Weekday S01E03 - Torturous Tuesday

Happy realisation to me. May be afterall it wasn't a good idea to go for this week long post series. I am too tired and no new thoughts flowing in. I had lot of stuff to write for Friday and Saturday and may be Wednesday too, for other days I would just be beating the bush. Being a dedicated blogger requires much more and this very instant I am not upto mark.

Just like so many of my other activities, I will leave this here, incomplete.

Good bye fellow readers and a Big sorry in the end to have disappoint you..


Sleep and Let Sleep ;)

Weekday S01E02 - Miraculous Monday

Was able to finish off work a bit early and thus an opportunity was created for a short run that I grabbed with my welcoming arms. Around 6 kms with high intensity sprints. Something went wrong today leaving me dead exhausted for the day and as a result I am writing this second post of the series using an Android phone ;)

I would visit Shiv temple on Monday mornings and then leave for IIT. There used to be a lecture at 9.30 am, 1 hour bus travel, temple visit etc forcing me to wake up at 6 am and thus I always started the day on a torturous note. Recently the temple visits have been reduced. Today I visited a temple inside the plant and coincidently it turned out to be a Shiv temple.

Many a times Mondays would be spend thinking about the Sunday party or just relaxing to recover from Sunday funday. Nothing much happening about this day, just a warm up for fourmore days of work.

My mind is shutoff n no more ideas poring in.. Good night Readers. . .

Weekday S01E01 - Sunday Funday

Week starts on Sunday for me and it has been an Awesome one. Woke up a bit late and then went for a usual 5 mile warm up run with mid intensity. Then some chilling out moments and juggling practice. Finally I recorded my first proper juggling video consisting of very basic tricks just for starters and link for it is - 3 ball juggling basics

Sunday, also called as Ravivar in Hindu and considered Sun God's day (I consider Sun as star as well as God). Colour of the day being White, but what makes this day special is the holiday associated with it. I read few books and for some it also Sunday Church day. Sunday's are considered to be weekly off for majority of offices, colleges, governments departments and banks and what not. In school days it was a good day to wake up late but you easily get bored since majority of school mates don't meet each other.

Most of Sunday special stuffs have been associated with childhood. Now-a-days they ain't as exciting. Dad used to be home on Sundays. Horse rides and garden trip with dad and my bro used to be the best part. Also there used to be few Sunday special comedy shows on Sony television (I don't remember the name though) which made sure that each Sunday begins with a roll on the floor laughter :) Playing cricket for years on Sunday became a ritual. This is the only day when all would be free. You work 5-6 days a week and still gather tremendous amount of energy required for sports on Sunday and that is what makes it more awesome. Mothers day, Fathers day, Friendship and what not, all are celebrated on Sunday and making it more happening.

Then there used to be Formula 1 races which I used to follow so much once upon a time. Alternate weeks and at 4.30 pm star sports. If there was any other sport finals, it would be played on Sunday too. There were and still are too many reasons to be Happy about Sunday. The new dimension running along with job has made Sunday a LONG SLOW RUN/distance (LSD is what they call it). You go out at 9 am and still streets would be empty and air would be fresh and full of oxygen. One section of my running passes through a playground and you can see small and big boys playing cricket or football and some just chilling out with their buddies.

Don't know what happens to body and stomach since on Sunday there is simple no mood and hunger for dinner. So it is generally light and some variety, like idli/dosa or some new biryani type recipe by Mom. Ice cream to end the day, what more should I ask for ? There is other side of it too, a small one. You can't find a top without a bottom. Likewise at ties Sunday becomes the day for house cleaning and so the rest part is gone. Going to religious function or marriages on Sunday may take a toll on your body if its for too long duration. Being in Mumbai you just can't ignore the locals (railway). There is mega block and less trains running which don't stop on all stations. If you think commuters face the problem think of the maintenance workers or officials who look after the entire stuff. They really miss out a whole of Sunday and lot of crucial family time. It is for the bigger cause for the safety of travelers and for their money too. Recent derailments have forced me to rethink on the sincerity by which the work on Sunday is done and also a big question arises on the quality of new materials coming in.

Heard today is going to be some Big moon day and Moon being my favorite I am just not gonna miss it. Signing off for today and getting ready for Monday Morning Blues :)

7- Post Blog Series (Trailer)

VIBGYOR - That is how we used to remember the rainbow colours in order. Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green,Yellow, Orange, Red. Each colour has its own frequency and a group of people who consider it as their favorite. There are so many different set of colours out there, but this is what we can distinctively obtain by passing sunlight through a water droplet or simple put, on a sunny rainy day. Black and White, absence and presence of all colours respectively, complete the set. In some culture white is auspicious and black is gloomy and in others it exactly the other way round.

Then we have seven wonders of the world. 10 years down the line we may have a completely different set of wonders. Each has its different meaning and made in different decades and even centuries. There seem to be no connection between them like the colours. Above set of colours are part of something what we  know as white light or sunlight. Why only seven wonders of the world? I am yet to find out, but that is not what I am currently interested in.

Just two examples of set of 7, one is nature's gift and other is man made structures grouped in one. There is one example which is combination of man-made classifications and forces of nature. One large mass of land existed and through thousands and lakhs of years of evolution we now have 6 distinguishable huge land masses but classified into 7 continents. Then there is religion coming in, 'Shaadi k saat pheere'. The less I speak about it the better. There are other examples which could be listed. Someone may come up with any other number too, but my main focus is SEVEN.

It took me 7 years after my 12th to finish off my graduation and plus the post graduation. What's more, my name SANDEEP is a 7 letter word, a perfect coincidence. Above paragraphs is just an example of random stuffs bonded together by 7. I will be writing 7 posts for next seven days (one post a day). It will be based on seven days of week. Colour of the day, some 2-3 more lines about it. I may or may not discuss my present day events, but I will be describing in detail about what each day means for me. A childhood memory or teenage years or college project days.. Just me and that particular day :)

! ! ! 7 days of week coming soon ! ! !

Last Month in the Fortress

Finally I am writing just a night before my record breaking long run tomorrow. Fortress here means Mumbai, where I was born and nurtured and brought up etc etc. . . Last month? Thanks to globalization and what not, I will be moving to Chennai for my new (first) job as a researcher. More on that later, but I will surely share my side of story of the training I so far went through. A paragraph on my running update and next target. Finally I'll try to peek inside and see what I feel about the precious Last Month.

Let me start with the job. I started training from 7th September 2015 and a brief summary of day can be found in my previous post titled - Day 1 for an Igniter. Next few days were bit hectic and few, very few, chilled ones. I got used to travelling for 90 mins one way to get used to office. Then long hours in the office and cafe 4X4 and lectures. 23 of new GETs/PGETs (henceforth when GET used for group will include PGET also, unless stated otherwise) are stationed in Kandivali for training purpose. We were divided into 6 groups of 4 each except one. Each group would visit a particular system (transmission, engine, assemble, etc) for 3 4 days and learn as much as one can. Lunch session suddenly got more interesting since all the 6 teams would come together and share their experiences.

A good time to introduce my team, Shraddha - our leader, Rohit and Kartik and myself. Rohit is MTech from IIT in Mechanical and guitarist. Kartik, Mechanical Engineering and MS from London in automobile engineering. I clarify most of my silly doubts with his help. The two guys are so chilled and relaxed so unlike me. Chilled here doesn't refer to training and enthusiasm for learning. Chilled here means not getting entangled into any unnecessary or unwanted tensions at all. Both will be moving to MRV Chennai with me after training season. Finally the leader comes in Shraddha, GET in Industrial engineering. Very eager to learn all auto terminologies. Reminds me of my GET days, when I used to get overwhelmed just by the sight of a pneumatic wrench. Shraddha - you just need to hear her laugh to know all about her. Ask her anything about MOST or ergonomics and, and I won't describe what happens next. You better experience it yourself. Not all group secrets are to be made secret :P. I failed in Japanese proficiency test few months back, but I am learning Bengali from our BONG leader.

I change three trains to get to my office and after few days, I found a good window of reading books. Metro and western railways are less crowded in the direction that I travel and I get more than 25 mins of reading time one way. That is 50+ mins of reading daily. I wake up just in time in morning and so no stretching or yoga but then again there is way to compensate it. I generally walk from Kandivali station to office, around 20 to 25 mins of walking. In a day it accounts for 1 hour of walking, which is better than zero workout. The attitude of what I was few years ago and what I am is reflected in the way I look at the things that just happen. I feared and never wanted to travel from home to Kandivali daily, but company policy made sure the worst thought scenarios become a reality. Result is, now I am very much happy about the way things are placed. Maa k hath ka khana mil jata hai yaar :)

Runing, last week got early leave one of the day, I came home, ate and slept. But something inside me kicked up and ended up running 6+ kms starting 6pm. Then came Sunday and I planned 15 miles, but ended up running 10 miles, not bad, but a surely there is a scope for improvement. I wasn't tired after run, even though I ran just once a week. I assumed I was in good fitness, but the the recovery period between your runs is another parameter of fitness. I took 2 days to fully recover from the calf pain. Yesterday was 5 mile run, like a walk in a park. Again i'll aim for the stars tomorrow (25 kms, just over 15 miles) and I am determined to atleast touch the nearest one.

18th of October, Sunday is the day I will be moving south of India. Finally a time for proper good bye will come. I don't know what and how will it be. I can't imagine or predict the scene of platform and parents and near and dear ones. Let us just keep the topic changing here itself for a month more. One thing is for sure, actually realisation of moving into other territory will seep in after December 2015.


I'll end by quoting a dialogue from the movie 'Men of Honor' by Master Chief Billy Sunday

The Navy Diver is not a fighting man, he is a salvage expert. If it is lost underwater, he finds it. If it's sunk, he brings it up. If it's in the way, he moves it. If he's lucky, he will die young, 200 feet beneath the waves, for that is the closest he'll ever get to being a hero.

Day 1 for an Igniter

Day 1 of  ?? Day 1 of shop floor training. Although I officially became a Mahindra employee on 31st August. But it was induction for few days. Hotel stays and lectures and outdoor runs. As a n engineer you by default have many plant visits, few as long as a week and few as short as 2 hours. Today I was touring and scanning the facilities as an Igniter. Igniter- a name given to Mahindra Rise GETs and PGETs, I am not sure if we would still be an Igniter after confirmation??

Our shopfloor training is 45 days long and I am posted in Kandivali plant for training, later on I will be moving to MRV Chennai (more on that later). I was to reach the plant at 8.45am, being a localite, I wasn't given any accommodation. Kandivali plant from my place is more than 20kms, after lot brain storming and going through pros and cons of all options, I decided to take the rails. Central railways from Mulund to Ghatkopar. Then metro from Ghatkopar to Andheri and then western railways from Andheri to Kandivali. Man, the metro, it was my second metro trip, simply awesome. It was about 7.20am, so no crowd as such and Sun just trying to RISE over the clouds. Reminds me of Mahindra Rise :P . I reached Kandivali in about an hour.

It was suppose to be a great day. All throughout the Engineering and specially the last three years of MTech, I have being waiting to get a chance to go out and prove myself. Climb up the ladder of corporate hierarchy,bring in new innovation and what not. I didn't have any dream company as such, but I wanted an Indian based group.Its a different story about placement, but Mahindra Automotive and Farm Equipment Division. Having visited tractor plant 4 years ago, Nashik plant a year ago and a BAJA member for a short time, it all came together. Finally I am in and a start of new climb. I don't know how far is the summit, what's the climb percentage (slope) and what is required to reach there( this climb analogy comes in due to Tour de France that finished last month).

Its not uncertain if after climb there is a flat or a decent. Slow or fast decent? how many trick corners might be present, who knows. For time being, lets just enjoy the climb and support of the spectators. In Mahindra they have a nice word - 'VUCA' - Volatile, Uncertain, Challenging and Ambiguous world. Let us come back to present. First of all, the routines, like exercise or run helps to start the big day just a regular one. Indeed the day started like any other day, no different. I get down at Kandivali and take an auto. Pretty normal, then bang. An accident, although no major damage done, but a crash went down in the record books. Auto driver had an excellent reason for the reason, his leg wasn't on brake pedal or it slipped off. Finally he dropped off in middle of nowhere and that too wrong street. Thank god for buffer time, things ended well and I reached on time.

Then the welcoming session, lunch etc etc.. We got our safety shoes, almost 30 mins were taken to select the shoe size. It was three pm and no substantial work output was achieved by us. Bang - another major event to end the day. 23 of us were divided in 6 groups to visit different plant units. Ours was transmission unit and a small 15 20 mins session was for gearbox and transmission basics. Currently for some reason or other, I want use name of any Sir or our senior Mahindra Buddies. We were assigned one senior buddy to help us through the basics, phew, the energy level of the buddy and passion to teach left us shocked. We saw the entire transmission assembly step by step. That's not all, after each step we would interrupt and see the importance of previous step. No matter how big or small the step was. Was a particular gear shift fork is designed the way it is and why not the other way was understood. Pokayoke (fool proofing) was seen live in action. Some funny incidents and some serious flaws which exited in previous designs was discussed and how new designs were incorporated. Small but a crucial part was the transmission test bed, less than 2 mins to fully test the transmission. 2 wheel drive or four wheel, it doesn't matter. Overall it was a first deep practical lab session I can say. This was just in 3 hours, more 40 days, each of 8 hours minimum yet to go.

Signing off for now, need to be up and awake early for tomorrow.

Dreams Did came TRUE