How small things make such a huge difference.

I had a friend of mine from the place I used to work earlier, over at Google for an interview. Though this guy has worked in loads of places, he says he has never seen anything like Google. What really caught my attention was the things he found so great about Google. He loved the idea of free food... imagine free food majorly influencing employee loyalty and attracting prospective employees... yeah, thats a winner.

He found those massage chairs very attractive. I mean, no one uses them really. Personally, I feel they wreck my lower back each time I sit on them. But then, what a way of making a statement that Google cares about its employees. Apparently, this guy forgot his resume because he was coming directly from his current office after a grueling night shift. I know (from personal exp) that this can happen. The HR person was kind enough to print it out for him. She made sure he was comfortable and tried her best to reduce his anxiety. He was so influenced by all this.

Small gestures really, but they make a massive difference. As he went out, he spoke these words that actually made me write this blog entry: "I don't know if I will get through the interview, but I am certain that this day spent at Google was the best ever and I will tell everyone that this is the kind of a place to work."

Mission Accomplished. Signing off!

Why is it called chicken 65???

Whats with vegans and their habit of trying to convert people to vegetarianism? I had these two sweet girls trying their best to describe how chickens are cut and killed. My guess is that they were hoping this would put me off. Well, nice try though. I'm not trying to be boorish and all. I appreciate what these people are doing. People who argue that man started off as a non-vegetarian are obviously getting off on a wrong foot. While man did start off as a non-vegetarian, I would like to think vegetarianism as the next step in behavioral evolution.

But then, not having non-vegetarians in the food chain would be disastrous. Diseases like the bird flu would be rampant. Green pastures and forests would become barren and would end up as deserts. Who knows? I don't think I ever want to become a complete vegan or a vegetarian. I am very happy with my status as an omnivore and as Akx likes to call me, an animal.

In fact, I came across this rather funny tidbit today. Apparently, the Indian fast food dish, chicken 65 was named so because chickens that are 65 days old are used for making this dish (lol, rotfl and the like.) Yeah right. Since when have chickens started coming with birth certificates and all. From what I could find out, it is called so for four (reasonable) reasons.

1. The original recipe requires that the spices soak (or marinate as is the case) for 65 days.

2. Reason #2 dates back to the war in 1965 where the army men needed something quick and easy to eat and eventually settled on dry and spice boneless chicken.

3. The third one is about a chef and some hotel in the north who used 65 dried chillies to make this dish a sizzler.

4. The last one is about the item #65 on the menu at a 'military hotel'. Back in the 50s, hotels that served non-veg in south India were scarce. Such hotels were called 'military hotels.' Since people did not know what to call this dish, they called it chicken 65.

Believable??? Your guess is as good as mine.

Sudden Change!!!

Its been a funny funny day. I think I did everything differently today, all in the vain hope that it might make a difference to my karma. I was hoping this would tip my balance all the way in to the 'good' region. I use the word 'vain' because, if it was supposed to do something, it definitely hasn't.

Well, first things first, I was up way before schedule. Had to see my mom and my sis off. With them went our maid who comes from that place they went to. At work, I was generally trying to be nice. Theres this sarcastic little girl who is in my emails batch and I was nice to her too. I totally ignored everyones stupidity in the name of greater peace. Life is so much simpler this way. Lunch was completely veggie today ( hah! I can eat veg too .) Kinda felt nice eating veggie stuff. Got home to the realization that without the maid, the cooking would be left to my grandma. So, we both got down to the task. She wouldn't let me cook for some very obvious reasons. This was a lot of fun. We were bonding after a real long time. Felt good. Then I did the dishes (!!!). made sure everythings ok and taken care off and here I am, typing this massive post.

For someone, whos life is so much simpler on a daily basis, this was a massive change and a welcome one at that. Now, i'll get some shut-eye as I have to wake up rather early to get the milk ( hah hah ).

Google certified AdWords Professional

I recently wrote the GAP (Google AdWords Professional) exam and managed to get through. That makes me a GAP (lol). No idea as to how this will help me though. I believe we get access to something called 'My Client Center' which helps manage multiple accounts. That would mean that I have a new interface where I can see all the accounts I have authorization to manage. Neat.