Random Thoughts

Another year has gone by, however I must say 2016 was a happening year for me, personally and professionally. It's been more many months since I wrote anything. Let me pen down some of the key highlights of 2016. 2016 was the year of many firsts. Silki got a project in Sydney, her first international assignment. Thus ended our long distance relationship in January. While the first couple of months she was in Melbourne, I got an opportunity to travel and see a bit of Melbourne. I watched my first tennis game between Tomic & Murray in the third round of Australian Open in the famous Rod Laver Arena. What a wonderful experience it was! March & April saw a number of road trips in and around Sydney. I loved the scenic beaches of Coffs Harbour and the beautiful drive along the NSW coast. July and winter gave me an opportunity to discover the Snowy Mountains. Beautiful countryside, scenic lakes and farms dotted the journey. However, the biggest change of t...

Had been planning this so many years now! In 2009 after I returned from Zurich, I was already in love with the mountains. Wanted to go to the Himalayas especially  Ladakh . But as Harry Chapin  says " there were planes to catch and bills to pay.. " It did not happen in 2009. There was a chance to do this in 2010, but as luck would have it, it snowed in June in Ladakh and the roads opened 15 days late. Late enough that i could not go on the Ladakh trip as my b-school classes had started in Indore by then. Summer internship and financial constraints did not help me fulfill the dream of visiting Ladakh in 2011. And 2012 was spent in fighting it out in the new job. Finally, its in 2013, after four long years when i first thought about the trip, that I am going to Ladakh . The weekend starting with 9th August till 18th August has 2 public holidays (Id and Independence day , in case you are wondering!) and there are two weekends. So, by just taking four days off...

Its been a week since I received my joining date and location. After the initial one week induction from 24th April at Chennai, I will move to Kolkata, which would be my primary work location at Cognizant. Coincidentally, I have got allocated to the Retail industry. Lets see what's in store for me there?

Another good movie from George Clooney!! The movie revolves around how a lawyer and a sole trustee of a big property tries to reconnect with his daughters after their mom goes in coma. He discovers something about his wife from his daughter and then goes on to meet someone who had a role in it. Watch it for Clooney's cool and composed acting, a good story plot and good Hawaiian background and music score.  My Rating: ***1/2 Well, Hawaii is really beautiful. It's on my list of places to see now.

Today I watched the movie  Up in the Air again. Somehow I find the movie quite close to my heart. One of the reasons why Consulting is my preferred career choice is because it would give me the opportunity to travel. Every time when I have been Up in the Air  I have felt at home. The airport, taxis, announcements i just love them. I also love Ryan Bingham's philosophy in the movie - 'Life in a suitcase'. Overall a good movie and one that I can relate to.

After i had shipped most of my belongings, i still had two bags full of clothes and some other stuff. Because of heavy luggage and heavy airline fares, i decided to travel back home by train. When i checked the IRCTC website, i became doubtful whether i will get the tickets confirmed or not. The mistake i did was that i did not book the waiting ticket in 3AC thinking that i would get tickets in Tatkal. Well, the Tatkal story is a sad one, with more than billion people travelling everyday on trains and half of them trying for tatkal tickets, no wonder the IRCTC website is very very slow in the 8 am to 8:40 am time slot. I was not lucky even in the tatkal scheme and got a waitlisted ticket. To hedge my risks i decided to take a tatkal sleeper ticket as well. Well, my 3AC ticket remained waitlisted however my sleeper ticket got confirmed. And i decided to travel back home in Sleeper class!! Thinking that Bangalore's monsoon to be the representative of south indian monsoons, i was ...

It was quite a relief on Saturday when i got my baggage back. Air France had sent a shipment of baggage on trucks after it could not send it for almost a week. Anyways, i was more than delighted to get back my bag. My advice to people thinking of travelling by Air France, just avoid it!

After much ho hungama i finally got a green signal for my Zurich assignment. After one full week of packing-shacking, finally i was at the Bengaluru International Airport. When i reached the airport i learned that the Air France flight to Paris was delayed by 25 minutes. Shurwaat hi khaarab hui. Later in the flight i was a bit disappointed to see that none of the airhostess were 'hot'. If not the flights, Mr. Mallya should definitely take over the cabin crew of all the international flights (nothing matches the quality and taste of Mr. Mallya).Anyways, after listening to some music i decided to take a nap, but the seat was not very comfortable and i could hardly sleep. I decided to cure my insomnia with a movie and watched The Dark Knight. In the morning when the flight neared Paris, the view was amazing, the entire city was covered with a white sheet. The captain announced that the outside temperature was -10 degrees, meri toh ph**t gayi. The plane landed in Paris on time, how...

As the plane was descending, the aerial view of Delhi as quite impressive. Flyovers and Grand Separators lit by the golden light of the street lights gave an 'International' feel. My Hertz cab driver was right on time and it took less than 20 minutes to come out of the airport (Approx one third of Bangalore airport's exit time during peak hours) !!! The Delhi to Gurgaon road was a magnificent 8 lane highway.Slowly i was coming face to face with the realities of the much hyped 'Infrastructure Boom' of India. The Skyline was dotted with a lot of construction work , then there were the Star Rated Hotels and also the Office complexes. I realized at that moment why DLF was such a prized catch on the Stock Markets during its recent listing on the BSE. Anyway, i reached my Service Apartment in Essel Towers, though it wasn't a five star accommodation but i loved the ambiance and the surrounding of high rise concrete structures. Next morning, i headed for the Training ...

I thought of writing about my last trip to Mysore but I had to travel to Gurgaon this week for an SAP Training on Master Data Management. The two days have been really hectic and am not getting any time to write anything. This trip has been a special one, special because its MDM and secondly because I got the chance to visit the NCR after some 5-6 years, and believe me it has been an eye opener for me!! More about the trip in the coming weeks.