Signs of life

First signs of life from Chennai !

On the turning away
      Like troops assigned to a tough assignment to faraway lands by fat generals, we arrived in Chennai Last Sunday to fight someone else's war. A waft of humid air hit us. Kinder than I had expected. The captain had announced that the temperature was 30 Deg C which I think is as low as it gets when it is bright. The company had booked a cab till M City, my place for stay for the next two weeks. It would be awesome and inconvenient. Awesome becaurse, my training when I joined Infy was in Mcity, I was really looking to go there, as some one said, its good to go back to old places where you have spent time, and see what has changed, you or the place. Inconvenient, as it is 50 Km from my work place, which means bye bye to 15 min commutes ferried by my bike ,to which I am accustomed. As I stepped out of the airport, I had a big smile on my face. It is really cool to see someone ready to receive you, with a placard which says 'Mr Chandan Karkera, Infosys' :) \m/

Back to M City
The journey to M City was nostalgic, as I retraced the path to the place where me and my friends spent 5 amazing,frightening, unforgettable, hectic and confused months, going through the rigors of Infy training. Posters on fly overs of women in various stages of undress and ecstacy greeted me. It was good to remember names like Tambaram, Marimalainagar, Kattangalattur and I racked my Brain to remember whatever broken Tamil I had picked up and survived :) A flood of memories inundated me , on seeing the house where we had stayed, as Infy had not yet built the hostels in Mcity. Situated right next to the highway, not even a minute from the bus stop and most importantly , contiguous with a Govt liquor outlet, it was proof that the higher power had smiled on us in tough times. All the good times in the house with tempo, chamundi, metre manja, gk and srinath came back. It is because of their awesome company that I survived. Upon reaching, I was a stranger in a strange land again. Building upon building had been spawned and nothing matched my memory. The guest house was extremely good and attended to, my first stay in Infy hostels. Everything, from carpets and towels , to shower caps and soap boxes n sugar sachets have the Infy logo on them :) I spent time roaming alone like a nomad on a cycle, doing a recon mission of campus without a wingman :|

Days of our lives?
   First day of work here, our cab arrived at 7. Breakfast was on the way and the prices were a jolt to reality here. For 60 bucks your stomach is still half empty. Onward travel time was ~2 hrs, and you can spend time staring outside the window. It is nice to listen to familiar Tamil songs on FM, to keep the devil out of your mind. Each song has particular memories associated wiit it. As i was jobless, i kept a record of travel times :

Day      Onward     Return
1          01:55        01:21
2          01:52        02:18
3          01:55        01:50
4          01:41        02:37
5          00:46        01:00

At any point of time, 3 senses are under brutal attack. It is a contest to hold your breath and not pass out, to fend off the smells of various levels of putridity. The smells change with the rains and location. The sun beats down on you as you plead for mercy. And it is visually repulsive at many of the places. You wonder if everyone forgot to include drainage systems in town planning.

The new workplace
Looks somewhat cramped. I do not care for the view outside the window. It is a big lake/ drainage surrounded by huts. I avoid looking out. The people look glum and mostly involved in work all the time. The coffee machine is superb. The 'South Indian filter coffee, light' is so perfect that you cant tell it is from a machine. For a week it is back to the training days. Lunch is in Andhra mess outside campus. Food is so good that it beats the cumulative tastes of all fc's in Mysore. The noons are spent in trying not to sleep, it takes a herculean effort. At many times I gave up and snatched a few winks of sleep. It is like intergalactic travel for a few seconds, really good :) Waves of sleep are generally held back by the fortress that the coffee builds. The coffee breaks are spent in scrambling to get paper cups from the security.

The Shared auto saga
Was fortunate to travel by a shared auto on Friday. Loved the experience. It is a normal auto, elongated and with innovative sliding seats. Normally 6-7 people can sit in it, although the number can go up to 10 or more depending on desperation levels. The main seat on sliding reveals a clever wooden plank which serves as a seat for additional people. It is like watching a movie, except that here, you are the movie. There is limited scope for moving your legs and you have to suppress all urges of stretching.

Weekend
Yesterday we went to the shoreline at night. The cool breeze and the moonless night did a lot of good to us troubled souls, as did the soft sand and the rolling of the waves. Watching sunrise from a beach on the East Coast has been a cherished dream of mine for eons, hope that happens this time. As it began to rain, we took a shared auto to hotel Aloft, a really classy place with uv light and sophisticated looking people. I think it was the first time in their history that they saw an auto come to their plush entrance and noone quite knew how to react :)

Those are the updates from me. I think all this will go into the blog too, for the benefits of future generations.
Tc, keep in touch ,people. Really miss you all! Please call me back :|:|:|

Regards,
'Mr Chandan Karkera, Infosys'

Shine on you crazy diamond (What im listening to,now)
(Published as sent out last Sunday, 28 Aug 2011)