Before dawn, I woke up at least twice to say 'Hi' to Mother nature when the bus halted for a couple of minutes. It was very early in the morning and it was mid-February. The morning cold was much worse than in Hyderabad. I walked down the road side to relieve myself and was a bit surprised at what I saw. My 'stream' touched the grass on the ground and I saw steam and dew forming there. It was a good sight to see. But of course, these are a few of the sights that are better enjoyed alone :-)
I then went to sleep and woke up when everyone else were awake. Ahmed had called up the Bangalore office to check how we are going to complete the remaining part of the travel. He informed that we were supposed to get down at Kalasipalayalam as our cab will be waiting there. Sathish advised that Kalasipalayalam was too far. Instead, we get down at Hebbal.
He took a right decision. Kalasipalayalam was deep inside the Bangalore city. Our destination was near ITPB (International Tech Park of Bangalore). It is in the outskirts of Bangalore. We took the cab driver's number and asked him to come to Hebbal directly. Finally, we got down. The time was already 7:00 AM. We were tense as this was the time that we were supposed to report there. However, as this is arranged by the company and not our mistake, I was not that paranoid.
Before we actually got down, we were playing with the Driver's nerves. Each of us forgot at least one thing in the bus. Everytime the driver wanted to start off, we used to stop him and get the thing! We waited there for at least half and hour before the cab arrived. It was a Tata Sumo which accommodated all the eight of us. Sathish, a Banglorean, started conversing with the driver fluently. Incidentally, we came to know that even the driver was not aware of the route. Suddenly, I remembered that the Invitation letter that was given to us had the directions for the venue. Since the vehicle was jam packed, only James had his back-pack on his lap and removed the letter. This helped a lot as we were almost near that center and didn't know that we reached it!
The center for CALS was ECC (Ecumenial Christian Center). Although the road between the main road and it's gate is a bumpy ride, inside, it was a paradise! The road was between the trees and shrubs. Although, it was a beautiful place, as we were in a hurry and desperate to reach there at the earliest, we couldn't enjoy it. The time was already 9:00. We were stopped by a pretty girl in a jersey and jeans. She asked us if we could get ready in 15 minutes. She directed us to Guest house #3 after we were affirmative.
The first look at the house was not that impressive. It was an old British style bungalow with Granite finishing. It was surrounded by a garden and the roads were well laid. The main entrance is in to a sitting room. It had a neat cane table and chair set for six people. It really looks very relaxing. Our company had booked four rooms in the guest house. In the left wing, there were three doors. The one towards the right is a bathroom and there were two bedrooms - one in the left (bedroom #2) and the other at the far end of the left wing (#1). In the right wing, there were four doors. The first one towards the left was a reading room. It was a kind of spooky room! The second room (#5) towards the left was a bedroom that was locked out as it was not booked. Towards the right, there were two bedrooms (#3 and #4) as well.
Once we got in to the house, Ahmed was the first one to occupy the room. Later on, others came and started to occupy the rooms. Me and James were the last ones to come. The three ladies occupied room #1. Praveen and Sathish took room #2. Ahmed had already occupied room #3. I thought of taking a separate room and started to barge in #4 and 'thud' came the sound. Bedroom #4 was locked. We called up watchman outside. He said that the room was locked by another person who had come in last night.I said that there were only eight of us and we were here. The watchman then informed us that another person had come from Chennai last night and was staying with us. At that moment, James jumped in to Ahmed's room and said that he'll be staying with him. Well, what now... I had to share the room with either Ahmed or Sathish as we didn't know where exactly this Chennai guy had gone.
I then knocked in to Sathish's room and threw my suitcase on the bed. We didn't have the time to rest at all. There was only one bathroom with a Water Heater. Remaining had to use our natural skills to complete the bath! The girls couldn't do without hot water. I had a problem. My body had habituated it in such a way that when I get in to bathroom, I had to complete my brushing, good morning to mother nature and bathing in an order and get out of the room. So, if I got in to bathroom, I cannot let Sathish or Praveen to use it till I complete my chores!
I, then asked Praveen to use the bathroom. But even he had his own terms and condition. Unless he smokes, he cannot get the 'pressure'. He went in, started puffing and took his own sweet time to come out. By this time, the pretty girl who met us at the venue came running and started to call Praveen. Praveen asked me to answer the call. I answered the call as if it was Praveen. I did not let her know that she was speaking to me not Praveen. She called up at least thrice and each time I imitated Praveen. Finally Praveen took the call and I wonder if she recognized the change in the voice. By the time I was done with my bath, the people who conducted the assessment had arrived the center. It was later that we realized that although the we were asked to report by 7:00 AM, the assessment would only start at 9:00 AM.
I thought that I was the last person to come in to the room. There were three more chairs left empty. Then came Azmuth, Urimila and finally our mammoth, Sri Laxmi.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Night - One
Once we met each other, we found a corner in the bus station to keep our luggage. Everyone was carrying a a back-pack and I was the only one with a Suitcase! I was suffering with cough and cold and wanted to buy a cough-syrup. I met James at the bus station. Although I had seen him a couple of time in the cafeteria, we never met formally. Me, Sathish and Praveen wanted to go out. So, we asked James to keep an eye on our luggage.
Once outside, we saw a Medical shop that was on the other side of the street. Praveen and Sathish had their own ideas. We first went to a Liquor shop and purchased two bottles of beer (FYI I don't have any good habits :-) ). Praveen used his tooth to open the crown in a filmy style. He opened the first bottle and gave it to Sathish and while opening the second bottle, broke the rim of the bottle. In that process he had his lip hurt a bit. I was a bit paranoid wondering if a piece or two had fallen in to the bottle and in a quick second started to think what would happen, if God forbid, a piece of a glass down within him while gulping the beer! I waited till he finished the beer. Then with a relieved mind I went to the Drug store and purchased a cough syrup. Although I wanted to purchase Benedryl, I had to be content with an alternate syrup as there were no other medical stores in sight and the bus was about to move. While on the way, Sathish bought three sweet pans. And by the time we returned to the station a man was yelling. He informed that the bus would be moving soon.
With the luggage in hand we started to search for the bus. I asked that man about the bus and he pointed towards his right. There was nothing but a 20-seater Swaraj Mazda. I pondered for a moment thinking that we had to go to Bangalore in this! After boarding in to it I realized that it was only a shuttle vehicle. The actual bus was at Nampally.
We were intentionally walking very slowly towards the shuttle vehicle. The reason being Ahmed had not reached yet. The moment we reached it the engines started to roar. Sathish was sitting near the driver and asked him to wait for a two minutes. We called up Ahmed's cell and asked him where he was. He said that he was near Lakdi-ka-pul - the same place where we were. We asked the driver to wait for two minutes more saying he was near by. Immediately, the attendant started arguing with us saying that we were already late and were delaying them. The driver then joined the argument stating that the bus will leave on time irrespective of whether the shuttle reaches them or not. With this Sathish got enraged. He said frantically that each ticket was costs Rs. 1,700.00 and we were eight of us. Both were right in their point of view. I kept quiet listening to their argument I wanted to step in but waited for the right moment. My life's experience taught me one important step. Never to step in to an argument unless it is very much required. Praveen then called up Ahmed and said that the matter was going out of our hands and wanted to know where exactly he was he also tipped him that this is a shuttle bus and the actual bus was at Nampally. He then agreed to let the bus go and said that he'll directly board the bus.
Within 10 minutes, we reached the bus. It was a Volvo sleeper class. I had a bad experience in a sleeper class when I was on the way to Bangalore from Tellicherry, Kerala with my family a couple of years ago. The road between Tellicherry and Bangalore had to cross the Western Ghats. It was circling hills and mountains every minute or two. The beds were placed towards the sides of the bus. Every time the bus took a turn, I was rolling from the left corner to the right corner pushing my brother, who was sharing the sleeper bed with me, towards the edge! But the moment I saw this sleeper bus, I became it's ardent fan. The bus was divided in to eight cabins. Each cabin had four beds in it. The best part was that, the sleeper beds were parallel to the axle of the bus. That means, any turns and twists will raise either your legs or your head. You'll roll towards your right only if the driver applies a sudden break. The suspension was awesome! On top of it, it had a flat screen TV and head phones with option to change the languages. The choice was limited to Hindi, Telugu and Kannada though. I swear by it that this was much better than a low cost flight in terms of comfort.
My seat / bed was along with Urmila and Azmath. I didn't like to sleep in a cabin with girls because I had a major problem during the nights. Although I do not suffer due to that problem because it effects only the people sleeping near me. I sleep like a king and snore like an Emperor!!! The ladies wanted James to be in their cabin. I was in Cabin #7 along with Ahmed. Praveen and Sathish were in Cabin #8 while Laxmi, Azmuth, James and Urmila were in Cabin #1.
The movie being played was 'Hatrick'. It was supposed to be a comedy flick. But as with many of the bollywood's so called three-some comedy movies, it was full of dialogs that were intended to make you laugh, but fail miserably. Once the movie was over, I wrapped myself in the blanket and started to think about the coming day's adventure. ith every bump in the Bangalore highway, I was feeling as if I was feather light... slowly I went in to a trance and sleep came upon me.
Once outside, we saw a Medical shop that was on the other side of the street. Praveen and Sathish had their own ideas. We first went to a Liquor shop and purchased two bottles of beer (FYI I don't have any good habits :-) ). Praveen used his tooth to open the crown in a filmy style. He opened the first bottle and gave it to Sathish and while opening the second bottle, broke the rim of the bottle. In that process he had his lip hurt a bit. I was a bit paranoid wondering if a piece or two had fallen in to the bottle and in a quick second started to think what would happen, if God forbid, a piece of a glass down within him while gulping the beer! I waited till he finished the beer. Then with a relieved mind I went to the Drug store and purchased a cough syrup. Although I wanted to purchase Benedryl, I had to be content with an alternate syrup as there were no other medical stores in sight and the bus was about to move. While on the way, Sathish bought three sweet pans. And by the time we returned to the station a man was yelling. He informed that the bus would be moving soon.
With the luggage in hand we started to search for the bus. I asked that man about the bus and he pointed towards his right. There was nothing but a 20-seater Swaraj Mazda. I pondered for a moment thinking that we had to go to Bangalore in this! After boarding in to it I realized that it was only a shuttle vehicle. The actual bus was at Nampally.
We were intentionally walking very slowly towards the shuttle vehicle. The reason being Ahmed had not reached yet. The moment we reached it the engines started to roar. Sathish was sitting near the driver and asked him to wait for a two minutes. We called up Ahmed's cell and asked him where he was. He said that he was near Lakdi-ka-pul - the same place where we were. We asked the driver to wait for two minutes more saying he was near by. Immediately, the attendant started arguing with us saying that we were already late and were delaying them. The driver then joined the argument stating that the bus will leave on time irrespective of whether the shuttle reaches them or not. With this Sathish got enraged. He said frantically that each ticket was costs Rs. 1,700.00 and we were eight of us. Both were right in their point of view. I kept quiet listening to their argument I wanted to step in but waited for the right moment. My life's experience taught me one important step. Never to step in to an argument unless it is very much required. Praveen then called up Ahmed and said that the matter was going out of our hands and wanted to know where exactly he was he also tipped him that this is a shuttle bus and the actual bus was at Nampally. He then agreed to let the bus go and said that he'll directly board the bus.
Within 10 minutes, we reached the bus. It was a Volvo sleeper class. I had a bad experience in a sleeper class when I was on the way to Bangalore from Tellicherry, Kerala with my family a couple of years ago. The road between Tellicherry and Bangalore had to cross the Western Ghats. It was circling hills and mountains every minute or two. The beds were placed towards the sides of the bus. Every time the bus took a turn, I was rolling from the left corner to the right corner pushing my brother, who was sharing the sleeper bed with me, towards the edge! But the moment I saw this sleeper bus, I became it's ardent fan. The bus was divided in to eight cabins. Each cabin had four beds in it. The best part was that, the sleeper beds were parallel to the axle of the bus. That means, any turns and twists will raise either your legs or your head. You'll roll towards your right only if the driver applies a sudden break. The suspension was awesome! On top of it, it had a flat screen TV and head phones with option to change the languages. The choice was limited to Hindi, Telugu and Kannada though. I swear by it that this was much better than a low cost flight in terms of comfort.
My seat / bed was along with Urmila and Azmath. I didn't like to sleep in a cabin with girls because I had a major problem during the nights. Although I do not suffer due to that problem because it effects only the people sleeping near me. I sleep like a king and snore like an Emperor!!! The ladies wanted James to be in their cabin. I was in Cabin #7 along with Ahmed. Praveen and Sathish were in Cabin #8 while Laxmi, Azmuth, James and Urmila were in Cabin #1.
The movie being played was 'Hatrick'. It was supposed to be a comedy flick. But as with many of the bollywood's so called three-some comedy movies, it was full of dialogs that were intended to make you laugh, but fail miserably. Once the movie was over, I wrapped myself in the blanket and started to think about the coming day's adventure. ith every bump in the Bangalore highway, I was feeling as if I was feather light... slowly I went in to a trance and sleep came upon me.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Three nights - Two days
Let me not create a suspense in your mind with such an eye candy title... it's just that with so many bloggers, it was really difficult for me to get a proper Blog-name that suited my story. So guys, don't be disappointed if you find that this is not what you wanted to read!
As I am done with my verbatim disclosure (see above), I'll put it in a clear sentence - this blog is all about my two day visit to Bangalore. This started with my management recommending my name for the CALS (Center of Assessment for Leadership Skills). Although I was expecting to be sent for it after an year or so, I was a bit surprised with the timing.
My little niece, Ammu had completed nine months of her existence on this planet. As is the tradition in Hinduism, before a baby completes one year, we shave their head. Even I like to shave my head frequently (as I consider it to be one of my hairstyles!). We planned to go to Yadagirigutta - a pious place dedicated to lord Narasimha Swamy on the 17th of January. It is around 60 KM from Hyderabad near Warangal Highway. I had even clubbed my week-offs to go there so that I'd have one day to take rest after the drive. Even I had a desire to shave my head (apart from the religious factor, I feel I look good in that look - am the only one with that opinion :0).
On January 14th, my Associate Program Manager, Ayush Misra handed over a paper and it's photo copy asking me to sign on it. After I signed it he joked "Chalo tumhara property meri ho gayi" (Your property is mine!). It was my invitation to CALS. I was asked to attend the CALS program on the 17th of January 2008. I was a bit dumb-folded. I always wanted to attend this as this will be a mile-stone in my career. But it also was on the day that we planned to go to Yadagirigutta. Later when I informed my family, they had different solutions like planning it on another day, canceling the trip this month or even hire a driver (as I am the cab driver for my family!) and go as per schedule. Later on, after much discussion, it was decided that we post-pone the trip to next week.
We then started our hunt on who else are going to CALS. To be honest, I was least interested to know who else is going. But as the search was going on, even I was a part of it. We also wanted to know how we were going. Sundaram, the guy who was heading the Quality department in Hyderabad center was also going to attend the CALS. But it was Manager CALS. We heard he was going by flight. Unfortunately for us, we were still Supervisors. We were also shocked to hear that there was no availability in Trains and Buses. We became a bit paranoid - 500 plus kmts in a cab???
People who came to know started congratulating us. But I had a long time mis-fortune syndrome. Whenever I revealed something before it happened, it would never happen. I know you might think I have gone crazy. But, trust me it does happen to me. I kept quite regarding it.
On the night of Feb 15th, we came to know that Facilities had finally got hold of a bus. We were elated. But not for long. No one had the tickets and no one knew any further details. I went to Ayush and asked him regarding the details. He said that they are still finalizing and asked me to wait till the end of the day. The problem was we were supposed to report at the Assessment center by 7:00 AM on 17th. My shift ended at 10:30 AM on 16th and there was no news of the timing we had to board the bus. Finally, we got the timings. The bus will be starting from Lakdi ka Pul - Kesineni Travels at 8 PM. The journey to Bangalore from Hyderabad takes at least 9 hours via a Super fast express bus.
I got it all packed up and was ready for the trip. Since I was the only one in my family to drive a car, I couldn't take my Wagon R. Instead, I booked a Taxi cab to report to my residence at 6:30 PM. On the way to the Bus stop, I picked up Praveen Talla. Talla, as we fondly call him by his last name, was one of the participants for CALS. I knew him for almost two years. We were a part of the second batch of Tech process. He remained in the Tech process while I moved to the pilot batch of the Chat process. He later on became a Supervisor in the Tech process and as a part time Supervisor for the Chat as well. At the beginning, I used to envy him and found a bit embarrassing to adjust with him. Later on, I found that he had no attitude of becoming a Supervisor. I then found a true friend in him. You never know the various dimensions of our life!
We finally reached the Kesineni Bus Terminal. There we found Sathish DS waiting for us. I and Sathish have opposite seating bays. Whenever any agent or Manager calls anyone of us, both of us look at each other and to see if it was Sathish or Rathish who were referred to!
We spoke to each other and found the final count of people going to CALS. It was Ahmed Bin Taher, Azmuth, James, Praveen Talla, Sathish, Sri Laxmi, Urmila and of course, ME!
As I am done with my verbatim disclosure (see above), I'll put it in a clear sentence - this blog is all about my two day visit to Bangalore. This started with my management recommending my name for the CALS (Center of Assessment for Leadership Skills). Although I was expecting to be sent for it after an year or so, I was a bit surprised with the timing.
My little niece, Ammu had completed nine months of her existence on this planet. As is the tradition in Hinduism, before a baby completes one year, we shave their head. Even I like to shave my head frequently (as I consider it to be one of my hairstyles!). We planned to go to Yadagirigutta - a pious place dedicated to lord Narasimha Swamy on the 17th of January. It is around 60 KM from Hyderabad near Warangal Highway. I had even clubbed my week-offs to go there so that I'd have one day to take rest after the drive. Even I had a desire to shave my head (apart from the religious factor, I feel I look good in that look - am the only one with that opinion :0).
On January 14th, my Associate Program Manager, Ayush Misra handed over a paper and it's photo copy asking me to sign on it. After I signed it he joked "Chalo tumhara property meri ho gayi" (Your property is mine!). It was my invitation to CALS. I was asked to attend the CALS program on the 17th of January 2008. I was a bit dumb-folded. I always wanted to attend this as this will be a mile-stone in my career. But it also was on the day that we planned to go to Yadagirigutta. Later when I informed my family, they had different solutions like planning it on another day, canceling the trip this month or even hire a driver (as I am the cab driver for my family!) and go as per schedule. Later on, after much discussion, it was decided that we post-pone the trip to next week.
We then started our hunt on who else are going to CALS. To be honest, I was least interested to know who else is going. But as the search was going on, even I was a part of it. We also wanted to know how we were going. Sundaram, the guy who was heading the Quality department in Hyderabad center was also going to attend the CALS. But it was Manager CALS. We heard he was going by flight. Unfortunately for us, we were still Supervisors. We were also shocked to hear that there was no availability in Trains and Buses. We became a bit paranoid - 500 plus kmts in a cab???
People who came to know started congratulating us. But I had a long time mis-fortune syndrome. Whenever I revealed something before it happened, it would never happen. I know you might think I have gone crazy. But, trust me it does happen to me. I kept quite regarding it.
On the night of Feb 15th, we came to know that Facilities had finally got hold of a bus. We were elated. But not for long. No one had the tickets and no one knew any further details. I went to Ayush and asked him regarding the details. He said that they are still finalizing and asked me to wait till the end of the day. The problem was we were supposed to report at the Assessment center by 7:00 AM on 17th. My shift ended at 10:30 AM on 16th and there was no news of the timing we had to board the bus. Finally, we got the timings. The bus will be starting from Lakdi ka Pul - Kesineni Travels at 8 PM. The journey to Bangalore from Hyderabad takes at least 9 hours via a Super fast express bus.
I got it all packed up and was ready for the trip. Since I was the only one in my family to drive a car, I couldn't take my Wagon R. Instead, I booked a Taxi cab to report to my residence at 6:30 PM. On the way to the Bus stop, I picked up Praveen Talla. Talla, as we fondly call him by his last name, was one of the participants for CALS. I knew him for almost two years. We were a part of the second batch of Tech process. He remained in the Tech process while I moved to the pilot batch of the Chat process. He later on became a Supervisor in the Tech process and as a part time Supervisor for the Chat as well. At the beginning, I used to envy him and found a bit embarrassing to adjust with him. Later on, I found that he had no attitude of becoming a Supervisor. I then found a true friend in him. You never know the various dimensions of our life!
We finally reached the Kesineni Bus Terminal. There we found Sathish DS waiting for us. I and Sathish have opposite seating bays. Whenever any agent or Manager calls anyone of us, both of us look at each other and to see if it was Sathish or Rathish who were referred to!
We spoke to each other and found the final count of people going to CALS. It was Ahmed Bin Taher, Azmuth, James, Praveen Talla, Sathish, Sri Laxmi, Urmila and of course, ME!
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