Archive for the 'personal' Category

Varun is a CISSP now!

CISSP logo I just got an email from ISC2 telling me that I am CISSP certified. Yay!

CISSP stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional and is one of the most popular and renowned certificates in the information security arena. In practical terms the CISSP makes me much more attractive for clients and future employers.

I took my CISSP exam in the middle of April, got the exam results a week later, got Karthik to endorse me (thanks Karthik!), sent in my endorsement document and voila! – 3 days and I am CISSP certified. I am impressed the speed and clarity with which ISC2 has conducted everything beginning from the application till the the final certification.

CISSP covers 10 information security domains. I had worked in about 6-7 of these in various projects over the past 5 years of my professional career and that made it easier for me to be prepared for the CISSP exam. Just before the exam I studied for about 7-8 days, took a few mock tests, read through some summary notes and that was enough for me to clear the exam. To be honest the CISSP exam is not as difficult as it is made out to be. If you do have a lot of professional experience in the information security domain and spend some time doing some solid studies you are set to comfortably clear the exam.

I used the following resources for the exam:

Next Targets – ISSAP sometime in the next 4 months and CISM in December 2009.

If you know me professionally and would like to associate with me on LinkedIn here is my LinkedIn profile.

Popcorn

I do not know what it is about popcorn that makes me forget my manners and makes me a total hog. When I see a bowl of popcorn, my mind goes into some special mode where it’s only aim in life is to eat as much popcorn as possible. I actually grab handfuls of the stuff and stuff it into my mouth as if I have been hungry since many days. I keep on stuffing my mouth till the popcorn runs out. It is only a few minutes later when I am feeling very uncomfortable that I realize that I have overeater… can you believe that? I need to control my desires. Sheesh.

Last post…

…from 25 year old Varun :-) Next post will be by the Varun who is a year older. I am having Garfield-like feelings about my birthday. More about that later.

Parents are here!

My parents and grandmother had planned to come down to Mumbai a couple of weeks back and stay with my brother and me for a few days. However weather at that time was quite unpleasant (continuous rains) and I too fell ill. So they postponed their trip and moved the plans to this weekend.

They arrived in the morning. I have planned lots of things for a couple of days (Mumbai darshan, malls, dinners, lunches, shopping, meeting friends), a trip to Belapur to see my brother’s place and some time at my room resting and talking. They seem pretty satisfied with the cleanliness of my rooms so that is one goal scored ;-) My place is always neat but then parents always have different benchmarks. My Amuma (grandmother in Malayalam) poured the sugar from a plastic cover into the jar containing rice and that has been the only mishap till now ;-) They are coping admirably with my limited amenities, they always do actually. Amuma and Mom are full of questions (How can you trust the Bai? Where do you keep the valuables? Why are there no curtains in your room) and Dad is observing everything silently. Unfortunately Vineet’s schedule does not permit him to join us… I am missing him :-(

I am taking them to InOrbit in some time. We are also going for a movie in the evening. I am taking them to a nice restaurant for dinner. Tomorrow I have hired a cab to take them to the 5-6 typical Mumbai landmarks. Friends are coming to my place in the evening. All in all I am going to have a nice weekend. Will keep you updated.

My New Laptop – HP Pavilion dv9502AU Portable

Quick Specs

  • AMD Turion64 X2 Processor TL-56; Dual Core
  • 1.8 GHz, 2 x 512 KB L2 Cache, up to 1600 MHz FSB
  • 17” Colour TFT ; BrightView™ WideScreen
  • 8X SuperMulti Drive LightScribe, Double Layer (8.5 GB)
  • Windows Vista Home Premium

[[[ NOTE ]]] – Read my review of this laptop here.

Continue reading ‘My New Laptop – HP Pavilion dv9502AU Portable’

Mumbai

I came to Mumbai from Delhi to join a new project a little more than an year ago.

It was an exciting move for me. I was going to lead the team. I was moving much closer to home. I was going to the city so central to the Indian mindset, the home of Bollywood, the financial capital of India and the city nickname the city of dreams. I was also moving closer to many of my friends… I had lots of friends in Mumbai and Mumbai is also closer to Bangalore where my brother lived. Continue reading ‘Mumbai’

I want a sister! (Happy Birthday Vineet!)

Mom Vineet and Varun and Dads Yezdi 22 years ago on this day my brother Vineet was born. When Mom was carrying Vineet I would talk to her tummy every day. Every day before going to sleep I would kiss it. I wanted a sister (not sure why) and I would always treat my would-be sibling as a “she”.

One fine day he was born. I was at the daycare center; my aunt (Sobha Amaye (Amaye=bua in Mallu)) picked me up and we went to the hospital in the bus. I don’t remember the exact conversation but I have a distinct impression that she was trying to convince me that a brother will also make a very good friend. We reached the hospital, I was still not convinced so I was a bit sad. Mom says I created a scene… but I guess when I saw Vineet lying between 2 tiny pillows beside Mom I fell in love with him, my anger melted away. Mom says it took full 3 days to pacify me totally… but I guess the real hard work was done by Vineet himself :-)

Happy Birthday Vineet!

New photos uploaded to Flickr album

Aishwar, Krishna and Varun @ Bandra, Mumbai (June 2007)

 Krishna, Aishwar and Varun @ Bandra, Mumbai (May 2007)

Sachin’s Birthday @ Urban Tadka, Kandivali, Mumbai (June 2007)

 Sachin's Birthday (June 2007)

Seeing Punit off @ International Airport, Mumbai (June 2007)

 Airport - Seeing off Punit (June 2007)

Friends @ Infiniti Mall, Andheri, Mumbai (June 2007)

 Friends @ Infiniti Mall (June 2007)

Being Twenty-Something

…Its really hard.

They call it the “Quarter-Life Crisis”. It is when I stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about me that I didn’t know and may not like. I start feeling insecure and wonder where I will be in a year or two, but then get scared because I barely know where I am now.

I start realizing that people are selfish and that maybe, those friends that I thought were so close to me aren’t exactly the greatest people I have ever met, and the people I have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What I don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean, or insincere but that they are as confused as I am.

I look at my job (part time)… and it is not even close to what I thought I would be doing, or maybe I am looking for a job and realizing that I am going to have to start at the bottom and that scares me. My opinions have gotten stronger. I see what others are doing and find myself judging more than usual because suddenly I realize that I have certain boundaries in my life and am constantly adding things to the list of what is acceptable and what isn’t. One minute, I am insecure and then the next, secure.

I laugh and cry with the greatest force of my life. I feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and I try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where I’m or move forward.

I’m heart broken and wonder how someone I loved could do such damage to me. Or lay in bed and wonder why I can’t meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. Or maybe I love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why I’m doing this because I know that I’m not a bad person.

One night stands and random hookups start to look cheap. GETTIN WASTED AND ACTING LIKE AN IDIOT STARTS TO LOOK PATHETIC. I go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with my friends about the same topics because I cannot seem to make a decision. I worry about loans, money, and the future and making a life for myself… and while winning the race would be great, right now i’d just like to be a contender!

What I just realize is that everyone reading this relates to it or related to it once. We are in our best of times and worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

~ Vineet

NOTE: This is not completely an original piece. I got this as a forward some time back but I could relate to it so much it’s as if I had written it myself. It is not identical to the forward I got because there is a lot of me in there, especially towards the end. I will try to find out the original author of this piece and give credit to him/her but that will have to wait for some time since I have my exams going on right now. Bye!

A Cocktail called “Footprint” – Cheers to Tata Steel and to India!

Vineet at Pebbles (it's a disc!)I am Vineet, Varun’s younger brother presently pursuing Hotel Management at M.S. Ramaiah College in Bangalore.

I love bartending, it is one of my hobbies. I sometimes bartend for Tulleeho (in India they market all the brands owned by Diageo) and also at private parties. Since my 2nd year I have been participating in inter-college competitions and usually take part in the Bartending competition. Have won 3 of them in the last 2 years.

All the bartending competitions usually have the same judging criteria – innovativeness, flair, concept, grooming of the bartender and also his style in presenting them. One has to make an innovative cocktail. Last year there was another inter-college competition at KLE College in Bangalore. I had won the same competition there the previous year and wanted to win this time also.

Considering I am a big lazy bum I usually have to be pushed and pushed and pushed (until I fall over) to come up with something innovative.

We had 2 days left for the competition and I still had no idea what to make. It usually takes more than one brain in the Service team to come up with something innovative. So I, my Food and Beverage Service lecturer, Mr. Bobby George and another friend of mine, Asif Khan were sitting and wondering what to make. Asif had this wonderful cocktail which included Bacardi (white rum), dark rum, lime juice, sprite and crushed ice.

Around the same time Tata Steel took over Corus, the 2nd or 3rd largest Indian takeover of a foreign company, increasing its steel production so much so that from 56th it became the 5th largest steel group (wowwwwwwwww). Another company Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) lost the bid for Corus. It became clear to us that this would be news for at least a week.

So we decided to build a concept for our cocktail around this news. I like experimenting with alcohol, like using chilies, mushrooms and dates for infusion in Vodka, chocolate and cherries in Bacardi, various spices in old monk(dark rum) etc.

The name of this cocktail is Footprint. This is how the idea goes…

  1. We used the chocolate flavored Bacardi which represented the “fair-skinned” Anglo-Dutch Company Corus.
  2. My home made spices flavored rum representing apna Indi Company Tata Steel (considering we are dark skinned)
  3. Sprite to represent the fizz this news created in the market.
  4. Crushed ice which would tell the world “chill people there are going to be more Indian takeovers in the future” (and indeed within a month, I think Aditya Birla Group takeover of Novelis took place).
  5. A dash of lime juice depicting the bitter feeling that this takeover left behind on CSN.
  6. The garnish we used was the best part of the concept. Half Lime scooped off everything inside and turned inside out. It would have a little bit of rum inside which would be flamed and placed on top of the cocktail with soft hands so that it floats (u should use a considerable amount of crushed ice probably fill the glass with crushed ice). While presenting u push the lime in so that the rum floats on top and give the cocktail a very good color. This would represent that previously Indian companies were in a shell, were only ‘Indian’ in nature, now they are spreading and becoming more global through JVs and takeovers.

The most important rule that we follow is use the cheapest ingredient while first making a cocktail. This is because in case you realize you have made a mistake midway you do not have much loss (considering each cocktail would be priced around 300 to 400 rs in a good hotel in Bangalore). The judges were big shots in the hotel industry).

Method of preparation:

  1. Make the garnish prior to making the cocktail. Saves you time.
  2. SO fill a glass with crushed ice.
  3. In another mixing glass or shaker pour 45 ml of Bacardi (infused with Cadbury chocolate) and a dash of lime juice and stir it.
  4. Pour it in the glass with crushed ice.
  5. Pour the sprite till 3/4th of the glass.
  6. Heat the base of the lime (scooped out). Pour approx 15 ml of dark rum and flame it (put it on fire).
  7. Put it delicately on top the crushed ice so that it balances properly.
  8. Take it to the judges (in my case) and push the lime with a toothpick inside the glass.

That’s it! And now a huge round of applause!

I kept talking while making the cocktail. Considering I have a loud voice I had everybody’s attention (including the judges) and nobody realized (except Mr. Bobby George who was sitting right up front in the 1st row. I think that’s what caused it…he he he) I made a mistake of not using the sprite at all though I had mentioned it while making the cocktail. As a result the cocktail was a little strong but fortunately to everybody liking.

By the way we chose the name Footprint because of what Ratan Tata said at a press conference:

” Tata Steel, an Indian steel company, now has global scale and a footprint in Europe. “

Looks like we have finally arrived. I hope you liked the idea.

P.S. I won the competition.

So Cheers to Tata Steel, to India and to the best bartender you have met so far! :-)