Efharisto Polli !!!

The Thankyou was long due....but i didnt want mine to be lost amongst the official congratulations..so i am posting this now [though the text has been ready for almost 3 weeks now]

I would like to take this opportunity and congratulate each one of you who have contributed to the successful cutover of Aspis Bank to Finacle Treasury.

What a better way to thank everyone..than ones own blog...i can throw caution to the air and write whatever i feel like..without having to worry about email/offcial/professional and all sorts of etiquettes and also be safe from the hazard of offending anyone.I just want to put on record [even if its on my humble blog] the contributions of individuals who have contributed in their own way to this project.

So without further ado...lets begin -

Samir Gokhale : Samir joined us in Athens midway during the UAQ phase,Since Day 1 he handled the entire GL setup [The specs for which kept changing everymonth].He was instrumental in analysing some very critical issues [Net Accruals,F&O accounting and many more].He brought with him an amazing body of domain knowledge from his vast banking experience that gave no chance to the users to question the authority of his analysis.His long and detailed explanations on every issue helped us get out of many sticky situations.

Deepak Grover : Deepak was our inhouse "Swift Customisations" expert. He handled all kinds of customisation requests from the users and managed to meet all the requirements of Target, Hermes and Cedel messages apart from standard swift messages.His work on Reports and other interfaces has been near perfect.

Harish Jindal : Harish was our offshore development/implementation support, He handled all the implementation support activites wonderfully along with his tireless efforts[Working on Greece Time] on the development of reports with Deepak.

Meena Nambiar: She was the single point of contact for the implementation team to raise issues and follow up on the same.Her efforts in doing a first level analysis for many issues and also helping the testing team test the released patches for the timely delivery of the patches has been very helpful for the implementation.

Shreyas B.T : This young Turk from FT Engineering arrived on the scene just before the start of the UAT [The most testing and critical phase of any implementation].He blazed through multiple EOD's and cracked issues with an "Indiana Jones" like zeal.His expertise on Finacle Treasury added a lot of muscle to the implementation team as he gave us an "insiders" view of the issues.His "Banglorean Sambhaar" was a hit with the team as were the amazing pics from his digicam.

Abhishek Khare:He provided the initial framework for the implementation with a detailed CSS and BPD.His work on the approaches to handle MM Swaps and Synthetic Swaps for Aspis with a little tweaking to existing deal types was simply remarkable.

RSR :His involvement in Aspis,started with his inputs on the Reuters MRI way back in June when he was still in Japan.RSR has been our engineering Support anchor and has turned around issues with a dazzling display of brilliance and dedication, working late nights to release those critical patches that went a long way in closing issues in time.

Prasanna Durga :She provided us some very important fixes for swift and was always patient to answer all our seemingly daft queries on swift and many other setup related issues.

NNP: His very presence as the release manager for Aspis,brought about a confidence in the entire team.NNP gave us direction and his valuable inputs whenever we required.
Manikaran Singh, Sameer Agarwal, Archanha Sambamoorthy, Ritesh Bisht have all worked in the background for analyzing and fixing Aspis related issues, their efforts and contributions are well appreciated.

Bikash Agarwala whose awesome code has inspired a lot of our customisations.His modular approach to development makes most of his code reusable with minimum modifications.Whenever we found ourselves in a tricky situation...the first thing that came to our mind was "Check with Bikash"...

I would also like to thank Chetan for his inputs and guidance on the data migration strategy.

Finally i would like to thank Sathish Swaminathan for providing his guidance and inputs for the implementation and making sure we always had the final goal in mind.

I would appreciate comments on this post from you all

Is dignity only "skin deep"....

When we are in India..we differentiate people from the way they dress, grow facial hair and what other accessories they sport on their selves. By looking at some one you can [most of the time] know which part of the country that person is from etc.

When you are in a foreign country [read western country]...these distinctions cease to make a difference.there we all "brown beings" are the same "South Asians"...If we are Indian, Pakistani ,Srilankan or Bangladeshi it doesnt matter to the average Caucasian.

The color of your skin determines how you will be seen by your fellow earthlings..our identity is the race we belong to.

I haven't come across any instance of racism in Greece as yet..though we have been referred to as Bangladeshis or Pakistanis quite a few times.Infact a lady at a bus stop asked me if I was from Egypt [That could be because on my distinctly Semitic nose].

There is one particular incident that has inspired this post and which I wanted to share for a long time.It happened at the Thira harbor [In Santorini], we were waiting for the "Flying Cat" fast boat to take us to Mykonos from Santorini.
We were all standing in a queue in front of a group of English girls ( aged aroung 25 i guess), as we were moving towards the boat, i overheard one of them telling their friends that she was scared.She then pointed towards us - 3 very brown (from the August Greek sun) specimens of Asian males- then her friend said "C'mon, This is not London,don't be silly".
This was around a month after the London Metro blasts, I guess that lady will have the same feelings whenever she encounters Asian men..who cares if they are from India or anywhere else.

This incident gives a glimpse into the psyche of the average westerner..and the way they look at us.

Well its a reality we all will have to live with.....

Santorini and Mykonos

Well this is not my farewell post on greece..that can wait till next week..

To start with our trip in August to the exquisite islands of Santorini and Mykonos was really a memorable experience. Both these islands present two very different aspects of Greek Islands.

Santorini offers one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. The villages in this island are situated on cliffs and offer breathtaking views over the caldera of the submerged volcano. In Ancient Time, the shape of the island was circular. The volcano's eruption was so strong that the centre of Santorini sank and created a crater in the middle and created islands around it. Being in Santorini is an experience. The picturesque villages built right on top of the Caldera, the white houses and the blue painted windows fight the reddish black rocks which rise from the deep blue sea, in a synthesis that post-impressionists would envy. Across the world the blue domed churches of Santotini dominate Greek imagery, the sunset as seen from the cliff side at Oia is considered as one of the best in the world.

Our stay at Santorini also took us to some amazing black and red pebble beaches..which are unique in themselves and come as a surprise for someone like us who expect typical white sand beaches.

Mykonos on ther other hand is a cosmopolitan island with a lively and most varied nightlife in the Aegean. A barhopper's paradise Mykonos is also notorious for its gay club scene..Its a place where you let your hair down and party like theres no tomorrow...its got something to offer for everyone. Mykonos is also a grand example of unique cycladic architecture set around a picturesque fishing-village bay. Totally whitewashed organic cube-like buildings fit closely together to form a kind of haphazard maze of narrow alley ways and streets.Its many well preserved windmills and hundreds of tiny red-roofed churches adds a flavor of culture and custom to the scene. Put this together with all the island's other qualities and it is no wonder Mykonos has been often named "the jewel" of the Aegean Sea.

With no hotel available [It was a long weekend in August, the peak season for Mykonos]..we managed to rent a Car and sneaked into a camping site for a shower, then it was all partying till the around 8 am the next day..

Thats all the partying we have managed in the last few months, the Last 2 months have been the most tiring in this project..well that phase of any project squeezes the juice out of even the most seasoned implementors.

We started the parallel run in late September...now when i think of it..its a blur of issues, frantic phone calls from users, patches, updates n meetings.We managed a relatively issue free Cut Over on the 20th of October 2005.After that it was time for the customary "We are Live !!!" mail...n the long list of congratulatory mails followed as if on cue.
The entire team has worked really hard on the project...It requires a dedicated post to list down the detailed contributions of all those people...

Catching Up !!

My last post was almost a month ago...have been completely caught up in chasing and closing issues in the SIT. Things seem to be in control one moment and its chaos the very next moment...These are testing times for all of us...not only because the testing is in progress but also cos its testing our nerves.

It was Deepaks Bday on the 4th of July, and we had a small party on the balcony.. Ursus Roter shots being the highlight of the evening...we also managed to smash the centre table glass that brought about the official end to the festivities for the night.

The Bank invited us to our first classy glimpse of Athenian Night Life on the 9th ....it was a party for the banks project team at "Acrotiri" an upclass Lounge and Restaurent[image attached]...it was right besides the sea, the cool sea breeze added to the pool side, candle lit atmosphere...on the other side of the pool there was a rocking party in progress where the young n trendy were having fun..
After some very expensive Greek red wine and 4 courses of delicious greek sea food in diff forms we were all ready n heady for the party...

Have seen Sarkar,Paheli and Dus...Dus was very dissapointing to say the least.

Nishith was instrumental in getting me the "Ek Anek Chidiya" video..remember the one which we all have seen on doordarshan as kids...it took some really dedicated googling by Nishith to get me the video.

The summer is here..n Greece is sizzing at 31 d Celcius, feeling at home though with the hot weather.

August bekons us with promise of more hot weather..a break in the project n the prospect of a small trip to Santorini and Mykonos if we can manage it...

Had a lot to write...but with this log gap...have not been able to put all my thoughts online.

But thers always hope...

Kefalonia

Greece seems to be on holiday already...and its just June end.The Greeks take their holidays very seriously, something we are not used to..Holidays for us are either Religious or Govt, never planned.I see most of the guys here planning their August break, booking tickets on ferries to their favourtite island getaways...

We visited the Acropolis on the 12th..my second visit..but this time i had to pay my way in.
The "Free Sundays" rule is applicable only between October and March.

Finally managed to get the Vcd's of "D" , "Bunty aur Babli" with "Parineeta" as a bonus..fromour Pakistani friends in Pssiri.

Last week we got a long weekend on account of the Orthodox holiday of "WhitMonday" - just checked the name from the sd_calendar_dates table in the Finacle Treasury database.

Couldnt get the ferry tickets booked in time for Santorini or Mykonos - two very happening islands.We went instead to "Captain Corelli's" island of Kefalonia in western Greece.
It is the largest island of the Ionians - Islands in the Ionian Sea, and is considered as one of the most beautiful and authentic ones. It's a mountainous island with impressive landscapes, dense vegetation, long golden sandy beaches, a nice capital, traditional villages, beautiful orthodox churches, archaeological ruins, Venetian castles, a National park etc.
"Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernières was set in this island, which later got made into the Nicholas Cage n Penelope Cruz starrer "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". I have neither read the book nor seen the movie..though i would like to watch the movie now...n see Sami again in a diff way.

Kefalonia has one of the most famous beaches of Greece. Myrtos being one of them. It's a beautiful golden sandy-pebbly beach surrounded by vertical rock cliffs where the waters look as if the blue colour of the sea was mixed with bleaching water. It is really impressive...The island also proposes many other beautiful beaches. Some of these beaches have also been awarded by the Blue Flag, the European guarantee for their cleanliness...
We reached Sami a port town on the eastern side of Kefalonia from Athens on Saturday afternoon, got ourselves a furnished "Studio apartment" ..We visited the rare geological phenomenon of Katavothres, where the sea water pours into spectacular tunnels to reappear at lake Melissani (a semi underground lake with amazing colour waters) and also Drogarati cave, a large stalagmitic cavern with magnificent acoustics.

Next day we rented a Car - a Hyundai Atos [Santro in India] and went to the beach of Myrtos..which was amazing in all respects, the sights of an European beach has lots of things to offer than just sun and sand : )
Next went to AntiSami beach nearby...A great Greek experience in all...

The UAQ finally came to an end...with lots of accounting related issues raised..been a busy week this one..reached home around 10 daily.

Well the good news is the Reuters MRI interface is finally up...it felt real good to see those EUR/USD rates flicker in the FT MRS screens.The INR is getting stronger by the week...not being unpatriotic but that does not bode well for us, our onsite allowances in EUR will take a hit withthe EUR slipping..i just hope it doesnt go below the 50 mark..

Now my passport says i can stay in Greece till 25th sept 05, but still no sight of the work permit..

The SIT starts next week...hardtimes ahead. "

Athina

Within the sprawling city of Athens it is easy to imagine the golden age of Greece when Pericles had the Parthenon built. When the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides were performed in the Theater of Dionysus. And when democracy brought all citizens together to decide their common fate on the Pynx Hill.Athens is built around the Acropolis and the pinnacled crag of Mt. Lycabettus, which the goddess Athena was said to have dropped from the heavens as a bulwark to defend the city. The suburbs have covered the barren plain in all directions and the city is packed with lively taverns and bustling shops.

Athens is not what it used to be. It is better. What they did to Athens to prepare for the Olympics turned a city, known for its faults as much as its assets, into one of the most walkable, livable, exciting, art, music and entertainment centers in the world.

The Metro, Coastal Tram and Buss services are very effcient to say the least..

Athens is a unique mix of Ancient and Modern Culture, here you see the anicient ruins along with the fast life of any modern European city.

Havent been to any party hot spots in Athens yet, though i plan to visit atleast one and find out for myself whether its wild night life reputation is well earned or not...but theres still time for all that.

The project at Aspis Bank, the reason for my "Business" travel to Greece, is going smoothly till now, we will finish the User Aquaintance exercise by the 17th, and then we move into System Integration Testing that going to be a tough one with many interfaces to take data from.

Today we plan to go to Pssiri, i badly need a haircut, and thats where we can get the cheapest haircuts. Why ?? well its an Asian locality in central Athens where you can find Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Iraqis and a few Africans too...Bangladeshis by far are the largest in number followed by Pakistanis, havent seen many Indians though. The haircut costs 5 Euros, as against the regular 10-15 Euros charged by those ubiquitous Salons.
The area is identified with shady activities that is so very "Asian", you can see people in small groups bargaining for smuggled Cell Phones or the odd handy cam, the sound of a patrol car gets them scampering for cover...

We also found a Pakistani CD shop, that guy can copy any [Well almost any hindi or english movie] you can think of in minutes and whats the price... Its a mind boggling 1 Euro per movie... I couldn't ever imagine getting a pirated copy of a latest Hindi movie for a buck, its cheaper than Mumbai.
Last week was Gangster week at our apartment with "Satya" and "Company" played back to back. today hopefully we should lay our hands on "Bunty Aur Babli", and "D" too if we are lucky.

Will catch up sometime next week .....

Restarting

I am back again on blogger after about 2 years...had created the blog in 2002 after reading about blogging in Chip magazine..but then could not update it and then lost interest.
Now i feel i am ready to blog my thoughts and hope to update the blog as regularly as possible.

Its been almost 3 weeks since I came to Athens, the weather has been great till now....
But the guys here tell us that its going to get hotter as the summer progresses...

It felt strange initially being in a place with so many "White" people speaking a language that was Greek[i had to use this one] to me...but that was in March when we had come here for the first time, for the Business Process Definition phase of our project at Aspis Bank.

This time around the city looks more familiar...and warmer [literally] than it was then...
Though still i constantly feel like the "Odd man out" when i am on the streets, at the super market or on a bus, but i guess thats because i havent been to many places [in fact none] where there are so many people who are from a different ethnic background [race ..if u may]

More about Athens and my project here later....