Being an Executive

A few days after I joined my new company, it was announced that I will have to travel to Delhi for a week. Within 2 days, tickets were booked and April 18, 2010 was decided as the date of travel. As the trip expenditure was to be reimbursed by the office, I took a cab to the Airport (else would have preferred the bus).
The flight was scheduled at 11:50 AM and I reached Airport in time at 11:15 AM. Reaching the Kingfisher counter, I was informed that the flight was delayed and it would depart at 1:30 PM. Shouting at the beautiful lady (Kingfisher standards) was of no help as the Airline had informed the travel agent but he didn’t intimate me.
After waiting for 1 and ½ hr, the announcement for boarding the flight was heard. With my boarding card in one hand, and the novel (The Hungry Tide by Amitava Ghosh) I was reading in another hand, I entered the flight. The seat number I was allotted was 2C. With no attention to the executive class section, I reached the economy class section of the flight and started looking up for my seat. The first seat no. I saw started with 15 and guessed that the no. might be in descending order. Oops, this means I have been allotted the seat in the second last row. After walking a few steps, I realized that seat no. is now 26C and the numbers are in ascending order.
With a little excitement (Am I allotted a seat in executive class?), and some courage, I turned around to check the executive class section. A seat allotment in second row in the executive class was the last thought I had in mind that day. But I was there sitting on the big cushioned chair in the executive class. There being no seats left in the economy class, the Airline had allotted me the seat in the executive class. Excited, I fumbled with all the buttons attached to the arm rest of the seat and it made the seat uncomfortable, worse than the economy class even. I brought the seat back to the comfortable position and decided to check with other facilities. The leg rest provided made seating more comfortable and relaxing. The headphones provided were of black color and far superior than the ones provided to passengers in economy class.
A passenger in the row next to me had a TV screen in front of me. The screen was attached by a rod to the chair. Why some of the chairs have TV attached to them, while there seems to be none at my chair, made me investigate the seat thoroughly. While I was about to give up and call the pretty air hostess to get a TV for me, I suddenly found that the arm rest is removable and there is something under it. Yes, it was the TV screen I was looking for. I was saved from the little embarrassment it would have brought had I called the Air Hostess for getting me a TV. The remote was attached to the chair and there were options to watch movies, TV channels, listen songs of your choice, or FM. Though I was disappointed to find out that the food served was same as the economy class, I was happy to find how to take the tray table out without the help of Air hostesses. It was below the other arm rest of the chair.

First Day Out

It had been getting planned for quite a few days – our first day out. We both were going for the first time together on a day out, so all our target was to make it memorable and special. After juggling through all the possible places we can cover in a day, we zeroed upon Bheemeshwari Cauvery Fishing Farm. The place is around 120 Km from Bangalore on Kanakpura Road, and a drive of about 2.5 hrs from the city. The Jungle Lodges Resort located at the place provides facilities to stay overnight and activities like river rafting. Since it was only one day before we decided for the place, the booking was not at all feasible. Still we decided to go and explore the place on our own.
As usual our plan to get up early and start at 6:00 AM failed. We both share a similarity here and the mission (yup, it is !!!) to get up early fails almost every time. (Although this time it was because both of us had had a long previous day and we parted from each other as always late at night).We started our expedition at 10:00 AM (hmm, late by 4.5 hrs), stopped for breakfast at Woodies, struggled through Bangalore traffic and were finally out of the city at 11:30 AM (not bad. day being Saturday helped us as the traffic was not much). The drive on the Kanakpura road was extremely pleasant. Greenery on both sides of the bumpy road, small ponds at regular intervals, very less traffic, thrill to drive bike at 90-100 KMPH (my aged bike does not go above that), and especially the company of one of the most beautiful girl on this earth (my best friend fiancée) made the drive very endearing.
After driving for an hour, we reached Kanakpura town. The roads in the city were in a pathetic condition. The day being a holiday, the market (hawkers) on both sides of the road was extremely crowded. People were crossing road as if they least bothered that this was a highway and need to follow at least the basic rule of seeing both sides before crossing it. An auto guy further directed us to the road that goes straight to Bheemeshwari (a left turn from Halagur Village on NH209). After a drive of 2-3 KM, we stopped for a cup to tea and rested under a thatch shed nearby (huh, quite romantic).
We reached Bheemeshwari at 2:00 PM and there were many vehicles parked. Also, the road ended here and the Cauvery River was flowing after it. We parked the bike here, had cold drinks and some snacks from one of the many small shops there. From the shop keeper we came to know that there is a waterfall on the other side of the river and everyone who comes there goes to see it. The Coracle boat ride was the highlight of the area. We hired a boat for Rs. 60. Though I was given a receipt for the same, am not sure if it was organized by Government. The boat was a little dirty and there was some water inside it, which the boat rower cleaned for us. The ride was for 10-15 minutes and we had some snacks during the ride. Hmmm, that was the surprise of the day. Priyanka had fried potato pieces and it was the first time she cooked for me. I can be punished if I do not mention that it was very tasty and the effort put was worth an appreciation.
After reaching at the other bank of the river, we wandered for some time and then went a little inside the water. The local villagers were enjoying bathing and swimming in the river. We sat there for some time at the stones inside the river.
The waterfall was further 3-4 KMs from there and localities ply a bus to the waterfall. The ticket cost was Rs. 30 per passenger. It took around 20 minutes for the bus to reach because the road was very narrow, bumpy and unpaved. All we could find here was a guy (he would turn out a villain soon in this whole story) selling some cold drinks under a shed. The waterfall was a few steps away from the place bus dropped us. We took the stairs down and after a little trekking, climbed a rock. By the time we reached on the top of the rock, the sun was on its high. It was quite thrilling to see the water rushing at its full speed from the top. We found a shadow and rested there for some time. The small walk over and between the rock is worth a mention here. After realizing that we were the only left there, we came back.
The bus which had escorted us there was nowhere to be seen. Everyone was exhausted and desperately waiting for the bus. We took shelter under the same shed the cold drinks seller was, started having the eatables left with us, and were on the story telling-listening spree again (a regular exercise between us). After a wait of around 20 min, still there was no sign of bus coming and a few of the visitors even started walking down.
After a further wait of a few minutes, we decided to take a small walk. Suddenly Priyanka shouted, “where is my mobile, I had kept it here only?” She had put the mobile near her on the surface we were sitting and the cold drinks stall was right behind us. We searched our bags and the place around but the mobile was not found. So, it was sure it had been stolen by someone there. The culprits can be either one of the visitor who came with us in the bus, or this cold drink stall owner. Firstly, I enquired this guy and he confidently refused. A few youths standing a little far asked in a loud voice if we were searching for a mobile. How come these guys know that we were searching for a mobile? One of them told that they saw this cold drinks wala going towards the bush and throwing an object there. I got a little angry and asked that guy again about the mobile? But he again replied firmly that he went there for toilet and didn’t throw anything. The language was a big hurdle here. Whatever I asked this guy in English/Hindi, his response in Kannada was interpreted as No only. I called ‘111’ 2-3 times, but as is the case every time, no one responded the call.
Our suspicion now revolved around this cold drink seller and the group of young men who informed that they saw something being thrown by this guy. I and Priyanka started searching in the bush and by the time we were doing this, this group of young guys left from there. The other visitors who had come with us in the bus also walked away. We were still searching when this group returned and started helping us in the search. After searching for a few minutes, one of them located the phone and we all could see it lying there. Hooonn.. Priyanka could breathe now !!!
Though we were nearly sure that Cold Drinks seller was the thief, we sided to not put blame on any one and be happy that mobile was finally found. What timing. The bus also arrived, and we all boarded it and returned back.
It was around 5:00 PM when we reached to the place where our bikes were parked, and decided to drive back. There was a restaurant on the way back where we had some refreshments. The Jungle resort was around 10 Km from there and I decided to see the place from outside at least. The drive was a thrill, a narrow unpaved road between the forest, with nothing to hear except the sound of the river water flowing. On the way, a gurukal was there and I had a small chat with the caretaker there.
By the time we reached the resort, it had started getting dark. But how could we have wasted the chance to sit on the bank of the river inside the forest, with no one but silence around us (ultimately romantic it had to be, only the silence and the sounds of river gushing through, and we sat hand in hand head over each other, just the perfect place to be in and situation for time to stop). Uhhhh!! How do I dare forget the first lil dance we had together ;;), me as always shying away to glory :D.
The return journey was equally charming. Full dark, no vehicle to be seen, and we left with nothing but only the bike head light to assist us. Though I was tired, we stopped only two times to take a break that too after quite some cajoling from her. The drive enjoyment kept me moving. We reached Bangalore at around 9:00 PM and had our dinner on the way home.
All in all a day full of memories, thrills, and expeditions.

Adventures of Working Late in Office

Madam Ji !!!
How many of you come to office on weekends or stay late in office? Almost every bachelor working in any software industry will raise his hand. I am sure a number of married people (except for newly married guys) will also say like to say “Yes”. Coming to office on weekends can sometimes bring you a number of memorable experiences.
As I have the privilege of staying very near to office, so like most of other bachelors, I also come to office on almost every Saturday and Sunday. But one Saturday became a special for me and added an unforgettable incident to my memory. After finishing my weekend task of net surfing and chatting, I realized that I had spent more time in office on Saturday than any other week day. This was not because I had a lot of work assigned to me by my manager but because a lot of my friends were online at that time. Realizing that it was 11:30 pm and I had to prepare my dinner, I wished Good Night to all my friends I was chatting with, locked my system, took my bag and started speeding towards my home.
When I came out of office on the ring road, Excuse me were the words of that sweet voice that made me turn around with a surprise and I found myself facing a beautiful girl who looked very afraid at that time. “Is it possible to get an auto from here at this time?” came the quick question for me. Seeing the ID card hanging around her neck and the way she was dressed, I could make out she must be working with some software company on the ring road, though I could not see exactly which company she was working with. Hearing, It’s nearly impossible to get an auto from here at this time increased fear in her face.
In response to her next question, Which is the nearest place where I can find an auto?, Marathalli was the best answer that came to my mind. I told her that it was around 4 Km from there and she would have to walk down till there to find an auto. Listening this, I could feel that she wanted to cry loudly on the road. Controlling her emotions and fear, she asked if it was safe to walk down till Marathalli at that time. My answer, “You don’t have any other option even if it is not completely safe” was the last bombardment I could do on her. She stood there still for a minute asking me something with her eyes and then started moving towards Marathalli.
Now, I think most of the guys will like to shout on me.
How can you allow a girl to walk down alone till Marathalli at 11:30 pm?
This was the best chance you had to befriend a beautiful girl.
You could have asked if she would like to call someone.
But believe me the moment I left her and started walking towards my house in the opposite direction; several such thoughts came to my mind. And after a 5 minutes walk towards my house, I suddenly overturned and started running towards the girl. Seeing me running so fast at 12:00, security guards in the opposite building might have thought me as a thief with Police chasing me. And adding to their suspicion I was carrying a bag also. But I was searching for the girl only and thank god I could see her at a distance walking very fast towards Marathalli.
While running I realized that one more guy on the opposite side of the road was also running in the same direction and he was faster than me.
“What the hell is going on?” Is he equally stupid as me and wants to help that girl now or he is the danger I had anticipated?
Before I could approach the girl and offer my help, I saw that guy talking to the girl and could sense some hot conversation between them. The moment I decided to intervene, I saw both of them coming back coolly with hands in hand and immediately whole picture became clear to me. I was getting angrier seeing them laughing and me walking on opposite side of road like a BIG STUPID.
To give satisfaction to myself, I thought at least I had the result of the story with me.

ISTQB Questions

1. Risk based Testing
2. Inspection
a. Find Failures not defects
b. Find defects not failures
3. For 0<=x<100, which of the following is valid boundary values?
a. -1,0,99,100
b. -1,0,1,99,100
4. Keyword driven testing
a. Helps in automation for non-experienced testers
b. Makes test maintenance easy
5. To maintain testing material, you require
a. Configuration management tools
b. Requirement management tools
6. Equivalence Partitioning
a. Tests invalid and valid partition
b. Tests only invalid partitions
c. Test only valid partitions
7. If test cases are not finding new defects, writing new tests is called
a. Defect Clustering
b. Pesticide Paradox
8. Quality
a. Increases if defects are fixed
b. Decreases if defects are found and not fixed
c. Increases as test cases are run
d. Increases if defects are not fixed
9. (There was a scenario given) – For this scenario, which is best
a. Decision Table
b. State Transition
10. Statement Coverage
a. 100% statement coverage is not possible
b. 100% statement coverage ensures better quality
11. Decision Coverage
a. 100% decision Coverage is not possible
b. 100% decision coverage ensures better quality
12. Exploratory testing is used
a. If there are inexperienced testers
b. If detailed spec is there
c. If detailed spec is not there
13. Static Value Analysis tool ‘
a. Finds failures not defects
b. Find defects not failure
c. Requires the code to be compiled
14. Experienced testing is used
a. if Product knowledge is there
b. for experienced testers only
c. if complete domain knowledge is there
15. Severity and Priority for an incident
a. Incident can be logged by both developers and testers
b. High severity incident has high priority
c. Incident once confirmed as defect should be logged into database
d. Severity defines how complex incident is and priority defines how soon incident needs to be addressed
16. Test management tool manages
a. Requirements
b. Progress Report
17. Test Capacity
a. Includes items to be tested
18. Which of the following is not test oracle
a. Test Result
b. Requirement
c. Legacy and Competency system
19. Consider the following statement
If an input is exact multyplyr of previous input, either discard the input or make the field blank.
What kind of error a static analysis tool will find here?
a. Ambiguity
b. Spelling mistake

When I Was a Child

When I was a child, to get anything I used to weep,
Now before buying anything, why I think so deep.
What has changed, if I am the same,
Why am I now running after money and fame.
No one knows when this run will end,
When will I again cry and play with friends.
When again will I ask my mother to buy me a new toy,
When will she stop saying, “You are now a grown up boy”.
When can I tear my new shirt and just say SORRY
When will I say for last time, “This life is very boring.”
When will Microsoft hear my small plea,
When will I delete 20 years just by pressing a Delete key.

The Little Newspaper Boy

Vishu handed over the bill to me and asked if I would like to make the payment that day or next day. I was stunned to see the behavior of this 10 years old boy who delivers newspaper at my house. I could not stop the questions arising in my mind and asked him if he had ever gone to school. His quick reply was, “I daily go to school.” This was followed by a bombardment of questions from me. “In which class do you study, how many members are there in your family, who sustains all of them?”

Vishu lives in a house consisting of one room and one kitchen with his mother, father, two brothers, and two sisters. His house does not even have the space to do morning tasks. For this everyone in his family goes out early in the morning before Sun removes the darkness. His father works in a factory and does not earn enough to provide for 7 members in his family. As Vishu is the eldest among the sibling, he works before and after his school to help his father to earn bread for the family. And all this 10 years old master understands is that he will have to work hard, if he wants to earn and study.
The only dream this little master has in life is to get a reputed job in the factory his father works in and the only path he knows to realize his dream is to complete his education.

In his reply to my question how he manages all this, he told, “I get up at 4:30 am in the morning (when most of we software guys do not finish even half of our sleep), bring newspapers from the distributor, and deliver them to respective houses before 7 am so that I do not get late to my school. After coming from school, he works in a restaurant, as Rs. 800 per month which he gets from his newspaper job is not sufficient to pay his school fees and feed his family. After returning from the restaurant at 8 pm, he does his school homework till 11 pm before allowing his body to take some rest and again the next day he starts his routine before the Sun rises.

Every one of us understands the importance of hard work and struggle in our life. We understand these, because our surrounding has taught us that to survive in this competitive world, you need to struggle and work hard. But who has taught the importance of these things to this little master. The same surroundings who has taught us, has also taught him that to achieve something in life, he has to struggle and overcome all the obstacles.

No one knows if that factory will still be there after 10 years or whether this little master will be able to get his dream job but everyone knows that his optimistic approach towards life and hard work will definitely make him find a name and reputation for himself.

Dictionary meaning of Outrage is still the same

Should the Jessica lal murder case be reopened for a trial?

This is a common question, which has become part of “Cast your Vote” section of every newspaper these days. No columnist wants to spare the opportunity to put their thoughts into words on this topic.
I still remember the days when I had no interest in reading any story other than related to terrorism, in a newspaper. I used to spend 5 minutes of my reading time in marking the news related to terrorism and read them in remaining 25 minutes. As like any other day, my father came from his clinic with newspaper in his hand and as usual told me the headlines of the day, while handing over the paper to me. “Kal ek Bar main Sharma ke bete ne bartendor ko goli maar di aur bhag gaya”. I felt a little sad after listening the news, not because someone was killed, but there would not be any terrorism story for me to read, as that was the only news Papa had announced on that day. I went through my daily practice of searching the terrorism news, enjoying them, and throwing the paper on the table.
Day before yesterday, I found the Jessica Lal Murder case as the headline in my two favorite news sites, The Hindustan Times and IBN live. I was excited to know who she was. Was she a film actress, a politician, or a daughter of a celebrity?
She was also a normal human being like most of us, struggling to achieve something for her. The only difference is when we all can still fight to fulfill our wishes, she can not do this. All her ambitions were destroyed with a bang, sound of a bullet, which everyone but she enjoyed in that party.
Can anyone in India, whoever knows about this case is ready to believe even for 1 second that Manu had not fired the bullet? When everyone knows who is responsible for shattering dreams of a beautiful girl, then why the criminals (I know, I know court has acquitted him, but he will ever be a criminal for me) are roaming freely. Is the judge who delivered the judgment in this case responsible for acquitting the criminals? No, we all are responsible; witnesses who turned hostile in this case are responsible; all who saw her being murdered are responsible. For a single moment of life, we are ready to believe that this won’t happen again; rather this won’t happen with us. No other murder will occur, or no other criminal will be acquitted like this. We do not want to risk our lives by witnessing in such case, when we know that every moment our life is at risk.
It is known to everyone of us that there are loop holes in our system. A rich or a politician can easily play with such a system. They can get away with whatever they do. Then why do not we try to change this system and fill those loop holes. A judge while giving the verdict on a case knows that he is himself becoming a part of that crime. But he can’t do anything. He is to follow whatever is shown to him. He cannot listen to his consciousness while giving the verdict, because our system does not allow him to do so. Instead of blindly following the system, why does not he try to improve the system? A case that is tried for a 7 years will become 700 miles far from the truth. After 7 years, this gap will become so broad to be filled by anyone. If this case had been tried in any European country, it would have been finished within 7 weeks. In 7 years, no new evidence and witness is going to appear then it means we are just providing sufficient time for suspects to destroy as much evidence as they can.
Every one of us should have the courage to stand in place of Jessica’s family members and think from their perspective. Manu in police custody had confessed that he had committed this brutal murder. Then why no value was given to his confession. Was this a formality or a way to escape from police torture?
The policemen who filled their pockets are always anxious for such cases to appear so that they can be happy with their overflowing pockets. Such cases come as a performance bonus for them, which accounts multiple times to their salary. The case trial duration gives them enough time to bargain for their easy work.
If someone lost something in this case, are the family members or Jessica herself. She lost her dreams, her family members lost the time that they had spent to bring her up. Rest whole world benefited from this case. Judge got free from a boring case, policemen saved enough to buy a new luxury item, news channels got a hot topic to discuss, we all got something interesting after boring India-Pakistan issues to read and watch, Manu got freedom, his father a new eve to throw a drink party, and witnesses finally had a relief from embarrassing court summons.

The witnesses who turned hostile in this case will again get busy with their normal routine. They won’t also waste their time in thinking that they have done something opposite to what was expected from them. No one will bother to tell them that they have done something wrong. We will still want them to appear on page 3, Pepsi advertisement, or in a movie. Should we as responsible members of this society do something against them? Should we go and apprise them they are also equally murderers in our eyes? When we all have time to protest against appearance of Mohd. Prophet’s photographs, celebration of Valentine’s Day, or a line written about Bal Thackeray. Can’t we protest against these irresponsible members of our society to ensure that every witness gives his/her second thought before turning hostile? Instead of letting our anger to die until such a case appears again, we should not allow such members to walk among us. We should not let our anger come and go like sea waves, rather we should use its power to make some changes in our system, so that we are not killed like this again.

Coincidence

I believe in God for there is an almighty power, which is responsible for all activities occurring in the universe. I sometimes wonder how God keeps track of all these things. Does he also have some software to maintain a record of all happenings occurring in this universe?
Today’s incident added one more drop in the pool of my belief in God. On June 10th, I went to swim for the first time. Vikas was the idea generator and the inspiration behind my joining the swimming class. On the first day, we both did well. We were able to float, and swim for some distance. On the second day, I was able to use my hands and synchronize my hand and leg movements. This was an appreciable achievement, as this was just the second day. The next step was a little difficult. How to breathe while swimming? It took me almost three to four days to learn how to breathe by coming out of water for a moment, while swimming.
When a learner learns something faster than normal, he thinks that he has become a master. As soon as this feeling comes, then the learner is surely in danger. And this was the exact feeling I had just three days after I joined my swimming classes.
On the last day of the first week, I and Vikas were returning from our swimming class. Our coach was standing at one end of the 7.5 feet deep pool. It suddenly occurred to me why not give a try at this depth.. I asked the coach if he would be able to save me on time, if I could not reach the other end. After getting his reply in affirmative, I jumped into the pool. Initially, I thought of covering only a quarter of the actual distance, and I did it successfully. But as soon as I touched the wall, my grip on the wall gave away and I slipped. I was immersed in the 7.5 feet deep pool, with water covering me on all sides. I was jumping and splashing my arms and legs in the water and trying to come out, but all in vain. For a moment, I lost all hope and thought that within few seconds I will meet my waterloo. The coach did not come on time to save me. While trying to save myself life, I scolded myself for trusting the Coach. My friend, Vikas came to my rescue. He held my hand and pulled me out. Vikas was too tired trying to save me and then we both somehow managed to come out of the pool by helping each other.
My swimming classes are going regularly, and yesterday I was able to complete the whole length in one go. This was a big achievement for me. I tried multiple times, and each time I succeeded. Once again I grew over confident and thought of going to the deeper side of the pool. From 5.5 feet to 6.5 deep side, and swim the complete distance in one go. Before this, I had swum successfully from the 6.5 feet deep end to the 5.5 feet end. I thought of waiting for some time before starting from 5.5 deep side, but John, my swimming classmate, instigated me to start at once. John is a better swimmer than me as he started learning it 10 days prior to me. John tried going to the 6.5 feet deep end and succeeded. After his continuous egging, I started moving towards the deeper end. Initially, I was confident that I would be able to reach the other end safely. I was about to reach the deeper end but suddenly my legs stopped moving. The depth of water at that place was 6.5 feet. I was motionless and speechless, standing still under the water. I mustered all the courage and tried to swim but could not make a wee bit of progress. I jumped out of the water 3-4 times gasping for breath. John, who had promised to save me, if I could not swim the whole distance, was sitting at the other end and watching me. While jumping, I screamed asking him to hold my hand but his only reply was “Try to swim”. At that moment, my mind was filled with thoughts about people who lost their lives by drowning. I was screaming my lungs out. But the only help I received was “Try to swim” words from John. For one moment, I could feel all my hopes drown in water and had the feeling that Lord of Death “Yumraj” was hugging me and not letting me go off. As I kept screaming for help, a lifeguard handed me a stick and pulled me out. Everyone present at the pool was laughing at me. One guy commented sarcastically, “what an attempt to suicide”. I felt very embarrassed. After coming out, I stood still for 2-3 minutes, took my bag, and went home. On my way back, Vikas tried to console me saying that I had been doing well and it was OK, but I was very quiet. After reaching office, I did not feel like talking to anyone. I was still overcome by the swimming experience I had this morning. But I narrated this incident to Archana. She advised me not to try any such endeavors until I learnt to swim properly. Throughout the day, I was feeling very embarrassed about what had happened
By evening, I was fine and feeling Ok. The next morning I woke up fresh and went for a swim. I met John, and he asked me to try going to the deep end once again. At first, I wanted to reprimand him for what happened a day before. But then I let the matter go. He told me he would try going again to the 6.5 feet end from the 5.5 feet end I was standing at one end and watching him swim. He reached the exact spot, where I was drowning a day earlier I could hear John screaming. It did not occur to me for some time as to, what had happened. But then I realized that his legs were not moving like mine yesterday. I too thought of giving him the same suggestion that he had given me. But then I immedaitely realized the feeling of despair that I was drowned in. I ran and pulled him out of the pool by holding his hand. He was feeling as embarassed as I had felt a day before. . I then said to him, “What a coincidence?” and resumed my swimming practice. He was standing at the other end and staring at me.