Honey......where's my shoe!!!!

Last friday, mismatch day was celebrated here at SiRF technologies. Such functions are a much needed distractions in the hectic life of typical engineers. It gives everyone an oppurtunity to take their mind of the work and instead laugh and enjoy some valuable time with collegeaues in office.

Meera for the HR team had done a great job in building the excitement leading to D day. Two wonderfully drafted emails sent out to everyone in the bangalore office, promising fun, prizes, a game of dumb charades and most importantly some good snacks. Being in the corporate environment there was a buzz around the floor as to whether or not, people will actually mismatch their clothes. But the response was impresssive.

As far as my personal dressing for the day goes, I had been jokingly told by a very good chintu friend of mine that I didn't have to work hard to mismatch, so I used that same spirit and carried with me to office all flourescent peices of clothing I could get my hand on, namely a orange shirt with green stripes and a yellow bandana.

When I entered office, my eye first fell on Ankit who sits a few cubicles down my aisle. He had coupled a full shirt with shorts and had worn two different pairs of socks and shoes. His face was also decorated with kajal, making him look somewhat like daku mangal singh!! At a distance I saw Mr Senthil Duraiswamy, who had wound a white handkercheif around one eye. I regret not being able to get a glimpse of his full attire cause I later came to know that he had won the second prize. But the person who seemed to be catching everyone's eye was Mr. Srikrishna - Vice President (Business Development) or simply 'sree'. As he strolled out of his cabin, everyone was surprised to see him wear a full suit on top and grey colour shorts to keep them company below. Everyone had a laugh as he passed through. Others had adorned the common mismatch patterns that all of us have been accustomed to since college - tie with t-shirt, shirt with lungi, two different pairs of shoes or socks, wearing the tie backwards etc. The two females from the HR team , Sodhna and Meera had mismatched their hairstyles with the dresses. I wudn't neccessarily term their clothes as mismatch though. But apparently they had a reason for it. I overheard Sodhna telling another colleague, "Nowadays, anything that we women wear, is termed as fashion, rather than a mismatch"....Nice reason ma'am!!!!!!!!

But I guess the person who had really dressed herself in the true spirit of the day was my friend Akshata Nadig. While everyone else was having a laugh on each other. Bunny, as I like to call her, was sitting quietly in her cubicle, aloof from the public eye. It wasn't until the HR ladies went upto her and exclaimed in excitement that I realised that Bunny was apparently the pick of the day. I got my chance to go have a look at her much later....and boy I was surprised.

Bunny, I later came to know, had really planned her mismatch. She told me that her left half was to represent a tapori while the right half was just herself. So she had a maroonish kurta worn under a orange shirt. The left sleeve of the kurta was rolled up and the right was left, as it is. Below, she had worn a dhoti over her jeans and a wrapped a handkerchief on her left knee. Apart from this she had a sport shoe in her left leg and and her dads formal shoe in the right. To top it all up he had an earring in only her right ear and tied her hair in what is normally called two pony's. I must say, she was looking really good and her haristyle made her look even more cuter than she already is!! No prizes for guessing that in the end she emerged the overall winner. Way to go Bunny :)

The dumb charades started at approximately 4pm and as expected, the vast majority shed all their work to watch the 8 teams compete. The list to be acted out included name of movies (thankfully it was english and hindi only), cricketers, famous people and authors. I was told that it was a closely fought contest, and the female trio of Pragya, Dipti and Ramya emerged final winners.

Than the most important part...."SNACKS". A pineapple flavoured cake was cut to celebrate all those whose birthdays fell in February, including that of my dear friend Gopinath, who celebrated it that day itself. He is one of the few people born on 29th February 1980, which in reality meant that he was only 7 years old!!

Apart from the cake, there was burgers and fries, which were quite stale and a mango and apple drink. I somehow restricted myself to just one burger, a few fries, two pieces of cake and two drinks. Oh...I almost forgot to describe myself. Well, it was Akshata who reminded me that I wasn't in mismtach. So I ran over to my cubicle and pulled out my orange shirt. I wore it over my black tee and was hoping to mismatch it with my grey trousers. I also wore my yellow bandana across my head and later just wrapped it wround my neck. I tried my best to dress like the 'Bhai' of Mumbai, but my chintu friend, whom I had emailed my photo instead claimed that I was looking cute and even more handsome. She was definately joking.....but rest assured, I was probably the last in line for the coveted prize.

All in all it was a day which was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. I wanted to stay back for a little more time, but Pinkesh, whose more than a brother to me was arriving in town after almost a month long break for his marraige. He had informed me earlier that he was coming with his wife and mother by the night train and they had close to 20 bags with them!!! I had leave so that I could rush to sarjapur, pick Hemal's car and receive them at Cantonment station.

In the end, I must say the spirit of the employees here in SiRF has to be truely applauded. They made the Mismatch Day a big success. Even today, in the closing stages of the India - Australia 2nd final at Brisbane, almost everyone gathered in the cafeteria and cheered a young Indian team home to their long lasting series victory abroad in a very long time. Since we are on the topic of cricket, I would like to sign-off this bolg with a special ovation to Adam Gilchrist, whose last match we had just witnessed. Gilly, you are a perfect example of a true sportsman and one of the best cricketers, I was lucky to have witnessed. THANKS A LOT GILLY. Will miss you in times to come.