Introduction

The BbyB Beacon is an electronic publication to keep the members of Bit by Bit informed about the current affairs of the company. It contains announcements of important events like training programmes, Management Review Meetings, etc.

Contact Information
 Any contributions to the newsletter in the form of technical articles, or items of general interest, are welcome. Please send them to padmabaliga@bbyb.sdc.int or padmabaliga@bbyb.com

Editorial                                                                                                                    (top)

Hallo World!!

Last month, I attended a 6-day Theatre appreciation course and the most amazing thing was that my fellow students (most of whom were in their twenties) were not “arty types”, but software engineers, finance professionals and doctors. All of them spoke of the desperate need to have interests outside work and office. Attending this course would not help them improve their professional skills or job prospects but they still took time off from their work and personal lives to be there.

This brought home to me the importance of work-life balance. Most of us work or think and brood about work all the time. During the weekend we hang out with friends from the workplace and thus never really feel that we have gotten away from it. When we centre our lives around one single thing, whatever it is, the outcome is not only situational imbalance in our lives but also emotional imbalance. The solution is to have other interesting pursuits apart from late nights and parties. Lack of physical activity or exercise, lack of mental or aesthetic stimulation in the form of hobbies can cause increasing stress levels.

Find things in life that are interesting and enjoyable. It could be a passion for chess or football, desire to learn a foreign language, amateur theatricals, blogging, visiting art galleries or attending a cookery course. Develop these interests and it could lead you to a lot of exciting things. Hallo World!!

Padma

Projects News

MESaLS                                                                                                                  (top)

It was a quiet month for the MESaLS team. The entire team was busy working towards the general release of Version 4.03.00, scheduled for a 1st December release. The inclusion of New Requisition Wizard has been postponed to allow more time for testing and incorporating changes in it.

In the first week of November, Mesals User Group Meet was held in Southampton. Changes made in Version 4.03 and the New Requisition Wizard were demostrated to the users during the User Group. There was positive feedback from the Users for the changes included in the latest version.

This month our team bid farewell to Datta and Jillee. We wish them all the best for their future endeavours.

Rajendra for MESaLS

pFACT

During November, four Beta versions i.e 2.02.33, 2.02.34, 2.02.35 and 2.02.37 were sent to BHP, which fixed some of the bugs reported in earlier versions, and also covered a couple of enhancements requested by the clients.

The entire pFACT team was busy in testing issues and fixing bugs while Rejith was busy writing test cases and closing issues related to the released versions.

Sephali for pFACT

Other News                                                                                                          (top)

A Baby – a gift to cherish

Chaitanya and Yogita's home has been blessed with a baby girl. Yogita gave birth to a beautiful baby, Siddhi, on October 23rd. BbyB congratulates them and the baby.

Farewell to Friends

BbyB bid farewell to Sukanya, Deepak, Sanuj, Srikanth, Saksha, Datta and Jillee in the months of October and November. We wish them all the best.

Colleagues Cognizant                                                                                       (top)

Ramasamy and Lakshman are twins who look remarkably similar and who caused a few instances of confusion when they first joined. Ram, predictably is the elder of the two. Both are pleasant and soft-spoken and are good fun to hang out with. Here they talk about life as a twin, their childhood in Coimbatore and their dreams for the future.

Well, seniority counts, even if it is only by a few minutes and so Ram faces the questions first.

Tell us about your hometown and your family.

My hometown is Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. It is a wonderful and beautiful, also known as TexCity (Textile City). The weather is almost like Bangalore, not too hot.

About my family, we are six siblings. I have two elder brothers and two elder sisters, and one twin brother, Lakshman.

When did you join BBYB, and how do you like working here?

I joined this company on November 2nd, 2006. This is the company where both freshers and experienced guys can gain more knowledge. This is my first job and I feel great to work in this environment.

Are Lakshman and you similar?

Oh, yes, in most ways. The food we like to eat, the songs we listen to, the movies we watch, behaviour, attitude etc....are all similar; we have the same taste in everything.

How do you like having a twin?

I feel happy being with him and I thank God for keeping us together. There is a proverb in my language: Thambi udayaan padaikku anjaan, which means that one who has a younger brother doesn't need to worry for anything.

Would you complain about your brother to your school teachers?

No, there was no need to do that.

Have you ever tried to fool others as you look very much alike?

No, we didn't get a chance to do that.

How far do you understand each other?

200%

What are your hobbies?

24x7 music, surfing net, playing with my nieces and nephews.

Any future plans?

To shine as a good software professional in the IT industry. And try to learn new things as much I can.

Lakshman is the quieter of the two but faced the questions readily.

Tell us about your studies which you both did together.

We did our schooling in Brindavan Matric Hr Sec School and Suburban Hr Sec School. Later, we went to Angappa Arts & Science College. Now we are working here together.

Do you like working in the same office as your brother?

I have been working here for the last 1.4 yrs. I feel very happy that my brother is also working with me. Both of us benefit from it. If anyone of us has some doubts in the technology we are using, the other can try to clear those doubts and share knowledge.

In what ways are you different from each other?

In most ways, we don’t differ, but sometimes I get tense quickly, while he remains calm.

How often have you seen people getting confused between you two? Tell us of any such incident.

Yes, it has happened many times. During our school days, sometimes if I did not do my home work our teachers would get confused and scold Ram instead of me. Later they put us in different sections to be able to identify us.

While we came to this company for the interview, Ram had finished his test and interview in the morning and my test was scheduled for the afternoon. I came to the BbyB Office in Koramangala after he left. Guys who saw me asked, “How was the interview and how did you do?” thinking that I was the person (Ram) who had attended the test and interview in the morning.

In school, if your brother scored better than you, how did you feel?

I would feel happy, I never felt bad about it. I would try to score better next time.

What are your favourite weekend plans?

Nothing special. As usual, we visit our cousin or go shopping with our room mates. We go to the BTM ground to play cricket on Sundays. We cook and watch movies together.

Do you both have the same interests and hobbies?
Yes, most of the time. We differ in very small things.

What are your likes and dislikes?
I like to listen to songs, browse, and learn something new. I don't like to be alone anytime.

Your ambitions in life?
To become the best software developer, and shape myself to do better in my work.

Birthdays (top)

Here are some of the photos of Anoop's birthday celebration in November.

New Recruits

Six new Trainee Programmers join BbyB.

Hidangmayum Meena Sharma is a BE (IT) from North Maharashtra University (Jalgaon). She graduated in 2007. Her hobbies include watching movies, surfing the net and listening to music.

Narayanan Nagarajan is a BE (CSE) from Anna University, who graduated in 2007. His hobbies include playing cricket, watching movies and sports channels and chatting with friends.

Naveen Kaidbettu Ramesh is a BE (IS) from Visweshwaraya Technological University (Belgaum), and graduated in 2007. His hobbies include playing badminton, tennis and playing the keyboard.

Rahul Nagle is a BE (CSE) from Rajiv Gandhi Pradyagiki Vishwavidyalaya (Bhopal), who graduated in 2006. His hobbies include reading spiritual books and listening to music.

Roopashree Nayak Narasimha is an MCA from Sikkim Manipal University. She graduated in 2007. Her hobbies include surfing, listening to music, travelling and reading. She is also interested in Yoga.

Udhayavardhane N.P. is a BE (IT) from University of Kerala. She graduated in 2006. Her hobbies include travelling, watching animation movies, cartoons and action films.

From Left: Roopashree, Meena, Udhayavardhane, Naveen, Rahul and Narayan