The reception…

The Reception was nice. My friend Swapna Srinivasan looked pretty as usual, but this time stunning too! She probably would have woken up way too early in the morning to get ready for the ceremonies in the day time, and the reception in the evening. She looked stunning too, to say the least.

As it is with receptions, one needs to wait in a long queue to meet the new couple only to get a minute with them! My minute was well spent and it was good exchanging a comment or two with Vijay Belur, the pilot that Swapna has chosen for a life-mate. I handed the gift over, requested a photo (of course, I had to – that's part of the reward for waiting in a long queue!), wished them the best and proceeded to dinner.

Dinner was tasty with salads, puris, vegetables, a preparation of rice, papads, and two sweets.

I end my day bracing myself to wake up early the next morning that I can make it to the wedding ceremonies on time for the Muhurtham scheduled at 08:25 am.

Catching up with old colleagues

This time, I decided to pay a visit to my company's campus (if you noted the average age of people working in that, you'd even agree that the word is an aptly chosen one) in Bangalore. This is a new construction – about 3 years old and one that I have never visited since having left for Germany. My first impression was Wow! This was when I saw the exteriors and the reception. My second impression on seeing the "rain forest" was a choked gasp! India and companies therein have come such a long way. It makes me proud!

Met Arvind and Sultan for lunch. It was nice catching up with old-teammates! Time flies so fast – 4 years in Germany done so soon – yet, we chatted as if I'd been away only for weeks!

Mehendi, the art of decorating…

I met Swapna last evening. She gets married tomorrow, and this is the only time we manage to spend discussing the year that's been, people et al – at her residence, while she sits like a bride-to-be, waiting for the Mehendi to dry.

I also got to meet her brother Kumar. Ditto for her mother who had prepared delicious Avlakki (also known as Poha / Powa in North India). It felt very nice meeting a very hospitable and humble family. Things have been changing for Swapna for the better these days, and I only wish her the best!

In Bangalore, the last leg of my vacations…

I try making it a point to return to the city I started my career with – once upon a time, Bangalore was that fortunate quaint town blessed with great weather and a good life. Today, it is a citizen's nightmare. My flight landed in Bangalore on the 9th Feb 2007 – pretty uneventful save for an airhostess who giggled every time she saw me. She could not complete her safety instructions mime-routine correctly, and finally said it – you are making me laugh. What's my fault in having a puzzled expression on my face while she recommends using the underside of the seat cushion (yes, the foamy cushion) as a life-saver when in water?

Anyways, the drive back from the airport to Malleshwaram that is about 9 kms away took 2 hours. It speaks volumes for what IT has done to this erstwhile quaint city – everyone who is anyone has a car. The city is bursting at its seams.

Like always, spending time with my cousins is high on the agenda – as is attending Swapna's wedding.

Vacations in North India

Only one word to describe them – very fulfilling.

We covered Udaipur, Jaipur, Delhi and the Taj. Do I need to say more?

We also visited the majestic Kumbalgarh Forth and the pretty Amer Fort. We saw the Taj, and we consumed the Shahi Paneers.

Hope to update my photo blog… Whenever that happens... In the meanwhile, let me share a photograph taken by my sister at Udaipur's City Lake...

Fears turn true…

Two things terrible happened a day before I had to catch a flight to India. Strange as it may seem, but these are exactly the two worries that dominated my mind for no sound reason, weeks before my trip. Weirder still is the fact that these two unrelated events happened in a span of 1 hour. It was the last thing I wanted before an internation trip for 5 weeks! I entered my flight tired and sleepless.

Air India however upgraded me to Business Class – almost as if to lend a helping shoulder in cheering me from these depressing events.
Kudos to the Maharaja!

India, here I come…

Winter is a time of the year I always look forward to – this is the time when I make my annual trip to India. It is the time when I get to see loved ones and reach out to friends in the Indian Subcontinent! This winter is even more special… For the first time, I return home to see my sister working full time, fully independent! It is also special because a trip to North India – Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra lies in store for us all – our first vacation as a family.

12 Jan 2007 is when I land in my country… The land of Samosas and Dosas! Amen!

Sylvester (New Year's Eve) 2006 with Henning and Lynne in Heidelberg

Lynne and Henning have returned from vacations a day back and have invited some friends over to New Year's Eve celebrations with them. The deal was that all participants bring something along – the inviting couple also took care of the drinks (that brings to my mind memories of a wonderful cocktail evening that their house-warming party was).

I was busy all day long but managed to take along a traditional preparation of potatoes that are spicy, yet not burning hot. To compensate for the burning hot factor, I took along an Indian Snack that was burning in the true sense of the word! An accompanying couple had brought a preparation of mixed vegetables along, and we had pasta and meat balls to boot. When presented a choice of wines (Red / White), I chose the White, and never regretted it. The wine was wonderful and complemented the dinner very well.

Around midnight we took a stroll over a high-lying road to get a better view of people bursting crackers. The weather played spoil-sport but the fireworks more than made up for it. As the clock struck midnight, we wished each other the best for the year to come and slowly walked our way back. Champagne after all was waiting on us!

Drinks were followed by a game that I didn't know of – each of us picked a trinket made of lead that was to be melted on a candle and the molten form be dropped into water. The form the molten metal took once it froze in water was to be compared against a table that specified the fortunes of the possessor in the year to come! My fortunes were not impressive to be modest, and my rational self quickly took over – it is a game after all.

Christmas dinner with Guido and Family in Stuttgart

A drive to Guido and Nathalie's at Stuttgart followed my visit to Bad Kreuznach. Some people may find it crazy that I did 400 kms of traveling on that day – but, believe me, driving is a stimulant.

This time, I made it a point to reach Stuttgart on time, Guido Standard Time (GST) that is. The last time I reached there precisely on the dot as most Germans would expect me to, I had to see them scamper and get dressed. It was also then that I learned that following GST was not only a practice prevalent in India, but also in Werastraße, Stuttgart. A true Indian like me always feels comfortable following GSTs!

This time, I also got to meet Guido's parents. It was wonderful speaking to them as they had many experiences to recount, and many stories to talk about. In particular, I got to share thoughts with his father on things such as living long durations in foreign cultures, the advantages and problems caused by it – basically, issues that I face today and those that I will face as I continue living away from home.

Guido's mother came across as a very graceful lady who in that short meeting actually improved my knowledge and understanding of the German language. She has been teaching German, and is definitely good! His father spoke about his experiences with the steel industry and also with continuous casting - very familiar talk for me given that my father has a similar background.

Nathalie was cute and pretty as ever. She also played the perfect hostess and had Raclette organized for the evening– toppings et al with wine to match. She has this wonderful quality of making people feel comfortable and at ease. Precious!

Guido makes great company, like ever. This time, I saw him get some drubbing for his habit of working too hard! I can understand both sides of the perspective – a family that wants his time, and a committed professional who sleeps but only when his work allows him to. I seemed to be a paragon of virtues with my talk of sticking to a strict work regime. The next 3 weeks would however prove otherwise – I would be seen work from 09:00 am until 02:00 am towards releasing my product.

I take leave at around 02:00 am, having consumed only a judicious (read: infinitesimal) amount of alcohol that would keep me a safe driver on the autobahn. Reached home in 30 minutes and… Checked mail!

Christmas 2006 Lunch with Fred and Hildegard in Bad Kreuznach

25th December started with a drive (wow, what a way to start any day!) to Bad Kreuznach. This quaint little town used to be at its helm in the days when its saline baths were doing good business, and is now a pleasant, quite place that Hildegard lives in. Her home was very well appointed, and her liking for metal is visible in the choice of most artifacts, decorations and even lighting fixtures.

I reached her home to see Fred and her brother already present. We started with a Sherry and proceeded to lunch that started with a nice soup. Lunch for me was a a thoughtfully prepared vegetarian meal.

After the lunch, Hildegard took us to a walking tour of Bad Kreuznach and explained the history of the town and its associations with the saline baths that had once upon a time drawn people to this place. The baths are not much in business today, and people are allowed a free entry in areas that earlier required one to buy a ticket.

We returned to her residence for a nice projector slide-show of her visit to South India. Wow, what a lovely country I come from. The more I saw of it, the tougher became waiting for my forthcoming trip to India, less than 3 weeks away. However, the tasty Apfelkuchen did make for good accompaniment.

I took their leave at around 17:00 to be home in time before leaving for my visit to Stuttgart, some slices of Apfelkuchen in tow – that probably made me forget the beautiful Christmas gift from her!

Apfelkuchen at Stubers...

Frau Stuber invited me to an Apple-Pie at her place.

Like always it was incredibly delicious and we spent a nice afternoon talking dime to a dozen alongwith Herr Stuber, her daughter Martina and her husband Thorsten.

I wish them all great health and a merry time!

Visitors from Palo Alto...

I guess she would squirm at the thought of me calling her a visitor to Heidelberg... :)

It was wonderful meeting Simone after a gap of almost 6 months. We spent the Saturday evening together catching up on all the lost time and philosophising on human tendencies, attitudes and ethics. Apart from all this talking, we also did some serious power-shopping for her. This is also when she conveyed the all-apparent-yet-unknown-to-me bit of information that apparel shops had items sorted by color - something that I had never realized before - so much for my outstanding genes when it comes to shopping (pun intended)!

Dinner was at a nice restaurant in Hauptstraße (Main Street) of Heidelberg. Our beautiful window table attracted more than one visitor that would peep into the restaurant to see god-knows-what!

In spite of Simone having been awake for 24 hours thanks to the jet lag, and me having got little sleep thanks to the Christmas Party and having lumbered wood that morning, we still managed to have a coherent conversation - quite an achievement, actually!

There are some people who are perpetually interesting and always fun to meet - Simone is certainly one of them.

No slumber but lumber...

Reached home at around 03:00 am from the company Christmas Party that was. Being fundamentally nocturnal, I had to check my emails and respond to them before going to sleep!

Why is this detail so important? It is because a few hours later I had to drive over to Ellerstadt where Fred lives to help him gather firewood for winter. This was a real first-time in my life that still makes me feel WOW!

I woke up at 09:30 thanks to a very disturbed sleep and completed the 45 minute drive to Ellerstadt in about 30 (no, I didn't break any rules - the freeways here have no limits and 240 kmph i.e. 150 mph is permitted). Marcel was also around, and we had a refreshing coffee at Fred's place before starting on our adventure drive to the forests around Bad Dürkheim in Fred's 4 WD pick-up - one that negotiates mud and slush in ways that never stops amazing me. After considerable driving in the Forests, we located a spot that had a few dead trees felled by a storm or by the forest department that made perfect candidates for firewood. Marcel who obviously loves the powersaw got to the task immediately. I was quite a silent spectator to this noise and initially just helped these two in loading their vehicle. After a while, curiosity took over and I did some sawing too - it was fun, I must admit.

After collecting about 1.5 tonnes of firewood, Fred invited us over to lunch at a nice forest restaurant. The salad was great and although they didn't have anything vegetarian on their menu, a bit of creativity from me got them to preparing Kartoffel Knödel with Pilz Rahm Söse (Potato Dumplings with Mushroom Cream Sauce) for me! Yummy!

After lunch, Fred had to meet a mechanic (he is incredibly good at fraternizing with people) and by the time we returned to Ellerstadt, I was running late on my appointment with Simone at Heidelberg at 17:00 hours!

Zooming back home helped - so did delaying that meet by 30 minutes.

SAP Christmas Party 2006...

This is one time of the year when people - young and old alike seem to feel incredibly positive and happy - at least in the Parties!

SAP hosted one on Friday night - this time in SAP Arena again - a large stadium in Mannheim that belongs to the company. This party attended by about 4000 employees was great fun and the organizers really did put in a lot of effort into taking our feedback from last year seriously.

On one hand, I got to catch up with a lot of interesting people...

(Michael and me - ignore the seemingly empty glasses!)

And on the other, there were some others like Henning who simply could not be located in this humongous party!

Nice people and good music can more than compensate for the food that wasn't up to the mark, and all said - the party was great fun! I had a good time even though I didn't indulge in much alcohol (had to drive back home), and said quits at around 02:00 am - kind of early for me but I wanted to help Fred collect wood for winter (!!) the next morning!

Technocrats @ TechEd!

One of the highlights of my visit to Microsoft TechEd 2006 was my interaction with Technocrats - be it at the Ask the Experts (ATE) pavilion where I was invited as one, or outside it.

In addition to meeting intelligent geeks that had challenging questions aplenty, I also got to meet and interact with two stalwarts in the Microsoft Visual Studio development team - namely, Steve Teixeira (Group Program Manager - Visual C++) and Ayman Shoukry (Program Manager - Visual C++).

Both Steve and Ayman were present at the TechEd not only as representatives of the Visual C++ teams but also as speakers that made an outstanding impression with the delegates attending their presentations. The general consensus was that TechEd should feature more sessions for those into C++ programming.

After the first day of the conference, Steve invited all the VC++ MVPs along with Ayman and Danny Thorpe from Windows Live to a dinner at an Italian Restaurant. In course of dinner I got acquainted with fellow VC++ MVPs - Bruno van Dooren, a delegate from Belgium; and Marcus Heege, a speaker from Germany. I already knew of Bruno from the MVP Private Newsgroups and while it was the first time that Marcus and I met, Deutsch and Deutschland helped us establish an immediate connection.

Here is a snap from that evening (Bruno who left early is missing)...

(Clockwise from left: Marcus, Steve, Danny, me, and Ayman)

It was a nice evening with us discussing all and sundry - cultures, people, travel and technology (Shh... Technology is beyond the realms of this BLOG, remember!). Interesting to note was Steve's ability to understand a good amount of what the waitress said in Spanish - something that made me wonder if I could recollect the French I've learnt - un peu, perhaps.

In addition to their speaking engagements, Steve and Ayman were also present at the ATE pavilion - this however was really not the first time that I got to know of them.

It was only 3 months ago that Codeguru (that popular online software development forum that has me for a Moderator) featured a special chat forum ("Slow Chat: Visual C++: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow") where members could interact with the Visual C++ Product Team. Ayman and Steve have both been active in this Slow Chat and hence, they were in effect no strangers. For instance, here is one discussion where Ayman (Codeguru: aymans) and I had both contributed to. Similarly, Steve (Codeguru: steixeira) had responses I knew of to other threads in this forum. World is such a small place - little did I know then that I would be meeting these two in person. I must add that these people were as approachable and knowledgeable as their online avatars seemed to be.

A couple of days later, as I took a tram on my way back - I saw the winner of the Speaker Idol contest and C# MVP take a seat facing me. It was a no-brainer and I invited Bart de Smet to join me for dinner. He obliged and we enjoyed a good evening together.

TechEd is to me as much about people as it is about technology. I believe, I got the best of both, and hope to see all those mentioned in here during the MVP Summit at Seattle scheduled in March of 2007.

I had a wonderful time in Barcelona, even got featured on the VC++ Team BLOG (thanks, Steve!) - and can only say that Microsoft Tech Ed 2006 beat my expectations.

Looking forward - 2007 has all the makings of a challenging year what with two TechEds of interest to me. SAP TechEd that I should be visiting in the role of a speaker presenting SAP's latest deployment tool that should roll our products to all our customers - architected by me, and Microsoft TechEd as... Time will tell!

Adios!

How the ball got rolling - Microsoft Tech Ed 2006...

Honestly speaking - at first, Sid attending Microsoft Tech Ed 2006 almost didn't happen!

The story goes this way: having attended Microsoft TechEd 2005 at Amsterdam last year, the deal (in my company) was that this be the year when a ticket would be purchased and for another employee (actually, my boss... So, no scope for negotiations there).

It was pretty clear since the beginning of 2006 that I would actually not make it this time - clear, save for one small (but rather significant) detail. This time, I was a Microsoft awarded MVP too. Time passed, the event was announced, and finally I was landed an innocuous email asking MVPs that would wish to volunteer for the event as Product Experts to apply!

There wasn't much to think about, and certainly nothing to lose. Being one that has a reasonably long experience in the software development world, as someone who is responsible for the design and development of a popular product that literally reaches millions in it's current version and as an appointed Moderator in one of the most popular online Forums, I thought I had a chance.

Luckily, I was right.

No sooner came in an email accepting my candidature as a volunteer with "Ask the Expert" for Visual Studio, I got my supervisors to sponsor my flight, and my stay in Barcelona. Bless them!

Microsoft TechEd 2006 was already set to be a very different and a very enriching experience. I talk more about it in the posts to come...

Last but not the least - many thanks to Ronald Beekelaar for organizing the ATE and having me invited. It all started with you, Ronald - meeting you was a real pleasure and so was meeting Kim. I hope to see you both again.

Diwali in Deutschland!

Yes, you read it right - I am talking of Diwali, and in Deutschland!

Before I continue, let me just ensure that you know what Diwali is! For one, it is the biggest and the happiest festival that is celebrated in all of India also called the "Festival of Lights". For another, it is one of those few festivals in the world that are celebrated by people of many religions. Yes, though the origins of Diwali lie in the homecoming of Hindu Lord Rama (from the epic Ramayana) after defeating the demons in Sri Lanka (no, I am not talking about the Tamil Tigers a.k.a LTTE), this festival is celebrated with gaiety and pomp by Sikhs and Jains too. This in addition to spirited Christians, Muslims, etc that join in the celebrations.

When one is an Indian and lives outside India the way I do - Diwali implies a time when one can visualize all the sweets, eats, lamps, lights, crackers and fun that one could possibly imagine in vivid colors - all the fun but with oneself out of it! Friends and family back home miss you as much as you miss them, all the more on this auspicious day.

Hey, now I did not say that to collect sympathy! This is but an expected part of living in a different country! However, being someone who is not wont to sitting and pondering, what I did is something that impresses me too - I used my online skills to find that the city of Fürth was celebrating Diwali! Yes, unbelievable but true.

There wasn't any decision to be made. I had to simply switch the car-ignition ON and zoom to a city 230 kms away! Now, those of you who know me do understand that this is a trivial distance for someone called "Sid".

The event itself was wonderful. It gives me so much pleasure to see people in Germany that not only love but enjoy Indian Culture. It was amazing to see a stage prepared for Bollywood Dance performances! It was even more amazing to see youngsters from this country, not all Indian perform dances to a level that would make them a good candidate in any decent Bollywood movie. Being a true Bombayite, and a genuine son-of-the-soil, I was mesmerized by my memories of India that started running in front of my eyes - all triggered by this event.

Dances apart, there was also a Tabla recital. Surprise of surprises, the Tabla Master was not Indian too, and not German either. He was from Kabul and played the instruments with a level of expertise that radiated confidence.

However, one of the most interesting part of this event that made my evening so agreeable was the people I got to meet! It all started with a friendly conversation with a Bengali lady called Kokila and Christa who was there with her two daughters Jesse and Pamela whom I asked for the schedule of the programmes (thinking they were in charge of the event). They instead invited me to accompany them, and I realized that the two also knew each other only for the duration of the evening. They were all cheerful people who were simply having a good time. A coffee, a Prosecco, and a dinner soon followed as did a couple of musical performances. Time was flying and fast! It was already night before we could realize. The event had a perfect close for a "Festival of Lights". There were fireworks and these were the icing on the cake - for, I didn't expect them.

That was my account of a lovely evening. We all exchanged contact information, and promised to stay in touch. I do sincerely hope it works out that way! Nice and open-minded people are always few and far between. Be it in India or in Germany.

Shubh Diwali!

Meet the Sid @ Microsoft TechEd, November 2006, Barcelona

Find me at the "Ask The Experts" pavilion!

Looking forward to my first Microsoft Tech Ed experience as a MVP for Visual Studio / Visual C++... :-)

CString BLOG FAQ notifications...

Here is a new add...

• How to convert from std::string to CString?
  
• How to convert from CString to std::string?

Vietnamese + German + Taiwanese + Indian + French = Fun

In the weekend that went, Le Thuy - a Vietnamese friend of mine tugged me along to a grill invite. I was more excited by the prospect of meeting some really interesting people than by the grill itself. Guess what? We made a group of five from five different countries - all with an experience of living a life outside one's own terra-firma - all with stories aplenty to tell.

As a previous mentions must have told you - I love these international meetings and they often add to much to my perspective of people and life!

For now, I just want to specially thank Le Thuy for her wonderful Pasta Salad, and Frederik for the thoughtful mix of paprika and mushroom that made grass-eaters feel at home. David and Sabrina for the wonderful conversations.

Ciao!