. No we didn't parked in the official parking coz its way to far from the falls and also its chargeable. Sam enjoyed poori while I am happy with Dosa. Along with other chores the main item was fresh water caramine fish. Its deep fried and super testy. We are one each. Then its time for famous oil message. There are plenty of guys roaming around but better fix the rate and then go for it. Don't be confuse with message as now a days its taken in different context. Its pure and simple oil message which is true to its meaning. The guy will take to the nearby place which is near to the falls. This is open place and lot many people are also there enjoying the message under the giant peeple tree. Let me correct myself its not the oil message rather you can call it oil bath. Ya, right, They will pour approx. 250 ml of oil on your body and rub vigorously, pulling and twisting all your mussels. But end of 30 mins message you will definitely feel rejuvenated. Period.

Once this is  done we have taken the bath in falls. They have made arrangements for that. But be careful since the flow of water is very high and the makeshift place is slippery as well. After everything is done.  We head to see the falls over the cable bridge. But not so lucky :( They start calling the people and closed the other side. So we could only manage to see it from bridge and taken few snaps from our mobile camera. Felt little disappointed since they charged ticket for this and we have to move out from there in less than 10 mins. But no other choice.  

After that we head to the best thing you can do in hogenakkal - The Coracle boat ride. For this you have to buy the ticket first which cost INR 750 and it carries max four people excluding the boat man. But there is huge line and normal waiting time is 30 mins. They will do the formalities like filling some form and other stuffs. There are two rides. First one is small and then they will take the coracle and put in the actual site. They will take u near the fall in the coracle and u will be full drenched then they make the boat round - round very fast. The main stretch where both side the rocky mountains and u will be sitting comfortably in the coracle enjoying the fried caramine fish, The whole experience is just extraordinary. We enjoyed a lot and clicked some snaps to cherish in memories forever.

We started our journey back to Bangalore by 3:40 PM. Once the ghat section is over our average speed was 65 KM and we follow the same route. by 7:10 PM we reach Bangalore safely

CONCLUSION:

Well this was one of my best trips till date. We enjoyed the oil message, caramine fish, coracle rides, highways driving, ghats, village roads, mud roads, streams… and yeah a 300 KM bike ride in a days filled with pure joy which gave us the the experience of a lifetime :)

An year of Change !!!

This was somewhere around May 2013 when the seeking change is becoming strong in my mind though I was thinking about it since past few months. This more than half decade long journey becomes little monotonous and dull. The same goal setting exercises every year, achieving them and then the appraisal reviews become slightly mundane. After next few month of studying, rounds of interviews, due-diligence and numerous follow ups. Patience pays and finally I manage to get some quite interesting opportunities in hand which included Infosys as well. The choice was not straight forward but eventually I landed up in here, which I later realized that it was SERENDIPITY :)

Now after the induction program, lots of stories I heard about getting the project is how tough here. Next one day I spent searching my college alumnus  and some of my friends who were part of this organization have re-iterated the thing that the getting a project might take time as the so called bench strength is very high and like every other service company be ready to spent some on bench. Little apprehensive by listening all this, but I managed to get project in within first week of joining. The project was good to work and it certainly enriches my experience. When I joined it was started with a lean team, in few month many new faces join and we work in full swing to deliver our best understanding in terms of code . Joining the early morning daily call, EVERYDAY. This was something new for me as waking up so early is not in habit since long but all thanks to Infosys “Come early & leave early” policy, which soon I adapted it. This changes was refreshing in way that it was still sunlight once u leave for the day. Something not very regular as in my previous organization as usual days start somewhere around 11 AM and everyone used to work till late hours.

Another thing its noticeable to mention that the team is scattered around different location viz. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune. So either you have to be on call for any clarification or doubts else you can share your screen. It takes me time to understand this model of working as initially I was not very comfortable in this. But time passes very quickly and with team the understanding become better and finally it was seamless to work. Thanks to the all the help and support from everyone. I realized its really important to grow together as everyone can’t have understanding on all the things but collectively the team can have better tangible outcomes. We leverage them to the new members and help them to learn things better and faster.   

Yeah, there where couple of occasions when things have tough to comprehend, frequent changes in requirement and small turnaround time to complete. It has been pushed for some of very stringent time lines and you have to sweat for finishing the task. But they are part and parcels & that’s how we prepare ourselves for the next level and final outcome will always help us to find the agility of the assignment and gives us the larger prospect to the industry. In totality, nothing to complain and one thing I learn from my experience is that churning is required for learning. So that at times it is required to push yourselves.

So far so good. 
Sincere thanks to team for being supporting in part of this expedition and sharing the sense of being an INFOCIONS :)

Infy 5.0: Change of Guard

On June 12 it was another Thursday morning, while early hours I was busy on checking regular emails after the daily status call. Suddenly a new mail popped in the mailbox as Subject: New CEO designate of the company. Within the next few hours it was the buzz of the business news channels across country. Infosys being a very media friendly company since its inception days, it was obvious. 24 hrs channels when nothing else to telecast, they started rolling the same story in loop. On lighter note; all the hike, exodus of people at senior roles and other organisations related news now a days infosions came to know by online news as internal mailers are most of the time delayed. But this time it was a big news; indeed, as company has chosen first time a person outside the usual founder members for this role.

3 Hours later myself sitting in the beautiful giant sized convention center in the campus, NRN along with new CEO and MD designate Vishal Sikka briefing the employees on this recent development & explaining how this will be driving force for the company for the next five years. 

Being in the news for all the wrong reason or in other words not for so called good reasons in past 12 months. This was a big boost and share prices shows this unison. But again the same time whatever damage done have fragmented  the organisation to its complexities, but in the deep down it is really important to understand the reason for this failure or much debated Infosys financials model. Company has had operating margins of between 28-30%, and sometimes, even up to 35%, whereas competitors such as IBM, Accenture and HP (and local competitors such as TCS and Wipro) have had much lower operating margins. The whole concept itself based on the superior margins. It have a fixed billing rate, which they don't normally change irrespective of the client profile or the business volume. 

Infosys quotes superior margins no matter what - even during uncertain times. Also, large number of projects at Infosys are based on the traditional TnM(Time & Material) and Fixed Billing model, which provide higher revenue visibility. While by and large these two models dominate the whole industry, some of its more aggressive competitors have started adapting customized business models.

But soon this simple formula: Revenue – Cost = Profit is not luring the employees anymore. Trouble time started for the company as the most important assets for any organisation - Employees are losing the focus. When attrition rate gone as high as 18% whereas the healthy no will be close to 10-11%. Company started paying less than 100% of variable salary to even its better performers. In effect, it started taking money out of the pockets of its employees to manage its profits. They forget that, the magic of Infosys was created by thousands of employees going beyond the call of duty; today, that bond between the company and its employees is broken and the relationship has become largely transactional. 

But again there is some silver lining are intact. Make no mistake about it, Infosys is still a very strong company with robust fundamentals, talented employees and an awesome delivery engine. At some point or the other, it has intended to do everything that I've outlined here. The problem is that it has confused “objective” with “strategy”. Strategy implies a rapid mobilization of resources behind a particular path (among many) and that includes investments. The financial model comes in the way of investments.

With a new leadership team that's hungry for success, one hopes that the credo of the financial model (however instrumental it may have been in making Infosys magical) is re-evaluated and Infosys regains its charm once again.

From tomorrow; Aug 1 the new leadership team is taking the guard. Lets hope for the best that it will shine and recollects its mojo soon!!!

(PS: Excerpts from discussion forums, Quora, ET, Aditya Jha and personal understandings)