Hi all …I am back home (where I am in my elements) and it feels great. It has been just about a month away from here but I started feeling terribly home sick already. So this three day weekend was a godsend for me. Long live Republic day...he he…
The journey home wasn’t a pleasant one and that is what I wish to write about in this post. I was travelling in a SETC bus that was plying from Bangalore to Trichy. The bus arrived late at the pick up point, typical of any government bus. (Though we anticipated such a possibility, we arrived at the spot way before the pick up time).
Everything was on course for the next two hours. After dumping my luggage, mostly consisting of unwashed clothes…, into the luggage compartment and anywhere else where I could I find space, I broke into a random chat with my eternal friend Balaji. Before we knew it, both of us had dozed off. As if this irked Miss Bad Luck (who has the habit of following me everywhere and interfering in whatever I do), I was given rude wake up call. The bus started jumping every second or so and this seemed to be happening only on the rear side of the bus.
The driver brought the bus to a halt and by then a significant number of co passengers had been jolted from their sleep. Balaji, always being the curious one, got down from the bus. Being lazy and unwilling to get out of the comfort zone, I voluntarily suppressed my curiosity and went back to sleep. The next time I woke up, the bus was moving or at least trying to.
The jerk, unfortunately, had not gone away and this time the whole bus was awake and the few who knew what had happened were enlightening the ignorant rest. There had been an accident and the bus driver had not seen the stones used to demarcate the accident site and drove straight into it. Though he managed to evade most of the stones, one stone had got stuck in between the rear tyres.
From then on there was one trick in the book the conductor and the driver failed to attempt. But all their efforts were in vain as the stone refused to budge even an inch. The option of pushing on wasn’t on the cards too as the stone simply went in further and threatened to tear the tyres. What puzzled everyone was why didn’t they try to loosen the tyres. Upon enquiry, we came to know that the bus neither had a lever nor a spare tyre. Hence the reluctance to push on or to loosen the tyres.
After an hour of frantic searching, we finally managed to convince one of the many “24 hour” mechanic shops to help us. The conductor got into action in a flash and started loosening the tyres, with the help of the driver. The fateful stone was finally pried out and we were on the move in a few minutes.
The stone had set us back by more than two hours and it left all of us irritated to say the least. What was rather shocking was why didn’t the bus have a set of levers to tackle such an eventuality and what happened to set of mandatory tyres that were supposed to have been kept somewhere in the bus. I don’t intend to pursue this matter, for the obvious reasons, hope this is first and the last time I have to experience something like this.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Life in a PG
The rumblings start early on and when i mean early i mean really early(at least for me...how else would 5 am be to a compulsive sleeper). Though the turbulence isint enough to dislodge you from your bed, the unmistakable stench of the toilet permeates the room and is sufficient to trouble your nostrils to an extent that you rather wake up than snug under that blanket of yours.
Welcome to a daily morning routine in a paying guest(PG) accommodation in Bangalore, the IT capital of India. The abode of thousands of non locals, PGs are the home away from away. The home tag might be a little too exaggerating, especially for those like me who have been residing in PG for just over a month now but i guess its better than sleeping in the streets and shivering to death.
Ok i am deviating now..back to my shoe-boxish room...my room mate and long time friend Balaji wakes me up..”dai palani...dai” and i slowly start to realize i have woken up to yet another monotonous day of work. Contrast this with home..mother comes along..tells me to wake up and my response is way too obvious to be spelt out. Chances of me waking up for the next ten minutes is so low that mother doesn’t even bother to come back and allows me to get out of my sleep(slumber?) on my own terms. God, i miss those days.
Its not all over when u have just woke up, in fact the ordeal has just begun. Somebody is stepping on your heels all the time. Get prepared to be screamed at if you take that extra minute to complete any of your morning chores. You will always be burdened with the thought that even a small lapse on your part can screw up your roomies day. Frankly it took me some time to get used that.
After getting all decked up for work, i pay a visit to Maaji Sagar along with my friends. Its the only decent restaurant you can find in this side of the electronics city where i am residing. We have been to that restaurant so many times now that the waiters there make that customary salute to us whenever we enter. Though the food there is eatable it doesn’t even come close to my mother’s cooking. Those super soft idlly’s , the mouth watering dosais she makes beckon me everyday.
Weekends are not weekends anymore. They are just part of the week, days when u wash your clothes, catch up with the outside world and more importantly study for those frightening online assessments that crop up periodically. Gone are the days where i used to dump my clothes into the laundry basket and expect them to come back clean and folded and smelling of jasmines(jasmine flavour detergent...:))
Television and the internet are luxuries now, something i would have taken for granted just a few months back. Limited access to the internet makes you sick and probably forget why u wanted to go online anyway and shared television means that you have to watch what the majority wants to.
Working life is so much different from that of college. It certainly reminds me of the much clichéd “life on the fast track” .PGs are instruments that facilitate that fast life and will remain so for many more years to come.
Welcome to a daily morning routine in a paying guest(PG) accommodation in Bangalore, the IT capital of India. The abode of thousands of non locals, PGs are the home away from away. The home tag might be a little too exaggerating, especially for those like me who have been residing in PG for just over a month now but i guess its better than sleeping in the streets and shivering to death.
Ok i am deviating now..back to my shoe-boxish room...my room mate and long time friend Balaji wakes me up..”dai palani...dai” and i slowly start to realize i have woken up to yet another monotonous day of work. Contrast this with home..mother comes along..tells me to wake up and my response is way too obvious to be spelt out. Chances of me waking up for the next ten minutes is so low that mother doesn’t even bother to come back and allows me to get out of my sleep(slumber?) on my own terms. God, i miss those days.
Its not all over when u have just woke up, in fact the ordeal has just begun. Somebody is stepping on your heels all the time. Get prepared to be screamed at if you take that extra minute to complete any of your morning chores. You will always be burdened with the thought that even a small lapse on your part can screw up your roomies day. Frankly it took me some time to get used that.
After getting all decked up for work, i pay a visit to Maaji Sagar along with my friends. Its the only decent restaurant you can find in this side of the electronics city where i am residing. We have been to that restaurant so many times now that the waiters there make that customary salute to us whenever we enter. Though the food there is eatable it doesn’t even come close to my mother’s cooking. Those super soft idlly’s , the mouth watering dosais she makes beckon me everyday.
Weekends are not weekends anymore. They are just part of the week, days when u wash your clothes, catch up with the outside world and more importantly study for those frightening online assessments that crop up periodically. Gone are the days where i used to dump my clothes into the laundry basket and expect them to come back clean and folded and smelling of jasmines(jasmine flavour detergent...:))
Television and the internet are luxuries now, something i would have taken for granted just a few months back. Limited access to the internet makes you sick and probably forget why u wanted to go online anyway and shared television means that you have to watch what the majority wants to.
Working life is so much different from that of college. It certainly reminds me of the much clichéd “life on the fast track” .PGs are instruments that facilitate that fast life and will remain so for many more years to come.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
First day @ Wipro
After being in hibernation for the past six months, it was more than a rude shock to me. The hustle and bustle of the place reminded me of video snippets i had seen of times square. People were rushing/ scrambling towards entry points manned by security guards(who were working for more than what they have been paid for ...i will come to that shortly). The incessant flow of buses, cars and bikes was proving to be a more than a handful for the traffic regulators, but they seemed to be doing a good job nevertheless.
There i was, standing in front of a section called EC 4. The bevy of buildings inside the fenced zone left me stunned for the initial few minutes. The facade of one of the buildings was awe inspiring. I had been to places where development was the by word and had witnessed magnificent structures first hand. But this was the first time i was going to part of it, the first time i am going to be in the thick of things and after a looong looong time i genuinely felt elated.
I slotted myself into the queue which was winding for almost 50 yards from the entry point and within a minute i found myself being scrutinized by a couple of security personnel. One of them crooned his neck to inspect my temporary id card and found fault at once. It was lop sided and he had a problem with that! I didn’t really understand what was so wrong with that but complied nevertheless. As if this wasn’t enough a second security guard wanted to examine a couple of books i was clinging on to. Hello guys ...do i look like some fanatic who just crossed across the border with the sole purpose of decimating EC 4 wipro.
With the rather annoying security checks completed, i made my way, with the company of close friends, to the assembly location. It wasn’t that difficult a task given the fact that whole lot of wipro placed students( or should i be calling them colleagues) had the same joining date. The entire walk from entry gate to the assembly venue was pleasant to say the least. Landscaped gardens, well laid platforms and organized movement of both vehicular and homosapien traffic was pleasing on the eye and was in stark contrast to the chaos that reigned outside.
The familiar faces inside the auditorium was a reassuring sight. It was also the time when many of us exchanged pleasantries and caught up with friends whom we had not seen for some time. Usual lectures followed and then it was time for some surprises.
A small group (which included me) was severed from the entire lot and escorted to labs. A stocky man came along and gave the clichéd “due to business requirements” reason for allotting us to the different stream than the rest of the batch. Most of us weren’t even listening to what he was trying to convey and probably had anticipated that we would be divided into small chunks and that was when the real shock came. We would be facing the much feared FRP test (which had sky high minimum threshold) in just a week. There was pin drop silence when we heard that the much dreaded FRP test was due in just about a week. Adding insult to injury was the fact that FRP was waived off for rest of the batch.
The rest of the day was interspersed between coaching periods and coding programs for generating sine series and recursive factorial programs! It was 8 at night ( 8 isn’t exactly evening is it) when i left for home and it will be a day i cherish in my memory for some time to come.
There i was, standing in front of a section called EC 4. The bevy of buildings inside the fenced zone left me stunned for the initial few minutes. The facade of one of the buildings was awe inspiring. I had been to places where development was the by word and had witnessed magnificent structures first hand. But this was the first time i was going to part of it, the first time i am going to be in the thick of things and after a looong looong time i genuinely felt elated.
I slotted myself into the queue which was winding for almost 50 yards from the entry point and within a minute i found myself being scrutinized by a couple of security personnel. One of them crooned his neck to inspect my temporary id card and found fault at once. It was lop sided and he had a problem with that! I didn’t really understand what was so wrong with that but complied nevertheless. As if this wasn’t enough a second security guard wanted to examine a couple of books i was clinging on to. Hello guys ...do i look like some fanatic who just crossed across the border with the sole purpose of decimating EC 4 wipro.
With the rather annoying security checks completed, i made my way, with the company of close friends, to the assembly location. It wasn’t that difficult a task given the fact that whole lot of wipro placed students( or should i be calling them colleagues) had the same joining date. The entire walk from entry gate to the assembly venue was pleasant to say the least. Landscaped gardens, well laid platforms and organized movement of both vehicular and homosapien traffic was pleasing on the eye and was in stark contrast to the chaos that reigned outside.
The familiar faces inside the auditorium was a reassuring sight. It was also the time when many of us exchanged pleasantries and caught up with friends whom we had not seen for some time. Usual lectures followed and then it was time for some surprises.
A small group (which included me) was severed from the entire lot and escorted to labs. A stocky man came along and gave the clichéd “due to business requirements” reason for allotting us to the different stream than the rest of the batch. Most of us weren’t even listening to what he was trying to convey and probably had anticipated that we would be divided into small chunks and that was when the real shock came. We would be facing the much feared FRP test (which had sky high minimum threshold) in just a week. There was pin drop silence when we heard that the much dreaded FRP test was due in just about a week. Adding insult to injury was the fact that FRP was waived off for rest of the batch.
The rest of the day was interspersed between coaching periods and coding programs for generating sine series and recursive factorial programs! It was 8 at night ( 8 isn’t exactly evening is it) when i left for home and it will be a day i cherish in my memory for some time to come.
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