Outing at Country Vacation

When David asked me if I could come on an outing to Country Vacations, I was a little sceptical as I had my shift the day before, that means I have to work that night and go for the outing in the morning. I said I wont be coming as we went to the same place quite a number of times. My manager coaxed me into agreeing and some others like Anita, Ekta, Sikha, Jaya, Shanthi and Sravanthi, wont be coming due to genuine reasons.

I was on a roll that day as it was also the IPL finals and I followed the match until I came to the office on my mobile phone, after that, the T.V on the floor did not work because of the stupid Dishnet. Also it was raining that night. I logged in and my high spirits were infectious. People like Sravanthi were positively surprised seeing me so upbeat. The match was going well, almost the whole floor followed the match on the Internet till the last ball. There was jubilation on the floor after DC won the cup. My happiness didn't last too long. My manager called me for feedback. This is bad news for me. I once took a call where in the call transferred by another dept and it was not transferred properly, although both me and the customer were on the line, I thought otherwise and waited for about 2 minutes. Seeing that something is wrong, I said 'hello', the customer also said 'hello'. Realising the situation, I quickly gave the opening and got done with the call. I was scored off for my mistake and I got my lowest score of the month. I was down for a while. But was in good spirits later on as there was the outing to look forward to.

I rostered myself to Anand Theatre and was there in no time. Waited for a while and was joined by Majid, Asma, Zehra. I was on my way to the venue and there wasn't much bang in the bus during the journey. I relaxed listening to songs, had to conserve my energy for the entire day. Upon reaching there, it took a while for everyone to come. There were a few fun activities and games and later, we ran off to play a game of cricket. The teams were big and I understood that I wont get to bat. I stayed for a while watching others waste balls and make no runs. Praveen understands this ground and knows how to win on this ground. So realising that we wont win, went inside. Food was out and I went ahead to fill my tummy. I sat along with Allwin, Asma, Zehra and Voice coach Fatima. I watched them trying to out talk each other. After food, as a relaxation, there was some music. Some of us got the idea to dance for sometime. Even with a full tummy, how could I not dance?

Initially, there wasn't much enthusiasm from everyone. though the group included a few boys and more girls, the dancing continued for sometime. Ankush tried to get us all out as Rajesh palnned some more games for the evening, but since most of us in there wanted to dance, he had to give in. He wanted everyone inside the building on the dance floor or outside. I and Bhanu forced everyone onto the dance floor and now Ankush could no longer say no. started off with some good numbers with dull intervels and bad numbers between them. Finally almost all the managers MANAGED to come onto the dance floor. The group increased slowly and steadily. I was losing fluids in my body and kept drinking more and more water. There were a few "Theenmaar" numbers and I got a partner to dance along with me, we kinda rocked the floor with a duet Theenmaar. After that, more people joined in to dance. In the middle of the session, I came to know that Anthony from claims team is also a DJ. He has some CDs with him and gave one of it as the tracks before that were horrible. Now the disco really got into the swing. Managers, UCs, Voice coachs, agents and a small cute girl(one of the agent's daughter) were on the floor.

I pulled Zehra, Asma, Majid, David and Praveen too. Though Asma went back after a few seconds, others kept dancing. I tried to get Asma back but she wont come. The lot of us, Bhanu, Me, David, Zehra, Majid, Praveen were doing great. Anthony did a moonwalk out of no where. I wasn't to be left behind, I did after him. I also add a few break dance steps for a good number and performed a few routine break dance steps. This really did it. I was totally high and danced like there was no tomorrow. After half an hour of more dancing, I thought I reached my limit. Sat for about 5 mins and was back again. The fun continued till around 5 p.m. I guess many people must have seen the other side of me today. I made friends with many people I didn't even know. I still dont know my Theenmaar dance partner's name. Ill post it once I get her name.

This totally got me dehydrated. My mouth kept going dry even after drinking multiple glasses of water. Just water wont do, I had to have some juice, but I guess there wasn't any juice in there. While we were dancing, some of them went off to the swimming pool to cool down. The disco was enough for me, I dare not get into the pool, now that I was so dehydrated. I went to the bus and slept for 10-15 mins. By that time, all of them have come out and we were on our way back to the city. While going back, Bhanu sat along with me and we were listening to Illayaraja songs. some girl behind us heard us sing and asked to play those songs on speaker. I didn't realise that this girl was into such Illayaraja songs. I played it on speaker and were praising our favorite music director for some time. Bhanu and I got his bike out and were off.

He dropped me at Balkampet and I came home by Auto. That ended my Outing. One of my best ones as this was the first time we had a disco during Outing. I would want to come to the same place even for the next time and not the other boring building where there is no disco.

Obama's plan could backfire !!!

Recently US President Mr. Barack Obama threatened the BPO industry that he would cancel all the tax rebates to those companies operating their processes in India. Although this applies to Captive BPOs and not third party BPOs, many major companies like GE Money, Citibank, Bank of Americas Continuum Solutions will displace many or all of their workforce in India. I believe one solution for this could be in a hybrid of 3rd party BPO and captive BPO.

For example, Take two companies like GE Money and BACS work as virtual 3rd party BPOs and process each other's work, they can run their business in India and also get done with cost savings. The two companies must consult each other and have Mutual understanding and agreement based upon the work, quality and costs.

This is just my idea, don't know if it is feasible.....

New batches !!!

I should have posted this article a long time ago but due to extremely busy schedule(eating-sleeping-work), I had less time for blogging. Anyways, our team is now increased by three batches.

The first batch included Diana Behram Patel, Sravanthi Goud Kashegouni and Silvia Justine Gollamudi. 

The second batch includes Syed Majid Ali, Neeraj Munagalavasa, Raghavendra, Anita Ajit, Asma Begum & Zehra Parveen.

The third batch is from Rajeev's team. After Rajeev stopped coming to the office, his team was split and some of them were placed in our team. They include Praveena Rachel, Karen George, Vijay Raj, Joy Obeth, Sheetal and Maria Janet.

Diana - She is a steady person. Like a stepper motor, she works along at a constant pace, be it talking, laughing, getting excited, cracking jokes, whatever. It goes at a constant pace. She is Mrs. Nancy Patel's (Blackbelt for SF Process) sister. Her english and phone etiquette was great.

Sravanthi - She is a slow person, slower than normal, she walks slowly, talks slowly, laughs slowly and probably even thinks slowly...hahaha...just kidding guys. She is scored really well in her engineering from JNTU which is saying something. She had a problem with her AHT till now, like me ;D but now she is one of the few people in green.

Silvia - She is Miss Prom Queen of our team. Very witty but again very sensitive. She cries for small things which is actually quite funny. But again, one of the bravest in our team. Kinda mixed personality don't you think? A great dancer and singer, just like me. She has this baby talk on calls. She takes calls like a small girl learning to use the telephone. I particularly remember a call on which she kept pronouncing Albuquerque as Alber-ker-Q. I kept laughing and correcting her, but she still pronounces it that way.

Syed Majid - He is a dark and handsome guy who can get any girl into a conversation. Quite a batsman. He already worked before now and takes good calls.

Neeraj - He is also another tall and handsome guy on the floor. I used to think he is over qualified to do this job. He did his MSc in Microbiology or something. Sounds like a tough course but again, he gets his job done one time. He also has a problem with AHT like me. He is also from Vizag. Lot of guys from that city are in our team I guess.

Raghavendra - Raghu is a cool guy. I hardly got to know him. He didn't work for long with GEMS.

Anitha - She is a friendly and very jovial person. She hasn't come to outing till now. So cant say much about her.

Asma - Very assertive and diplomatic person. But again, she can be understanding sometimes. She cares for everyone in the team although she doesn't shout it out. For a fresher, she is doing pretty well. She does not like to be addressed by her last name. David always teases her with that. They always get into tussles and arguments....friendly of course...

Zehra - She is a Blond firecracker. Very talkative, energetic and easy going. Take life as it comes kinda girl. I was surprised to know that she is married.

Rachel - She is the only person in the team who is on NSD leased plan, knows the process well and quite a senior in the team. Friendly and jovial kinda person

Karen - Karen is person who likes thinge in their respective places. She is a proper-proper kinda person. Again very friendly of course.

Vijay - Another body builder, who always maintains AHT. Dark and handsome, with a tattoo on his biceps, he is kinda "dude" in the team

Joy - Extremely jovial and happy-go-lucky guy. Also good on his AHT. He plays Keyboard and couple of other instruments like a pro, not like me.

Sheetal - Very friendly and approachable person.

Janet - She has this rock star like make-up on her. Easy going and friendly person. I used to barge calls with her when I was in training.

I talk so much about AHT because, supposedly I am the AHT SPOC of the team. Although I cant maintain my AHT, I am supposed to take care of others' AHT. How ironic. And to make up for my inability to maintain AHT, I made a file using which the team can get their AHT report everyday as it come from TCS. Sometimes, Mr. ALI (QCM Team Manager) takes his own sweet time to update the AHT report. Hence to rid the team of the tension to as to where they stand on their AES perspective, I personally updated every ones AHT and drive it among the team.

I still have to post another article about our recent outing. I will do that tomorrow

Allwin's Birthday !!!!

It was a special day for us Team Tigers. Our Pedha Puli's Birthday was planned well by David. The whole team came forward to take part in the event. Expectations were high. But unfortunately it was on weekly holiday. But that didn't stop us from coming to the office. All of us came well before time. Also we guys planned the Potluck on this very day.


The last time, I offered to get raitha, something easy to make. But everything didn't go as planned and the potluck was cancelled. This time I would get cauliflower fry(starters). Finally the menu was thus.,


Vignan - Cauliflower fry(It isn't technically a fry). It was like a cross between fry and curry
Larry - Softdrinks
Dheeraj - Egg curry
Sravanthi - Something like Egg Bajji and plain rice.
Praveen - Rasgolla
Majid - Parathas
Silvia - Chicken curry
Swapna - Panner curry & Cake
Jarin and a couple of others brought friedrice


Finally the meeting was finished and by the time Allwin came out, we all wished him. Allwin asked if all the managers also can join. We were a little doubtful first but couldn't say no. Almost all the managers, Shastry, Rajay, Geetha, Ranga, Jarin, Ankush, James, Bharat, Ali, Martha, Ritesh. Geetha Ma'am was surprised to see the whole team coming to the office on an off day.


David got the permission and stuff from facilities to celebrate the event in canteen. The cake cutting went well with all the managers lifting up Allwin for the Birthday Bumps, but good for him that the kicking wasn't there. We guys gifted a decorative glass bottle with glass ship inside it which glows and a huge greeting card with all our signatures on it.


It was time for some "Pet-Pooja". All the agents were serving food to the managers. We were a little worried in the beginning if the food will be enough for all of us. But it turns out that we had more food than we expected. The other managers couldn't spare more time off the floor. After a brief Photo session with a couple of managers and a couple of "Thank you"s, it was time for us to fill our tummies. This time it was Allwin and Jarin who helped to serve. After food, we had another round of photo session. Allwin was really happy.


Bhanu was the photoghrapher all through the celebrations. We had a carroms game session as well in our pantry. All of us rostered and were off to the transport bay except for Silvia and Zehra who were to take calls. But I was looking forward to a whole week away from office. I had my leave approved for the whole week ahead. Yipee....!!!!

Mr & Mrs. Shanthi Murali !!!

All of us were expected to turn-up at Shanthi's place as she threw a party for her blissful marriage life. The haul included Me(of course), Praveen, Dheeraj, Bhanu, David, Ankush(Our new UC), Larry, and our Pedha Puli(Allwin). Ironically, while I was expecting a full-fledged Kerala menu, Swapna was the one who made the food. Shanthi did help her though.

I was a little confused as to how to go to Shanthi's house, then contacted Larry who said he has his friend Narendra's Activa to use for now. Met-up with him at KPHB and we were on our way. We found the house pretty easily though we were clueless as to where her house was. Shanthi did guide us to her apartments from a distance of a few yards. I dare say we were the first to arrive at what was to be an eventful evening. Within a span of 30-40 mins, everybody turned up including Dheeraj with a cake.

We were yapping away to glory until the moment as to when one of us, possibly me, was humming some song. Now everybody coaxed me into singing a song. Couldn't resist when asked to do something I like. I think I sang Ye rojaithe Choosano ninu from Gulabi. After Allwin's arrival, everybody, including Allwin, asked me do it again. Sang again and we were off. I was soon joined by Bhanu and Dheeraj and we were chorusing songs in Telugu, English and Hindi alike. Incidentally, Ankush joined in with guitar and Larry followed. larry sang a solo with guitar, later Dheeraj joined him. David displayed his prowess at drums on a helmet with a pair of spoons !!!!

If I haven't told you about Ankush before, this would a better time. He turned out to be a gadget lover and gave tips on how to use ones gadgets to Shanthi and Swapna. He is very cool, friendly and approachable guy. I should say he has a big hand and a very firm grip. His handshakes usually involve grasping your whole hand in an enthusiastic and business like manner. I read somewhere that such people are usually very dominating. But not Ankush.

As the fun continued, Allwin was running out of time. He had less time to spare now. All of us were now readying ourselves to fill our tummies. Tasty dinner followed the cake cutting. Bhanu, Dheeraj and I sang Kannulo nee Roopame from Ninne Pelladatha while the couple cut the cake. Later, Jarin joined in to have dinner with Mr. Murali.

Photos and video recording were through-out the party. Thank god there weren't many residents around that area. Else, for the racket we were making, the whole neighbourhood would have had a sleepless night.

The night wasn't over after Allwin, Ankush and Jarin left. All of us went to Ilabs to drop Swapna for she had to go home in office Cab. There, we decided to extend the fun filled evening a little bit more. Larry went and dropped the Activa at Narendra's office and we were off to Dheeraj's place. Four Bikes and me without any warm clothes and protection were cruising through the cool Tolichowki Main road to Mehdipatnam. Once there, We bought drinks for all. David, pure-hearted, would not have anything except soft drinks. After having a couple of bottles each, we went for more, I guess they mixed something else in mine because I usually don't get high for Beer. Anyways, we were discussing everything from girlfriends to office issues. Time flew and morning came bright and sunny. The party went out to have some proper food as the stuff with drinks can't be called quality stuff.

I and Larry were off to his place as I cant go home like that. Around 2 in the afternoon, I woke up and bade Larry good-bye only to meet him later in the evening at office.

Kadha sukantham....Happy ending....for now !!!!