“How does it feel when you wake up and realize that you will not be paid for that day?” I asked Ankit, a close friend as I woke up today – 2nd April, 2009. His lame and lazy looks responded – Dude, I am too used to your morning wit – 9 years now - and I would not consider answering this. Especially at this hour of day, when I use my head least n you perhaps most. For whatever you answer will be pretty unobvious. So please go ahead, answer and please yourself, and I will laugh – involuntary like most of the times. I caught all this in a flash and didn’t, as never before, mind the involuntary piece in the information and proceeded unilaterally with my response “Heavenly. I feel totally blank and blessed. I never knew getting out of job can be so fulfilling”. He had a good laugh and I - a good start to my day.
A lot has gone behind the build up to this day. Simply put a hell lot. But this post is not to dwell into those esoteric times. This post is more about the mystic smell of today, the sweet pleasant present, and the recent activities around the same. It has been a season of farewells and parties ever since I returned from US to spend my last few days with TCS. As they say good or bad, things usually happens in packages. As much pleased I was to return to my old routine – GGN, Offshore team, and all the fun - I was equally happy that most people I’d wished to meet from my current version visited Delhi in March. Awesome! Lucky I. I had a huge list of to do – that included visiting numerous places / restaurants I long cherished in Delhi. I have able to meet all such objectives. I have also been able to reinforce the relationship I shared with most and I earnestly hope I carry on. Unwise what’s the best way to state, but as much as I enjoyed the compassion from most of people and enjoyed building of new bridges, I am also experiencing cracks at some unexpected places that are beyond my comprehension. Perhaps it’s a normal course of transition for human nature. Unlike old me, I will let it happen. Perhaps it’s right time for some weeding to happen. With these mixed - mostly elated - feeling I have concluded my journey with TCS and everything around it. I have had the fortune of gaining support from wonderful set of people and that’s more than sufficient. Everything else around Vinit Garg 1.0 version stands closed now.
What’s next? Terrific lot! As for now, I am looking for my travel towards the nucleus of this universe, to my native place Dhuri, to conclude. I can already touch & feel the distinctive smell in this part of the world. Familiar people, feels like my own - speaking in blunt, powerful, and crisp - Punjabi. The train, almost a time machine since it has transported me successfully several times in and out of worlds that are several light years away, is already taking that its 90 degree curve and I will soon at my home town’s station and mom & dad will be there. Remind me of SRK’s homecoming in KKKG. One week at the center of the universe and I shall be out again, reconditioned, rejuvenated, towards a next objective – Vinit Garg’s version 1.1! A lot more to come on that!
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Friday, April 03, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Goa Trip - Capturing those incredible moments !!!
One of my best trips! Awesome place, awesome occasion, awesome peer group, and above all, the unique combination of 4 B’s – Goa's USP - that made the trip deeply embedded in our memories forever. Perhaps this post will assist in some way to remember the nitty gritties of the tour!!!
Day 1 – The Lost Castle
We arrived at Goa 8:00 P:M and targeted 9:30 P:M to hit the beach. Most of us were envisioning shacks, beer, and beach everywhere during our flight from Delhi. The guest house guy was surprised at the pace with which we arrived, changed, and left. Soon we were at Calangunte Beach – most of us struggling n fighting over the correct pronunciation – and the shack closest to sea was chosen for the grand opening of an innings to meet our target of 100 Beers during the Goa Trip!!
Ankit and I did a “Bottoms Up” with the first beer, and decided that this will be our eeeeeestyle to start every booze party. Ankit later backed out though. 5 of us were preparing our Beer Castle, where each person will arrange his empty bottles in his castle and as the end we will all compare the count. Ashu, couldn’t help repeat 100 times – This is a great idea!! By early morning, all the tourists except 5 of us had disappeared and our beer castle had grown significantly high. Two B’s were already working here – Beach and Beer. However the castles we prepared were lost forever. The digital camera we clicked ourselves with got lost at either of three places – Dropped in sea or lost in beach sand or stolen by the waiter. We could not locate / remember where and who saw it last – The Castles were big you know. The camera loss also meant that we lost our pics of our castles forever. Also, sacrificed were two cell phones – something made two guys dive n jump in water with cell phones in pocket – the castles were huge you know. Moving on, we hired an Auto this time, a unique one. Guess what – The auto had a gate, yes I mean a physical gate that would open just as a car’s do. I repeatedly asked the auto guy the secret behind the gate 8-10 times before my friends helped me realize we could be dropped, rather throw, in middle of the road- The castles were huge you know. I still think that the auto was pretty cool. So impressed was I that I have brought a Memento, a magnet, of the Goa Auto. That brought us to end of very short yet very expensive day at Goa.
Day 2 – The Banana Ride and the other 2 B’s
The next day started with an incessant search for our ride – A bike or car. Good fortune prevailed and we ended up picking Bajaj Avenger over a car or jeep. From there on, the bike rides contributed most significantly to our overall experience.
Water Sports at Calangunte was primary agenda of the day. We didn’t click ourselves much there – the consciousness from loss of digital camera was enough to teach me not to risk my Nikon D40. The two firsts that I personally experimented were Para-gliding and Banana ride. During Paragliding we learnt how cool Goa actually is. The instructor was absolutely fine if we were to bring beer and take it with us in the air. What a missed opportunity!! We contemplated to go to shore n bring our bottles but then, sensibility suggested that we park this thought – let it be our driver to return back to Goa. Next, was the acme of the Goa trip, the Banana Ride. The excitement of being throw open in the sea, Nitin’s frantic search for land and repeated requests to the vendor “Bhaiya, mughe mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, aab please dobara mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, please boat mein hi le jayo” , Ankit’s confidence that I and Varun caught as fake when he said “Main theek huin yaar but mughe lagta hai ki tum aur boat mugh se doorrr ja rahe ho”, “Aur koi khass baat nahin, lekin bohat pani chala gaya hai anndar” - All of us thought at one point or the other that we will never be able to get back to the shore. We fell 5 times while trying to get on the Banana, scaring off the “boat” guy also. At last, we all survived – we grew bit heavier n saline due to amount of water and salt we consumed but we survived – One of my most exciting experience ever.
During all this, we were also steadily progressing towards our objective – 100 Beers. Of course by this time, the 4th B – Babes also contributed in our enriching experience. Nikon D40 SLR with excellent zoom (Am I marketing for Nikon – So be it) helped us capture and appreciate beauty God so carefully created. There were numerous foreigners from across the word but I think nothing beats the Indian beauties. After a quick lunch, we next hit the road again towards Fort Aguada – the DCH way. During our journey, one guy sat backwards on Bike in turns, clicking close n careful photographs of other two driving. We caught attention of locals as well as several foreigners – some thought we were nerds and cracks, others thought we were cool, and some thought we were professional photographers. The trip to Fort was good n helped us take some very good shots and we drove back to Vacautor Beach – the rock beach – to view the Sunset.
Fresh from my experience of Sunset in San Diego, I must say that Goa’s sunset was a disappointment; I was expecting wonderful display of colors n hoping to take some great shots – both went incomplete since the Sunset was nothing spectacular. Nevertheless, it was pretty refreshing and we moved to “The Saturday Nite” market in Arpora. We explored n rode through numerous roads in the interiors of Goa and loved it. The market was pretty good, most of stalls n shops were owned by foreigners. We tasted good wine and food there and moved on to our favorite place, the Beach Shacks at Baga Beach that was lot more happening than Calangunte as far as nightlife is concerned. We tasted Cashew Feni and danced quite a lot at the open disc. Nitin wanted to sleep at the Beach itself but was informed and scared by the waiter about potential raids by police or stray dogs wandering around. He rejected the idea. While returning back, Ankit turned down plan to go to Café Coffee day and earned several curses from us. It worked. Police tried to stop Ankit’s bike, he ran instead, police followed, and finally caught him. Ankit still maintains that he just paid 300 Rs but we continue to be skeptical – must have been something more, either money or …………
That brought end to Day 2@ Goa!! Thrilling, exciting, awesome, fantastic, fabulous, fantabulos– What not!
Day 3 – Beer Game and Pressure censors!!
Day 3 was always about Beer Game. Nothing else was planned. We took a call to skip driving 80 Km to South Goa and focus on North Goa. We picked up the happening Calangunte again. Before I get into specifics, first I will briefly explain what exactly Beer Game is.
I last played and learnt the same while at Backwaters at Allepy, Kerala. In beer game, you have people sitting in a circle with all the cards turned downwards. In turn, each person will pick up a card and each card carries a rule. If it’s anything 2-9 of Black, the person drinks Beer for those many seconds. Anything 2-9 Red, the person can nominate other person (Think who cracked the last nasty joke on you and target). 10 is Waterfall and that means Bottoms Up for everyone. “A” makes you the ruler. You can define any rule and people have to follow. For instance, I made an Alien rule. Every time you drink, you have to take an Alien out, drink, and put the Alien back. Simple as it sounds, Nitin repeated his drink three times (9 second Red nomination) because he forgot to either take out or put back the alien. Similarly, you can define other rules for Jack, Queen, and King. We went on to play the Beer game for 3-4 hours and ended up with a huge collection of empty bottles close to our shack. The people passing by were amazed at the same and wanted to click our pic with our empty bottles. The whole day went like this, chilling out in our Shack, clicking numerous pictures of each other, running, jumping in water.
As the evening approached, we were looking for a nice decent place to eat and searched “The Stone” restaurant close to Calangunte. Done with the food, Casino was the next. We learnt about “The Mint” casino in Arpora and ventured to explore the same. Nitin was at his skeptical best. According to him, everything at the Casino - the Roulette tables, people, free drinks, free food – were a conspiracy against us. He was on mission to uncover the dark secrets. While Ankit, I, and Ashu played Roulette, Nitin quietly observed everyone closely. Meanwhile, Ankit made the Roulette a perfect strategic decision making game and he would carefully articulate the exact number to bet upon – based on a paper on which he noted the previous results. However, as everyone else does, he too lost and finally concurred to appreciate that the game is all about gamblingJ. No pun intended. Later, I tried my luck and secured several big wins. Meanwhile, Nitin would touch the whole table multiple times while the game was on. The Casino guy finally asked him to stop at which he bended over and asked me “Are you sure these guys don’t have Pressure Censors to know what we bet upon and fabricate the result of the roulette? “. Sherlock Holmes was at work!! We returned from the Casino, proud of spending more than 2 hours and losing just 1500 bucks. Overall Casino experience was pretty good and I shall recommend the same to everyone visiting Goa. Finally we returned for another peaceful trip to Beach before hitting back to our place- some 4:30 in the morning.
Day 4 – Sign Off Beer and Memento Negotiation
We didn’t have much to do on the final day. Since there was some time, we went to Baga beach to click some more shots. We counted where we stand for our Beer Count and learnt we are just 1 short of 100. That was just perfect and we 5 took our final beer that we called – Sign off Beer. Done with this, we departed from three B’s – Beaches, Beer, and Babes. The 4th n last – Bike was next.
In our way, we stopped for Momento shopping. I would always remember that lady in the shop. At Goa, I learnt that everything gets negotiated. You like it or not but you have to. The Coconut Water guy would start from 25 and end at 10. Don’t even ask about the clothes. 350 to 100 is common. I was so accustomed to this by end of our tour unless I met this lady. She didn’t even negotiate for 1 rupee from initial quote. She shouted at an uncle and aunty from “Nagpur” who asked her to take out merchandise worth 1000 but bought nothing. She concluded that this is a general problem with Indians. We were shocked initially but glad later. Some shopkeeper makes sense in Goa. But in general, be prepared for some serious price negotiation to an extent that you negotiate beer prices at standard restaurants and shacks – We did this at Calangunte. Finally each of us departed from our beloved 4th B – The Bajaj Avenger Bike - and took our long drive to Airport to Delhi.
That’s all about GOA. I am in serious GOA Hangover since I am back. I can’t get over the 4 B’s. I wish we were to think of breaking Brian Lara’s record of 400 rather than focusing on just a 100. I find my healthy Unicorn nothing more than a bi-cycle now. I think Nitin should continue to probe into Casino’s pressure sensor enabled tables. May be, we should have persisted a bit to ask to lady to drop Momento prices by 1 Rs, at least live the spirit of Goa. Perhaps, we should have gone for Para-Gliding taking beer along again. One more Banana Ride. May be, this time Nitin will be find some land in middle of sea this time to position his feet. I will always remember this trip for the place, for the “bachelors type” activities, for the timing – I am closing my current version to commence a new life at ISB, and lastly, perhaps most importantly, the people I went with – I am sure never again I will have a chance to go anywhere with the same peer group. Life is fine blend of holding on and letting go. I am just collecting the maximum I can hold on and the memories of this trip will always be right up there.
Day 1 – The Lost Castle
We arrived at Goa 8:00 P:M and targeted 9:30 P:M to hit the beach. Most of us were envisioning shacks, beer, and beach everywhere during our flight from Delhi. The guest house guy was surprised at the pace with which we arrived, changed, and left. Soon we were at Calangunte Beach – most of us struggling n fighting over the correct pronunciation – and the shack closest to sea was chosen for the grand opening of an innings to meet our target of 100 Beers during the Goa Trip!!
Ankit and I did a “Bottoms Up” with the first beer, and decided that this will be our eeeeeestyle to start every booze party. Ankit later backed out though. 5 of us were preparing our Beer Castle, where each person will arrange his empty bottles in his castle and as the end we will all compare the count. Ashu, couldn’t help repeat 100 times – This is a great idea!! By early morning, all the tourists except 5 of us had disappeared and our beer castle had grown significantly high. Two B’s were already working here – Beach and Beer. However the castles we prepared were lost forever. The digital camera we clicked ourselves with got lost at either of three places – Dropped in sea or lost in beach sand or stolen by the waiter. We could not locate / remember where and who saw it last – The Castles were big you know. The camera loss also meant that we lost our pics of our castles forever. Also, sacrificed were two cell phones – something made two guys dive n jump in water with cell phones in pocket – the castles were huge you know. Moving on, we hired an Auto this time, a unique one. Guess what – The auto had a gate, yes I mean a physical gate that would open just as a car’s do. I repeatedly asked the auto guy the secret behind the gate 8-10 times before my friends helped me realize we could be dropped, rather throw, in middle of the road- The castles were huge you know. I still think that the auto was pretty cool. So impressed was I that I have brought a Memento, a magnet, of the Goa Auto. That brought us to end of very short yet very expensive day at Goa.
Day 2 – The Banana Ride and the other 2 B’s
The next day started with an incessant search for our ride – A bike or car. Good fortune prevailed and we ended up picking Bajaj Avenger over a car or jeep. From there on, the bike rides contributed most significantly to our overall experience.
Water Sports at Calangunte was primary agenda of the day. We didn’t click ourselves much there – the consciousness from loss of digital camera was enough to teach me not to risk my Nikon D40. The two firsts that I personally experimented were Para-gliding and Banana ride. During Paragliding we learnt how cool Goa actually is. The instructor was absolutely fine if we were to bring beer and take it with us in the air. What a missed opportunity!! We contemplated to go to shore n bring our bottles but then, sensibility suggested that we park this thought – let it be our driver to return back to Goa. Next, was the acme of the Goa trip, the Banana Ride. The excitement of being throw open in the sea, Nitin’s frantic search for land and repeated requests to the vendor “Bhaiya, mughe mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, aab please dobara mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, please boat mein hi le jayo” , Ankit’s confidence that I and Varun caught as fake when he said “Main theek huin yaar but mughe lagta hai ki tum aur boat mugh se doorrr ja rahe ho”, “Aur koi khass baat nahin, lekin bohat pani chala gaya hai anndar” - All of us thought at one point or the other that we will never be able to get back to the shore. We fell 5 times while trying to get on the Banana, scaring off the “boat” guy also. At last, we all survived – we grew bit heavier n saline due to amount of water and salt we consumed but we survived – One of my most exciting experience ever.
During all this, we were also steadily progressing towards our objective – 100 Beers. Of course by this time, the 4th B – Babes also contributed in our enriching experience. Nikon D40 SLR with excellent zoom (Am I marketing for Nikon – So be it) helped us capture and appreciate beauty God so carefully created. There were numerous foreigners from across the word but I think nothing beats the Indian beauties. After a quick lunch, we next hit the road again towards Fort Aguada – the DCH way. During our journey, one guy sat backwards on Bike in turns, clicking close n careful photographs of other two driving. We caught attention of locals as well as several foreigners – some thought we were nerds and cracks, others thought we were cool, and some thought we were professional photographers. The trip to Fort was good n helped us take some very good shots and we drove back to Vacautor Beach – the rock beach – to view the Sunset.
Fresh from my experience of Sunset in San Diego, I must say that Goa’s sunset was a disappointment; I was expecting wonderful display of colors n hoping to take some great shots – both went incomplete since the Sunset was nothing spectacular. Nevertheless, it was pretty refreshing and we moved to “The Saturday Nite” market in Arpora. We explored n rode through numerous roads in the interiors of Goa and loved it. The market was pretty good, most of stalls n shops were owned by foreigners. We tasted good wine and food there and moved on to our favorite place, the Beach Shacks at Baga Beach that was lot more happening than Calangunte as far as nightlife is concerned. We tasted Cashew Feni and danced quite a lot at the open disc. Nitin wanted to sleep at the Beach itself but was informed and scared by the waiter about potential raids by police or stray dogs wandering around. He rejected the idea. While returning back, Ankit turned down plan to go to Café Coffee day and earned several curses from us. It worked. Police tried to stop Ankit’s bike, he ran instead, police followed, and finally caught him. Ankit still maintains that he just paid 300 Rs but we continue to be skeptical – must have been something more, either money or …………
That brought end to Day 2@ Goa!! Thrilling, exciting, awesome, fantastic, fabulous, fantabulos– What not!
Day 3 – Beer Game and Pressure censors!!
Day 3 was always about Beer Game. Nothing else was planned. We took a call to skip driving 80 Km to South Goa and focus on North Goa. We picked up the happening Calangunte again. Before I get into specifics, first I will briefly explain what exactly Beer Game is.
I last played and learnt the same while at Backwaters at Allepy, Kerala. In beer game, you have people sitting in a circle with all the cards turned downwards. In turn, each person will pick up a card and each card carries a rule. If it’s anything 2-9 of Black, the person drinks Beer for those many seconds. Anything 2-9 Red, the person can nominate other person (Think who cracked the last nasty joke on you and target). 10 is Waterfall and that means Bottoms Up for everyone. “A” makes you the ruler. You can define any rule and people have to follow. For instance, I made an Alien rule. Every time you drink, you have to take an Alien out, drink, and put the Alien back. Simple as it sounds, Nitin repeated his drink three times (9 second Red nomination) because he forgot to either take out or put back the alien. Similarly, you can define other rules for Jack, Queen, and King. We went on to play the Beer game for 3-4 hours and ended up with a huge collection of empty bottles close to our shack. The people passing by were amazed at the same and wanted to click our pic with our empty bottles. The whole day went like this, chilling out in our Shack, clicking numerous pictures of each other, running, jumping in water.
As the evening approached, we were looking for a nice decent place to eat and searched “The Stone” restaurant close to Calangunte. Done with the food, Casino was the next. We learnt about “The Mint” casino in Arpora and ventured to explore the same. Nitin was at his skeptical best. According to him, everything at the Casino - the Roulette tables, people, free drinks, free food – were a conspiracy against us. He was on mission to uncover the dark secrets. While Ankit, I, and Ashu played Roulette, Nitin quietly observed everyone closely. Meanwhile, Ankit made the Roulette a perfect strategic decision making game and he would carefully articulate the exact number to bet upon – based on a paper on which he noted the previous results. However, as everyone else does, he too lost and finally concurred to appreciate that the game is all about gamblingJ. No pun intended. Later, I tried my luck and secured several big wins. Meanwhile, Nitin would touch the whole table multiple times while the game was on. The Casino guy finally asked him to stop at which he bended over and asked me “Are you sure these guys don’t have Pressure Censors to know what we bet upon and fabricate the result of the roulette? “. Sherlock Holmes was at work!! We returned from the Casino, proud of spending more than 2 hours and losing just 1500 bucks. Overall Casino experience was pretty good and I shall recommend the same to everyone visiting Goa. Finally we returned for another peaceful trip to Beach before hitting back to our place- some 4:30 in the morning.
Day 4 – Sign Off Beer and Memento Negotiation
We didn’t have much to do on the final day. Since there was some time, we went to Baga beach to click some more shots. We counted where we stand for our Beer Count and learnt we are just 1 short of 100. That was just perfect and we 5 took our final beer that we called – Sign off Beer. Done with this, we departed from three B’s – Beaches, Beer, and Babes. The 4th n last – Bike was next.
In our way, we stopped for Momento shopping. I would always remember that lady in the shop. At Goa, I learnt that everything gets negotiated. You like it or not but you have to. The Coconut Water guy would start from 25 and end at 10. Don’t even ask about the clothes. 350 to 100 is common. I was so accustomed to this by end of our tour unless I met this lady. She didn’t even negotiate for 1 rupee from initial quote. She shouted at an uncle and aunty from “Nagpur” who asked her to take out merchandise worth 1000 but bought nothing. She concluded that this is a general problem with Indians. We were shocked initially but glad later. Some shopkeeper makes sense in Goa. But in general, be prepared for some serious price negotiation to an extent that you negotiate beer prices at standard restaurants and shacks – We did this at Calangunte. Finally each of us departed from our beloved 4th B – The Bajaj Avenger Bike - and took our long drive to Airport to Delhi.
That’s all about GOA. I am in serious GOA Hangover since I am back. I can’t get over the 4 B’s. I wish we were to think of breaking Brian Lara’s record of 400 rather than focusing on just a 100. I find my healthy Unicorn nothing more than a bi-cycle now. I think Nitin should continue to probe into Casino’s pressure sensor enabled tables. May be, we should have persisted a bit to ask to lady to drop Momento prices by 1 Rs, at least live the spirit of Goa. Perhaps, we should have gone for Para-Gliding taking beer along again. One more Banana Ride. May be, this time Nitin will be find some land in middle of sea this time to position his feet. I will always remember this trip for the place, for the “bachelors type” activities, for the timing – I am closing my current version to commence a new life at ISB, and lastly, perhaps most importantly, the people I went with – I am sure never again I will have a chance to go anywhere with the same peer group. Life is fine blend of holding on and letting go. I am just collecting the maximum I can hold on and the memories of this trip will always be right up there.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Signing off from America !!
An international post - I wrote this at Frankfurt, Germany Airport yet talked about US and India. So much for Globalization !!!
It’s been three years since I first landed in US – back in June 2006. Since then, I have made three round trips to India – earning the tag of frequent flyer among my friends. Today, it’s feels great to sign off from US on such a positive note. The toughest assignment I ever worked upon – Acquisition Project – was a great success. It gives me immense satisfaction and a huge confidence while going into my MBA that my leadership and management were well recognized and appreciated for this project. I personally feel I was simply lucky – to be in the right place at the right moment that led me to be chosen for this role. And more so lucky by having right people working on this project and some really good ideas that just struck my head during planning and execution of this project. The role I played has been extremely helpful to take a practical look at things rather than just theoretical perspective – what it means to energize your team, what people management is all about, how you pass information down and provide information up, how you keep stakeholders aligned, how you take responsibility, and when, if required, you play dirty. The last one, when you play dirty, has been my favorite. I myself can’t believe that in a short span of 4 months, I have got through all this. No wonder, I would rate this short and intense stint among my finest learning experiences. And, to leave while getting acknowledgments and appreciations from every stakeholders in the project, especially from some who initially doubted my capabilities and created scene to an extent that I too for few moments thought “I can’t do it” , makes the journey back lot more satisfying. My US visa has also expired and I am ending my term with TCS on 31st March. Everything seems to be a perfect logical end to a great journey and commencement of a new endeavor.
Before I eventually start discovering myself again at ISB, I have about 6-8 weeks to ramp up things in my current version of life. My stay at GGN is going to extremely hectic and fast paced. Partying with family, friends, and colleagues, and preparing for grueling 1 year are two compelling priorities. Countdown has already begun and I got to make maximum of each and every day left now. Looking forward to spend an engaging 2 months at GGN– Just, just if TCS were to give me a better itinerary I could have started few hours sooner !!!
It’s been three years since I first landed in US – back in June 2006. Since then, I have made three round trips to India – earning the tag of frequent flyer among my friends. Today, it’s feels great to sign off from US on such a positive note. The toughest assignment I ever worked upon – Acquisition Project – was a great success. It gives me immense satisfaction and a huge confidence while going into my MBA that my leadership and management were well recognized and appreciated for this project. I personally feel I was simply lucky – to be in the right place at the right moment that led me to be chosen for this role. And more so lucky by having right people working on this project and some really good ideas that just struck my head during planning and execution of this project. The role I played has been extremely helpful to take a practical look at things rather than just theoretical perspective – what it means to energize your team, what people management is all about, how you pass information down and provide information up, how you keep stakeholders aligned, how you take responsibility, and when, if required, you play dirty. The last one, when you play dirty, has been my favorite. I myself can’t believe that in a short span of 4 months, I have got through all this. No wonder, I would rate this short and intense stint among my finest learning experiences. And, to leave while getting acknowledgments and appreciations from every stakeholders in the project, especially from some who initially doubted my capabilities and created scene to an extent that I too for few moments thought “I can’t do it” , makes the journey back lot more satisfying. My US visa has also expired and I am ending my term with TCS on 31st March. Everything seems to be a perfect logical end to a great journey and commencement of a new endeavor.
Before I eventually start discovering myself again at ISB, I have about 6-8 weeks to ramp up things in my current version of life. My stay at GGN is going to extremely hectic and fast paced. Partying with family, friends, and colleagues, and preparing for grueling 1 year are two compelling priorities. Countdown has already begun and I got to make maximum of each and every day left now. Looking forward to spend an engaging 2 months at GGN– Just, just if TCS were to give me a better itinerary I could have started few hours sooner !!!
Monday, July 28, 2008
The First in your life !!
In a recent experience, I realized that there is a usual charm associated with doing things for the first time. The first time, you begin to speak – Of course you may not reflect how you felt then but your family does, the first time you begin to ride a bi-cycle, first time you say ‘I love you’ to someone, and numerous other first. Some we remember till date such as first time I saw a Beach, some we forget in race of our lives. But to my regret, many times we simply keep on doing new things without realizing we are doing it for the first time. In such instances, we generally miss a chance to enjoy the thrill of the first.I experience another first in my life yesterday. Nothing significant if look retrospectively, yet I felt charged up to the journey. Without over-dramatizing, I reveal that the recent first was a travel in Swarn Shatabadi from Ludhiana to New Delhi. Did I disappoint you with this fact? I would love if your answer is ‘Yes – What’s so significant about it’ because that would help me make my point more assertively.
The opportunities to celebrate the first in life are numerous. It’s we who have to associate that importance to things and look at the whole routine life from an entirely new dimension. Sitting inside the Shatabadi, I didn’t find much difference other than some trivial ones such as you could feel that the train is really guzzling fuel fast, the courteous food services, and lot of foreigners in Indian trains. However, it is the connection that I made to my past that rendered me excitement to write this post. I remembered those days of traveling in Passenger trains and watching Shatabadi zooming past. Then came the time when I used to travel in Express / Super Fast trains n the speed and AC coached of the train fantasized me. Then, I began to travel in AC yet never did it in Shatabadi.
I wish to emphasis here that although the train experience sounds trivial yet the connection I could establish with this FIRST helped me make this memorable experience. I am convinced that if one continues to note and consciously add the ‘Firsts’ in his/her experiences, life would become way better and colorful. So much so that it am prompted to write this post. So much so that I am going to add new tag to my blog – The Firsts in my life and conclude that if I don’t find a post to write in this category for more 2 consecutive weeks, I am going to die without trying a lot of things even once. Steve jobs said ‘Stay Hungry Stay Foolish’. Be so – Always !!
Monday, June 30, 2008
A much needed Refreshment !!
This post should have been made on 28th June - Pardon my crankling bones that I can hear the grunts and oomphs even today!!
I went to a Outbound Camp organized by TCS with motive to foster team spirit, collaboration, and leadership among the associates. I have attended many such outings before. However, the timing of this event couldn't be better. I needed such a dose to refresh and rejuvenate myself from the cliche of work and personal pursuits that have turned into obsessions now. And what a dose it was !!!! I still carry the after effects of the dose with a sweet pain across my arms n legs :).
On Saturday, the weather was perfect - With clouds in a natural setting. A light breeze could have been an icing on the cake. Anyways. The event started with a bus journey to a resort near
There were number of activities such as Rappelling (Not so exciting for me but loved to see nervous first timers),
To conclude, I really enjoyed the whole day out. I just to wish get normal now and I am longing now to go back to my obsessions as soon as possible. Only if my bones stop making noises :). Will post some of the pics of the event here soon.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Wah “Taj Mahal” or Wah “Tejo Mahalaya “
“I want to see Taj Mahal in next 24 hours”…. A statement made at a party on Friday night materialized. Taj Mahal has been long overdue in my wish list of places to visit. Ironically I traveled lot of distances in US to visit several places, while never really pushed myself to go to closer and convenient places back home such as Taj Mahal. The former visit though has provided the required thrust in me to traverse the avenues I have long wished for.
The beauty of Taj Mahal, breathtaking as it is, if depicted, here would be just an epitome of what the monument actually commands. I, therefore, limit my description. I had desired to see Taj Mahal in a single shot. Therefore, I kept my attention wandering at the main entrance, feeling mystical and elated. It was only when I reached the place from where I could see the whole “Monument of Love” at one shot, I looked at it .For couple of seconds, everything around stood still, as does the legendary building.
Equally interesting has been the realization of the controversy that surrounds Taj Mahal, questioning the very basic of its existence. P.N. Oak might have made fortunes out of his books “The Facts” and the supporting evidences for his claims provided here http://home.freeuk.com/tajmahal/index.htm gives a food for thought. The evidences are quite convincing as it takes no hard time to guess, why the 6 floors have been blocked. Shah Jahan would not have built these six floors just to be covered up later. However, I believe there must be some claims dwarfing Oak’s claims, which I could not find one the internet { Dear Reader, if u know a source for that, my blog is waiting for your comments } I would love an opportunity to visit the whole monuments, the whole 7 floors with around 1089 rooms inside it. I just wish, I knew about all this controversy before I visited the place. Who knows, I am the one to find the actual evidences of the claims there: P.
Whatever and whoever be the originator of the building, Shah Jahan, a Muslim king or Param Dev, a Hindu king, I salute the architects. Little yet obvious to mention, that the controversy mentioned here should be used for constructive exploration of truth and intriguing secrets of the old times, than to prove the superiority of one caste over the other. Not to forget the Babri Masjid debacle, something that haunts the Indian history till date. And considering the sensitivity of the matter (Anything involving Hindus and Muslims is so sensitive) I think the government is doing right thing (For a change) by not letting this opinion hold public attention and by introducing this place as a “Monument of Love build by Shah Jahan in memory of Mumtaz Mahal” in school text books.
On a different note, a Bolly Wood movie, though hypothetical, based on the above subject could be interesting prospect for an innovative director :) . Mr. Director, if somehow u happen to read my idea and produce a film, do not forget to pay the royalty :)
Wah Taj !!!!!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Time to Relax !!!!
Action do speak and so does the picture next. One of the clip from many wonderful ones clicked by a colleague at recently held TCS Picnic at Pali Resort in Mumbai. First of the all weekends I enjoyed since arriving here in mumbai !!!!!! Played some cool games such as standing Kho-Kho (infact while learning the rules of Kho-Kho it struck me that I am a state level player of Kho-Kho .. Any guesses how !!!!!! :P ) , Encircled "Jithe paindi pain de" though very professional in scope ...... The best attraction was the swimming pool ( get a strong desire in me now to join the swimming club as soon as hit Delhi ) and almost 2 hour rain dance though I really never understood which language the DJ thought we all understand.. Got only one punjabi song to contribute to the wonderful crowd with some Bhangra steps ... Following rain dance was antakshri and Tambola... At last someone in my group won a prize in tambola !!!
Overall it was a wonderful picnic though ofcourse TCS could had picked a better resort where they do not serve "Duck’s Egg" omelette and as someone said "Kutta Mutton Subzi" (:P) !!!!!
Overall it was a wonderful picnic though ofcourse TCS could had picked a better resort where they do not serve "Duck’s Egg" omelette and as someone said "Kutta Mutton Subzi" (:P) !!!!!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Pune visited !!!!
In an on going process to visit and list new places in my blog, latest place comes out to be pune. Again another experience to subject myself to mercy of Mumbai Auto and Bus drivers, I manage to get to Pune to visit a friend, Arpit. Arrived at 2:00 A:M, exactly 3 hours after than scheduled ... I sit with my friend in the night till 5:00 A:M savoring some fine whisky and vodkas out of a proud collection of Arpit. To name a few...Black label, Red Label, Teachers and Shark Shots , a collection he made with a "Inhouse rule" for anyone visiting onsite to bring back liquor from duty free..Nice rule !!!!
Another friend of his arrives at 4:00 A:M coming directly from Belgium and I was amazed by the difference in the general gup-shup which we used to have back in college and what we had yesterday..no no Today morning. The conversation encompassed various countries and culture across the world out of experiences of V-3 and from our friends. Truly globalized world but everywhere the same story for bachelors abroad !!!
Jaded, tired and afraid to stay onsite at expense of quality of our lives just to better our profiles and fat paychecks ... It is worth it ??? A unanimous opinion of "NO" prevailed counterfeited by reality.
Another friend of his arrives at 4:00 A:M coming directly from Belgium and I was amazed by the difference in the general gup-shup which we used to have back in college and what we had yesterday..no no Today morning. The conversation encompassed various countries and culture across the world out of experiences of V-3 and from our friends. Truly globalized world but everywhere the same story for bachelors abroad !!!
Jaded, tired and afraid to stay onsite at expense of quality of our lives just to better our profiles and fat paychecks ... It is worth it ??? A unanimous opinion of "NO" prevailed counterfeited by reality.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
