Never Say Never Again !

There used to be a time when I only wanted to stay back in India. I never had the slightest intention of going abroad, be it for studies or for work. I just had to be back here. And there was no real rationale for the same. Always felt that the money would anyways flow in and the quality of life here is much better. But things change and how !
Then it so happens that I decide to take up a job that requires me to soon (or after a while, depends on if and when the visa comes through) go to the US. And I took it up after a lot of thought, with people saying that the exposure would be good and related jazz. My views on the money part remains the same though. Now, once decided that I am going out, time just doesn't seem to fly fast enough.
Never imagined would be in this position. Never say never again !!

A(n) (un)forgettable trip !! – The Backwaters of Kerala

I would say that the title would be an apt summary of our trip to the backwaters of Kerala at Alleppey. The trip would be a fitting sequel to that other one I undertook a year and half back to the North-East. That story (Jinxed, Stuck, Stranded, Luckless) though differed in one major aspect. It had quite a few redeeming features after a bad start, this one had none. But wait, I am getting a little ahead of myself here. Let’s rewind to the night of Friday, the 16^th of October and Diwali eve. That is where it all began and here goes the story.


As usual, we kept vacillating till the last moment about the destination for the weekend trip. Finally on the morning of Friday, the brilliant plan was finalized and we booked a cab for the journey. The trip straightaway got off to a flier with the start being delayed by a couple of hours to 10 in the night. Yes, we planned to travel through the night and reach Alleppey in time next morning for the boat house check in. Perfect, no? Well, it wasn’t. We did some basic groundwork and had decided on taking the road through TamilNadu, but the driver convinced us otherwise and told us of an alternate route through the Bandipur sanctuary. Mistake no.1: we listened to the idiot. (And no more count of the mistakes from here on, there were just too many.) Just before we reach the sanctuary, we get to know that it is closed from 9 to 6 at night (Kajal says she knew this and a lot of other things later on as well, but very conveniently forgets to tell us, and was the lead hindsighter for this trip.with Kunal and yours truly not too far behind). With no other option than to wait it out, we find out that the car battery has died completely and we were stranded right in the middle of nowhere with no transport. After trying in vain to get a lift we started walking and sometime later, hitchhiked on a truck (yeah, there are a lot of good guys doubling up as truck drivers) to get to the closest bus stand. And here we spent the better part of 2 hours appreciating our flawless hindsight and planning arrangements. Next comes in a kindly gentleman who drives us through the sanctuary and we get finally manage to sneak into Kerala.


And then began our endless journey on the famed Kerala buses. These buses run more on a prayer than any actual working parts. Moving parts yes, with every part looking like it will just fly off the next bend in the road. The roads I must not forget, they had a neatly arranged series of potholes connecting the whole of Kerala making for a jarring ride that lets you know the exact count of bones in your body. Because, by the time you get off the bus, you won’t miss a single bone and it takes quite a while to get everything in working order again. We keep up the travel through Calicut, Thrissur, Cochin and finally, finally reach Alleppey. But then I look at my watch and it says 12.30 am, bringing to our notice the small matter of being delayed by 14 hours in a 12 hour journey. Completely exhausted, we flop onto our beds (Gowri Residency, must mention here that the place was quite comfortable and one of the exceptions to the trip). Next morning, Kajal and Kunal go off to the Marari beach, while I sleep away to glory. But who has ever heard of people going off to the beach at 6 in the morning at a place they have come to relax? Absolutely worthless people I had with me on the trip I must admit, even though I have a suspicion that I might be accused of sour grapes here.


Next stop: Alleppey for the backwater ride on a houseboat. We decided to rent one houseboat and check out the backwaters at leisure. And we though this possibly couldn’t go wrong at all. But we hadn’t lost our touch at all and we selected the wrong boat. Not sure if this is the Alleppey everybody was raving about, because what little we saw wasn’t enough to justify any of the hype. The boat was good, but the service was hopeless. We had a crew out to make a quick buck, with no concerns at all about customer satisfaction. Out of the 22 hours, the boat would have hardly been moving for 4 hours. They stop for lunch, the night and everything else in between. A royal rip-off this one, though the boat was decently comfortable. Monday morning already and it’s time to head back to Bangalore. The plan was to take a Volvo straight to Bangalore and be done with it. The holiday season took care of our next set of the best laid plans. Everybody in Kerala wanted to leave for Bangalore that day itself and the bottom-line was that no tickets were available. Another rickety bus ride and a couple of hours later, we find ourselves in Ernakulam and book a ticket on the only available bus scheduled for the evening. And here our endless good luck charm just refuses to die out and the bus is cancelled. The alternate arrangement is a minivan, with an extremely comfortable leg room for the tallest 4 footer you can find. Miserable journey throughout with me trying out all kinds of yoga tricks to settle down, but to no avail. Sleep deprived and bone tired, we finally make it to office at 7 in the morning and then its time for office again. I sleepwalk through the day and finally manage to hit the sack for some sleeps after a good 40 hours.


You would call this an extremely cynical post and I must agree. So let me end this on a good note.


Yes, there was one very good part about the trip that I have not mentioned yet: It got over.

Diwali over the years

Just realized the fact that the places I have been at for Diwali have started becoming diverse. 2006 was celebrated  at Pune at home. This was followed by Calcutta for the next two years at one of the best places I have ever known, the IIM Calcutta campus @ Joka (damn, I really miss the place. Reminder to myself: Plan that campus trip soon). Leaving for Kerala tomorrow, which means that I shall be celebrating the Diwali of 2009 in God's own country at the backwaters of Alleppey. And if that US visa thing comes through, 2010 shall see me in North Carolina. Not bad at all, I must say !

Actually, tomorrow won't be much of a celebration. Would be on one of the houseboats, taking in the sights and sounds of a place I have longed to visit for quite some time. A long journey it will be, considering that we will be going by road rather than the comfort of a train, thanks in no small measure to our far-sightedness in finalizing the trip in the last 24 hours.

This post also means that the blog will be restarted for the umpteenth time in the last few months. Hopefully, this time will be different, and Samvat 2066 will see a more regular, non-lazier version of me here.

Happy Diwali to all of you !!

I promise that I will be more regular from now on, and you can expect a report on the Kerala trip next week.

Darker

The humour is getting darker. Or is it really? Either way, need to keep it in check. Not the easiest of things to do for me at least. Never been the type that understood why people take things so seriously. Why can't people just laugh at themselves, their quirks and idiosyncrasies? Even better, why can't they let others do it for them? Will definitely try to blunt the edges a bit. Yeah, right

A humbling experience

Orientation on at the company and today we got to go to an institute for the mentally challenged children. Humbling is the only way to describe the experience. To be frank, I had my apprehensions and reservations before I reached the place. Situated right next to the Kidwai hospital, the place ensured that all my apprehensions remained nothing more than mere figments of imagination. Whatever awkwardness I felt might be there simply vanished when I spent some time with the kids there. Connecting with these kids and spending some time there is best not described in words. Challenged they might be, but it is exaggerated more by society and it's refusal to treat all people equally. You realise the importance of being normal when you see the struggles these kids have to endure to perform the everyday tasks that we take for granted. Sat and chatted with them for a while and then played cricket with them, and then we were all treated to an amazing dance performance by the kids. One day at the centre and a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes removed. The idea of giving back to society has been playing in my mind for a long time now, but just hadn't found a channel to do so. Today probably was a start in the right direction. Hope to work towards a more tangible contribution for the less privileged members, having just realised that there are multiple avenues for doing so. It is just about finding out the right place and taking the time and effort to see what is the best possible option for you.

Thanking the kids for an absolutely wonderful and amazing day, a real eye opener !

Not something I will forget for quite a while. Time for some quiet introspection now and then some real work in this direction.

Bangalored....First Impressions

May 24th, 2009. Today is the day I get officially Bangalored. Not maybe in the conventional sense of the term, but because of the fact that I start off my post MBA career in Bangalore. So, there I am all set to board the Jet Airways flight from the new Pune airport. To put this into context, I had the Kingfisher guys call me up a day before the flight telling me that the flight had been cancelled due to operational reasons, whatever the hell that means. That is when I guess my luck started changing for the better.

So here I am at the Pune airport, and as I reach the check-in counter, I realise that I have around 13 kgs of excess baggage. But surprisingly, and pleasantly refreshing for a change, the girl at the counter waives it off and I get to take in all of it without extra charges. Then after boarding the flight, me and another girl realise that both of us have been allotted the same seat in the aircraft. On getting to know of this, the cabin crew then takes both our boarding passes and a few minutes later they apologise and ask me whether I would be willing to shift to the Business Class. I thought long and hard, and after 2 full seconds I say yes and a Business Class seat is mine. The food and service obviously match the class and my first feeling was that the Bangalore part of my life has started off well.

Evening 3 pm and I land at the Bangalore (no, I am not calling it Bengalooru yet) Airport. The thoughtful guys that the planners are, they conveniently built the airport a good 65 kms from where I wanted to go. Not that it is close to any part of the city. Kind of kills all the fun of the flight journey as it takes me a little less than 2 hours to reach Electronic City. But the ride in the Volvo i pleasant enough and it doesn't take me long to confirm the fact that the Bangalore traffic has indeed improved a lot in the last one year. Bangalore the city has a kind of charm that you take to instantly (atleast I did) and I am beginning to like everything about the city. The last time I came to Bangalore was in April for a friend's wedding and that time I had come by train. You know you are down South, when huge 50-100 feet cutouts of actors and movie stills greet you wherever you go and you spot 4 theatres withing 10 minutes walking distance. The South knows its cinema and worships it. Period.

The Infy campus is one of the most beautiful that I have seen and they have thought of almost everything to make it comfortable, aesthetically neat and eco-friendly. Excellent rooms in the in house hotel and I vouch for the fact that this is one of the best places I have ever stayed in. A good start to my stint in the city and I hope it continues to be this way.

May 25th, 2009. I start off my post MBA career. Been a long time since I last worked full time in the corporate world. Looking forward to everything that this job will bring.

Posting here a little belatedly. Its been 3 weeks since I arrived here and I shall update this space with more soon.

Random Musings

Went through the last few posts and this blog reads more and more like a travel blog. But then I would say that it is a fair reflection of what I have been doing over the last few months. A lot of ground has been covered, and what's more, my calendar says that I shall only be travelling a lot more in the near future. With still some time to go before I end up in Bangalore, I am back to reading again and also watching a few TV shows. Not a bad way to spend time I must admit. Will try and keep this space as updated as possible.

It is a completely different way of life now that the campus life is behind me and adjusting to this completely will still take some time. The thing I miss the most is the completely unstructured timings that I was used to back in IIM Calcutta, though it is not all for the worst. Being at home means adhering to and a certain amount of lifestyle changes are almost inevitable. Still miss the student life with its all night activities, the movies, the TV shows, footer volley and all the random things I used to do.

Finally got to see a bit of Calcutta when my family had come down for the convocation. Something that never happened inspite of 2 full years off stay in the city. Also, went to Sikkim and Darjeeling again, and still came away amazed at the stuff they have to offer.

Also looking forward to the IPL season 2. Was planning to watch a couple of matches in Bangalore, but now that won't be happening. The idiot box it will be for this year's extravaganza. Actually got up at 3.30 to watch the New Zealand-India Test series and felt pretty good about it too. Good to know that after all these years my interest levels in cricket remain high as ever. And yes, Sachin, Rahul, Laxman and Gambhir provided superb entertainment by deciding to fire in the same series, making it all the more memorable.

Lined up starting this weekend is another 2-3 weeks of non-stop travel, also hope to read more books in this period. Also addicted to my laptop a lot, and am yet to decide whether to lug it along on my trip. And yes, have enjoyed using the new Nikon Coolpix P80 camera. An awesome piece of work that, with it's 18X zoom and excellent battery life. A huge improvement over my Kodak point and shoot, which is now almost 2 & 1/2 years old and was my first digicam.

Things are changing, and most of it for the better.