Agile Goa 07: This will be the first Agile India conference that I won’t be able to attend.

Initially I was very concerned about the fact that I won’t be there. But thinking through it, I’m not really concerned. I have a really strong team of people who will be running this event and I’m sure they would do a great job. Dr. Jyoti Pawar from Goa University is the main organizer and leaving thing on her shoulders seems fine to me. Also we have a great set of speakers who can setup and do the needful.

If this works, this could be something that I might explore more in the future. Right now I feel like I’m a big bottleneck in organizing Agile India events. For future events, I might try and find a strong person on the ground who could run the show, I can help them in coming up with the program and finding the speakers. Once the program is finalized and logistics are worked out, I can let the person on ground run the show. Also through ASCI website we can create a registration page if required. For smaller events, I think providing the email address of the person on ground, makes more sense for registrations.

This just reminds me of one song: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life from the album: A Faire To Remember

Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle
And this’ll help things turn out for the best…

And…always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the light side of life…

If life seems jolly rotten
There’s something you’ve forgotten
And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you’re feeling in the dumps
Don’t be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that’s the thing.

And…always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the light side of life…

For life is quite absurd
And death’s the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it’s your last chance anyhow.

So always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life’s a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke, it’s true.
You’ll see it’s all a show
Keep ‘em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

And always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the right side of life…
(Come on guys, cheer up!)
Always look on the bright side of life…
Always look on the bright side of life…
(Worse things happen at sea, you know.)
Always look on the bright side of life…
(I mean - what have you got to lose?)
(You know, you come from nothing - you’re going back to nothing.
What have you lost? Nothing!)
Always look on the right side of life…

Still stranded in Montreal… drama continues…

Today when I showed up at the airport, they told me that my flight to Bangalore on Air India is not confirmed and I’m on waiting list. So they cannot let me board the flight. Apparently there is some big strike in Paris airport and Air France flights are canceled. Due to this, all the other airlines are over booked.

After desperately arguing for 2 hrs, I’m back to square one. They have provided me accommodation at a hotel and as per their plan, I’ll leave Montreal tomorrow and reach Bangalore on 3oth. 2 days later.

Because of this delay, unfortunately I’ll have to miss the Agile Goa 07 conference.

If you have experience something worse than me, please drop me a note.

Well I’m still surviving. I’m waiting in a hotel near the Montreal airport. Really looking forward to be back home, Bangalore.

In the mean time, I thought I should let you know about one of my most embarrassing moments. In Aug 2007, the Agile Alliance awarded me the Gordon Pask Award. While I was really happy to be recognized. I was also was happy that some folks trusted me and were hopeful that I can do something good.

Each year two people get this award. Brian Marick, announced my name first. All the thrill, excitement and sense of responsibility came to a standstill when I heard Brian announce Jeff Patton’s name for the second Pask Award winner.

I have know Jeff only for a year. I met him last year at the OOPSLA conference. After the conference, we did get to spend some time with each other. Since then, he has been my mentor. I have and am learning a great deal from him, not just limited to software. I really respect him as a person and as a leader. Sharing the stage with Jeff, really really embarrassed me. I really felt small about myself. Compared to Jeff, I have done very little.

Don’t get me wrong. I think this embarrassment is good. It has really motivated to push my limits and do things that will really make a difference to this world.

Thanks to Air Canada and their amazing hospitality, I’m wondering in the streets of Montreal trying to get back to India.

Yesterday, I was supposed to take the Lufthansa flight from Montreal to Frankfurt and from there to Bangalore. A 23 hour journey. But to my surprise I realized that the Lufthansa flights were operated by Air Canada. The flight was supposed to take off at 7:40 PM EST. I was waiting since 4:30 PM at the airport. At 7:30, they announced that there was a minor mechanical problem in the flight and the flight would take off at 8:10 PM, 30 mins late. At 8:10 they announced that they discovered some problem with a part and they are trying to replace the part. [Most of these announcements were in French.] This waiting continued for another hour before they declared that the flight won’t be able to take off.

What started as a minor mechanical problem, resulted in the cancellation of the flight. Lucky, they were able to find a flight in Toronto which could be used instead. So then they told us to wait till mid night before we could fly.

They came out with 10 boxes of Juice for about 300 people. To their surprise they found that within seconds the juice was over. Then they came out with tiny packets of snacks. Which apparently was our dinner. While all this was happening, they asked us to check with them about our connections. Within matters of seconds, the line grew to about 150 people long. So I kept waiting for the line to get smaller. Finally at 12:45 AM, the line got to about 20 people long. After waiting for 30 mins in the line, they told me that there is only one flight that flies from Frankfurt to Bangalore and I’m not going to make it. [Apparently my laptop was lying to me that there are 4 flights everyday from Frankfurt to Bangalore]. So I’ll have to wait in Frankfurt for a day, before I can board the next day flight. To their surprise they discovered that for some reason on earth, I did not have a Visa for Germany. Which means, I cannot stay in Germany for more than 12 hours. [The person was telling me that it was purely my mistake that I did not have a VISA for Germany. Some place that I had no idea I would be staying in.] Anyway, they told me, I cannot travel today and will have to wait till the next day in Montreal to take the flight.

If you have not experience what it feels to be treated like “Crap”, you need to meet the Air Canada executives. The tone of the people on counter was pretty much as if I did a big sin by choosing to fly with them. During this conversation of 30 odd mins, there was not a single mention of the following words: “sorry, please, inconvince, cooperate, try, …” . It was like a commando giving me directions that I had to follow and not question.

Anyway, since I was not allowed to travel the same day, they told me to come the next day. I explained to them that I’m not from Canada and don’t have a place to stay for the day. Initially they told me that was not their problem. After arguing for about 15 mins, they agreed to provide me accommodation. They asked me to collect by bags from the Baggage claim and meet an Air Canada Agent in their office.

Without having an option, I went through the customs, argued with the customer’s officer why I was coming back, waited for 1 hr before my bag [completely wet] showed up on the belt. Finally at 3:00 AM when I reached the Air Canada office, it was closed. After desperately trying to find someone, at 4:00 AM, I finally found the next shift people come in. Took me 30 mins to explain them the situation and by then it was 4:30 AM. They told me there was not point giving me accommodation.

As insistent I’m, I argued and made sure they gave me an accommodation to stay. At this point, I realized that I did not have a reservation for the next day’s [rather the same day's] flight. Like I did not have enough, they told me they cannot find any flights. So I’ll have to wait till 29th before they can ship me back. If you have tears in your eyes, don’t feel sorry for me. Just think about this next time you travel in Air Canada.

After all this misery, I found a manager, who finally booked me on Air India flight. Now I’ll be reaching [hoping to reach], Bangalore on 29th Oct 3:30 AM. If I survive all this, you might see another blog from me. Else, it was good knowing you all.