CG- BoreEl

1st June 2006 – the day I started my professional career (officially that is). For most people starting their career is a dream for me it turned out to be a nightmare.

Having pursued my project in the same organization for the past 4 months I was well aware of their internal working and also of the best in – competency (pun intended) HR department headed by the one who must not be named.

Anyways 1st June seems like a really early start, guess what we told the company the exact same thing. But Mr. Bomman (thanks Tarun for coining that name) was of the opinion that we were to undergo training as soon as possible so we could be productive to the company (Bless the soul who came up with management jargon).

So with not so high hopes we walked into CG- BoreEl on 1/06/06. And since then we have found novel ways of killing time. Filling up 3 forms in a span of 5 hrs, having a 4 hour lecture on Quality with the guy repeating every 10 minutes “you know all this, I don’t know why I have been asked to take this session” and eventually skipping the part that we actually wanted to know about and some so called reading sessions that my co joinees keep mentioning but all I can remember is messaging sessions where I messaged every long lost friend of mine.

The first few days of my professional life have made me feel that may b I a not ready for this (sitting all alone without work and getting bored) but as they say ‘Change is the only constant’. So I live in the hope that may be there will be something for me to do tomorrow.

The fortnight that shouldn’t have ended

May 15th- I decided to touch the heights of unnecessary expenditure. I decided to fly Bangalore- Mangalore (considering it’s an 8 hr journey by bus which is pretty comfortable more often than not). And why not this was going to be my last (official) visit to Manipal.

According to the academic calendar we all were going back for our final sem viva but we all knew that it is going to be a 15 day party that we’ll never forget.

MIT, of late has become very student friendly. Laptops in classrooms, no subjects in 8th sem, and just a half hour viva in the end to get the prestigious tag o BEing a B.E. and thereby providing ample time for a hard working student (who actually did a project and not faked one like many others) to have a god time.

So my final trip to Manipal had started. The first night we ended up at a pub (by Manipal standards only) and guzzled beer like crazy. Two of my friends went overboard but I was prepared for all this as I knew what happens when a group of manipalites go drinking. One of them actually dirtied the washing machine (read the loo) and was glad he didn’t go near the dishwasher (read sink).

The days went on and so did the madness. Amazing dinners and lunches with people we can only hope to see now just added to the nostalgia of the entire thing. It was parties galore with people going abroad or going for an M.B.A. More parties imply more free booze. So no one was complaining.

Anyways more people kept flowing in everyday. In the middle of all that my viva came and went. I guess I showed up for my viva or may be I forgot all about in the craziness I was surrounded. If my memory serves me right I was high when I went for both my vivas.

Then came the 26th of May and with it came Mr. Nitin (for his last visit to Manipal for the 5th time). Well everything after that is just a blur. I felt like I was back in the Manipal I used to know. In the Manipal where I had no worries what so ever. My last Saturday there was a grand affair. Dancing away till way past midnight with things happening on the dance floor that I had never imagined I would see (people around me can check the wallpaper on my cell). The beer had me dazed by the time I left the place.

A trip to Hanging Bridge was proposed but that ended up in a very drunk friend of mine crashing his car and we spending the rest of the night trying to put it back on the road. What better way to end a 14 day drinking binge?

29th may- I guess the saddest day of my life. I finally had to say goodbye to the place that made me who I am (a total freak that is). And the only thing that I kept thinking on my way back was I wish “the fortnight had never ended”.

For 80 Good Reasons and More

So there is another addition to the ever growing community of bloggers. And before you get any weird ideas that I am here to promote a product in the competition with Durex (which would be stupid actually as they have a million good reasons and more), this piece is about a place in Bangalore – The 80 ft. road at Koromangala.

Before I get started let me tell you a little about me- I have been o hyderabadi all my life and a manipalite for the past 4 years. 4 months ago was my first real encounter with Bangalore (the visit before this is considered virtual because I had a close encounter with death and the only memory that remains is of the horrendous accident).

Well where were we? Ya, Bangalore… my first impression of the city was that it was chaotic. And well the city didn’t prove to be too benevolent to me (conned by the auto wallahs, thrown out of a P.G within 15 days of joining in, having a theft at my place – not exactly acts of benevolence).

Now, before you get any wrong ideas for the second time – this is not another one of the Bangalore bashing articles (if you need those all you need to is to open the TOI any given day). This article is an ode to the one place that has given me solace in the midst of all the chaos – 80 ft. road at koromangala.

Whether it be a refreshing snack at Gangothri when I was hunting for a place to stay or the amazing buffet at Dal Roti when I was starving to death one Sunday afternoon. Or for that matter the Pizza hut treats when I got my first pay. A special mention to Legends of Rock (officially rated the best pub around by ME), the kick ass F1 races I watched there sipping beer (guzzling it at times) will be imprinted in my memory forever.

And what else, the road leads to my home away from home – FORUM. I have lost count of the endless hours I spent there doing nothing or something (I can’t even recall that). Movies at PVR, sitting and reading novels at Landmark- I have done it all.

So, Bangalore has finally managed to get into my good books (or vice versa I guess) and it is not due to the usual M.G or brigade road but because of the highly under rated 80 ft. road at Koromangala.