A Tribute to Contemporary Greats

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness,and some have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare Follwing is the list of illustrious awardees of the PadmaVibhushan. 1. R.K Laxman 2. Karan Singh 3. R K Narayanan 4. lata Mangeshkar As ubiquituous as the will of man to get up and make aliving each and every day of his life is present, so is the sight ofmillions of youngsters, with a badge around their necks, helmet in theirhands and hope in their eyes present, called as the 'species' of softwareengineers. But amongst the millions that go out there and try to make aliving , few rise and stand up to be counted. There are few who go beyondthe usual stereotype of choosing what to do as their profession and committo their duties through the best they can. And it is my humble pleasure, asan observer, to present before you, in my very limited capabilites as afan of such great beings, the creme of the software crop from our batch whohave risen like a phoenix and showed the true levels of excellence. Wipro, a company headed by Azim Premji, has chosen the true visionand foresight in selecting the right resources for doing their job and Ipresent before you, in equal command with the dignitaries in the listpresented above, the esteemed few before whom we must bow down. 1. J 'Quarter' Balajee 2. Vinoth Ranganathan 3. Jyoti Shankar 4. Last , but not the least, is the figure of a man in a black Tantra Tshirt with an existentialist quote and a stubble storming through the doorsof the Wipro Office in Pune, only to be stopped by the swoon of milliongirls in his ODC. The figure of 'Bhai'enters the office dressed, only inblack, as a thumb rule, with his 'tough guy' image, and sits in front ofhis workstation only after wills navy cut has been graced by his presence.When not coding vigorously and applyin his razor sharp mind to functionalSAP applications, 'Bhai' relaxes by flirting with his colleague who sitswith him and taking leisurely strolls on the Wipro gardens, where the lady,charmed by Bhai's rough guy image, gives in to his machismo and succumbs tohis fairy tales of life. But far from the magnitude of his greatness in romanticphilandery, is this man's greatness in SAP. Day after DAy, the client sitsstunned by the quality of the deliverables and can only execute a sigh ,comparable to the long sighs on seeing a sculpture of Michaelangelo.Client appreciation letters sit in droves on 'bhai's' cubicle and he giftsthem to the sweeper everyday as a token of gratitude. When done for theday, Bhai, switches off his monitor in a moment of complete disregard forthe system, which he shakes away by his near perfect and exquisite skill. What is a testament to all the qualities above, is the awardwhich I am mentioning, called as the Wipro Quarterly Award for Excellence.All these illustrious and highly regarded men, which I have just mentioned,have been concipients of this award,and, just yesterday, 'Bhai' has beenconferred this honour too. It was reported that the Delivery Head in Punedirectly got a reprimand from Premji himself that talent was recognized solate. It is not common for misguided and aimless youths like us, whosit at the ground and wait for some sign of hope to take them away fromtheir exasperation. It is just then that God gifts a guiding star in thesky whom we follow blindly in our paths of life. I , now have the honour,privilege and utmost respect to reveal 'Bhai' as none other than our ownArun Iyer, who has transformed and given a new name to 'excellence' and'attitude'. Please join me in conveying heartiest congratulations to all the four and continuing to serve as a role model for all of us. -As Explained by a Junkie