So... Came here to know about me eh? Hmmmm. Let me write an essay on that... :-)
Click here, to download my resume
Click here, to visit my technical blog
I am Giri [Girish Kumar is the full name, but who cares about those long names] working as the Project Manager in Invenger Technologies, which is a US based company. I joined Invenger on July 5th, 2006 and currently I am working in the offshore office - Mangalore. Concentrates more on C# at this moment, but I used to work with many other technologies also.
Let me divide the essay into a number of sections. After all, its a big one na...
Personal
I was born on the Christmas night of 1976 [Boxing Day morning, to be more precise] at the Govt. Hospital Mavelikkara. Capricon is the zodiac sign [Chathayam nakshathram].
I am 5'8" tall, and have a 149.6 pound [68 Kg] frame. Love to add some more weight and I used to eat heavily. Real socialist when it comes to food, I can eat almost anything that can pass through my throat; veg or non-veg, dead or alive, tasty or not tasty; I dont care. But whatever I eat, gets evaporated it seems. Maybe my brain is consuming lotta calories... :-)
I am very flexible in my tastes - like dressing, food habits etc. I prefer to leave most of them to my partner's choice. After all, I believe that one should always be ready to adjust for building a good partnership.
Education
Standard 1 to 7 in my hometown (Alleppey Dist) and 8 to 10 in Govt. High School, Willingdon Island (Ernakulam Dist). I was notoriously mischievous and 24 hours a day was not enough for me. But still, I passed the 10th standard with 85% [GOD is GREAT na]. After that, Pre-Degree [Ist Group] and Degree [BSc Physics] in Sacred Heard College, Thevara. But not really 'sacred heart'... :-)
After the degree course, I got a job in a C & F agency. Just like any exuberant college-passout kid, I was too excited and went straight for it. At that time, I had a notion that people who write entrance tests to do engineering are fools, as the market was becoming flooded with them. I went to Thirupur, but had to drop my job after about 9 months, because of bad physical conditions. Came home, took rest for about 1 year. At that time, I HAD NO CONNECTION WITH COMPUTERS AT ALL.
Then one fine morning, my cousin came home with a small paper cutting, about a PGDCA course in LBS Kalamassery. Reluctantly, I joined the course. The syllabus was high standard, which covered almost 70% of a standard MCA course. That was the turning point in my career - somehow the logical part of my brain started to work really well and I passed out with 84%, as the topper. It was very good, and that gave me enough background and confidence to do whatever I want. Then went for MCA, from Madurai Kamaraj University. Eventhough I have a very decent academic history, dont think that I was a studious guy. Come on, its me right... ha ha! All the time I was doing research work on one particular topic - how to do silly things better.
Professional
After completing MCA, I started my career as a lecturer in CS. Instead of trying to get a job in the software industry, I opted this option because I had clear plans about my future - working as a freelance consultant. It was risky, but it really worked out well for me.
Later, I started working as a software consultant. Then I got the chance to work with a number of technologies and my friend/student circle expanded really quickly, which comprised of MCA, B-Tech students to Professors and Software Professionals. By the grace of GOD, I quickly gained very decent reputation as a software professional. Also, economically it was very lucrative.
In 2004, I joined Aquinas College, EdaKochi as a lecturer [part time]. By the beginning of 2006, I became the Head of Electronics Department. But soon I started to think about another job. One reason for this was the politics in management level, which I was not happy about. An opportunity came to me (yes, literally it came to me) from Invenger and I joined here as the Technical Lead.
I enjoy teaching. In my opinion, if you know what you are doing and if you know how to do it, teaching is a great job. You will get all the respect and freedom, wherever you go. And I love both. I am a self-taught fellow and so I always feel like sharing my knowledge with others. It feels really nice to think that I am playing a crucial role in building the career of many youngsters and it feels great to accept the gratitude of students after getting their placement - a feeling that is impossible to express in words.
GOD
A very very very very... important person in my life. He always helped me a lot and He is always with me. I have a simple principle in life - if something good happens, its a reward given by GOD to appreciate my hardwork and if something bad happens, thats because I made some terrible mistake and its the punishment.
Things I like and hate
I like to be active and aggressive. And when I play, it becomes more intense [yes... I know that there is a fine line between egotism and aggression. I always try to be within the limits]. Love to tease my brain with perplexing questions. I believe that one should push the brain to the limits, to get the most out of it.
When my family is not around, I like to be alone. Have a very small group of friends and I never really feel like going out to spent time with friends. I love to write programs - both for fun and purpose.
I really hate drinking and smoking. Arrogance and deception are totally unacceptable. I dont like nasty surprises. If you make a mistake, just come and tell me straight away. Never try to hide it. I usually find out such things and always react very bad in such situations. Not a big fan of Hindi movies - I dont like those scantly clad girls and the stupid ideas in movies.
And I have a weakness - I am an arachnophobic. Its a real irony - I am not afraid of anything that people are usually afraid of - like snakes, wild animals, insects etc. It was a serious issue in the childhood days. Now there is significant improvement. Its simple - fear is directly proportional to the size. Hopefully, my sweetheart is NOT afraid of those eight legged freaks. What if we find one such atrocious creature in our bedroom, in the midnight? It will be really bad right? :-)
Activities, Interests
I love Formula1. Really crazy about sports - Cricket, Football, Tennis, Basketball... its a huge list. As a bachelor, it really helped me a lot. Either I will be with Linu or in front of the TV almost always, so no time for bad habits or bad company. I enjoy listening to songs - slow English songs & old Malayalam songs.
I like animals and respect their abilities. Had I been not a software professional and if I had the chance, I would have tried to become an animal activist (Herpetologist, to be more precise). Naturally, Steve Irwin is one of my heroes. I love to be close to nature, and one of my dreams is to setup a farm-house and live a very peaceful life with my family.
I am a true fan of the Australian Cricket team, Roger Federer and Michael Schumacher. Matthew Hayden is my favourite cricketer. They are all real champions. Sorry to say, I HATE the Indian Cricket team, especially guys like Sachin. I like match winning performances and true professionalism, and I couldnt find even an ounce of it in the Indian Cricket team, till date. You may argue that there is improvement now. But there is no consistency at all - one day they are damn good and the next day, they are nothing but a group of muppets.
Other activities; I love driving. I always dream of driving long distances, with my partner sitting next to me, talking. Really likes reading - mainly detective novels and thrillers. Horror also. Movies; action and comedy has the first preference. Good horror movies and thrillers are really interesting.
Friends
My friendship circle is a much diminished one, and it has the tendency to dwindle. I enjoy the company with people who are having equal or better frequency than me. I expect my friends to be nice and decent & I never tolerate any bad habit. But when it comes to professional relationships (the Hi-Bye type), the circle is a big one. And I never share anything personal, with any of them.
My Motto
People say that I am a successful person. And wherever I go, I get this question - how I am managing all these things. My strategy is very simple - I used to keep track of all activities. That means literally everything. When it comes to work, I believe that its just attitude. And by work I mean, all activities - yes, a broad definition for work. It includes everything - working in office, playing, physical workout etc. I used to follow 2 simple rules always. And I strongly believe that it is the secret of my success. The rules are;
Rule 1: Try like hell, ALWAYS. Applicable to WHATEVER I DO.
Rule 2: Never forget Rule 1.
Want More?
Still want to know more about me...? Come on. I am bored of writing. But you can always contact me. The details are given below.
Ph : 09880676564 (No missed calls & no stupid forwarded messages please. I hate both)
email: giri.tp@gmail.com (Plz dont waste the space in my inbox by sending silly forwarded mails)
