Bay Decoration Contest

Have you ever wondered how did the concept of cubicles derive from? Who was the one who first came up with this concept?

The concept of cubicles or cubicle workstations was first introduced in the year 1967 under the name of 'Action Office II'. The design was created by Robert Propst for Herman Miller Research Corporation.

Bay/Cubicle Decoration is a type of creative activity brought up for workaholics, who sit in front of the system continuously for hours together . We spend major part of the day in our Bay, so it can be considered as our second home (Especially for IT people). 
For the first time the whole of our Business Unit was getting together to celebrate the Dussehra. As goes the saying “All work and No play makes Jack a dull boy”, we decided to keep few competitions to bring out the innovativeness and the talent the associates possess. Bay decoration competition was one among them. Its an creative activity and no one needs to be a interior designer to participate in it.

The theme that was decided was “Dussehra” . The theme proclaims the mood and this also creates its own environment around. As soon as we heard “Dussehra”, it created a festive mood in all of us. Me and my teammates came up with a few simple ideas to decorate the cubicles/Bay. It was fun to work in teams. 
We finally decided to decorate the cubicle just like “The way Dussehra is celebrated in Mysore”. The King, Palace, Elephants, Chariot, Possession and the temple on one side and the village life on the other side. Looks like a dream?  It all sounds imaginary when you listen for the first time is it? We too had the same thought before we actually started working! We never thought we would end up decorating so beautifully. We basically selected 3 colors, Red, Golden and Green. 
We kicked off with the preparation of Fort/Palace with thermacol and color papers, the King and soldiers in cardboard. It was an wonderful experience encouraging my teammates and working in a team.

Next day morning on the day of the contest, first we selected the corner 4 cubicles. Before we began the bay decoration we cleaned up the bay thoroughly so that it does not look untidy, All the 4 the systems were hidden under the Dupattas, then we covered one side of the cubicle with grass, houses, pond, field, well and a temple in between. On the other side of the cubicle came up the fort, King, elephants, procession, soldiers, temple and the golu. The entrance of the cubicle was decorated with Banana plantations. 
Finally the walls of cubicle was covered with the posters of godess and stories of “9 days of Navaratri”. To create the festive environment we covered the roof lights with Red and Golden transparent paper . The entire look of the workspace was changed and it gave a personalized touch to the workspace. At the end of the decoration the whole workspace looked so appealing and excellent.

No wonder the judges were impressed with the look of the Bay, The whole environment that was created and the presentation took the judges to a totally different world for around 10 minutes. They were impressed the very way it looked! Moreover, it gave us an opportunity to work in teams and bring out the hidden talents of creativity in us .

I have also attached a few pictures to get the feel of the Bay Decoration.

Enjoy Have a great time.

  Regards,
Kripa Patil

Nature Speaks

The sun has set behind the waves

Waiting to awaken the  moon

I could see the sky melting its colors

Showing its beauty and powers

I then see the sky turn black

And the darkness spreading its arms across

I now feel the lonliness in me,

And sadness fills across.

As tears flow down my cheeks

It makes me feel more weak

As I hear the nature speak

I dig my face into knees

I try  understanding the nature

which teaches lessons in its own way

I stop for a moment and raise my  head

And lie silently on natures bed

Understand the things that mean so much

laugther freedom and natures clutch

I now slowly open my eyes

And look up into the sky

I see the stars shining bright

In the beautiful sky of night

Nature teaches us lessons which are right

Still wonder,

How we let it out of sight?

Useful Links:

Software Testing and QTP:

http://mercuryquicktestprofessional.blogspot.in/2008/02/step-by-step-guide-to-learn-qtp.html

I found this link extremely useful. I am a Tester mainly working on Manual Testing, through this i am trying to learn automation testing as well. Anyone who is interested can go through this site and learn the basics of testing from the beginner level. Its all for beginners!!!
Happy Reading. 

Ascendas Sports Meet - My experience

Everyone was exited, when we received a mail from the Capgemini Sports team! The headline of the mail was captivating “Tech a break - IT is Playtime ( Ascendas Sports Meet 2012)”. Ascendas who are the Asia's biggest space provider conducted this Annual sports meet -2012 on 6^th and 7^th of September.

There was enthusiastic participation from over 45 companies and more than 1500 parkities had participated in the event. The participants were from both MIPL and ITPC Tech Parks competing in around 8 categories of indoor and outdoor events. The events included carrom, chess, snake and ladder, Quiz, Throwball, volleyball, football, brisk walking and slow cycle race. It was surprising to see many associates from Capgemini participating in the tournament in middle of the committed work. We had an initial knockout games in Ascendas - MIPL campus for Volleyball and Throwball events. The teams which got selected had their next rounds conducted at Ascendas-ITPC Tech park on 7^th Of Sept. We had participants from Capgemini participating in all the 8 events that took place.

I was all excited, because i was participating in the throwball tournament with my team (9+1 sub). We were pretty much sure of winning the match because our team was really strong. It was only when the throwball tournament was above to start, we came to know there are around 43 teams competing against eachother. To add to the shock, we also came to know that the throwball teams from other companies had atleast 4 guys in a team and ours was the only team with all girls in it! But we gathered our confidence and played the match with 2 guys in our team. We had to make them understand all the rules of the game in 5 minutes. All were knockout games till finals! We won around 3 matches to reach the semis..We were into the semis the top 4! Unfortunately we lost in the semi finals by 2 points but it was a real tough fight.

Highlights of Capgemini’s performance:

·         Gold medal in slow cycling – Ganesh K

·         Runners up in football – captained by Satheesh Mani

·         Semi-finalists in Throwball – captained by Saranya S – in one of the matches the Capgemini all girls team won over an all male team.

At the tournament we had an amazing flash mob and an award ceremony. Apart from the Gold and Silver Medal, Capgemini secured Second place in the “Overall Champion” Award. It came as a surprise to all of us! It was the result of team spirit

The Ascendas sports meet provided a platform for all the companies to showcase their talent. All together it was a great event.

The Sports Meet was covered by the media in the papers News Today & Trinity Mirror. The Mentioned below is the link to an online coverage of the event.

http://chennaionline.com/city360/gallery/cityevents/Ascendas-Annual-Sports-Meet/20120910044543.col

http://www.chennaicalendar.in

Ascendas Sports Meet Group!

Regards,

Kripa