Painful projects..

Well... I'm back in Jo'burg.. n here, some things have just not moved an inch.. like the people at the bank (that's where I work) were speaking exactly the same things when I had left them, the problems clientele were facing, the four dogs (two with tails n two without) of my landlady which bark all 24 hrs, the forever stuck lifts in office which were installed when the dinosaurs walked the earth, n my favorite project - IB (Internet Banking) which has been going on forever now..

But there are also some things which have changed.. the temperature has dropped considerably prompting everyone to look gift wrapped 24/7, the world cup fever has caught on big time with footballs hanging all over the place, flags lining up all the streets n malls, people blowing the vuvuzelas (weird trumpets capable of producing ear-splitting noise of buzzing swarms of bees) all day long, sporting gear adorning all possible shops n the emergence of the new "football" pizzas n burgers in most cuisines :)..

But what has been ruining my happiness these days, is my fav project which I mentioned earlier..the new IB for the bank.. this venture happens to be the perfect example of how to do everything wrong but still expect great results.. when I say wrong, I mean wrong right from the word go.. first of all, this project is being executed out of 3 continents, not even countries, by 2 vendors for the bank.. vendor No.1 to develop the IB application and vendor No.2 for building the interface between the application and the core banking system.. unfortunately I didn't have the privilege of working with this project in its initial phases (like it happens in most cases when all stakeholders are never there) but ever since I have come in, I have learnt to appreciate the SDLC process a lot more.. most companies more or less follow the text book method and get it right most of the times.. but this place is on its way of creating a whole new process of its own.. maybe I should list down the winners:

- having an entire phase of development or even the project for that matter, without even a single document listing what exactly the requirements are.. it's all in the minds of the bank and vendor No.1..
- vendor No.2 is nowhere a part of this project until the beginning of the development phase.. n yes, without the requirements..
- no requirements, means no BRD n that means no functional specs either.. not from the bank or the 2 vendors...
- incredulously, vendor No.2 comes up with the technical specifications all based on past experience in this field.. u know reusable code n reusable logic.. always so helpful ...
- both the vendors proceed towards development, in their own directions... very very opposite directions..
- the first effort at integrating everything, the SIT or system integration testing turns out to be a herculean task.. vendor No.1 almost has no clue what vendor No.2 has been trying to tell them for 3 months and now vendor No.2 is almost teaching vendor No.1 how to interpret transaction specifications.. I really think language is a big problem while working with people from different countries.. both verbal n written :).. bank has no clue what's happening...
- trying to conduct UAT without a team since the bank does not have enough resources who can work full time on testing and whoever is available declines to be a part of it coz they weren’t part of the requirement gathering phase so they dunno what needs to be tested… fair enough..
- sudden discovery during UAT that half the requirements are missing in the product delivered… now really, who can one blame…
- UAT drags for more than 3 months coz every issue fixed breaks something else which was working correctly previously .. almost like redeveloping everything that was delivered by vendor No.1..
- vendor No.2 is twiddling thumbs coz work is complete but can’t bring the project to a closure..
- bank knows the project is delayed beyond measure but it can’t do a thing about it..
- Project is still waiting to go live coz now the marketing team suddenly realized that they were almost ambushing the existing clientele with the new IB without even a warning... very crucial since the new IB doesn’t even have all the features the old one had.. can’t even imagine the wrath of the clientele the bank is gonna incur when they realize this..
- this is the best – no one in the bank knows what’s really “new” in the new IB to make it their USP ;)…

Well.. I’m still stuck in the middle of nowhere trying hard to keep the bank, vendor No.1 and vendor No.2 happy and yearning like no tomorrow for the project to go live.. it’s almost like a ticket for me to go back home :(.. this saga has gone on longer than one would imagine with a lot of I’ll-pull-my-hair-out-rite-now kinda experiences..

The only thing that brings cheer in times like this is football :)… I get to watch them at times which are not-unearthly n yeah, I can catch them even when I’m in office on the large LCD tv hung close to my room ;).. it’s wonderful watching the likes of rooney, ronaldo, n messi play, along with the my colleagues each supporting a different country :D .. just that there seems to be a dearth of goals rite now.. but never-the-less, the one good thing about being in the world cup host country is now I can manage to identify most countries by their national flags :D.. if not anything else.. happy footballin.. n Cheers :)..

Work, work n work...

The other day I found myself in one of the situations which always wanna make me run… I had a "certain" person telling me to set the expectations right with my folks at home that it’s always work first, then it's family n then friends.. first of all, I really don’t remember the last time I gave anyone the right to tell me what my priorities should be and secondly, I don’t think being a professional means giving up on your personal life.. if I go back a few years, this diktat of “work is everything” may have been true..fresh out of college, all I could imagine myself doing was working like there’s no tomorrow… work was good and colleagues were fun, there was so much to learn and perform.. but now, after a series of some pleasant and a lot of not-so pleasant incidents, it isn’t the same anymore..

A coupla years back, my younger cousin sister succumbed to cancer.. n the very next day after I lost my cousin, my granny died... death by itself is one of the toughest things you ever face in your life.. two of them n that too on two consecutive days, just makes it unimaginably devastating.. n it doesn’t end there.. it’s those images that linger on.. there’s not one day that passes without me remembering the dozen summer vacations spent with my granny or all those birthdays n festivals I celebrated with my cousin, all that keeps coming back in front of my eyes, are their still, lifeless forms.. very very painful and very very sad.. ever since this has happened, I have started appreciating life a lot more.. it’s these defining moments which make you realize, what you have and what you don’t and what you can never hope to have again.. if not for my family and friends, I’d be a nervous wreck by now.. things like these make everything else seem so small and insignificant, that you almost wanna laugh at yourself and your silly perceptions.. that was the time, when drowning myself in work seemed like the best thing to do.. but that was just that.. work place was a solace n nothing more than that..n that was when I overhauled my entire list of priorities, what’s important and what’s more important..work n career kinda trickled down from being almost everything to something I can live without, if I have to.. but there’s something else that I learnt from this entire chapter in my life.. I have no respect for anyone who doesn’t care about his own life and family.. if he himself doesn’t , there’s no reason he should expect the others to.. very simple..

In the midst of all this, I had a chance to meet people who kinda strengthened my new belief system.. people for whom family meant everything in the world and were not scared to fall back on them, if there arose a need.. career hardly featured anywhere and was completely secondary.. life is all about how much one could do for himself and for the people he cared for, the route didn't matter..

Going back to the “certain” person.. I couldn’t speak my mind, I wish I could.. that sometimes happens to me when I’m stuck with some people.. couldn’t tell him that I really care two hoots about my professional life if my personal one was getting tossed outta the window.. but never-the-less.. I have to work for a while n I guess I will have to put up with some things even if I don’t want to but can handle it.. work is all but a means to a better life, not life itself.. Cheers…

Back in Bangalore..

It’s been quite a while since I wrote anything… hands were kinda tied I should say.. sometimes things happen which you really can’t explain.. for example, one fine morning in Jan when I was enjoying my coffee in office over some mundane conversation, the cup slipped and dropped from my hand to splash the entire table n the laptop with my favorite drink.. I still don’t know how and why it happened.. all I could you see was a good quantity of it flowing into my lappy’s keypad, under the stack of paper on the table n dripping onto the carpet... even with all the frantic turning of the machine upside down and draining out the brown liquid, my lappy gave up.. for a good 3 hrs it refused to start and when it did, the keys either began writing their own sweet story anywhere and everywhere they found a text box to type in or they stopped working at all..not even Ctrl+Alt+Del was working..can you imagine, I couldn’t even attempt to lock the system coz I wouldn’t have been able to log in again.. I was literally at my wits end because I couldn’t open a folder without a series of j’s or k’s or I’s getting typed in the search box.. all my messages would have a ‘j’ or a ‘k’ or an ‘I’ after every letter of any word like I was inventing a new lingo.. I had to actually wait till all the coffee remaining inside dried up leaving the keys sticky and hard, to use the lappy again, never mind the keypad.. for the joy of living in Jo’burg I had to survive using an USB keyboard for the remaining 3 months till I reached Bangalore..

Well yah.. I returned to Bangalore.. it was such a huge relief to be back in your city with your people.. never mind, the traffic, the ever under-construction flyovers, the dust, the pollution, the power cuts, the water shortage and so on.. it’s still my dear city.. u never realize how much you have missed something until you get it back.. even the pani puri off the streets seems heavenly when you haven’t had it for 6 months :).. Bangalore has suddenly had a barrage of shopping malls sprouting all over the place.. for a shopaholic like me, nothing seems sweeter than this.. I happened to visit the new Bangalore central in Jayanagar and Mantri square in Malleswaram.. Bangalore central was nice but Mantri was huge n I was almost swamped by the number of people visiting that place over a weekend.. n ‘course there was loads of shopping involved.. now that’s something very inherent to the female species.. can never shop enough n there’s never enough to shop.. there’s always something more to buy.. if not the clothes, then it’s the bags.. if not the accessories, then it’s the cosmetics.. if not shoes, then it’s the watches.. just doesn’t stop.. if I talk for myself, I’ll even add books and chocolates to this list :)..

I’m still enjoying the fact that I’m back in this place.. still checking out all the new places and revisiting the old.. the city limits seem to be extending in all directions.. bursting at its seams is more like it.. all the builders are hunting for newer places to construct apartments and the prices seem to be going off the roof.. but I guess this is the case in most growing cities these days.. so nothing new to rue about… one fine day it’s all gonna settle down but I guess people need to have patience till then.. talking about patience.. one thing that struck me the minute I landed here was the constant and persistent honking.. it was always so in-the-face that I never noticed before.. some people just honk for the heck of it.. something which you never come across when you are outside India.. in most places, honking is considered rude and is done only in extreme situations.. but then again, it’s one of those zillion things which will never be applicable in India :).. like lane driving, following traffic rules, keeping the roads free of trash.. even things like ‘Hello’ being the first thing to tell anyone, be it a stranger or someone you know.. small courtesies go a long way in building relationships.. just try giving a smile, forget saying ‘Hi’, to the next person you meet in your office.. you might just make his or her day… n I shall continue enjoying Bangalore.. Cheers ;)..

Happy New Year :)

Finally the year 2009 came to an end… n there rose a brand new year in all its grandeur and splendor.. but I’m yet to experience this new high.. or maybe it just happened too quietly.. no bang.. not as yet at least :)..

All this silent reception because for one, I’m away from home..still very much in Jo’burg since my return got extended.. when you are not in your own country, even the universally celebrated festivals seem alien to u.. n more importantly I put in a lot more hours at work all thru the festive season than I ever imagined.. the strange part of this entire thing is, when you and your team are slogging it out the most, your very essential counterparts all over the world will be on leave.. quietly enjoying their vacation far far away from their workstations and mailboxes.. but now-a- days, you have the smart people, who keep checking on their mails very regularly even while on leave.. they are the ones who very politely let you know they have read the ‘High Importance’ marked mails by promptly sending you the ‘Read receipts’ :)… first of all, they make you wonder, why they ever took leave if they were so keen on being up-to-date and then painfully get on your nerves by not responding to you.. what’s the idea – I know they have read the mail, they know they have read the mail but then, neither they nor me know whether they have understood the mail.. well, not until they get back at least, when the storm has come n gone..

But that’s the least of my worries :).. lately in the new software world, documents have become the next big thing..at least my manager thinks so.. she keeps drumming about it at least 10 times a day.. be it as a part of SDLC or not, documents are important.. one of my friend’s new year plans almost got tossed out of the window due to a certain ‘capabilities document’ not being ready :).. so, for quite sometime now, my work has involved churning out documents by the dozen.. be it statements of work, project plans, estimates, business requirements, design specifications, templates and not to forget the loooooong explanatory emails.. even if the project doesn’t see the light of the day, it should be documented somewhere why it was disaster even before it started.. I do see a lot of sense in this method to the effect that everything important should be put down on paper so that the next unfortunate being who happens to get dragged into the same mess as you, can be initiated into his role in a lot easier and quicker fashion.. just dump the documents on his head and say – everything’s in there, you just have to use Ctrl+F :).. but that’s just it..there’s nothing more to it.. and I so wish there was a better way to do this, than end up with some workplace-related injury caused due to over use of fingertips on a not-so-ergonomically designed keyboard :)..

But apart from all this, all I now pray for is that the projects that my team and me have been juggling around with in the air for such a long time, see sort of completion n soon.. I still remember the kick I got when the first program I wrote gave the output it was supposed to.. but somewhere along the way, such kicks have become harder to come by since everything around me has increased tenfold..n you keep expecting so much more from everything and everyone..sometimes you wish, everything was in your hands.. but the good part is, when everyone and not just you, puts in so much effort to make something work, it usually does.. :).. it’s been that way till now in my world at least ;)... I so adore the ‘team effort’ principle :)..

So with a lot of such hope and anticipation, I look forward to the still new 2010.. Cheers…