A Dell Recap

I dint join Dell, but Dell acquired me!

PerotSystem perished, I dint bother

I felt like Dell was my stepfather

I could say “I work for Dell, Honey”

Not to mention the pocket money

My days in Dell Services were numbered

But those were times to be remembered

I don’t know what Dell B2B saw

When I was selected I was in owe

A clean slate and sheer desire to learn

I entered this team to take the churn

I learnt the basics, bottom up

Running around like a little pup

Working hours and WFH came as a shock

I was new to it, never looked at the clock

Soon I grew in my team

As fast as it might seem

I dint know Japanese for sure

But if they had a problem I had a cure

I called everyone to join for tea

Soon I was told I am a honey bee

I interviewed a few to our team

Mentored a few who could dream 

We are Travel agents handling messages

I Explained concepts even in passages

“Tu yeda hai re” took me aback

Realising it was time for feedback

Offsite and team lunches were frequent 

All these memories will stay 100 percent

People leave managers they say

I wouldn’t leave mine even if they payLittle did I know I would love this company so much

Giving it a place in my heart that none can touch

Dell, a small word yet emotions explode that words can’t express!Grateful would I be with Dell, always!

For giving me something that makes it hard to say “Goodbye”

Smiles that go Miles - A story of love

With almost 24 hours of journey ahead of me, I was wrapping up all my last minute to do list before I head to India. Out of office mailer - Check, flight and train ticket - Check, Passport - Check, Cash - Check, ...

Waiting comfortably in Providence station for Amtrak train to leave for New York, where I had a flight to India in Etihad Airways, it struck me that I had forgotten to have lunch and was feeling hungry. Quickly I picked up some food and had cold sandwich. It felt horrible specially when you know 24 hours from now I am going to be treated with delicious home cooked food with all the spices and masalas. Boy! Was I excited - Pani Puri, churmuri(Mysore special), cheese burst pizza, all the chaat items, Dosa, Puliogre, Thate Idly and the list goes on ... By the time I went through my list of must haves in India my stomach had already began digesting the cold sub.
As I reached New York, I was thinking, this might well be my last day in US being single, well I like to stress on the word Might! Yes, I was poised to meet a girl and may be if I do like someone and she liked me, I might consider getting into a relationship! But some where in my mind I said to myself - Do I really wanna lose all my freedom? Do I really need a Life partner at this point? Hell No! I have been running away from all this to enjoy the solitude, the joy of not reporting anything to anyone, the freedom of not being responsible.. So I consoled myself - I go meet someone and say no. Game Over! I don't want to get married now! Abu Dhabi was the place I next landed after I boarded the flight in US. And boy was it magnificient. Truly a nice airport to walk around and explore. Free internet, touch screen kiosks, nice interesting decorations and fancy items that catch your eye. I could not but resist taking a picture of this camel!

The fragrance of Mother India brought a big smile and a sense of belonging, as I stepped out of the flight in Chennai, realizing that this is the first time I am returning to an International Airport in India (Ok may be 3rd time but I was too young first time and second time was a leisure trip to Nepal which I still can't digest that it is international)

I was searching for Akka and found her after a while, what a feeling it was to see Akka and hug her after nearly 1.5 years. I couldn't wait to go to her house where Amma n Appa would be waiting. All the honking, traffic, noise were all making a perfect symphony and I just loved it. Seriously! Life is so happening here. You feel alive. On reaching home I was so happy to see my parents and hug them, boy! was I missing them so much. Abhay and Maaya, grown up a little, had just woke up and their hug was warm. it was Friday and kids had called off their school in lieu of their mama coming from US! How nice. Well actually Maaya had just recovered from Viral fever and Abhay was just getting it. Now it sound better, not for someone who has just come from US. But who cares - Love rulez.

I asked Mom - What's the plan ma? (of course that was intended for asking whom all am I going to meet?) Just a couple of weeks before I left for India the plan was to meet someone in Mumbai, the very weekend I arrive. Our families liked each other and we kind of started talking over the phone and things seemed to go pretty smooth. Parents were happy and it all seemed right just when there was a tussle and we decided to go against it. It's like when you feel something is wrong it can never go right even when it is all correct. So this last minute shock left my mom open up other possible alliances. She started telling her plan to visit Mysore on Monday and then return to Trichy(where parents lived now) for Kannada new year - Ugadi. In Mysore she had planned to invite a couple of families on the first day and then two other the following days, if we can make it. I started asking them whom she had invited on Monday and she make me recollect one Girls picture and then said the other I had not even. Mom said she had come to our house warming ceremony and she was sure I would like her. Now what can I say when I have not even seen her, spoken to her, understood her ideas.. So I simply nodded my head thinking I am not going to get engaged. I told her if I don't like anyone there is no hurry, we can try when I come back after 6 months.

Little did I know that my favorite association for Mysore with Churmuri is going to change forever!

Mom started tell me that Dad is not coming with us as he had to report to work and to give us company Vasudha aunt(whom we lovingly call Mummy ;) ) would come with us instead. I was little shocked but said to myself that it's going to be a no show trip so it's ok for Dad to not come! I was tired, so I just couldn't control my sleep .. By the time I took a nap and got up it was evening time. Time flies in India at an amazing speed! The curiosity to see the one girl who hadn't sent her pictures was more - so I took to the power of Internet, turned to facebook and google. I just couldn't find her. All I knew was her name, place where she lives, her father's and mother's name - quite a lot of information to hunt someone down online I thought. It can't be possible that someone in the 21th century is not using Facebook! May be she has set her account that way so it doesn't reflect in our searches. Alas, I had to give up, din't want to make myself feel desperate. The interest grew when mom describe about her and how she had visited Parent's house in mysore for their house warming. Mom pledged I would like her for sure. Well all that for not finding her in the internet, no luck and I had to wait to see her.

A Road Trip on Christmas

It was December 25th, the Jingle bells hadn’t rung yet, but we (Jai, Daya, Sambit and me) were all gearing up for a long weekend get away and all set to start the journey as early as 1.00 am. 

The List of places we had considered were

1. Horanad
2. Sringeri
3. Agumbhe Ghat
4. Kollur
5. Ghokarna
6. Murdeshwara
7. Udupi
8. Mangalore
9. Kasarghode
10. Dharmastala
11. Khoke Subramanya
12. Sharavanabhelegola

We had not decided on the places to visit till the previous day night, leave alone the route to take. We obviously had 3 days to spend (25th, 26th, 27th). We decided to leave as early as 1 a.m so that we reach the first destination by morning.

One of the biggest concern was the roads. Many had advised against taking the Haasan – Mangalore straight route as the roads were being laid and thus caused traffic along with bad roads.

Obviously, I din’t want a pilgrimage and wanted to spend more time near the beach. Based on the google map routes we decided to skip a few of them so that we have more fun. The Final driving direction was

Horanadu-Kudremukh-Sringeri-Agumbe-Manipal-Udupi-Malpe-Kaup-Maravanthe-Murdeshwar-Jog Falls Google Map showing the direction we took

Thus we decide to go till Haasan and then take a deviation to Horanadu via Bellur so that we avoid the sakleshpur road.

Bangalore to Horanadu (320 km) <25th Dec>

Road was good till Haasan and then decent till Mudigere. We wanted to visit the Annapoorneshwari temple and have breakfast there. It was around 7 am and we had 90 km more to reach Horanadu and Annapoorneshwari, but we never expected the road to be horrible. The 90 km drive too us more time than we took to reach Haasan.

We made frequent halts to refresh ourself where ever possible

  Finally we reached there by around 10.30 a.m to see huge rush.  We realised it was a bad time to visit a popular temple and so we took darshan from outside, thanks to the LCD monitors.

Horanadu to Kudremukh (22 km )

This was through the forest and the roads were good.   The drive was pleasant and we enjoyed the forest atmosphere and my silent LPG car :D. We reached Hanumangundi(Soothanabbi falls) and it was a relief to see the falls filled with water. Having had a bad start we need this refreshing water falls to soak our tiredness and bring up  the spirit.   Water was super cold but we were determined to have fun.

Sambit, who initially din’t want to enter the water, struggled his way through the slippery rocks to the water falls and we followed him

We had awesome fun and a much needed refreshing bath!!

Kudremukh to Sringeri and Agumbe (46km + 45 km)

Driving though the ghats was fun. Reached Sringeri and visited the Shardamba temple and quickly moved on to agumbe so that we don’t miss the Sunset point.  But the roads were not in our favour and we reached 5 minutes post the sunset. Nevertheless we took some pics and quickly decided to reach Manipal for the stay over night.

Agumbe to Manipal (60 km)

Sambit had made a suggestion before we started for this trip – that manipal being a college city would be a good place to stay and get the college atmosphere again :). He was right, we ended up getting a good accommodation for really good price (300 per room). To top that we even entered a Disc only to find a few guys dancing together with random laser light going every where. Ghosh bangalore is much better. We had dinner and came back to the hotel tired and exhausted after a whole day of journey.

Jai was keen to get up early morning to visit Udupi Krishna and move on to the beaches.

Manipal to Udupi to Kaup (5km + 20 km)<26th Dec>

Waking up early was never in my agenda. By the time we got to the temple it was already 8.30 a.m and there was a long queue.  It took us nearly 2 hours to come out after a good darshan. Udupi Krishna is unique in the way that we see the God from the backside of the temple.

Legend has it that once Kanakadasa, a dalit worshipper who was so pious and devoted to Lord Krishna, was not allowed entry into the temple. It didn't upset him, but instead made him pray with intense devotion. Lord Krishna was so pleased to allow the disciple to gaze upon his heavenly form through a small window at the back of the mutt (monastery). Till today, devotees still worship Lord Krishna by praying through the same window that Kanakadasa was blessed with a view.

Having visited 3 temples in 2 days, this would be the last for that day. It was a BEACH DAY. we had planned

• Kaup beach 
• Malpe beach
• St. Mary’s Island
• Maravanthe beach
• Murdeshwar beach

Kaup was a good less crowded clean beach with a light house. To our tough luck the light house was undergoing repainting so could not go up and enjoy the see view from the light house. The sun was scorching hot and we could not stand it. after a some refreshments we headed straight to the car and were wondering if we could enjoy the other beaches.

Kaup to Malpe (17km)

Thank the heaven, by the time (2 pm) we reached Malpe and got a ticket to St. Mary’s Island the clouds were out and the heat had subsided. St. Mary’s Island is one of the best place to hang out. The shore is not filled with sand but with shells. I wonder how so many shells got accumulated in one place. You get shells and only shells as you dig deep into the ground.

It is like a private beach and we all were in the spree to take pics. There were so many crabs, snails of all sizes. The island was fun.

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On the way back to Malpe we spotted Dolpines swimming in the Ocean. Gosh I wish I would breathe in water – I would also swim with them!!!

Maple beach had the water bike and costed Rs 300 per ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had dinner as the sun set into the ocean.

Maple to Maravanthe and Murdeshwar (45 km and 60km)

We headed towards Murdeshwar and since Maravanthe was on the way we stopped by to enjoy the beach in dark :D. Luckily we noticed a street dance show going on and decided to stop by to get a feel of it – A true Road trip.

We reached Murdeshwar by around 10.00 pm and had dinner. We knew it would be tough getting a decent place to stay but never expected so much crowd – we could see people sleeping outside near the streets everywhere. We din’t want to spend a hefty price for a average room and so started looking out for alternatives. Near the temple there were a few guys asking tourist if they required a room. I enquired and they were quoting Rs 1200-2000 for a room without Bed – they would provide mattress and pillow. With no better option and totally tired all we needed was a good safe place to sleep, so we decided to take one such room.

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Though we thought it was a below average place to stay, we actually enjoyed the atmosphere in the morning. The house was amidst of a farm which was near the beach so in terms we were staying in a farm house resort.

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It turned out to be a good experience to get ready the traditional way – Brush using Mugs, fetch water from the well, heat the water using wood and coal,  store it in a large container, share the water, have coconut milk early morning!!! Refreshing and out of the world!!!

Murdeshwar to JogFalls and Lion safari

We played in the beach and then got ready in our “farm house resort” and visited the Murdeshwar temple. The temple has so many tourist attraction points that we spent nearly 2 hours seeing in and around the temple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

We started from Murdeshwar back to Bangalore via Jog falls and Shimoga. We had a hectic two days and had a days driving still left. We made frequent halts to refresh ourselves and to have coconut milk. Road was pretty decent for most of the parts till shimoga.No much water in Jog falls so decided not to trek down. We started heading back to bangalore. On our way we noticed a Tiger and Lion Safari and stopped by to see it. We were the last batch to go for the safari.

We called it a TRIP and headed straight back to Bangalore. Took the NH7 and then went to NH4 and joined the NICE road. Dropped Jai and Daya and reached back to my adobe by 1.00 pm. It was an eventful journey and the longest drive in my car.

Life is so beautiful!!