Friday 19 June 2009

Those were the days

Another tag post. This time on the 'Good old days".

I've been tagged by Preeti Shenoy. She's one of the "Le blogueur éminent" of India. A poet, an artist and a superb writer - her book 34 Bubblegums and Candies, which was published last year, is a very nice read. I love cheating a little bit when she asks something, so here's some cheeky doing on the tag.

The tag is to write on the good old days and presumably I've been tagged because I can make it really OOLLDD (just joking :))

I actually did so in one of my earlier posts on accounting. Click here to read this trip down memory lane. OK OK, recycling posts is not on, but I told you I was cheating a bit.

If you like to wallow in nostalgia, I also strongly recommend watching Mary Hopkins sing "Those were the days".

Again, I ain't tagging nobody, but if someone wants to pick this up, consider yourself tagged !! And even if you aren't a blogger, why don't you write a few words on the good old days, in the comments.

26 comments:

Ashwini Shenoy said...

You may have cheated but it was an excellent tag. As expected you turned it to fit with the theme of your blog. :-) I was totally taken by the 80's accountant story. I am still in a dizzy from all the number crunching you all did. I looked up for comptometer image and then realized it is exactly what you posted on the page. ( My subconscious mind registered it as a harmonium of some sort, silly me!! ) Thanks so much for this excellent post. :-)
(I had written this much of comment earlier and it got wiped out before I saved. I typed it all again - after all compared to the accounting of 80's this is cakewalk!! And also sorry for the long comment, but I am really impressed!)

Ashwini Shenoy said...

I wasnt able to leave a comment from my WP id ... some error... Really aoplogetic for takingtoo much of your comment space :-(

Ramesh said...

Hey thoughtful train - lovely comment and I only wish it was twice thiis long ! please take more of the comment space !! And thanks for the nice words. LOL on mistaking the comptometer for a harmonium !!!

Why the "fashion" not to pass on the tag ? Shshsh - don't tell anybody. If you have only two readers and they both tag you, who on earth do you pass the tag on to !! :)

Preeti Shenoy said...

Recycling posts is permitted especially if they are wonderful posts like these! I had never really thought about how accounting was done in the old days. (no it doesn't sound OOLLDD :))
You did manage to make accountants super-sexy compared to sales, marketing and HR guys ;-)
Thank you for doing the tag.
Cheers
preeti

A journey called Life said...

lovely tag.. (mental note made to dig into the archives of this blog).. loved point 9.. as always AWWWWEEEESSSSOMMME post..

btw are u sure, u did ALL the tags ur fellow bloggers tagged u on?

Anonymous said...

Ramesh, my next post is after picking your free for all tag. :-)

Ajay said...

I never could balance a balance sheet during my Management Accounting course (MANAC-1 we used to call it). My ultimate weapon used to be the "suspense account" :) Lovely post that one. Had seen the comptometer in movies - never in real life though :P And didn't even know it was called a comptometer.
The song was very nice :)

Ramesh said...

@Preeti - Thanks so much. Can you get Satish to write a comment - he's too young to have known the comptometer, but still he'll relate to some of the stuff.

@AJCL - OMG, did I drop one of your tags. Tell me plleease - I'll never forgive myself if I dropped something from this nicest of bloggers .....

@thoughtful train - Yippeee Yea

@Ajay - which batch are you ? It was called Manac-1 in my days too.

A journey called Life said...

not so easily.. :p.. think think.. ;) (wuhuhahahahah)

Satish Shenoy said...

Hi Ramesh,
See that you have not lost your sense of humour (the comment about me being too young!!). I keep telling Preeti exactly that (the young bit) and she for some reason does not seem to believe me. hmm strange.
Whilst I am a CA, the last thing in the world I would ever recommend to anyone would be to become an accountant. I wanted to be a Doctor but could not stand the sight of blood. Was good at balancing accounts and see what it got me into. Having said that I don't think I am a good accountant since I am told when you ask how much is 2+2 a really good accountant would ask how much you want it to be. I tend to get 4 only. Life is a nightmare however when you have some issues with accounts closing and I still remember how many nights we stayed back in Indigo trying to send the TB's out and invariably there would be one that got stuck - horrible feeling.

Satish Shenoy said...

Hi Ramesh,

By the way just wanted to also wish you a very Happy birthday. It is 9.15 pm right now here so should be tomorrow there and hence makes sense to wish you right away. wanted to call and wich you but do not have your contact numbers unfortunately. Have a great day and a fantastic year ahead.

From all of us here.

Warm regards
Satish
ps - hope I got the date right. If not you can put it down to my not being so young and forgive me.

Ashwini Shenoy said...

Thanks to Satish's message above, I know its your birthday on June 21st. Wishing you a lovely day ahead. It also happens to be Father's Day and I know you said you have a daughter in Aparana's post - so wish you a Happy Father's Day too!!

Ramesh said...

@ Satish - you are not only so incredibly young (Preeti please note), but you are also very cheeky. A damn good accountant and look at your comment !! Yeah, we had some tough days in Indigo, but what the hell, it was worth it all.

Thanks so much for your wishes. I am gobsmacked that you remembred. Just shows the kind of man you are (Preeti double note !!).

Ramesh said...

@ thoughtful train - Thanks so very much. You are so observant and sensitive - can I suggest you be rechristened as very very thoughtful train ??

Ashwini Shenoy said...

Ramesh, at this rate I ll never come back to earth... My poor hubby missed me so much now! ;-)

le embrouille blogueur said...

WOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...!! when I saw your post this morning...I told myself I need peace and space to read this ... boy was I right .... Ramesh .... this deserves to be made into a documentary ...(that is the movie buff talking) ....hats off to the accountant ...and to the narration....you are awesome !!!

le embrouille blogueur said...

Just got done reading the comments ... Happy Birthday ...Happy Father's Day .... now I am going to read the post one more time ....!!!

Ramesh said...

@blogueur - I am overwhelmed by your lovely words. You are a dream blogger colleague - you run a great blog yourself and you are so encouraging to fellow bloggers. Its a privilige to have become online friends.

Thanks for the wishes. Happy Father's day to you too - have a great day.

Ajay said...

Hi Ramesh! Happy birthday to you and a very happy father's day too :)
I am 2006-08 batch from IIML. And, if I may ask, you?

Satish Shenoy said...

Hi Ramesh, I may be all what you say including cheeky.
However to all your blog readers if you want some details as to what kind of a person Ramesh is do ask me (am sure most people know in any case). In the company we both worked for, there was a consistent view across that he was one of the best human beings and managers one has ever known. Very down to earth and a real nice person is what you constantly get to hear about Ramesh. I have not till date heard (even one single comment) negative comment about him. The only one which I heard which could potentially border around being considered negative, is the fact that he is at times too nice a person. What does one say to having that kind of reputation. And you would not expect such kind of praise from a CA and especially not from other MBA's. So to a great guy a very happy birthday. Am sure even the Chinese are impressed. :)
Cheers
Satish

Satish Shenoy said...

Sorry to flood your blog with comments but cannot resist it today. One of the reasons why the entire team put in those efforts including going back home after 48 continuous hours at times was because of Ramesh - not that he asked any of us to stay back. I sometime wish all bosses were like him. The problem that you face when you have worked with Ramesh and then others is that none of them live us to the set standards. I also read some of older posts regarding VIP visits and was in fits o laughter and remembered quite a few of these fables. In fact there were some more which I remembered hearing about - not sure if they were true or not, but were passed on each generation and I guess widened the aura (for the good or bad I dunno) around those people when you actually saw them in flesh and blood.

Ramesh said...

@ Ajay - Thanks very much for your wishes.

'83 batch from IIM A - Obviously some things like Manac -1 haven't changed in a long while !!

Ramesh said...

@ Satish OMG - What have I done to deserve such kindness. I am touched beyond words. And embarassed deep red. In fact so deep red that I can't get back to normal colour until you also make a comment on what all I've f$%^&* up.

Thanks so much Satish. You thoughts mean so much to me that I really can't express it.

Ashwini Shenoy said...

Wow ... what a day for yo9u Ramesh!! Excellent! :-)

Ramesh said...

Yes thoughtful train. I am still dreaming. How can I adequately thank all you lovely people.

Satish Shenoy said...

Ramesh, cannot think of anything that you F&*^^ up on unfortunately and believe me I am very clued on to what happened in the company for the 11 years I was there.

I do have a request from you. On popular demand please do generate another of the famous VIP posts. The factory experience was hilarious and I promise to add my two bit of at least one of them that I heard of, if you do.

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