Sunday, March 26, 2006

Hi There

The name is Arun & it's a pleasure to walk into the blogosphere. It was just the other day I googled my name in the valiant hope that some tidbit about me would pop out & make my day. The only thing I came out with was that there are so so so so so so many Arun Kumars in Cyberspace & I am still not one of them. Much humbled & thoroughly wizened, I figured that the only way I can 'pop' up in anybody's random search was to drop my calling card - my own blog.

Do I know what I want my blog to be? No. (Arun's Mantra No. 87: When you want to make a confession, get it out and get it fast). But like all things in life, you and I will figure this out (Arun's Mantra No. 56: When in doubt, share responsibility with someone else. You'll be blamed less).

I like to think that I have a very clear idea of who I am. And that is that I am the best. (Arun's Mantra No. 36: Vanity is a great thing). Sure, life has its own way of putting me in my place & actually showing how 'best' I truly am. But right now, I am not going into a confessional - so let's just proceed by accepting that I am the best.

I am 32 years old & live in Bangalore, India with my pretty wife Priya. The only common purpose that binds our holy matrimony is our un-abiding quest to pester & trouble each other (Arun's Mantra No. 12: When 2 people share the same purpose, they go a long way). So far, we have done a pretty good job at it. Case in Point: My rapidly receding hairline & her often gnashing teeth. Considering the fact that we got married 3 years ago, you can imagine how troublesome we could have been to each other....

I like to write (ramble is a better word), but I am not a great writer. I interlace my words with occasional wisps of humor & (if possible) try to put some sense & thought into my penmanship. The result is a mock tail. If you still to read such stuff, you might find this blog mildly bearable.

My hobbies? Reading, traveling & tracking politics. I read on the net. I read magazines. I read comics. I read assorted stuff (Arun's Mantra No. 59: Don't read technical books). I love Peanuts, Asterix & Dennis, The Menace (yup - in the same order). Charlie Brown is my hero. When he says 'Good Grief', it encapsulates everything. Snoopy is another character that I adore (‘Joe Cool’ in my URL is a reference to Snoopy). Asterix comics are a class of their own & I won't even try to explain them. There are hundreds of dedicated websites that do a great job of showcasing them & echoing my thoughts.

I dig politics. I have been through long cycles of thought on who am I politically. Am I a socialist? Or a card carrying free market capitalist? Or do I want a mix of both? Will I vote left or will I vote right? I am pretty sure that I have figured this out - but we'll talk about that some other day along with my travel travails. (I have to make you come back to my site, don't I?).

What? Am I supposed to tell you what I do for a living? Oh OK. Simply put, I have fun. I work in a supply chain company called Manhattan Associates (lest you think I am another techie geek, let me assure you that I am anything but). I have been with them for a year & I would like to think that we get along quite well. They let me dabble with alphabets & numbers (apparently they are called software programs), blue & black screens, status graphs & line reports (or is it line graphs & status reports?) along with a bunch of very mild mannered people at whom I often throw a bright red ball. I told you - I have fun.

From 2000 until early 2005, I lived in the US for 5 years working on some Baan ERP stuff. I won't bore you with the arcane details. Priya & I figured that 5 years was a decent duration of stay away from home & headed back last year. The US was an amazing experience & taught me some great lessons:
- Take your work seriously, but not yourself.
- Laugh (even at you)
- Don’t hesitate to say 'No'. Nobody is going to eat you.
- Don't ask. Just do it.
- Once you say you'll do it, do it. And on time.
- If you have some bad news, get it out & get it fast (OK, my Mantra No. 87 was not an original)
- Don't micro-manage. Every individual is brilliant. Just unlock his/her potential & they'll do it even better than what you hoped for.
- Fight for what you believe in - even if you are going to be alone.
- Understand. Listen. Be patient. Collect facts. And then - ACT.

We'll talk more about these & a lot more as time goes by. Until then, take care.


Cheers
Arun 'Joe Cool' Kumar

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sorry for my bad english. Thank you so much for your good post. Your post helped me in my college assignment, If you can provide me more details please email me.