"A big thanks for realizing this unmatched outing, amidst our busy, digitally cocooned A/C lifestyle reminding us that we are humans and very well part of nature" is how one of our crew members has described it.
"23" of us have started the journey from Secunderabad. As usual, I started roaming in the train and met an old friend of mine unexpectedly. Had a chit chat with her for some time (she is married now ;-) so stop ur speculations). Felt very happy meeting her after sooo long. Thats why I always feel the train journeys are almost like a mini orkut.
Since all our tickets were booked at different times, we were scattered in the train. 6 of us in one compartment have started playing cards. That game was an interesting one involving a lot of speak-out. We got excited and started shouting. All of a sudden, the police came and gave us a warning "if this repeats again, first I will ask you all to get down in the next station and only then I will speak with you all. If you want you can call up any big shot and inform him." We stopped cards and slept off immediately.
The next morning, we reached RJY and then started off to Pattiseema, 25 kms away from the city. The bus was good. We were informed that at Pattiseema, we would be given "Raju gari Bungalow" for refreshing. So, I was under heavy expectations that it would be some sort of an old palace. After we reached there, to my surprise, that was a small house, with just 2/3 rooms and very few restrooms. So, it took more than 2 hours for all of us to get ready. Finally, our journey started. Many of us are new to each other. So, we started off with an introductory session and then the songs session started. Unfortunately, I had to start and I sang "Har gadi.. " in
Kal Ho Na Ho. Then, we played Anthakshari, Bluff, Housie etc. etc. We've reached Gandi Pochamma temple where they showed us places where many telugu movies like Trisulam, Bangaru Bullodu, Janaki Ramudu etc. where shot. Then we reached Devipatnam where we picked up delicious lunch and had it on the boat. After that, we saw Papikondalu and Perantalapalli where we saw a small waterfall. Next, we went to Kolluru, a place on the riverside of Godavari river, which I can never forget in life. Here are a few bamboo huts on the sand in which we stayed. We had a camp fire also at this place. The dinner was tooooooo good. In the night, we played musical chairs, passing the box, Mafia. This Mafia is one game to which ppl got addicted a lottttt. Believe me, we discussed what happened in the game even yesterday when we were having lunch. It was almost midnight when we slept. Early next morning, we walked for ~2kms where we had bath. Here is were I hurt my leg while playing in the water :-(( Later we played volleyball for sometime and then started our way back. Late in the evening we saw Mahanandi temple and then reached RJY. During the entire trip, there was no cell phone coverage. So, no disturbance at allllll. :-D
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Journey to BITS
Last week, I had gone for my MS project submission at BITS, Pilani. After the project submission, I took a tour to see a few places around.
In short this is how the tour happened:
I started of to Delhi on Tuesday. From there, I took a bus and reached Pilani at night. Had my viva on Wednesday afternoon and after that I roamed around BITS. Thursday, I started back to Delhi and reached ther in the evening. Friday, Saturday I took a tour to Jaipur, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Mathura(called as the Golden Triangle). Did some shopping at Delhi on Sunday and reached Hyd. Sunday night. And now I am in office :-)
This time for a change, I am just writing down only the best moments @ BITS. And here they are:
A wowwww feeling when Mr. Yashwardhan Sharma, the person who took my viva said "Good work. Thanks for the presentation" indicating that my viva is done and I can get out now :-)) No more examinations noww...(with a hope that I will pass in the project).
Dean Natarajan Sir and Director Raman Sir said in the orientation session "all we need from you is not donation, we just need you to inform your companies what a BITS student is and what he can achieve. Ask them to recruit our students" wahh... kyaa baat hai. This shows how dedicated they are in their professions. They dont need any money... all they need is a bright life for their students... what an unselfish desire. I regret for not doing my bachelors from a premium institute like BITS.
"Is there any discrimination b/w an on campus and a distance learning programme in BITS?", a student asked. Prof. Natarajan said "there are students on campus who sleep even now(the time was around 11AM) iun their hostel rooms. They hardly attend the classes and exams. Are they not distance learners??" The hall burst into laughter. The Prof. continued .. "It is not the location which matters to BITS, it is the amount of study mnade and fyi the syllabus for on campus and off campus is one and the same."
Had a wonderful cup of coffeee at the BITS hostel after my viva is complete and then started roaming around BITS in the evening with K.Shekhar's songs turned on in my iPod. Will upload the photos soon. Wondering who this Shekhar iss??? ade .. mana Shekhar Kammula... loaded Anand, Godavari and Happy Days songs before leaving. :-DD
Thats all for now. Will be back with the photos.
First day back in Hyderabad office
My first day at office started late at around 11AM. Got up late, unpacked luggage etc. and then started to office in a drowsy moood. Everyone was surprised to see mee that day... no one knew that I was coming back. And ppl ran to my cube to grab the chocolates. Even before i could send out a mail to my group, half of them were over.
I settled down after a while and started looking at my mails. I found that there is an ops level meeting scheduled that evening where we get to know about all the updates about our projects. It's almost lunch time when I finished checking my mails. This time, for a change, I had lunch with all the Chicago ppl now here in Hyderabad. I stood in line for taking the lunch coupon. To my surprise, I took out my Motorola AMEX credit card and gave it to the caterer. Immediately I realised that I was soooo stupidddd giving that in Hyderabad. Then, I quickly kept it inside and gave him cash. :-DDD I got used to swiping card sooo much.
Jet lag, heavy lunch and then what else ??? took a small nap in my cube. After chatting a little, finally the time has arrived for the meeting. This time I was a little nervous. Usually in this meeting, the head of our ops, Nirmala, announces BRAVO awards for extraordinary contributors. I was waiting for one such since 3 years in Moto. Never got it till now :-( I was hoping that my name is called atleast this time. The meeting started with the updates on whats going on @ Moto. After waiting with a lot of patience, finally the awards part has come. Our project was announced. Nirmala started reading out names. My heart beat doubled. tension ... tension .. tension ... I was patiently waiting ... the last name was called and it was not mine. :'( Felt very depressed. And then she said ... "wait wait.. there is one more name .. sorry for missing itt..." heart beat tripled now ... The name was finally called and it was not mine again :'((((( Was totally upset.
And then, she finally said that these are team awards for successful projects. Now follow the awards for individuals who've contributed significantly to the projects. The names started again. In a depressed mood, I was listening partially. And then she said ... "Aaaamruthhhh Raaaaaajjjj" ... was shocked to hear that. Stood up and walked over. I stood there and my manager started praising me over there. "Raj has done a wonderful job in the Network Addressbook project, ramped up quickly... blah blah blah..." Tears started in my eyes... was able to control them though. He was praising me in front of the ops head and in front of a huuge gathering. Finally a shake hand and thank you from Nirmala made mee flyy. I went back to my seat and started staring at the certificate. Felt really really happy. Finally, after 3 long years, the sweet little BRAVO award was announced for mee too.
I settled down after a while and started looking at my mails. I found that there is an ops level meeting scheduled that evening where we get to know about all the updates about our projects. It's almost lunch time when I finished checking my mails. This time, for a change, I had lunch with all the Chicago ppl now here in Hyderabad. I stood in line for taking the lunch coupon. To my surprise, I took out my Motorola AMEX credit card and gave it to the caterer. Immediately I realised that I was soooo stupidddd giving that in Hyderabad. Then, I quickly kept it inside and gave him cash. :-DDD I got used to swiping card sooo much.
Jet lag, heavy lunch and then what else ??? took a small nap in my cube. After chatting a little, finally the time has arrived for the meeting. This time I was a little nervous. Usually in this meeting, the head of our ops, Nirmala, announces BRAVO awards for extraordinary contributors. I was waiting for one such since 3 years in Moto. Never got it till now :-( I was hoping that my name is called atleast this time. The meeting started with the updates on whats going on @ Moto. After waiting with a lot of patience, finally the awards part has come. Our project was announced. Nirmala started reading out names. My heart beat doubled. tension ... tension .. tension ... I was patiently waiting ... the last name was called and it was not mine. :'( Felt very depressed. And then she said ... "wait wait.. there is one more name .. sorry for missing itt..." heart beat tripled now ... The name was finally called and it was not mine again :'((((( Was totally upset.
And then, she finally said that these are team awards for successful projects. Now follow the awards for individuals who've contributed significantly to the projects. The names started again. In a depressed mood, I was listening partially. And then she said ... "Aaaamruthhhh Raaaaaajjjj" ... was shocked to hear that. Stood up and walked over. I stood there and my manager started praising me over there. "Raj has done a wonderful job in the Network Addressbook project, ramped up quickly... blah blah blah..." Tears started in my eyes... was able to control them though. He was praising me in front of the ops head and in front of a huuge gathering. Finally a shake hand and thank you from Nirmala made mee flyy. I went back to my seat and started staring at the certificate. Felt really really happy. Finally, after 3 long years, the sweet little BRAVO award was announced for mee too.
@ Devon Street
Today something happened unexpectedly. Adi emitante ... I went to Devon street with one of my friend over here.
So, what's this Devon street??? This is a place where v get "all" Indian food... everything over there is Indian. It's a true India in US. Every Indian would definitely like spending time over here.
We reached there at around 8pm. We stopped the cab at the beginning of the street itself and started walking.
Right from the beginning, I could smell the masala flavor along the street. It was reallyy nice.
After walking for a few min., I saw a store ... couldnt remember the name though .. I've seen something very unusual in it ... the Pakistani and Indian flag put together ... it was nice looking at it ... then i thought that something like this can be done only here.
Then we jumped into Udupi hotel ... :-DD couldnt believe for a while after seeing it.
My mouth started watering with the initial glimpse of someone eating an utappam with sambarr at the entrance.
Couldn't stop waiting for someone to place us somewhere. We quickly sat in an empty table, called the waiter and gave the order ... couldn't wait soo long to have the tastiest Indian food after soooo longgg.
I started with Vada sambar ... i really enjoyed every bite of it. Deliciousss...
Then continued with a Special Rava Masala Dosa. My friend was saying I need a straw for the sambar instead of a spoon ... :-DDD
I ate the complete dosa without even leaving a single piece of it ... gr8 naa ... a masala dosa after vada .. hehhehhee
Finally, we ended with a tasty cup of tea.
This is the first day after coming to US that I had suchh a wonderful dinner.
Then, we went into a store(Indian again...) and purchased all varieties of junk food ... chakkis, murukulu etc. etc.
On the way back, we had a nice discussion abt the pros and cons of Indian and US life. That was an interesting one. Dont worry ... will not write abt it ... :-D
And at the end, my friend dropped me in the hotel and went back home.
This is how I spent the evening. Nice kadaa ...
So, what's this Devon street??? This is a place where v get "all" Indian food... everything over there is Indian. It's a true India in US. Every Indian would definitely like spending time over here.
We reached there at around 8pm. We stopped the cab at the beginning of the street itself and started walking.
Right from the beginning, I could smell the masala flavor along the street. It was reallyy nice.
After walking for a few min., I saw a store ... couldnt remember the name though .. I've seen something very unusual in it ... the Pakistani and Indian flag put together ... it was nice looking at it ... then i thought that something like this can be done only here.
Then we jumped into Udupi hotel ... :-DD couldnt believe for a while after seeing it.
My mouth started watering with the initial glimpse of someone eating an utappam with sambarr at the entrance.
Couldn't stop waiting for someone to place us somewhere. We quickly sat in an empty table, called the waiter and gave the order ... couldn't wait soo long to have the tastiest Indian food after soooo longgg.
I started with Vada sambar ... i really enjoyed every bite of it. Deliciousss...
Then continued with a Special Rava Masala Dosa. My friend was saying I need a straw for the sambar instead of a spoon ... :-DDD
I ate the complete dosa without even leaving a single piece of it ... gr8 naa ... a masala dosa after vada .. hehhehhee
Finally, we ended with a tasty cup of tea.
This is the first day after coming to US that I had suchh a wonderful dinner.
Then, we went into a store(Indian again...) and purchased all varieties of junk food ... chakkis, murukulu etc. etc.
On the way back, we had a nice discussion abt the pros and cons of Indian and US life. That was an interesting one. Dont worry ... will not write abt it ... :-D
And at the end, my friend dropped me in the hotel and went back home.
This is how I spent the evening. Nice kadaa ...
Journey to Chicago
Unlike the previous trips, this time it is terrible. I've reached Hyderabad airport at 10pm on Saturday. As I was proceeding to collect my boarding pass, I received a call from Lufthansa ... "hello sir, we are sorry to inform u that the flight got delayed by 9 hrs. the tentative departure would be tomorrow morning 9:30am and we are not sure abt that." Those idiots would have told this to me before I arrived at the airport. I said I've reached the airport already. The lady continued ... "not a problem sirr, we would be giving you a hotel accomodation." I was a little worried about the connecting flight at Frankfurt. I would miss it and then God knows what happens to my luggage. I've heard of many instances where the luggage is misplaced in instances like these.
I stayed in The Manohar, quite close to the airport for that night. Haadd a free hot chocolate over ther ... Then early in the morning, I came to know that the flight would depart a little early at 6.
I went to the airport and then I had a worst experience of my life at the immigration. There is an idiott who blocked me for not showing him my Motorola Identity card... i donno how will the card matter to him. I showed him my Invitation letter, Passport etc. He wasn't convinced. Then came a stupid sound from his stinking mouth ... "gimme something and i will let you go... ". I wanted to slap him for that... but I had no other choice. I had to give him 100 Rs. This is the first time in my life that I had to give a bribe to someone. I was totally upset.
Then I've boarded the flight and watched 2 movies. One is Namaste London and the other The Namesake, of course with the English sub-titles :-)). I've liked the first one a lot and the other one is okay. The first one is how an Indian brings out the Indianness in a lady born and brought up at London. Then I reached Frankfurt.
Some good news at Frankfurt ... the connecting flight to Chicago also got delayed and if I can rush immediately to a gate C5(which is very very far away from the terminal i landed) then I can catch it. The boarding for that flight has just begun. Ther I am ... running with my laptop even on escalators pushing everyone .. had no other choice. If i miss it, the next flight at Frankfurt is after 5 more hours. Atlastt, I got into the flight. By the way, I had a first class ticket in this flight to Chicago. I really enjoyed flying in first class. For the first 2 hours, they have been continously feeding me and then I had a very nice sleep. I saw 300 in this flight. I wokeup just an hr before we reached Chicago.
Then I was very eager to go to the baggage area to check if the luggage had come. Fortunately, yes it did.
And then my aunt received me at the airport and dropped me at the hotel.
This is how i reached here. :-))
Now its 4AM over here and I am feeling very sleepy.
I stayed in The Manohar, quite close to the airport for that night. Haadd a free hot chocolate over ther ... Then early in the morning, I came to know that the flight would depart a little early at 6.
I went to the airport and then I had a worst experience of my life at the immigration. There is an idiott who blocked me for not showing him my Motorola Identity card... i donno how will the card matter to him. I showed him my Invitation letter, Passport etc. He wasn't convinced. Then came a stupid sound from his stinking mouth ... "gimme something and i will let you go... ". I wanted to slap him for that... but I had no other choice. I had to give him 100 Rs. This is the first time in my life that I had to give a bribe to someone. I was totally upset.
Then I've boarded the flight and watched 2 movies. One is Namaste London and the other The Namesake, of course with the English sub-titles :-)). I've liked the first one a lot and the other one is okay. The first one is how an Indian brings out the Indianness in a lady born and brought up at London. Then I reached Frankfurt.
Some good news at Frankfurt ... the connecting flight to Chicago also got delayed and if I can rush immediately to a gate C5(which is very very far away from the terminal i landed) then I can catch it. The boarding for that flight has just begun. Ther I am ... running with my laptop even on escalators pushing everyone .. had no other choice. If i miss it, the next flight at Frankfurt is after 5 more hours. Atlastt, I got into the flight. By the way, I had a first class ticket in this flight to Chicago. I really enjoyed flying in first class. For the first 2 hours, they have been continously feeding me and then I had a very nice sleep. I saw 300 in this flight. I wokeup just an hr before we reached Chicago.
Then I was very eager to go to the baggage area to check if the luggage had come. Fortunately, yes it did.
And then my aunt received me at the airport and dropped me at the hotel.
This is how i reached here. :-))
Now its 4AM over here and I am feeling very sleepy.
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