In the last few months atleast a dozen of my friends got married - what is the matter with folks out there?
I've seen it happen to one of my colleagues - from the moment he got married, he's walked the razor's edge.
He does that fine balancing act between buying groceries for home and solving some uber complex math problem everyday. I've seen him stay up nights, working and hacking away at a keyboard just to get some sensible numbers on a screen while still not forgetting to sms his sweetheart every 30 mins because she feels lonely at home. Ask him anytime and he'll advise you not to marry ..... ever !
But then there I times when I see them together and there's that momentary glint in both their eyes and a feeling of bliss on their faces which makes me wonder ! Perhaps even this marriage has something special which misses the onlooker's eye .... May all my friends find that something to keep them and their marriages going lifelong.
Cheers !!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Indian rhythm in Finland
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO), the first professional symphony orchestra to be founded in the Nordic countries in 1882, recently collaborated with mridangam vidwan Guru Karaikkudi Mani and his Sruthi Laya percussion ensemble in January this year.
Titled ‘Never Stop!', the composition was by the renowned Finnish composer Eero Hämeenniemi. It was a Helsinki Philharmonic commission to be played by Sruthi Laya and the HPO.
The world premiere of the work was held on January 20 at Finlandia Hall and was broadcast live all over Finland.
Passion for Carnatic music
Hämeenniemi, a friend of Karaikkudi Mani and a lover of Carnatic music, and his Finnish NADA chamber ensemble, have been regularly working with Mani.
The 1951-born Hämeenniemi has composed works in almost all the main genres of Western classical music and jazz. Hämeenniemi has also made a name for himself as a writer and columnist, and as the pianist and composer of the NADA ensemble led by him.
‘Never Stop!' is a work lasting half an hour for four percussion instruments and symphony orchestra. The soloist in the premiere was a group of four percussionists led by Guru Karaikkudi Mani but later can be performed by other ensembles.
Structurally, the work began with an extremely loud rhythmic motif repeated a number of times throughout the work, both as such and in a more or less varied form.
Talking about his composition, Hämeenniemi has this to say, “The work is divided into five movements performed without a break, each with a tempo of its own that gets faster from one to the next. The whole of the solo group plays in the first and fifth movements, but in the others one percussion instrument dominates at a time, though with the occasional support of the others.
“In the second movement the solo is entrusted to a ganjira tambourine. For each solo instrument, I have sought to find the section of the orchestra that to my mind best supports it, and the ganjira is frequently partnered by strings. Towards the end of the movement the strings gradually come to a halt while the soloist gains more and more momentum.
“The third movement is dominated first by the ghatam. Entering at the end of the movement is the chenda. In the fourth movement, the king of South Indian percussion instruments, the mridangam is accompanied by the full orchestra.
“The movements are linked by percussion passages in which the players make the carefully controlled metric modulation from one tempo to the next. Mani Sir and the other soloists at the premiere executed these transitions within the structural confines provided by me.
“I have been infinitely impressed by the players' ability and desire to adapt to musical thought processes they have never before encountered. Mani Sir chooses his projects with infinite care and is famous for performing with only a few outstanding artists in India. But when he does agree to take part in a project, he does so with utmost intensity.”
Article posted in The Hindu daily
Titled ‘Never Stop!', the composition was by the renowned Finnish composer Eero Hämeenniemi. It was a Helsinki Philharmonic commission to be played by Sruthi Laya and the HPO.
The world premiere of the work was held on January 20 at Finlandia Hall and was broadcast live all over Finland.
Passion for Carnatic music
Hämeenniemi, a friend of Karaikkudi Mani and a lover of Carnatic music, and his Finnish NADA chamber ensemble, have been regularly working with Mani.
The 1951-born Hämeenniemi has composed works in almost all the main genres of Western classical music and jazz. Hämeenniemi has also made a name for himself as a writer and columnist, and as the pianist and composer of the NADA ensemble led by him.
‘Never Stop!' is a work lasting half an hour for four percussion instruments and symphony orchestra. The soloist in the premiere was a group of four percussionists led by Guru Karaikkudi Mani but later can be performed by other ensembles.
Structurally, the work began with an extremely loud rhythmic motif repeated a number of times throughout the work, both as such and in a more or less varied form.
Talking about his composition, Hämeenniemi has this to say, “The work is divided into five movements performed without a break, each with a tempo of its own that gets faster from one to the next. The whole of the solo group plays in the first and fifth movements, but in the others one percussion instrument dominates at a time, though with the occasional support of the others.
“In the second movement the solo is entrusted to a ganjira tambourine. For each solo instrument, I have sought to find the section of the orchestra that to my mind best supports it, and the ganjira is frequently partnered by strings. Towards the end of the movement the strings gradually come to a halt while the soloist gains more and more momentum.
“The third movement is dominated first by the ghatam. Entering at the end of the movement is the chenda. In the fourth movement, the king of South Indian percussion instruments, the mridangam is accompanied by the full orchestra.
“The movements are linked by percussion passages in which the players make the carefully controlled metric modulation from one tempo to the next. Mani Sir and the other soloists at the premiere executed these transitions within the structural confines provided by me.
“I have been infinitely impressed by the players' ability and desire to adapt to musical thought processes they have never before encountered. Mani Sir chooses his projects with infinite care and is famous for performing with only a few outstanding artists in India. But when he does agree to take part in a project, he does so with utmost intensity.”
Article posted in The Hindu daily
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Avatar with my roomies
Avatar !!! The much awaited movie, I wanted watch in a big screen and finally on 18th december, I was invited to see it with my friends @ Finnkino 3D, Helsinki. Wow!!! I have always resented missing the original Star Wars on the big screen (the movie against which all other cinematic goundbreakers are measured). I was fortunate enough to catch some awe-inspiring "man" movies, like Tim Burton's Batman, the epic Braveheart, and the movies 300 and Gladiator. I saw both Titanic and Passion of the Christ both at theaters. I have never, however, been able to catch a truly pivotal, era-definitive movie at the theater - 3D, until tonight.
Okay, to be fair, let me define pivotal, or rather give examples. Try to think back to these times... do you remember what Pixar did for animated movies? Or what The Matrix did for action and fighting sequences? Or what Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did for martial arts flicks? Each of these mentioned had one thing in common: they pushed the envelope. They raised the bar. Their producers and directors stepped way out of the box to create new standards in their movies' respective genres.
In the same way that the Wizard of Oz broke the boundaries of color films forever, so Avatar does for graphically-enhanced, visually-stimulating movies to follow. Avatar is an absolute must-see before it leaves the theaters.
It was fun to be along with a group of buddies to watch this movie.
Okay, to be fair, let me define pivotal, or rather give examples. Try to think back to these times... do you remember what Pixar did for animated movies? Or what The Matrix did for action and fighting sequences? Or what Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did for martial arts flicks? Each of these mentioned had one thing in common: they pushed the envelope. They raised the bar. Their producers and directors stepped way out of the box to create new standards in their movies' respective genres.
In the same way that the Wizard of Oz broke the boundaries of color films forever, so Avatar does for graphically-enhanced, visually-stimulating movies to follow. Avatar is an absolute must-see before it leaves the theaters.
It was fun to be along with a group of buddies to watch this movie.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Waterfall @ Monkey falls - for the first time.
Never in my life (before I visited valparai), I had got a chance to bath under a water fall and a pond, since I was born and brought up in a urban city except you can find artifical waterfall and pond in a theme/amusement parks. During my trip to Valparai, it was my first ever waterfall experience.
Valparai a beautiful hill station lies high up above the ranges of Annamalai, above 3500 ft from sea level. We had to cross 40 Hairpin bends to reach the destination. We drove a car, from Coimbatore to Valparai, on the half way we felt tiring and as we entered Valparai, Monkey falls welcomed us. Monkey falls is almost at the foot of Valparai. Local here say that a trip to Valparai is not complete without a bathe at monkey falls.
We got down the car and amazed by the beauty of the place, we were happy to spend some time there in the monkey falls. And yes, there will be 1000's of Monkeys around...so Beware! We then had to climb some rocks and came to a flat open plain shaded by huge trees, we walked across this plain and the whole area was rocky, green, lush and so silent and we saw this little opening through some bamboo and there it was this pool and water rushing down into it from a height i could not make out, the water just seemed to be falling out of the sky. It just really took my breath away. This place is a delight to eyes of water lovers, one cannot resist getting drenched there. My mind initially saying NO to get drenched in a waterfall, honestly I was bit scary and hesitant, when I heard the sound of water gushing from high skies. I later made up my mind to experience this new adventure. I was surprised to see small kids enjoying there. I said to myself let me try this ! There was around 25-30 members already taking bath. 
I changed my clothes and walked towards the area where people stood still and enjoyed the bath. The first time when the water poured on me, it felt like as though some rocks are hitting upon my head, the force of the water (cannot measure it) was carrying my whole body away. I was enjoying every moment along with my friends who are like experts trying new things to make themselves feel unique from others and I was like holding them every moment. I can’t remember how long we all stood there, but I experienced something energizing me and felt totally fresh, like a new day in my life.
Valparai a beautiful hill station lies high up above the ranges of Annamalai, above 3500 ft from sea level. We had to cross 40 Hairpin bends to reach the destination. We drove a car, from Coimbatore to Valparai, on the half way we felt tiring and as we entered Valparai, Monkey falls welcomed us. Monkey falls is almost at the foot of Valparai. Local here say that a trip to Valparai is not complete without a bathe at monkey falls.
We got down the car and amazed by the beauty of the place, we were happy to spend some time there in the monkey falls. And yes, there will be 1000's of Monkeys around...so Beware! We then had to climb some rocks and came to a flat open plain shaded by huge trees, we walked across this plain and the whole area was rocky, green, lush and so silent and we saw this little opening through some bamboo and there it was this pool and water rushing down into it from a height i could not make out, the water just seemed to be falling out of the sky. It just really took my breath away. This place is a delight to eyes of water lovers, one cannot resist getting drenched there. My mind initially saying NO to get drenched in a waterfall, honestly I was bit scary and hesitant, when I heard the sound of water gushing from high skies. I later made up my mind to experience this new adventure. I was surprised to see small kids enjoying there. I said to myself let me try this ! There was around 25-30 members already taking bath. 
I changed my clothes and walked towards the area where people stood still and enjoyed the bath. The first time when the water poured on me, it felt like as though some rocks are hitting upon my head, the force of the water (cannot measure it) was carrying my whole body away. I was enjoying every moment along with my friends who are like experts trying new things to make themselves feel unique from others and I was like holding them every moment. I can’t remember how long we all stood there, but I experienced something energizing me and felt totally fresh, like a new day in my life.
Monday, November 9, 2009
ToTen Million Fire flies...
I can't sleep knowing tunes like these exist! i just had to blog it. Owl city is officially my current obsession, next to Beyonce or Coldplay.
listen to Rainbow Veins - Owl City
to ten million fireflies, i'm weird 'cause i hate goodbyes...-
(fireflies - owl city)
listen to Rainbow Veins - Owl City
to ten million fireflies, i'm weird 'cause i hate goodbyes...-
(fireflies - owl city)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hot, Hotter, Hottest Chennai
September 19th 09, I landed Chennai for the first time after 1 ½ years. After a tiring journey all the way from Helsinki via Delhi made me go crazy. Once I came out of the airport the first thing I felt was the burning skin... AHHH.. it was the Chennai Heat! This feeling lasted few minute until I got a taxi, to my home. Same old Chennai people, chaos everywhere, horns, some complicated brigdes, bumpy roads, tea kadai, stinking Adyar bridge, bus, cycles, traffic, new constructions, slums, wow I m in Chennai... Warm welcome from my parents, tasting moms food, my favorite foods, surprising grand parents on my arrival and meeting friends was how my first day at chennai started. I was telling stories to my parents about my personal and work experience at Finland. A few minutes later I realized, how the time fly by. It look like, it was only that day when I completed my degree and joined too up my career in a software industry. I wished to god to put a small speedbreaker to the time for next 3 weeks, so at the end I dont realize that 3 weeks passed by in a jiffy :)
Met my school friends, staff and college mates in the initial days and almost each and every day I spend my time with area mates. Most of my time I spent in Korattur and my own house. On the first weekday I promised to visit my office (which was now changed to a different location) which was very far far far away from city and it takes 2 ½ hrs to reach by corporate bus from my home. It was a beautiful morning as day started the charm was disturbed by increasing traffic, pollution and noise. It was a delight to see my old team mates and friends in office. Souveniers and momentos gave them feel there was some one back from onsite. I had to end my day late in the night, due to some pending task at office.
Since it was a weekday, I had to call my friends over phone and chat with them and met only very few people and close ones during my stay. It was a festive season in India, I got an opportunity to experience Durga Pooja once again, at Chennai almost at all famous venues where they are held. I rented a car and took my parents and grand parents to all the pooja celebration venues. A visit to Valparai (a small hill station 500 kms from Chennai) and Pollachi, was a mindblowing trip with my friends. A 3 days tour to Valparai was planned just 2 days before we departed. We took a bus from Chennai to Coimbatore from where we drove a car, high up above the ranges of Annamalai, above 3500 ft from sea level. before we could drove through the 40 hair pin bends, i was taken to a waterfall near the roads. Bathe in a waterfall was my first experience. I thought Valparai would be a small remote village, but its quite big. This is not only for bachelors, but a perfect get away for family too. Myself along with my 5 friends had a awesome time, making fun, teasing each other, boozing (I dont booze :)), playing cards and get to taste a typical south indian hill station dishes at hotels and road side shops. Clean air, lush green tea estates, glorious landscapes, crystal clear water, least-explored places, and unforgettable moments – These are memories that you will come back with.
Riding bike in chennai was first thing I wanted to do, but felt a bit out of control after a long time, I got the touch in 2-3 rides with my friends... Didn't get car to drive myself, this time :( I was deighted to attend my sweet buddies marriage at chennai having a heavy briyani lunch during the feast. Spent most of evenings staying at my friends house and roaming in and around city on roads and bikes. Many of my friends visited me at my home during my last 2 days of vacation. When my parents and some friends came along to say goodbye at the airport and felt a bit emotional. On the whole it was a very sweet and short vacation filled with all goodies and goodies.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Going Home
I said to someone the other evening "I want to go home". And thinking about it later, realised I didn't quite know what I meant..wonder how many people actually do. Those who do know, are really quite lucky.
Friday, June 12, 2009
I love music
To me, music is not just a melody but something which changes the frame of mind. No one in the world can live without music, from babies cry to Thunderstorms, music is everywhere. I usually like hearing background musics which are played in the movies and always keep humming some tunes. It is the first thing that the movie viewer sees and hears and a good title theme music creates a great impression for a movie to begin with. A good movie theme is catchy, and it evokes the mood of the movie. Some of my favorites are :
Jeans - A.R.Rahman-Very catchy, peppy AND melodious, the brand of music that we have got used to from Rahman. This is the perfect piece to hum along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAX-6njv-uU
Bombay-A.R.Rahman-This is what made the Bombay movie complete—the Bombay theme, calling it brilliant would be an understatement! Naveen’s flute was nectarine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbiYEXNqksw&feature=PlayList&p=81E5578444D4F6ED&index=19
Chariots of fire-Vangelis- An electronic score might be considered ill-suited to a period piece, it worked beyond anyone's expectations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-7Vu7cqB20
Asoka - A.R.Rahman- The historical classical piece. On hearing you feel like its giving life to a broken heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0AfxUU8uzc
Titanic-The portrait and final scene- James Homer. Masterpiece from James. This can break the silence between loved ones. Its a delight to watch the final scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eej8uT_QEdw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oijVMNSAE7o&feature=related
Anbey Shivam-Vidyasagar-The “Yaar yaar Shivam” piece, great work by Vidyasagar again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgf0VHMEtNs
Enigma-Return to Innocence- One soul touching full of emotions and a genuine sense of nostalgia for one's childhood .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vJ-CmnjXw
Mounam pesiyadhe - Yuvan SR - Love the tune, prelude and interludes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYoOjvsZ400
Slumdog Millionaire - A.R.Rahaman- Sweet little melody with a beautiful hum by Sussana. Hard to believe it was only condensed into three minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UiOaQzBccE
Other well known original music score
Pink Panther -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRus&feature=PlayList&p=BD36A8E8981A177C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1
The good,Bad and Ugly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hYV-JSjpyU
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Jeans - A.R.Rahman-Very catchy, peppy AND melodious, the brand of music that we have got used to from Rahman. This is the perfect piece to hum along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAX-6njv-uU
Bombay-A.R.Rahman-This is what made the Bombay movie complete—the Bombay theme, calling it brilliant would be an understatement! Naveen’s flute was nectarine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbiYEXNqksw&feature=PlayList&p=81E5578444D4F6ED&index=19
Chariots of fire-Vangelis- An electronic score might be considered ill-suited to a period piece, it worked beyond anyone's expectations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-7Vu7cqB20
Asoka - A.R.Rahman- The historical classical piece. On hearing you feel like its giving life to a broken heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0AfxUU8uzc
Titanic-The portrait and final scene- James Homer. Masterpiece from James. This can break the silence between loved ones. Its a delight to watch the final scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eej8uT_QEdw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oijVMNSAE7o&feature=related
Anbey Shivam-Vidyasagar-The “Yaar yaar Shivam” piece, great work by Vidyasagar again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgf0VHMEtNs
Enigma-Return to Innocence- One soul touching full of emotions and a genuine sense of nostalgia for one's childhood .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vJ-CmnjXw
Mounam pesiyadhe - Yuvan SR - Love the tune, prelude and interludes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYoOjvsZ400
Slumdog Millionaire - A.R.Rahaman- Sweet little melody with a beautiful hum by Sussana. Hard to believe it was only condensed into three minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UiOaQzBccE
Other well known original music score
Pink Panther -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRus&feature=PlayList&p=BD36A8E8981A177C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1
The good,Bad and Ugly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hYV-JSjpyU
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Monday, April 20, 2009
When you are in Rome, be Roman - My Italy trip
ITALIA
It was my dream trip and I never thought I would ever visit the Colloseum or the leaning tower of Pisa in my life. It's a dream come true. Italy fever started in early October when there was a cheap flight ticket sale to many destinations in Europe from Helsinki. I still remember how I got my tickets standing in the queue for more than 5 hours from 6 AM till 11 AM, on a weekday (almost bunked some office hours) :)
It was me and my friend Samanta (unfortunately not a gal) toured Italy for a week. My plan was to fly to Milan from Helsinki by Finnair and start my journey in the roman land. I planned the whole trip a month back and it was very clear to me what to do next so I did not have a problem exploring the new city.
First Day in Milan: The joy started when I boarded the flight and after an couple of hours, I was looking at the beautiful white Alps and passing over Swiss. First and foremost thing came into my mind was 'where are the Italian chicks' :) ha ha just kidding.. As I reached the airport I had to take a bus all the way to reach the city center. It was a 45 min journey to city center, I walked down the streets and flea markets ina nd around Milan (Called Milano). I managed to buy a ticket for the whole day for local commutation. It was a bright sunny day and I felt the suns ray touching my skin after 2 months, but then it was too windy that I cannot resist myself wearing my jerkin. It was freaking cold and windy and wind was blowing at 36 Kph (which is something unusual).
I did not anticipate so much of crowd in Milan, since it was Xmas many people were outside, but to my surprise there were lots of tourists walking around. I visited Duomo, a cathedral which is an amazing piece of architecture and art. Read more about this wonderful monument from this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duomo_di_Milano. It was the symbol of Milan. For 1 week my cuisine was completely Italian, and friends let me tell you something.. Italian pizza's are the best in the world and not even Dominos or Pizza hut can beat this local Italian pizza. It tastes delicious an yummy :).... I thought Italy being predominantly a Christian Majority, the roads would be empty. On the contrary there were lots of people and cars on street much like a bigger city and so unlike Helsinki. I went and had a Cappucho (Cappuchino) and a Brioche (Chocolato). Of course I had to say Ciao and Gracie and Ciao again. Quite Funny, Ciao goes for both Hi and Bye and then throw in some 'Prego'(Its Ok, You are welcome) everywhere and you can speak perfect Italiano.Then I visited the castle and opera house. That night i had to take a flight to Rome from Milan, i booked a cheap flight Ryan air. Milan airport are quiet far from the city and I remember the name Bergamo from I had catch this flight. I had to rush hard to reach the airport and when I reached there, the timetable reads Ryan air to Rome is delayed by 1 hour. Very sad... Ore bad words :) My friend, Sudipta joined me this time and he had to miss first day in Milan, as his flight was schedule that day evening. And from here, we started together to Rome.
We reached Rome late in the night and somehow managed to get into the hostel. We had faced a hard time at Ciampino airport to get into the city. The hostel staffs were very kind and we did not have any problem here. The next day 24th dec morning, we marched towards the Colloseum(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum), and what a wonder, I was speechless, I could not find any words in dictionary to describe this monument. I was in cloud nine. The whole structure still remains in my eyes. We visited the platino and other important places. I had a map in hand which was triple the time of a normal A4 sheet and it was marked with streets and monuments and my target was to visit as much as places possible and I did it, late in the night when I went back to Hostel, I thought it would so lively, there were a dozen of new faces in front of me and everyone was eager to celebrate the Christmas at Vatican city.
Hostel gave me a chance to blend with so many people almost every one whom I met were students from all parts of Europe, Brazil and US. we formed a big gang and spent the whole night wondering in the streets of Rome. Finally we reached Vatican city (Another country, or the worlds smallest country) where the pope was addressing the mass gathering and giving speech (Christians call 'mass'). The city was crowded and everyone started celebrating the Christmas as the clock ticks 12:00 Midnight, fireworks and wishes everywhere. We spent the whole night chatting with each other, play station games, cooking pasta, etc etc :)
Rome day 3 Our journey to explore Rome continued the next day, and we visited the Vatican City and entered the world largest Basilica ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica) where we saw the pope and other disciples where chanting and conducting some Christian rituals. I wasn't sure what was he doing but I was amazed to see the big basilica and the tall dome. Every structure and a piece of art were huge and grand, I wonder if the ancient roman people did ever know the meaning of small :) Then we walked along the street of Vatican and almost covered most of the important monuments and structures. Since it was Christmas, there was no public transport and we had a difficulties reaching station to catch continue our journey to Venice. We booked a night train to Venice and we had to stay in the station for at least 2 hrs and once we entered, I feel asleep and got up early morning and landed up at Florence, from where we will have to catch another train to Venice.
Venice day 4http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay4# Venice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice) turned out to be an awful experience in the whole trip. The place was beautiful, scenic and different from any other cities in the world. But it was our bad time; our hostel was far far far away from the mainland, we did not get down at the correct station were we are suppose to and the weather was very very cold (though the sun was shinning bright). We manage to get into a bus and the driver got us down at the wrong stop and we had to walk 8KM to reach the hostel... Oh no! I was hoping, not to experience such thing again in my life in a new place like this. After we reached the hostel, things seems to have settled, we refreshed ourselves and took a bus (by this time we became expert in buses) to the mainland and walked in the streets of Venice. The streets are so small and people like me should think before entering the narrow streets, it was good. The waterways are the only mode of transportation in Venice. The gondola ride (we haven't taken this), the churches and small canals were the major point of attraction in Venice. We met a guy here, who also stayed along with us in the hostel, at Rome. We walked together chatting on different topics, doing window shopping, you will also find lots of mask shops (Venice is famous for mask) and what not !
It was a pleasant evening and outing ended after we departed him in the station and headed back to the hostel. Luckily we had a shuttle service back to the hostel which took 20 mins to reach there.The next day we planned to visit Florence and Pisa and we had to rush to the station early morning to catch the train. The bad time continued early in the morning and I would not like bring those bad moments into my mind again. Somehow we managed to reach the Florence/ Firenze.
Pisa and Florence Day 5 http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay5# I had decided to go to Pisa (Home to Enrico Fermi, Galileo and Fibonacci among others)) this day to see the famous Leaning tower or Torre Pendente (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa) . So I took a train from Firenze to Pisa, which takes only about an hour, and took a bus towards the tower. There is nothing much to do in Pisa except the tower and the Basilica next to it and the other museums nearby in the same place. It costs quite a lot of money (15€) to go up to top of the tower, but what's the fun in not going to the top after being there. So I had to do it just for the heck of it. It was a very nice experience climbing the winding stairs which goes around this leaning tower and when you climb can actually feel the lean on one side. It was a great view from the tower. Then I went inside and saw the cathedral nearby. That's it, I had to go and buy some mementos and souvenirs from the nearby open market.
After that I took the train back to Firenze and roamed the streets, Flea markets, The Duomo, locating some of the Museums and some galleries. After the gallery visit, I went to see the Duomo. It was undergoing some restoration on one side. But we were allowed to enter the Duomo. Late in the evening, I walked to the other side of River Arne along the famous Ponte Vecchio, Florence's oldest surviving bridge has Jewellery shops on both sides of the street. It is open only for pedestrian walking. It connects the Old Medici Florenti Palazzo(Palace) Vecchio to the New Florentine Palazzo Pitti. I crossed the River Arne towards Palazzo Pitti and found that it was closed and I started marching to Piazza Michael Angelo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_statue) to get a night view of the whole Firenze city from there and also saw the Bronze copy of David by Michael Angelo which adorns the Piazza. The night life at Firenze was again a wonderful experience, we again formed a gang of 8 and few among us started boozing like anything. There was one beautiful girl from Spain (originally from Brazil) in our gang and I can't stop myself flirting with her... Oh man.. She was amazing and cool; we were together had a nice time (you can see her in my pictures).
There was a cool chap Felipe, who offered us the Christmas wine/tequila, and the for the first time I had peak alcohol effect. It made me go crazy :) It was 1 AM in the night and we decided to walk in streets to go to a nightclub, we were walking and speaking some rubbish things and all of us had a good time. Unfortunately the night club was about to close in an hour so we decided not to go in and spend the night in the streets shouting and yelling some bad jokes, every one sharing their experience and i was telling them about my work (it was 28th dec, i completed 3 yrs in TCS), about my culture, about India and Finland, about my family and etc etc :). That night ended at 5 AM in the morning and I did not wanted to sleep but thought of taking a short nap to energize my self, to complete my lastlag of the whole trip. I had to wake up at 8 AM, to catch our train to Milan.
Hostel gave me a chance to blend with so many people almost every one whom I met were students from all parts of Europe, Brazil and US. we formed a big gang and spent the whole night wondering in the streets of Rome. Finally we reached Vatican city (Another country, or the worlds smallest country) where the pope was addressing the mass gathering and giving speech (Christians call 'mass'). The city was crowded and everyone started celebrating the Christmas as the clock ticks 12:00 Midnight, fireworks and wishes everywhere. We spent the whole night chatting with each other, play station games, cooking pasta, etc etc :)
Rome day 3
Venice day 4http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay4# Venice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice) turned out to be an awful experience in the whole trip. The place was beautiful, scenic and different from any other cities in the world. But it was our bad time; our hostel was far far far away from the mainland, we did not get down at the correct station were we are suppose to and the weather was very very cold (though the sun was shinning bright). We manage to get into a bus and the driver got us down at the wrong stop and we had to walk 8KM to reach the hostel... Oh no! I was hoping, not to experience such thing again in my life in a new place like this. After we reached the hostel, things seems to have settled, we refreshed ourselves and took a bus (by this time we became expert in buses) to the mainland and walked in the streets of Venice. The streets are so small and people like me should think before entering the narrow streets, it was good. The waterways are the only mode of transportation in Venice. The gondola ride (we haven't taken this), the churches and small canals were the major point of attraction in Venice. We met a guy here, who also stayed along with us in the hostel, at Rome. We walked together chatting on different topics, doing window shopping, you will also find lots of mask shops (Venice is famous for mask) and what not !
It was a pleasant evening and outing ended after we departed him in the station and headed back to the hostel. Luckily we had a shuttle service back to the hostel which took 20 mins to reach there.The next day we planned to visit Florence and Pisa and we had to rush to the station early morning to catch the train. The bad time continued early in the morning and I would not like bring those bad moments into my mind again. Somehow we managed to reach the Florence/ Firenze.
Pisa and Florence Day 5 http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay5# I had decided to go to Pisa (Home to Enrico Fermi, Galileo and Fibonacci among others)) this day to see the famous Leaning tower or Torre Pendente (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa) . So I took a train from Firenze to Pisa, which takes only about an hour, and took a bus towards the tower. There is nothing much to do in Pisa except the tower and the Basilica next to it and the other museums nearby in the same place. It costs quite a lot of money (15€) to go up to top of the tower, but what's the fun in not going to the top after being there. So I had to do it just for the heck of it. It was a very nice experience climbing the winding stairs which goes around this leaning tower and when you climb can actually feel the lean on one side. It was a great view from the tower. Then I went inside and saw the cathedral nearby. That's it, I had to go and buy some mementos and souvenirs from the nearby open market.
After that I took the train back to Firenze and roamed the streets, Flea markets, The Duomo, locating some of the Museums and some galleries. After the gallery visit, I went to see the Duomo. It was undergoing some restoration on one side. But we were allowed to enter the Duomo. Late in the evening, I walked to the other side of River Arne along the famous Ponte Vecchio, Florence's oldest surviving bridge has Jewellery shops on both sides of the street. It is open only for pedestrian walking. It connects the Old Medici Florenti Palazzo(Palace) Vecchio to the New Florentine Palazzo Pitti. I crossed the River Arne towards Palazzo Pitti and found that it was closed and I started marching to Piazza Michael Angelo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_statue) to get a night view of the whole Firenze city from there and also saw the Bronze copy of David by Michael Angelo which adorns the Piazza. The night life at Firenze was again a wonderful experience, we again formed a gang of 8 and few among us started boozing like anything. There was one beautiful girl from Spain (originally from Brazil) in our gang and I can't stop myself flirting with her... Oh man.. She was amazing and cool; we were together had a nice time (you can see her in my pictures).
There was a cool chap Felipe, who offered us the Christmas wine/tequila, and the for the first time I had peak alcohol effect. It made me go crazy :) It was 1 AM in the night and we decided to walk in streets to go to a nightclub, we were walking and speaking some rubbish things and all of us had a good time. Unfortunately the night club was about to close in an hour so we decided not to go in and spend the night in the streets shouting and yelling some bad jokes, every one sharing their experience and i was telling them about my work (it was 28th dec, i completed 3 yrs in TCS), about my culture, about India and Finland, about my family and etc etc :). That night ended at 5 AM in the morning and I did not wanted to sleep but thought of taking a short nap to energize my self, to complete my lastlag of the whole trip. I had to wake up at 8 AM, to catch our train to Milan.
Day 6 - The Thriller
Our trip has reached the climax, but as in every Indian movies, we find lots of twist and interesting things happeining in climax. Yes ! the same happenend to us. First is, we missed the train in which we are supposed to board. At last decided to board a Euro star (and "without a ticket") :) from Florence to Milan, which turned out to a real thril. It was basically, the ticket collector's mistake who did not produce the ticket when we requested for and told us to wait until he completes his checking. But the person did not turn up :). By that time we reached Bologna, another tourist spot, where the trian stopped for the first time after it departed from Florence. We rushed down, without turning back and came out of the station :) Just stayed here for couple of hours as our next train to Milan was late. It was an express train to Milan !
It was my second Milan visit, as I have to catch the flight from here to helsinki. I roamed the city again and as the dawn begun, our bad time also started. Our flight to Helsinki was at 19:00 hrs and we reached the airport at 18:10 hrs, by the time we spoted Finnair boarding point for check-in, the counter was closed. As it took a long time for us to spot the counter (and later we were told that, boarding closed). Tensions started creeping on my head, but did not panic, made myself cool and was confident that we would board the flight today. I went pass the security check in without boarding pass. The Italian security gurads was so stupid, they did not even bother to ask for a passport or the boarding pass. I should say they are not only stupid but it was our luck and by this time the clock reads 18:40 hrs. We were running as though a mad bull was chasing us. Finally we reached Finnair gates and luckily managed to get a boarding pass on the spot. Woof! We entered the flight at 18:55 and cheering ourselves. Late in the night we reached Helsinki and the outside temperature was some -1 deg and we walked out the airport and took taxi and way back home.Wow.. Awesome... That's all I've got to say about the whole trip. I was so in awe that I really don't have better words for describing my feeling. Another amazing adventure and experience in a whole new world!!!
It was my second Milan visit, as I have to catch the flight from here to helsinki. I roamed the city again and as the dawn begun, our bad time also started. Our flight to Helsinki was at 19:00 hrs and we reached the airport at 18:10 hrs, by the time we spoted Finnair boarding point for check-in, the counter was closed. As it took a long time for us to spot the counter (and later we were told that, boarding closed). Tensions started creeping on my head, but did not panic, made myself cool and was confident that we would board the flight today. I went pass the security check in without boarding pass. The Italian security gurads was so stupid, they did not even bother to ask for a passport or the boarding pass. I should say they are not only stupid but it was our luck and by this time the clock reads 18:40 hrs. We were running as though a mad bull was chasing us. Finally we reached Finnair gates and luckily managed to get a boarding pass on the spot. Woof! We entered the flight at 18:55 and cheering ourselves. Late in the night we reached Helsinki and the outside temperature was some -1 deg and we walked out the airport and took taxi and way back home.Wow.. Awesome... That's all I've got to say about the whole trip. I was so in awe that I really don't have better words for describing my feeling. Another amazing adventure and experience in a whole new world!!!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Coffee!!! to go or not to go
I m not a coffee aficionado, but for the first time in my stay here at Helsinki, I was invited to have a coffee with a finn lady Tiiu. I'm trying to get pumped up for it. I feel relaxed, vibrant and lively when I spend time with a person whom I like and I never thought I would meet such a person here. A short background as to how it all started !
Tiiu, my colleague, we worked together for a couple of months and departed and almost stopped interacting for 4 months or so. My work demanded me again to work with Tiiu after say around 6 months. But this time I felt something special, not as before. I liked her company and support in day to day job and things were moving smooth. For the first time I got a chance to talk to her personally when we meet in our office canteen for lunch. And guess what ! I enjoyed chatting with her and she wanted to continue this later sometime.
On one fine day, a mail arrived to my inbox for a coffee with her (I never knew if I can call this just a evening coffee or a Coffee date). Out of excitement I just agreed without thinking about my plans on that day; unfortunately had to cancel them. Since I was not that familiar with the city I have asked her opinion about the venue, time and meeting point.
Well thats how it all started and let me see how it goes my first time with a finn !
Tiiu, my colleague, we worked together for a couple of months and departed and almost stopped interacting for 4 months or so. My work demanded me again to work with Tiiu after say around 6 months. But this time I felt something special, not as before. I liked her company and support in day to day job and things were moving smooth. For the first time I got a chance to talk to her personally when we meet in our office canteen for lunch. And guess what ! I enjoyed chatting with her and she wanted to continue this later sometime.
On one fine day, a mail arrived to my inbox for a coffee with her (I never knew if I can call this just a evening coffee or a Coffee date). Out of excitement I just agreed without thinking about my plans on that day; unfortunately had to cancel them. Since I was not that familiar with the city I have asked her opinion about the venue, time and meeting point.
Well thats how it all started and let me see how it goes my first time with a finn !
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Its all about life
Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.
"Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die. …
One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? …
It's ok, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, fall in love, little fights with your spouse. We are people, not programmed devices........." :)
"Don't be serious, be sincere."!!
- taken from a speech from Chetan Bhagat
Full article can be found here
"Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die. …
One thing about nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? …
It's ok, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, fall in love, little fights with your spouse. We are people, not programmed devices........." :)
"Don't be serious, be sincere."!!
- taken from a speech from Chetan Bhagat
Full article can be found here
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Bon Voyage to Scandinavian - from my heart
Distances seemed so innocuous before. In the past two months, distances have embedded their own reality in my being. Distances, which separate me. Into parts inside and across miles outside.
Journeys made across borders. On land. Inside minds. It is true that I have travelled. I would like to follow that up by saying, "I've arrived" and maybe it will sound regal and pompous. But it would also be hideously untrue. Truth is very important here, and almost as overrated as love. And without either I am equally lost.
What has my world come to and what is it now. Let me try to put it in words. It all began with a search for dreams. Dreams which define a life. My life. The building blocks of this search involved a lot of wandering, and I being the starry eyed wanderer I am, embarked on the voyage with a missionary zeal.
Soon the coast faded away, and the light from the lighthouse dwindled in the distance. Almost as soon, a new coast appeared to take its place. A place of magic, of painterly picturesque allure and of quiet. A quiet so enveloping that it drowned me within. Almost. A boat navigating the rapids gets dealt its share of blows. It is lucky though, to be afloat. Somewhere, Someone smiles.
New authority, and a new time. My world got remodeled without my consent. I was not only helpless to say no, I was also supposed to like the new decor. I did. I learned to bend. Over, under and inside out. The mind flitted back to familiar coasts, oscillating between the chosen dream and the forsaken reality.
Want. Unceasing bouts of emotion. My perceptions changed faster than the world around me. There were no ground truths, no basis for measurements, no frames of reference. Only the quiet inside, and outside. Decisions made in split seconds of reason pockmarked the face of my teen aged existential angst. The contrast was burning, like a Van Gogh canvas. It scorched its mark deep.
Voices sailed across. From afar. Simple voices. Those that I was born to. Voices that sang my life to tunes that I have composed, but those that I cannot sing. The quiet receded like a wave shying away from the shore. With an unspoken promise of returning soon.
What one journey takes away, can another return? Are all journeys across distances, or are some simply across time? Take the two together, and its like asking can one travel back into the past? Can I meet myself, and if I do, can I break out of this recursion?
Faces loved since the birth of time light up with unbridled joy. A journey purpose served. The quiet stands, hidden in the shadows. Watching. Waiting. As voices from afar seep through its cold walls and gush out nearby. The flow whets the parched clay. Forms take shape in memory's misty lanes. The form of chosen dreams.
Dreams, which call anew across distances. Is it wise to embark again? Uncertain love and undefined truth. Still I dare. Why? Because, without either I'll forever be lost. Stranded across distances I cannot fathom.
So I step. Step out, and step in. One step a lifetime.
After all, I can die only once
Journeys made across borders. On land. Inside minds. It is true that I have travelled. I would like to follow that up by saying, "I've arrived" and maybe it will sound regal and pompous. But it would also be hideously untrue. Truth is very important here, and almost as overrated as love. And without either I am equally lost.
What has my world come to and what is it now. Let me try to put it in words. It all began with a search for dreams. Dreams which define a life. My life. The building blocks of this search involved a lot of wandering, and I being the starry eyed wanderer I am, embarked on the voyage with a missionary zeal.
Soon the coast faded away, and the light from the lighthouse dwindled in the distance. Almost as soon, a new coast appeared to take its place. A place of magic, of painterly picturesque allure and of quiet. A quiet so enveloping that it drowned me within. Almost. A boat navigating the rapids gets dealt its share of blows. It is lucky though, to be afloat. Somewhere, Someone smiles.
New authority, and a new time. My world got remodeled without my consent. I was not only helpless to say no, I was also supposed to like the new decor. I did. I learned to bend. Over, under and inside out. The mind flitted back to familiar coasts, oscillating between the chosen dream and the forsaken reality.
Want. Unceasing bouts of emotion. My perceptions changed faster than the world around me. There were no ground truths, no basis for measurements, no frames of reference. Only the quiet inside, and outside. Decisions made in split seconds of reason pockmarked the face of my teen aged existential angst. The contrast was burning, like a Van Gogh canvas. It scorched its mark deep.
Voices sailed across. From afar. Simple voices. Those that I was born to. Voices that sang my life to tunes that I have composed, but those that I cannot sing. The quiet receded like a wave shying away from the shore. With an unspoken promise of returning soon.
What one journey takes away, can another return? Are all journeys across distances, or are some simply across time? Take the two together, and its like asking can one travel back into the past? Can I meet myself, and if I do, can I break out of this recursion?
Faces loved since the birth of time light up with unbridled joy. A journey purpose served. The quiet stands, hidden in the shadows. Watching. Waiting. As voices from afar seep through its cold walls and gush out nearby. The flow whets the parched clay. Forms take shape in memory's misty lanes. The form of chosen dreams.
Dreams, which call anew across distances. Is it wise to embark again? Uncertain love and undefined truth. Still I dare. Why? Because, without either I'll forever be lost. Stranded across distances I cannot fathom.
So I step. Step out, and step in. One step a lifetime.
After all, I can die only once
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Travelling abroad !!
My first travel abroad ! This mail was written to my friends and family 3 weeks after my stay in Finland.
Hi buddies,
How r u ppl doing!!!
I m doing fine here at Helsinki... Awesome place to work at...
My workplace is just like the GOOGLE office, the one you must seen on net... its almost similar to that... with all luxury and comforts, one would doubt whether it’s a theme park or an office.
Climate is good here 15 - 20 deg in the day time and sun sets strictly after 23:00 hrs... till then you won’t find artificial lights... Finnish citizen are good, pölite, calm and very understanding. They walk a lot, rather taking a train or bus. This is what i felt in the past few days in Finland... Every house here you ll find a bicycle and car; even I have one, I ll come back to my bicycle later.
Pollutionless city, water is pure crystal clear, sloppy roads, lots of white gals and guys always wearing a smile with them are the greatest assets of this city. The city is well know for its lakes and more over this city is known as costliest place in world. Added to that, it one of coldest capital in the Europe. Local ppl here say that temperature drops to -30 deg in the winter. Thank god its summer here.
At the office, Emplyoees are very professional and most of them are external people means you will find people from TCS Accenture Seimens Wipro and many others companies with whome Nokia have contracts. Lots of Indians at my office, every 8 th person is an Indian here. Finnish, Japanese, French, Swedish ppl, are also among us. I happen to speak with a Japanese lady, I just said one word ‘ hajimemashite’, she was very happy to hear an Indian speaking japenese, but she didn’t know that I know only hajimemashite word in japenese. She was expecting me to talk more in japenese but unfortunately I didn’t kno any!!! Later we had a long chat with her and her colleagues and our Indian gang.
Here I stay in a hotel called Privatel, an individual room. My PM and few of my colleagues also stay’s in this hotel. A well furnished room with a TV, fridge, Bed, 3 Owens for cooking and all cookery items available. Staying in a top floor allows me to see the city, and gr8 view to watch from the balcony.
Hotel provides morning breakfast, which is almost like a heavy lunch, with corn flakes, breads of different varities which I m seeing it for the first tym, butter cheese strawberry jam, oats, ground nuts jower mix, chocolate chips, salads, lettuce, bull,s eye(omelette), egg pudding, fish, mixed fruits chopped, juices of all fruits, milk, yoghurt, apples and bananas (I take them to office). This is what I have in the morning breakfast apart from these Pork beef and Ham (many varieties) Is also available which I never tried. Hope your stomachs are burning… hahahahaha...
I prepare my lunch in my room itself and carry it over to the office, come back to room and prepare dinner combining with other mates; the ultimate one. Cooking for 2 hrs and eating in 3 mins is what v call dinner. I ve got a bicycle from the hotel which is free to all hotel guest. I didn’t get a chance to ride it, have plans to go out this weekend and explore the streets of Helsinki.
Cost of living is too tooo tooooo high when compared to any other place. Everything is costly here. Still managing to live… I travel in train to office. My office hours are 9 – 6 but many times stay back till 8 also… My work is not that hard or difficult, I just manage to complete my task at the end of the day. Most of the time form a gang and chat with all unwanted issues put mokkais, laugh for silly thing… instant clarification of any doubts from nets, it may be searching for political issue or a movie matter, or who is who, where is this place!! Where to hang out in weekends… “ Hey we do work also”… Have plans to do Motta also, here at Finland… will send you the pics when I do so…
Sweden!!! the neighbouring country. When I came here, I never thought I ll step into another country also… As I had Schegen visa, I had a chance to visit Sweden without any difficulty. The day when I arrived here I was told about the plan to Sweden in coming weekend and the ticket was booked for me also. It was almost cheap, when compared to India cost wise, the cost was 50€ which comes around 2500 – 3000 rs. We booked a Cruise Ship (Silja Line, the name of the Ship) to Stockholm, the Sweden capital.
We all just waited for the weekend to come, 12 of us and 4 others from a different project. We left office Friday afternoon and went to harbour, it was a giant ship and that was the first time for me traveling in a ship, I felt a bit nervous when I looked in to the sea towards which the ship will sail all the way… but I was cool with all my team mates with me. All made me feel comfy and we boarded the ship. It was the first time for all 16 of us and we were wondering here and there in the ship with loads of excitement. Capturing pictures, making noises, every one noticed us… The ship was so huge that it accomated more than 5000 passengers, with long corridors, many shops and supermarket and high class . It had 13 floors in it. The top floor was open air and we could see the ship sailing over the sea. That was a great experience. The travel time from Helsinki to Stockholm was 15 hrs. We spended the time shoping in the tax free shops, playing games, pokers, gambling and night was the best part.. The ship had a disco and a night club… saw lots of ppl dancing and having fun with the music. It was rocking. The whole team was in the disco for 6 hrs till morning 4 am we were in the disco dancing… the crowd was making a huge noice and we made fun of each other and had gr8 tym.
We slept at 4 30 and th time we waked up we saw felt 0 disturbance or jerks. The ship reached Stockholm and everyone realized it very late. Every one was damm tried. Then we manage to come out of the ship started walking towards the exit of the harbour. We were address less at Stockholm. We don’t know were to go. We were dependent on one guy who promised us to guide us to the city, but unfortunately he didn’t turn up at the last minute. Then it was almost 11 and we some how manage to take a train and reach the city downtown.
Communication was not at all a problem here. We just had time to visit the main part of the city, palace, museum, had lunch at an Indian restaurant, and we met with a tragedy. It was 3 pm and our ship which will leave Stockholm to Helsinki was at 5 pm and we were in a place which was 20 mins from the harbour. So ppl who planned to leave to harbour left (8 ppl) and other 8 wished to come by bus, we just separated ourselves, after having another look into the city, we thought we would make up @ 5 but we were wrong, we 8 (including me) reached harbour at 4 30 and we went to a wrong destination were the ship was not present. It was a long harbour and we were lost. Around 4 45 we could see the ship which was about to depart in few minutes and our mates were inside the ship. We didn’t have phone for communication. We ran and reached Silja line port at exactly 5 pm and we were stopped by the officers and they said we are not supposed to board the ship here after. We sat in the nearby chair and saw the ship moving inch by inch from the shore. It was a bad moment and everyone was tensed. It was Saturday evening and the next ship was on the next day evening same time. We had plans to take rest on Sunday and then go to office on Monday. But for us it was another day in Sweden. Gals almost cried, but one among us co ordinated there after and cheered up everyone, and I was fully excited, never bothered about missing the ship, wanted to explore Stockholm fully. I was helping others to settle down and look for other options. The disappointing thing was we missed other 8. The next half an hour we were gossipping about how all this happen. Then we stayed in harbour for next 3 hrs and booked the ticket for the next ship free of cost, as we were Nokia employees. Harbour official were very polite and helped in finding a hotel. Then we booked a hotel for the night stay and later we all had dinner and we (except gals) were preparing for the night outs… roaming in the streets of Stockholm was just awesome and superb… As the sunlight was thr till 11 pm we were able to see many buildings palaces, back waters, bridges, and walk around the city corners. As it was a weekend there were many ppl in the roads till 3 am… we came back to our rooms and slept and woke up and all of us started to go around the city in a Sunday. We visited the Musuem and the palace and traveled many other places in the city. This time we came back to harbour at the right time and we boarded the ship without any problems.
On our way back to Helsinki, we found ourselves a bit tired and we had less energy to roam about in the ship, I just did some shopping and just sat in the top floor enjoying the each and every moment remembering what had happened and typing all this craps…… we came back with all sweet memories in our minds and this day will always be remembered in my dairy
We reached Helsinki Monday morning and rushed to the office and fortunately our PM understands the situation and without any problem we continued our work…
I still haven t got a connection for communication. Once I get that I ll let ppl know.
And guys how r u doing!! Miss you ppl a lot here… it was nice to speak with few guys…
Will send you photos in my next mail…
Take care buddies…
Keep in touch in orkut/mail and by what ever mean possible…
Tata
Hi buddies,
How r u ppl doing!!!
I m doing fine here at Helsinki... Awesome place to work at...
My workplace is just like the GOOGLE office, the one you must seen on net... its almost similar to that... with all luxury and comforts, one would doubt whether it’s a theme park or an office.
Climate is good here 15 - 20 deg in the day time and sun sets strictly after 23:00 hrs... till then you won’t find artificial lights... Finnish citizen are good, pölite, calm and very understanding. They walk a lot, rather taking a train or bus. This is what i felt in the past few days in Finland... Every house here you ll find a bicycle and car; even I have one, I ll come back to my bicycle later.
Pollutionless city, water is pure crystal clear, sloppy roads, lots of white gals and guys always wearing a smile with them are the greatest assets of this city. The city is well know for its lakes and more over this city is known as costliest place in world. Added to that, it one of coldest capital in the Europe. Local ppl here say that temperature drops to -30 deg in the winter. Thank god its summer here.
At the office, Emplyoees are very professional and most of them are external people means you will find people from TCS Accenture Seimens Wipro and many others companies with whome Nokia have contracts. Lots of Indians at my office, every 8 th person is an Indian here. Finnish, Japanese, French, Swedish ppl, are also among us. I happen to speak with a Japanese lady, I just said one word ‘ hajimemashite’, she was very happy to hear an Indian speaking japenese, but she didn’t know that I know only hajimemashite word in japenese. She was expecting me to talk more in japenese but unfortunately I didn’t kno any!!! Later we had a long chat with her and her colleagues and our Indian gang.
Here I stay in a hotel called Privatel, an individual room. My PM and few of my colleagues also stay’s in this hotel. A well furnished room with a TV, fridge, Bed, 3 Owens for cooking and all cookery items available. Staying in a top floor allows me to see the city, and gr8 view to watch from the balcony.
Hotel provides morning breakfast, which is almost like a heavy lunch, with corn flakes, breads of different varities which I m seeing it for the first tym, butter cheese strawberry jam, oats, ground nuts jower mix, chocolate chips, salads, lettuce, bull,s eye(omelette), egg pudding, fish, mixed fruits chopped, juices of all fruits, milk, yoghurt, apples and bananas (I take them to office). This is what I have in the morning breakfast apart from these Pork beef and Ham (many varieties) Is also available which I never tried. Hope your stomachs are burning… hahahahaha...
I prepare my lunch in my room itself and carry it over to the office, come back to room and prepare dinner combining with other mates; the ultimate one. Cooking for 2 hrs and eating in 3 mins is what v call dinner. I ve got a bicycle from the hotel which is free to all hotel guest. I didn’t get a chance to ride it, have plans to go out this weekend and explore the streets of Helsinki.
Cost of living is too tooo tooooo high when compared to any other place. Everything is costly here. Still managing to live… I travel in train to office. My office hours are 9 – 6 but many times stay back till 8 also… My work is not that hard or difficult, I just manage to complete my task at the end of the day. Most of the time form a gang and chat with all unwanted issues put mokkais, laugh for silly thing… instant clarification of any doubts from nets, it may be searching for political issue or a movie matter, or who is who, where is this place!! Where to hang out in weekends… “ Hey we do work also”… Have plans to do Motta also, here at Finland… will send you the pics when I do so…
Sweden!!! the neighbouring country. When I came here, I never thought I ll step into another country also… As I had Schegen visa, I had a chance to visit Sweden without any difficulty. The day when I arrived here I was told about the plan to Sweden in coming weekend and the ticket was booked for me also. It was almost cheap, when compared to India cost wise, the cost was 50€ which comes around 2500 – 3000 rs. We booked a Cruise Ship (Silja Line, the name of the Ship) to Stockholm, the Sweden capital.
We all just waited for the weekend to come, 12 of us and 4 others from a different project. We left office Friday afternoon and went to harbour, it was a giant ship and that was the first time for me traveling in a ship, I felt a bit nervous when I looked in to the sea towards which the ship will sail all the way… but I was cool with all my team mates with me. All made me feel comfy and we boarded the ship. It was the first time for all 16 of us and we were wondering here and there in the ship with loads of excitement. Capturing pictures, making noises, every one noticed us… The ship was so huge that it accomated more than 5000 passengers, with long corridors, many shops and supermarket and high class . It had 13 floors in it. The top floor was open air and we could see the ship sailing over the sea. That was a great experience. The travel time from Helsinki to Stockholm was 15 hrs. We spended the time shoping in the tax free shops, playing games, pokers, gambling and night was the best part.. The ship had a disco and a night club… saw lots of ppl dancing and having fun with the music. It was rocking. The whole team was in the disco for 6 hrs till morning 4 am we were in the disco dancing… the crowd was making a huge noice and we made fun of each other and had gr8 tym.
We slept at 4 30 and th time we waked up we saw felt 0 disturbance or jerks. The ship reached Stockholm and everyone realized it very late. Every one was damm tried. Then we manage to come out of the ship started walking towards the exit of the harbour. We were address less at Stockholm. We don’t know were to go. We were dependent on one guy who promised us to guide us to the city, but unfortunately he didn’t turn up at the last minute. Then it was almost 11 and we some how manage to take a train and reach the city downtown.
Communication was not at all a problem here. We just had time to visit the main part of the city, palace, museum, had lunch at an Indian restaurant, and we met with a tragedy. It was 3 pm and our ship which will leave Stockholm to Helsinki was at 5 pm and we were in a place which was 20 mins from the harbour. So ppl who planned to leave to harbour left (8 ppl) and other 8 wished to come by bus, we just separated ourselves, after having another look into the city, we thought we would make up @ 5 but we were wrong, we 8 (including me) reached harbour at 4 30 and we went to a wrong destination were the ship was not present. It was a long harbour and we were lost. Around 4 45 we could see the ship which was about to depart in few minutes and our mates were inside the ship. We didn’t have phone for communication. We ran and reached Silja line port at exactly 5 pm and we were stopped by the officers and they said we are not supposed to board the ship here after. We sat in the nearby chair and saw the ship moving inch by inch from the shore. It was a bad moment and everyone was tensed. It was Saturday evening and the next ship was on the next day evening same time. We had plans to take rest on Sunday and then go to office on Monday. But for us it was another day in Sweden. Gals almost cried, but one among us co ordinated there after and cheered up everyone, and I was fully excited, never bothered about missing the ship, wanted to explore Stockholm fully. I was helping others to settle down and look for other options. The disappointing thing was we missed other 8. The next half an hour we were gossipping about how all this happen. Then we stayed in harbour for next 3 hrs and booked the ticket for the next ship free of cost, as we were Nokia employees. Harbour official were very polite and helped in finding a hotel. Then we booked a hotel for the night stay and later we all had dinner and we (except gals) were preparing for the night outs… roaming in the streets of Stockholm was just awesome and superb… As the sunlight was thr till 11 pm we were able to see many buildings palaces, back waters, bridges, and walk around the city corners. As it was a weekend there were many ppl in the roads till 3 am… we came back to our rooms and slept and woke up and all of us started to go around the city in a Sunday. We visited the Musuem and the palace and traveled many other places in the city. This time we came back to harbour at the right time and we boarded the ship without any problems.
On our way back to Helsinki, we found ourselves a bit tired and we had less energy to roam about in the ship, I just did some shopping and just sat in the top floor enjoying the each and every moment remembering what had happened and typing all this craps…… we came back with all sweet memories in our minds and this day will always be remembered in my dairy
We reached Helsinki Monday morning and rushed to the office and fortunately our PM understands the situation and without any problem we continued our work…
I still haven t got a connection for communication. Once I get that I ll let ppl know.
And guys how r u doing!! Miss you ppl a lot here… it was nice to speak with few guys…
Will send you photos in my next mail…
Take care buddies…
Keep in touch in orkut/mail and by what ever mean possible…
Tata
Monday, January 1, 2007
Have you heard ? - TCS pays salary for fun !!! -- It's ILP dude
tic tic toe... tic tic toe.... tic tic toe...
26th DEC 2005 09:00 Am @ Chennai central railway station, standing on foot board of Coromandal Express, waving my hands for a long goodbye to my parents...
Its time to ILP
Life has taken me to a new directions after I stepped into my first job in IT. Campus interviews, written tests, HR interview, results, offer letter, new faces, TCS vadapalani office, joining letter and here I m in Bhubaneswar to witness what TCS gonna provide me for my rest of my IT career... Well... it all started of with a paid holidays.. ha ha ha..
back to 26th Dec 2005; almost 30% of the train population was filled with TCS budding software engineers, the train all travelling to Bhubaneswar (BBSR)... Though I already have some friends from my college travelling along with me and some whom I knew, I still started making my intro to every single person who looked very serious from their face, travelling alone, although I misjudged a few :) but got to know almost many of them by the time I reached BBSR... The whole train journey was completely filled with excitement new people and making new friends..
27th Dec 2005: reached BBSR.... A new dawn, a new place... We took and auto to Patalia where we got our accomodation... day to rest and make ourselves fresh and look out where our friends got their accomodation... To my surprise, I found were many other buddies who already arrived a day before from every corner of the country...
28th Dec 2005: Unforgettable events
The first day, Morning bath (whether to bath or not to bath), "machi water is very cold"
Hey how to wear the tie…
My dress… "Is this dress matching?" Pity on Niranjan (CR B29), no dress to wear… this guy coolly brought the suitcase from Chennai keeping the keys at home and realized when he stepped in BBSR…
My files… My documents… "Alas!!! I didn't sign here", "should I carry this document", "My passport", "Where did I keep my mark sheets", all sought of tensions…
Gather some friends to have breakfast… "Machi udupi… No… Subham…" and atlast went to Canteen…
Abdul Kalam visit to KIIT… everyone was eager to see this great personality…
Entered IBAT, "hey this is Allahabad bank", No da this is only TCS… (Some hindi guys) "yeh kya TCS office hain kya… itna Chota"
(tamil guys) "cha rombo chinada iruke"
Entered Audi… Gangs formed slowly… Lectures from Suman, summit ,Vijay and Asit pradan started… very eagerly watched and got bored as usual… batches formed …
CR selection… will never forget B27 CR selection…
Lunch… (None knew food could be an all time problem)
"No place to sit"
"No taste"
"No juices"
"Only all new faces"
Back to audi… Got a thread and ID card, which was misunderstood as tag… Weared the tag and walked briskly on the roads of Patia…
Vijay's dialogue, "please fill ur address correctly", "please put ur signature here"… bla bla bla….
Vending machines at terrace…
Evening walk, back to Villa and Apartments (Finding short cuts to go to villa)
The day when we all first met? Not knowing each other… Not wanting to know… Not even a smile… Then we started with a blank smile. Then we started with (in Tamil) vanga, solunga (with a respect tone), ponga… then became va, solu, po… Then we addressed with dai, da, di, machi and all!!! Had a fun and memorable time with my batch mates(B28), had masti with roommates Mohamed Suja and Niranjan… My gang and all other staff… A new innings of my life was shaping up as I was undergoing my ILP at BBSR...
Some memorable moments
Tera suroor song
Get togethers
Picnic to Konark Puri and Beach
Big bazaar
Singing songs in the bus, we traveled
Reliance GSM connection.
It took a long time to spell "Hajimemashite"…
The song that was played for written communication… some sha la la la wo oo wo ooo
ICICI bank
KIIT hospital where our buddies were admitted during malaria
Udupi's Shubham and madhuban… never go to canteen
Chilka lake
Camera cell phone (that you can misuse at ur will) to capture all the happy moments (Guys.... plz donn let ur imaginations take wings!!)
Udaygiri caves
Kolkata bazaar
Rang de basanti
Pongal celebration
Together to temple on top of the hill.
Playing in KIIT campus
The auto's bargain.
Cricket.
Projects (only reason to enter gals VILLA)…
Laptops
Evening walk to villa from IBAT with most friendly and lovable person
Late night project discussion (Kadalai)
The foggy day… I was blind the whole morning
Attendence sheet
Feedback forms
Books
"Notepad over"… "CRRRRRRRRR please get me notepads" I could still hear the sound
Star of the day.
Its 5'o' Clock… sir plz stop the class
Antakshari
Debates
Birthday parties late night…
Hot water issue
New year celebrations
Midterm exams
Group study
Open book test
Gracia, vijay, sumit, suman, tarun,Chitanand, Nanda, karthik, meera, sudipto Sailesh, Preet...
Japanese with Ashish
Anupam's, "Think man Think", inspired many.
Jayanthi's her attitude….. aarrgghhhhh!!!!
End term exams
Asit Pradhan's Accident… Always remembered
Farewell day left tears in our eyes.
And now it's been a year in TCS, few early confirmations, few onsite, many having training abroad and in India also… Congrats to all… Shared our days, hours, minutes and seconds together. We made castles with our thoughts, moved mountain with our dreams… Today I wanna tell you how much u mean to me… hand in hand we move the immobile… "Long live our friendship"
Life becomes so easy at work when you have wonderful Colleagues around you. Thanks to my friends and colleagues in ILP who had helped me a lot during those days and it was really a growing experience for me. I hope to carry this rich experience with me in all my future endeavors. I pray for all ur life engagements current and future, let with the grace of god...U all shine with flying colors in every thing u all take up.
Wishing all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2007!
Dream your dreams and put your foot on the path to fulfilling your dreams. Do not hang back. Go ahead and try. If you succeed, brilliant. If you only get part way there, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you tried, you gave it your best shot.
26th DEC 2005 09:00 Am @ Chennai central railway station, standing on foot board of Coromandal Express, waving my hands for a long goodbye to my parents...
Its time to ILP
Life has taken me to a new directions after I stepped into my first job in IT. Campus interviews, written tests, HR interview, results, offer letter, new faces, TCS vadapalani office, joining letter and here I m in Bhubaneswar to witness what TCS gonna provide me for my rest of my IT career... Well... it all started of with a paid holidays.. ha ha ha..
back to 26th Dec 2005; almost 30% of the train population was filled with TCS budding software engineers, the train all travelling to Bhubaneswar (BBSR)... Though I already have some friends from my college travelling along with me and some whom I knew, I still started making my intro to every single person who looked very serious from their face, travelling alone, although I misjudged a few :) but got to know almost many of them by the time I reached BBSR... The whole train journey was completely filled with excitement new people and making new friends..
27th Dec 2005: reached BBSR.... A new dawn, a new place... We took and auto to Patalia where we got our accomodation... day to rest and make ourselves fresh and look out where our friends got their accomodation... To my surprise, I found were many other buddies who already arrived a day before from every corner of the country...
28th Dec 2005: Unforgettable events
The first day, Morning bath (whether to bath or not to bath), "machi water is very cold"
Hey how to wear the tie…
My dress… "Is this dress matching?" Pity on Niranjan (CR B29), no dress to wear… this guy coolly brought the suitcase from Chennai keeping the keys at home and realized when he stepped in BBSR…
My files… My documents… "Alas!!! I didn't sign here", "should I carry this document", "My passport", "Where did I keep my mark sheets", all sought of tensions…
Gather some friends to have breakfast… "Machi udupi… No… Subham…" and atlast went to Canteen…
Abdul Kalam visit to KIIT… everyone was eager to see this great personality…
Entered IBAT, "hey this is Allahabad bank", No da this is only TCS… (Some hindi guys) "yeh kya TCS office hain kya… itna Chota"
(tamil guys) "cha rombo chinada iruke"
Entered Audi… Gangs formed slowly… Lectures from Suman, summit ,Vijay and Asit pradan started… very eagerly watched and got bored as usual… batches formed …
CR selection… will never forget B27 CR selection…
Lunch… (None knew food could be an all time problem)
"No place to sit"
"No taste"
"No juices"
"Only all new faces"
Back to audi… Got a thread and ID card, which was misunderstood as tag… Weared the tag and walked briskly on the roads of Patia…
Vijay's dialogue, "please fill ur address correctly", "please put ur signature here"… bla bla bla….
Vending machines at terrace…
Evening walk, back to Villa and Apartments (Finding short cuts to go to villa)
The day when we all first met? Not knowing each other… Not wanting to know… Not even a smile… Then we started with a blank smile. Then we started with (in Tamil) vanga, solunga (with a respect tone), ponga… then became va, solu, po… Then we addressed with dai, da, di, machi and all!!! Had a fun and memorable time with my batch mates(B28), had masti with roommates Mohamed Suja and Niranjan… My gang and all other staff… A new innings of my life was shaping up as I was undergoing my ILP at BBSR...
Some memorable moments
Tera suroor song
Get togethers
Picnic to Konark Puri and Beach
Big bazaar
Singing songs in the bus, we traveled
Reliance GSM connection.
It took a long time to spell "Hajimemashite"…
The song that was played for written communication… some sha la la la wo oo wo ooo
ICICI bank
KIIT hospital where our buddies were admitted during malaria
Udupi's Shubham and madhuban… never go to canteen
Chilka lake
Camera cell phone (that you can misuse at ur will) to capture all the happy moments (Guys.... plz donn let ur imaginations take wings!!)
Udaygiri caves
Kolkata bazaar
Rang de basanti
Pongal celebration
Together to temple on top of the hill.
Playing in KIIT campus
The auto's bargain.
Cricket.
Projects (only reason to enter gals VILLA)…
Laptops
Evening walk to villa from IBAT with most friendly and lovable person
Late night project discussion (Kadalai)
The foggy day… I was blind the whole morning
Attendence sheet
Feedback forms
Books
"Notepad over"… "CRRRRRRRRR please get me notepads" I could still hear the sound
Star of the day.
Its 5'o' Clock… sir plz stop the class
Antakshari
Debates
Birthday parties late night…
Hot water issue
New year celebrations
Midterm exams
Group study
Open book test
Gracia, vijay, sumit, suman, tarun,Chitanand, Nanda, karthik, meera, sudipto Sailesh, Preet...
Japanese with Ashish
Anupam's, "Think man Think", inspired many.
Jayanthi's her attitude….. aarrgghhhhh!!!!
End term exams
Asit Pradhan's Accident… Always remembered
Farewell day left tears in our eyes.
And now it's been a year in TCS, few early confirmations, few onsite, many having training abroad and in India also… Congrats to all… Shared our days, hours, minutes and seconds together. We made castles with our thoughts, moved mountain with our dreams… Today I wanna tell you how much u mean to me… hand in hand we move the immobile… "Long live our friendship"
Life becomes so easy at work when you have wonderful Colleagues around you. Thanks to my friends and colleagues in ILP who had helped me a lot during those days and it was really a growing experience for me. I hope to carry this rich experience with me in all my future endeavors. I pray for all ur life engagements current and future, let with the grace of god...U all shine with flying colors in every thing u all take up.
Wishing all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2007!
Dream your dreams and put your foot on the path to fulfilling your dreams. Do not hang back. Go ahead and try. If you succeed, brilliant. If you only get part way there, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you tried, you gave it your best shot.
Monday, February 27, 2006
ILP
Studies, career, settling in life, were the only things running my mind till today. FUN factor was missing until I got into ILP. TCS recruited me and I had to wait 6 months until I got the joining letter. I was very excited to join TCS and especially ILP, I hear a lot about ILP from other internet friends who have already experienced it. One fine day I got a letter from Hariharan; a TCSer - probably a human resource guy.
"Dear Candidate,
Greetings from TATA Consultancy Services.
With reference to your ILP Batch 28th DEC ---Bhubhaneswar . Pls come and collect your joining letter on 30/11/2005 -Monday by 3pm to 3:30pm at TCS-Vadapalani Office.
Pls bring copy of your offer letter for verification,
Pls dont forward it to any yahoo groups. "
I was told by a TCSer , in TCS ILP are very 1st days as a professional, our starting days in corporate world. Never miss the beginning, we have long way to go and a very long ladder to climb". I never realized what he meant by "never miss the beginning", but just after ILP, I remembered those words. Let me see how long ladder, I have to build !
Nov 30th: Met many other guys and gals like me waiting to collect the letter. I found my best friends, college mates belonging to the same batch, already started to form groups. This was the same group of people booked train tickets to BBSR together and got seats in same compartment.
Dec 26th: The day when I again met the same set of people and many more, excitement was running all around me... started to interact with so many people, I never felt lonely and I was one among them cheering, making fun and knowing many people! Yes of course sighting :) The whole train journey was real fun.
Dec 28th: The whole scenario changed. I can see serious faces, nervousness, bunch of equally apprehensive people eager to make their mark in the corporate world. I met so many people with variety of skills, smart people, techies, some had great command over language, some were genuinely naïve, some thought they were gods best gifts to humanity and to top it all there were some who would not stop asking foolish doubts :), they were also someone whom anyone would love to imitate and the best sources of entertainment was lectures.
Though the gang got seperated into different batches, we met during the breaks, after class hours, walking together back to villa. I was not just sticking myself with gand but mingled with other gang, which gave made me feel more social and connected. Understading people from different states, their style of living, likes and dislikes was interesting to me. I had a very good journey throughout the ILP. We developed a sort of harmony, got accustomed to each other, somewhere love blossomed and somewhere friendship, planned trips; generally trips tend to exhaust you but these trips rejuvenated us nonetheless. Days passed, those lectures, feedback forms, role play, hajimemashite (japenese classes), midterm tests, first salary (for having fun), parties, birthday bash, group studies (was excuse for flirting with girls), pongal celebrations, I felt every moment was special. All goodie goodie things comes to an end and then came the final day Feb 23rd. We together formed a strong group of friends as a team as a batch and I know is very difficult to part it. I know each and every one of you have felt the same. It was such a great, happy and wonderful time we had.
If getting back home was something that made everyone happy losing on such wonderful friends made everyone sad. I wish this ilp lasted longer. This wonderful phase of my life is etched in my mind like one of the most beautiful memories.
ILP will always be remembered...
"Dear Candidate,
Greetings from TATA Consultancy Services.
With reference to your ILP Batch 28th DEC ---Bhubhaneswar . Pls come and collect your joining letter on 30/11/2005 -Monday by 3pm to 3:30pm at TCS-Vadapalani Office.
Pls bring copy of your offer letter for verification,
Pls dont forward it to any yahoo groups. "
I was told by a TCSer , in TCS ILP are very 1st days as a professional, our starting days in corporate world. Never miss the beginning, we have long way to go and a very long ladder to climb". I never realized what he meant by "never miss the beginning", but just after ILP, I remembered those words. Let me see how long ladder, I have to build !
Nov 30th: Met many other guys and gals like me waiting to collect the letter. I found my best friends, college mates belonging to the same batch, already started to form groups. This was the same group of people booked train tickets to BBSR together and got seats in same compartment.
Dec 26th: The day when I again met the same set of people and many more, excitement was running all around me... started to interact with so many people, I never felt lonely and I was one among them cheering, making fun and knowing many people! Yes of course sighting :) The whole train journey was real fun.
Dec 28th: The whole scenario changed. I can see serious faces, nervousness, bunch of equally apprehensive people eager to make their mark in the corporate world. I met so many people with variety of skills, smart people, techies, some had great command over language, some were genuinely naïve, some thought they were gods best gifts to humanity and to top it all there were some who would not stop asking foolish doubts :), they were also someone whom anyone would love to imitate and the best sources of entertainment was lectures.
Though the gang got seperated into different batches, we met during the breaks, after class hours, walking together back to villa. I was not just sticking myself with gand but mingled with other gang, which gave made me feel more social and connected. Understading people from different states, their style of living, likes and dislikes was interesting to me. I had a very good journey throughout the ILP. We developed a sort of harmony, got accustomed to each other, somewhere love blossomed and somewhere friendship, planned trips; generally trips tend to exhaust you but these trips rejuvenated us nonetheless. Days passed, those lectures, feedback forms, role play, hajimemashite (japenese classes), midterm tests, first salary (for having fun), parties, birthday bash, group studies (was excuse for flirting with girls), pongal celebrations, I felt every moment was special. All goodie goodie things comes to an end and then came the final day Feb 23rd. We together formed a strong group of friends as a team as a batch and I know is very difficult to part it. I know each and every one of you have felt the same. It was such a great, happy and wonderful time we had.
If getting back home was something that made everyone happy losing on such wonderful friends made everyone sad. I wish this ilp lasted longer. This wonderful phase of my life is etched in my mind like one of the most beautiful memories.
ILP will always be remembered...
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Amar - since 1984
This is not my first attempt into writing some sort of a diary - but I always give it up - someway, sometime in the middle of it all the chaos of my existence I always give up writing. Well ... here's another attempt - lets hope it manages to sustain itself through ....
Let me introduce myself - I am 21 and from Chennai, India (why would anybody want to know that - I have no idea!!). What do I do - well I fiddle around with computers, read a lot, draw a little, play a lot, talk a little, have friends a lot, and hang out most of the time ... And I like to find out stuff about various countries, andalways had a wish to travel their many cities and to know people and .... (how many of you are still reading this :-) ). Though I must confess I havent been anywhere much yet - most of my own country is quite a mystery to me still (as if anybody else has a clue what it is all about (lol)... but I plan to find out someday
well, now thats that. This is my special day in my career and I would remember this day travelling back from my college on my last working day completing my satellite communication exam on May 4th 2005...
thanks to my buddy who enlightened me about blogging...
My motto is to spread happiness across and live tension free life
Let me introduce myself - I am 21 and from Chennai, India (why would anybody want to know that - I have no idea!!). What do I do - well I fiddle around with computers, read a lot, draw a little, play a lot, talk a little, have friends a lot, and hang out most of the time ... And I like to find out stuff about various countries, andalways had a wish to travel their many cities and to know people and .... (how many of you are still reading this :-) ). Though I must confess I havent been anywhere much yet - most of my own country is quite a mystery to me still (as if anybody else has a clue what it is all about (lol)... but I plan to find out someday
well, now thats that. This is my special day in my career and I would remember this day travelling back from my college on my last working day completing my satellite communication exam on May 4th 2005...
thanks to my buddy who enlightened me about blogging...
My motto is to spread happiness across and live tension free life
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