Choosing a path.....This or That....

This or That.....Which one to choose in career....I always had this problem right from my school days...I was provided with two seats Medicine and Engineering.I had to take one of biggest decisions of my lifetime..Engineering or Medicine....Medicine seat(MBBS) in my state goes only to 1000 students every year from a pool of 100000 and I was very unfortunate guy to be in that 1000 since Medicine was never my cake...Engineering was my interest...Finally I ended up with Engineering forfeiting a medicine seat.This or that came when I was passed out from the school....

After passing out from college,I was given a job in HCL TECHNOLOGIES(CISCO DIVISION)..Unfortunately,the job was very hostile,it was not certainly not the best of jobs with bug fixing understanding the code written by people in Mars and Jupiter..Then I got a job in COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS...again this or that...whether to continue in HCL or go to CTS....but it was not certainly not a big decision compared to Medicine or Engineering...I finally landed up in CTS....Time went on in CTS.....and another this or that....Masters in Germany...now CTS or Masters in Germany...It was tough equivalent to Medicine or Engineering since I have to leave the job which gave me good penny...good friends...good environment....After some confusion landed in Germany...

Life in Germany ....Again one more this or that...I have to choose between Master of Business Administration(MBA)or my internship in European Aeronautical Defence and Space Company(EADS)...Now Iam struck up with my decision....Iam just saying to myself why Iam in a situation of perplexed state always...I sometimes doubt,its because of trying all possibilities which puts me in trouble...One good thing is...I havent looked back after making a decision...I never looked back of being a doctor...I never thought I should have stayed in HCL...I never said to my heart that I should have continued in CTS...but when I face difficulties and hardship on the way...I do look back which makes me really suppressing, but Iam still continuing with the present decision..I pray god that this shouldnt happen when I try to choose a wife...(this or that)...I hope everyone reading this article should have experienced THIS OR THAT...but not like this combination..

Medicine or Engineering
HCL or CTS
CTS or MS in Germany
MBA or EADS....

but THIS or THAT makes life interesting....
Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Sylt...An Island in Nordsee(NorthSea)

Lastweek I had a chance to travel to the northern most tip of Germany,an island called Sylt...this place is just famous for its long-stretching beach...but not interesting for a guy from Chennai...which has second-longest stretching beach in the world (Marina)...the only difference between Marina and Sylt is....I could hardly find people wearing dresses in Sylt...:)) heheeheee...There is nothing new for me in sylt except for the sea which is very shallow...hardly contain any tides....I guess the tides are also introvert like Germans...keeping to themselves....:)....A decent place to hang around for one day when sun shines...

Sathish Kumar S

The Stress and the fun in programming....

Programming,the profession which is least preferred among the students..definitely has stress but other end,has lots of fun...Yesterday,I was sitting with one problem for nearly four hours without any improvements...I got really disgusted....Even after coming to home...the problem persisted in my mind....I couldnt have a nice sleep...next morning...got up...and straight away went to the office to solve the problem...believe it or not...I got the result in just 10 minutes....where a small mistake in my code made the application to behave in a haphazard way...I was exuberant as if,I was finished with my Masters....Programming is definitely fun when one take it as a challenge.....and ofcourse when one gets the result...

#include(analysis.h)
void sathishviews()
{
int logic,less_stress,brainy;

result = logic + less_stress + brainy;

if(result obtained)
{
printf("HEAVEN");
}
else
{
printf("HELL");
}
/* Hell or Heaven depends on the thinkers */

}

Cheers,
Sathish kumar S

Loneliness has reformed me a lot...

Loneliness...the word which I read just as another word in English...but realized whats it actually after coming to Germany...I was always a lonely child...the reason is,I dont have brothers and sisters...but nevertheless accompanied by loving mom and dad,a good bunch of friends who can do whatever...It all began when I came to my Masters when I had to lead a life on my own...I was rated as one of the laziest guys in my friends circle...and even my parents stressed a lot, of doing some bit of work...I remember... even I dont take my glass of water from my place...I have never seen kitchen in my life...

But this loneliness has created some wonders in my behaviours and characters..Now..I cook my own food...wash my utensils...washing clothes...go to work..studying...I couldnt sometimes believe am I doing all these work...Its not only the cooking and washing..but this loneliness has given me a self-realization.Just remembered those days when I used to criticize my mom food...It gives me a clear indication that when a person is alone ..he gets to know more about him...There were times when I used to grudge myself for simple petty things and I have never been patience...take it from me..this loneliness has made tremendous impact on my patience...It has taught me whats relation,love and affection with parents and friends...

Just remembered those days...when mom used to prepare bhajji..when I was watching India-Pakistan Match...when she used to getup before me during exams and wake me up and prepare me a hot cup of tea....Just reminded me the day,when my father took me to hospital in TVS 50(vehicle) when I was suffering from fever even when I was in final year of engineering college...Just reminded me when my beloved friends came to airport for saying bye and all the best even at morning 4'o clock ...I didnt realize those moments much, when I was there...but now this loneliness has taught me...how valuable those moments are and can never be equivalent to the Euros,dollars and my MS....

I really dont regret this loneliness..because I have spent 23 years with my parents...and after some 4 or 5 years Iam going to spend with my wife..so this period of loneliness has taught me many values and morals which will definitely help me to lead a better and peaceful life forever..You could simply imagine how lonely I was when I wrote this article...:)

My Interesting roomie....

Fortunately or unfortunately,I stay in student hostel,where it is compulsory that we have to stay with other countrymen....Interestingly,I got a roommate from Indonesia...er heisst Indrawan Poetranto(His name is Indrawan Poetranto)...There are lots of differences in our way of life..but still we sink together well..for eg...he will be sitting everytime with books...attends all the lectures...(i sometimes even dont know where the classes are taking place in TUHH):)))...the only similarity is...we both are fat and we eat a lot....:))...One good thing about my roomie is his helping tendency...never says no...and especially when Iam down..homesick..he lifts the spirits in the room...a true caretaker ...I really enjoyed Indonesian food......only thing is...he eats only meat...and didnt even know whether vegetables exist in this world....:)))All in all, a thorough enjoyment during my stay with him...I will surely remember and cherish my days with him after sometime..Iam really lucky buddy to be your roomate!

Sathish Kumar S

Beauty of Mainau Island...South Germany...

Last week,I had a chance to travel to South Germany,a city called Freidrichafen,its deep south,sharing the borders with Austria and Swiss...bodensee(lake) separating the three countries...I had a chance to explore the Island named Mainau with my childhood friend...We travelled in a ship to reach the island...( born brought in a port city(chennai)...I havent travelled in a ship either)...but had lots and lots of opportunities to travel in ship in Hamburg and other cities in Germany.This Island Mainau is simply marvellous...with waters gushing into the banks...with lots of flowers...with too many trees...magnificient site...It was a peek summer...we were there at the right time..with all Germans half-naked..:))...I also wanted to have a suit like that...but I dont know whether my VISA will be cancelled...:))Took loads and loads of pictures...troubling lots of germans on their way....(hehehe....atleast we can trouble them by this way...)A perfect spot for couples...very romantic.....very attractive...and what not...A day to remember.... MAINAU ISLAND.....

India and IT..(Has India achieved in IT)...Not really...

India and Information Technology (two sides of a coin) according to rest of the world..All magazines and news portray India as a global IT super power..But honestly speaking its not actually true..I can augument this topic with many examples...Having worked in Indian software Industry for close to two years gives me a clear indication whats actually happening in Indian Software Industry...

Just imagine a situation when there is no concept called outsourcing...imagine when US says no more outsourcing...I cant even think how many software engineers can retain their job in India...the reason for that is...the majority of the people dont work in product development..majority of the workforce are given low-end jobs but its called software development .))Whats achievement in IT...How many Operating Systems,how many licensing software comes from India...Hardly a few...Just employing hundreds and hundreds of IT professionals for consultancy work for cheap prices doesnt mean we have achieved in IT...Honestly speaking,how many companies in India does core software development work starting from kernel...(except few)...

Just application development,fixing bugs,maintaining the code developed by US guys doesnt mean we have achieved in IT...How much of research is going on for Computer Science..Baring few IIT's and IISc's I would say NIL...No doubt we have a strong young IT force when compared to other countries...but the question is how it is utilized ?

Sathish Kumar S

Sad Day for my Country....

It is indeed a sad day for India...Bomb blast in Mumbai,Srinagar....GSLV flopped, 260 crores of rupees in Bay of Bengal....The question to be asked where are we heading towards...When can I see a developed India..When can I see another America,England,Germany,Australia in India...I thought the days are not far..but now it appears its highly impossible...I thought I can underlay some facts and figures which retards our growth...

GSLV FLOPPED & BOMB BLAST...

1.How many of the great Indian Brains stay in ISRO...to be precise how many of the graduates from IIT work in India after their graduation..

2.How much of funds Indian Govt spend for research..Tell me how much of funds goes to military and defence..(A simple example..the amount spent on fighting in siachen glacier for one hour can be used to give monthly salaries for all the teachers throughout India)

3.How well are the engineers paid in ISRO...to make the great brains stay in India..

Lots of energy goes for fighting terrorism,fighting in the border.Iam just imagining how India and Pakistan can flourish if the amount spent on defence can be used for other developments.Can it happen...I dont know it may happen in the next birth of UNIVERSE...How long we are going to fight against terrorism...when are we going to head towards in research,science,technology...When are the brain drains going to stop...A million dollar question..I dont have an answer :((

Sathish Kumar S

We ARE WORLD NO:3

Atlast some consolation for the home team....Yes we are world no:3...Thanks to schweinsteiger who scored two magnificient goals and made the country feel as if they are world champions.....All in all,the German team played magnificiently and they deserved a third place.....
Starting from Costo Rica ,Poland ,Equador ,Sweden,Argentina, Portugal...they simply outclassed...just one bad day...but nevertheless they held the Italians under their belt for 117 minutes...only final few minutes resulted disaster for the Germans..but this third place gives a great motivation to young team who can be clearly the favourites for the next worldcup in south africa....Hats off to the German National Football...

Fairytale ends....

Dream of 80 million people thrashed....The slogan Berlin Berlin...wir fahren nach Berlin...has to be reframed...Now its the Italians who travel to Berlin for the finals...Deutschland had control of the game till 117 th minute and finally conceding a goal in the dying hours of the match...Even the germans never expected their team to reach semi-finals..because its such a young team...they were not clearly the favourites...Sorry for Deutschland....they have to wait 4 more years....Winning and losing is a part and parcel of any game...eventhough they lost in the semi-final..the players are still stars in their homeland...The fairytale ends....

Germany crushed Sweden and Argentina...

Yeah.....Atlast we are in the semi-finals....I say (we) just because I study here,I live here,I work here and have many good german friends....Iam at the right time in Germany and especially when Germans are doing really well in the world cup...I had a chance to watch the Argentina match with my German colleagues....I could feel their passion for soccer...I thought it was almost over when Argentina took the lead..the spirits were dying with the Germans....thanks to German striker Klose and the pass from their captain Ballack which brought the whole country alive..Then comes the tense moments...the penalty kicks....I could just compare it to last ball four or six in cricket ...infact it is even more than that...Atlast...Atlast Atlast we won...

Travelling in Inter-City Express...

My long awaited dream of travelling in Inter-Continental Express(ICE) in Germany was fullfilled when I travelled from Hamburg(North Germany) to Frieidrichafen(South Germany).There is a craze for travelling in ICE,simply because it travels very slow at snail's pace (max 400 km/hr) :)).Even after having travelled in Shatabdi's and Rajhdhani's in India ,I could find the pleasure of travelling in ICE.I could feel the German Kinematics,Mechanics ...(These are the only two words which I know from Mechanical Engineering :) .This ICE is the classical example of German's stronghold in Mechanical Engineering, proving they are the best in Automation and Mechanical stuffs.

To give simple example of how sophisticated it is...I could plug my Laptop to the powersupply.Infact I wrote this article when I was travelling in ICE...I couldnt imagine whether I will be in a position to do this in INDIAN RAILWAYS...But I shouldnt curse INDIAN RAILWAYS much ...since my father works for it and I have luxuriously travelled to almost all parts of india free of cost in INDIAN RAILWAYS...

The other things which I noticed,when I was travelling in ICE is...there is literally no shake...one could very well write a letter,eat properly(which is more important for me)...flirt a girl face to face even when the train is travelling at max 400 km/hr...:)...unfortunately I didnt have one when I was travelling...:(( . The journey was for 8 hours but it looked just for me 8 minutes....since I could see two new movies on the way...

Hope to travel in Indian trains with such sophisticated features when I finish my Masters in Germany and return back to India...Can it happen ? ....well Lalloo prasad yadav has to answer this....:)

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

World Cup 2006 Germany

The much awaited WorldCup 2006 Germany, finally began with a wonderful display by the home team Germany winning over the minnows Costo Rica with 4-2.It was a pleasure to be in Germany as a student during the worldcup football.I had a chance to see the first match in a bar with German friends,I could see how vigorous they are...like we support Cricket.I could find,football is in their bloods...when Lahm scored the first goal in the first six minutes of play..the whole Germany was enjoying the moment..Even though I was not interested in football,by seeing the atmosphere I have become a great fan of football,I bought a German T-shirt and I was a German Supporter that day along with fellow Germans.

The most fascinating time was after the match was over...with all the Germans coming out of the street ...chanting Deutschland..blocking the roads,cars..waving flags...drinking beer...hitting each other...Iam thinking what would be the situation when Germany was defeated in any of the match...I guess it would turn in to a second worldwar... :).Nevertheless,this worldcup matches in Germany gives thorough enjoyment even for non-football fans...I pray Germany should win the world cup..then definitely we will get one day holiday for that...:)

Rest in Next...
Sathish Kumar

Amman Temple in Germany....

In a land of discos and kisses,there exists a Amman Temple in Ham.Situated in an isolated area from Ham railway station,its a class of exuberance art and culture of Tamil people.When I entered inside the sannadhi..I was standstill for a moment just because of the ambience...This temple reminds me of the famous Karumari amman temple in Thiruverkadu,Chennai.Thanks to Srilankan Tamils who contributed a lot for the development of this shrine...Indians in Germany never never miss this site...Dont forget food will be served...:))

India Day in my University...

Its always a great feeling to project in abroad Universities that I come from India.When I say to my fellow students...that I come from India...their reaction is wow... "u come from India...India is simply great".We the Indian students at Hamburg University of Technology,Hamburg,Germany had a chance to highlight the rich cultural heritage of India...celebrating INDIA DAY..

The highlight of the show was the presentation which in my personal opinion every indian should see...I will try to upload it in the net...so that everybody gets a chance to see the presentation...one of the best presentations I have seen about my country...Then there was a odissy dance performed by a german girl(interesting na...)thats culture of India..there were game shows...there was movie telecasted...all in all thorough enjoyment on that particular day..

When an Indian student studies in abroad University...there are two sides of a coin.If a student outclasses then the people say...wow indians are amazing..on the otherhand if a slight mistake is done..then the same saying goes like this...indians are always shit...But I personally love this challenge of projecting my country to the foreign people that Indians are the best in Minds..even though Iam not the one ..:))

It was simply superb to carry the tag of Indian on that particular day...I was a pround man...why not I come from India...Dont miss the presentation...

My Dream of a Laptop...

There was a time when I heard the word computer in a teleserial named "GIANTROBOT".I used to think those times, that computers are used to make only robots and this jargaon (COMPUTER) was always a dream whenever I see them.

There was only one computer in my school when I was in fifth class, my computer master used to play Prince of Persia and we used to watch them like a rajnikanth movie.So it was in my mind that Computers can be bought only by millionaire...

Then I came to college,still I was not in a gr8 position to buy a comp for myself..the reason for it was not financial but I dont knw how to operate it during that time...:)...then I bought the comp in second year of my college...had some chance to explore the stupid machine...

So first dream came true...Computer in my house....but now the word Laptop was a dream at that time...my perception at that time was...only great business people can have laptops..accessing important information for their work....

Even when I was working in HCL and CTS...laptop was given only to Team Leads and Technical leads and the overshowing HRs....then I thought...oho...Laptop is something special...which only specific jandu can have it.....

When I came to my Masters in Germany,oh god...every 9 out of 10 persons (doing Masters) were having a laptop...I was the 10th person not having one...:))...
Now I bought a LAPTOP,my long dream got fullfilled.Well,I was writing this article on my new wife(Laptop..iam still unmarried)..
Even having done some interesting programming stuffs in C,C++,JAVA,IOS...for me Chatting in my new Laptop gives me a sense of kick....Thanks to my Hiwi(part time) Job which forced me to buy to laptop which enables me to work both in office and at home..

One stage Computer was a dream...nother stage Laptop was a dream...and in yet another stage...new wife is a dream...and the life goes on with a dream..and the dream goes on differing as the age goes on increasing...Well thats life...

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

A man whom I admire the most....

Dr.Juan Rechid,a man whom I met during my interview for the part-time programming job and ofcourse he is my boss now.A Ph.D graduate in the field of physics from AACHEN (one of the best universities in Germany).Well he studied physics but he is a king of all trades...he does work in chemistry,programming,system installation,website designing and what not....for his firm CIS-SOLARTECHNIK,Hamburg,Germany.

One of the most inspiring qualities which I noticed from this guy is openmindedness.
Otherwise I wouldnt have found a job in CIS-SOLARTECHNIK (iam the only foreigner in his firm).Being from the field of Information Technology,I myself cannot give optimized source code but this guy gives amazing solutions and optimizations for the code which I have written.

Having got such a brain,he never thinks high of himself.He is very downtoearth person and has very good soft skills.He has the nice way of telling the things even when his colleagues are not up to his mark.He is a man of perfection..this is evident from the fact that..he always wants the source code to be documented in a neat and readable manner.He has warned 1000 times but what to do Iam not a perfectionist :)

He never maintains distance with his colleagues ...I went to his house..gave a dinner to me ...went to cinema...invited to his birthday party..and what not..
But one thing is...Juan is very strict in timings as most of the Germans do..
I had a tough time with him regrading the timings...but Iam trying hard to settle it.

My best moments in Germany is working along with him..The way he debugs my program...
amazing...one of the best thinkers whom I have met in my career.Iam glad that I had a chance to work under him and I will be happy to continue the job till I stay in Germany...

Hats off to u Juan...

Party Animals....

Partying is onething which everybody wants to have in their weekends or free time..
But the intense in which people party totally differs from nationality.Recently I had a chance to attend my Boss birthday party and I could get a picture how Germans party hard.

To simply describe their attitude they are PARTY ANIMALS.Dancing,smoking,gossiping,cards,carrom,food etc.The party started around 7 in the evening and continued till 6 in the morning ...that tells the story...But I would say Germans (for that matter all western people) as split personalities ...partying like animals in the weekends and working like professionals in the weekdays..

I cant imagine how the sudden transition of mind comes to them between sunday and monday.....Work Hard Party Hard is their motto...The main goal for them is to enjoy life and dont worry about anything ....Is it possible for us to be like that..definitely not...:)

Is abroad life sweet as one thinks....

Abroad.....seems to be a heaven for people and students in India..Infact it is everybody's dream to travel to abroad for education and work...but there are many pitfalls which lay undergound and I thought I can dig those things...

If anybody wants to enjoy loneliness in life and wants to live like a ghost, abroad is the place, leaving all the happiness and emotions which we get from home soil...
Anybody wants to know whats hunger...then this is the place...When Iam hungry I have to peel the onion with tears on my eyes...well its not tears because of onion but tears because of pain in the stomach...

Leaving all those cherishing moments with mom and dad which I didnt realize when I was with them...What I wanted in Life...Can the Master of Science give me the happiness which is equivalent to the love and affection of my mother...Can it give the friends circle who can do anything and everything ...

The question which always arise in my mind..when India will be a developed nation...when students from abroad will come to India for studies..when will such a situation arise...oh god it should happen before I leave this earth...I sometimes think how these people colonised us...when can it be reversed...

Leaving all the happiness for Master of Science ....but what for..I dont have an answer for this...Time is the answer...

Life in Germany.....

When people hear the word Germany,they think about Adolf Hitler :) and the nazis and the second world war...The same thing revolved in my mind before I reached here..whether I will be targeted by Nazis...:) To be open,it is a country which is quite different from what the rest of the world thinks about it. Land of culture,Land of cars,Land of Automobile Industry and Land of Science to be precise..

And many people assumes that, these people speak only German and not even a single sentence in English.To give a simple example to contradict this idea,I lead a life here only with English and I hardly speak German.Well there are many places where German is really required (for eg) when we want to have a German girl friend :)

About the public transportation,one of the best in the world...not like US (hope Bush agrees)where one doesnt have to bother walking even less than a kilometre...well connected by metros and buses with underground,overground,aerial,top,bottom etc.

The most important thing which I learned from Germans is TIMING AND PUNCTUALITY.
For eg...when we catch a bus at 11.13...it reaches the railway station at 11.27...and there will be train at 11.28.Here people should use seconds watch and not the fashioned watches which shows only 12 3 6 9 ....then they have to miss the train and buses....:).If the class is scheduled to start at 9..the professor comes at 8.59 and he starts lecturing....They are known for punctuality which I really like it and Iam trying to follow it because I have never been punctual when I was in INDIA :)

The items in the shop are well documented even a person who doesnt have eyes can do shopping :) and the big malls and shops which are breathtaking.Regarding the food,the only thing which these people know is MEAT.It can be from any kind of animal...and I guess pigs in Germany will have a tough time because I guess all the bigs are slaughtered for eating...Pig Pig Pig everywhere PIG....certainly not in the streets :)

About the people...I sometimes guess,is this the place where Hitler was born...(well he was born in Austria :)) I would put Germans as TIMID.And they speak with a language which has a cat sound in almost all words...miow meeaw .....And German is really tough to learn...where they have article for every non living things...Their ancestors might have thought everything in this world has some life...so they consider every non living things as masculine and feminine...

Climate...well not different from other parts of the world and whole europe has almost the same climate I guess and for an Indian and that too from a guy from chennai with temperatures hovering aroung 35-40 all round the year ...it is a nice experience to see the snow...

And important thing about following the traffic rules...simple example...red light glows in the traffic light...lets say car comes and sees the red signal at night 1 o clock...what would you expect the driver to do..simply neglect the red light signal at night 1 o clock..but thats not the case here...the driver stops waits for the signal to move to green and then passes by....:)

Germany is a place where one can have fun but not certainly like in US or any other english speaking nation...but it is not worse as other people in the world think about....

Deutschland is neither heaven nor hell...

Tschuss..:) -------Goodbyee.....