I'm currently waiting for my connecting flight in Dubai. I had my flight to dubai at around 4am from Bangalore. I was in the airport at around 1. So you might have guessed (or should I say its obivous) that I had not slept. I could not sleep even the previous night just thinking of all the tasks at hand. I got into the checking baggage line at around 1:30. I was told that the cabin bag was not supposet to exceed more than 7Kg. My bag was around 12. The option I had was to remove the luggage from the cabin bag and dump it in check-in bag which was already over weight by 4 Kg. I then decided to check in both the baggage and pay for 10Kilos. I paied 13K for excess baggage.
Having a spicey Pizza (probably the last spicey food i would eat ) I boarded the flight. As I had seen in the movies, the passanger next to my seat was a girl should be in her late 20's on her way to SF. After fiddeling around I stuck a conversation with her. As soon as she opened her mouth. I was totaly off. Trying not to be rude I had few min of conversation and decided to do what I do best sleep. :-)
I didn't know when the airhostes served my break fast. I don't know when the flight kit was handed. I guess I was snooring too.. :-)
I reached Dubai around 6, local time. Currently I'm waiting for my flight with sleepy eyes. Another hour and half to go..
Milano.... Here I come..!!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
My last day at office..!!!
Yesterday, 21th April 2009, was my last day at office. After 5 years and 5 months, it was something which did not hit me first. I went to office as usual. I checked my mail and started to replying any mail that was pending. Made a list of things I was suppose to complete. By then it was already time for lunch.
Our team goes out for lunch every quarter, the bill is paid by the company. This time I was bestowed the responsibility of deciding the place. I decided on South indies and it was south indies we were going.
Nobody in the team had ever been to that place and after tasting the food, everyone thanked me for choosing the place.. ;-) the credit I took with out any hesitation. Then I was presented with the memento from my manger. It was pretty big. I was able to guess the small present, however there was also a big one which I was not able to. I opened it up.. and was surprised to see a "To Do list", "Sudoku book", "Telephone diary" and a book on Italian. My manager did put in a lot of effort in deciding.
After a nice lunch, we were back in office by half past 2. I send out the good bye mail to the group. As soon as I sent it.. I was bombarded with e-mails and chat on the communicator. Most of my colleagues didn't know that I had put in my papers even though I hadn't made any effort to hide it. It was only after then it hit me.. I had few more hours in office.
I had my Exit Interview around 4. Didn't take much time but did give some useful feedback. It was only after that I started to run around getting all the crm closed.
By 7 I finally had my relieving letter. I walked done the stares to give my Id cards. Just the thought that I would not be coming back to that place, I will not be allowed inside the office anymore, I would be stopped at the gate and questioned in case I turned up. The very though made me a bit emotional and that was also the reason that I wanted to get my letter that day itself instead of coming back the next day to take it.
Sitting in my car, I took one deep breath. That was the place that I would never be in again. (The basement parking lot)As soon as I got out of the gate, I could not hold myself but to shout out loud. :-) The road that was leading me home for one last time..I would not drive the same way everyday morning here on.
What hurt me most.. was the fact that.. I would not have my pay cheque credited to my account on the last working day of the month anymore..!!! :'(
Our team goes out for lunch every quarter, the bill is paid by the company. This time I was bestowed the responsibility of deciding the place. I decided on South indies and it was south indies we were going.
Nobody in the team had ever been to that place and after tasting the food, everyone thanked me for choosing the place.. ;-) the credit I took with out any hesitation. Then I was presented with the memento from my manger. It was pretty big. I was able to guess the small present, however there was also a big one which I was not able to. I opened it up.. and was surprised to see a "To Do list", "Sudoku book", "Telephone diary" and a book on Italian. My manager did put in a lot of effort in deciding.
After a nice lunch, we were back in office by half past 2. I send out the good bye mail to the group. As soon as I sent it.. I was bombarded with e-mails and chat on the communicator. Most of my colleagues didn't know that I had put in my papers even though I hadn't made any effort to hide it. It was only after then it hit me.. I had few more hours in office.
I had my Exit Interview around 4. Didn't take much time but did give some useful feedback. It was only after that I started to run around getting all the crm closed.
By 7 I finally had my relieving letter. I walked done the stares to give my Id cards. Just the thought that I would not be coming back to that place, I will not be allowed inside the office anymore, I would be stopped at the gate and questioned in case I turned up. The very though made me a bit emotional and that was also the reason that I wanted to get my letter that day itself instead of coming back the next day to take it.
Sitting in my car, I took one deep breath. That was the place that I would never be in again. (The basement parking lot)As soon as I got out of the gate, I could not hold myself but to shout out loud. :-) The road that was leading me home for one last time..I would not drive the same way everyday morning here on.
What hurt me most.. was the fact that.. I would not have my pay cheque credited to my account on the last working day of the month anymore..!!! :'(
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
What is a Apostille, anyway.. ??
About a month ago, I hadn't even heard of this word. I had to search the net but wasn't able to understand too much about it.. What I was able to summarize about the bits and pieces of information I got was that its a stamp put on the Certificate by the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
Once I got to know, that I would be getting my Certificate attested from Belgaum, I called up the MEA office in Chennai, claimed that I already had the document attested and asked them for the next course of action to get the apostle done.
The person on the other side of the phone, told me to carry a copy of my passport, the original Certificate (attested) and a DD for amount of Rs50/- payable to POA, New Delhi. (This is required if you are traveling to EU. In case you are traveling to Dubai or else where you won't need it).
I decided the day I returned from Belgaum, I would travel to Chennai the same night. I booked the ticket to Chennai from office. The train was to leave Bangalore at around 11pm.
As it was pretty late, dad decided to drop me to the station around 10:30. After checking with few people at the station got to know that the train was due to leave from platform 4.
I got into the train, it was Gawhati express. It was nothing like Channamma Express, as in - it was dirty and in just two words, it was "very bad". I had not yet completed "Witch of Portebello", so I had the book and had made up my mind to have finish it. The train was suppose to reach Chennai at around 6:45. After turning few pages, I dozed off.
At around 5:15 the train came to a stand still. I checked the time and though I had another 1hr 30 min, to reach Chennai. I tried to sleep again but could not. I though of washing my face and checking as to which station was it that the train stopped for so long. There was no water in the sink. I cursed the train as I had been doing since the time I boarded it, and looked out. I was taken a back when I saw the Chennai Central board. I ran, grabbed my bag and jumped out of the train. I sat on one of the chairs put on the platform, just thanking my god and my luck. :-)
I had a cup of coffee and started to plan for what I was suppose to do next. I was told by my colleague that the metro station was near by to the main train station. I had a map of the Chennai, thanks to Google maps. I had to reach Nungambakkam, thats where MEA office was. I walk out of the train station and auto driver where eager to drive me to my destination. I declined and asked them the direction to the metro station. At first the autodriver, who was pestering me, was reluctant and tried to change my mind. When he realized that it was in vain he gave me the directions. I followed it and found the station. As it was early morning the queue was very small. I took a return ticket, costed me 7/- and stood on the platform as I was directed. I didn't know anything about Chennai so you can guess that I didn't know where nungambaka was. All I had was the map, which also showed the metro tracks and all the stops. I broke into a conversation with a young chap. I asked him to alert me when my station arrived. He was more than happy to do so. We had a short conversation, in which I got to know that he was working for a MNC in Bangalore and as he was not able to get the train ticket to Chennai the next day, he had preponed his travel and was planning to work from home.. :-) "Work from Home" thats some kind of a new word (jargon) you will hear from IT professional. I guess my dad would have laughed if he had heard it in his working days. The phrase would have only meant that the person had his own business.
Our conversation included gamut of topics ranging from Work to studies to work culture across the globe. He was an attentive listener which I could make out from the kind of questions he was throwing at me so I decide to give him an advise too.. :-) I told him to read "World is Flat", if he actually wanted to know the changing trends across the globe.
I got off the train. I checked with few people about college road and also showed them the map. No one was able to help me. I walked out of the station and checked again. I was given a rough direction that was enough for me to get started.
I was looking for this address.
Chennai
MEA Branch Secretariat
68, College Road, E.V.K. Sampath Mallaligai,
7th Floor, Numgambakkam, Chennai -600006.
Phone: 044-28252200, 28251323
Fax: 044-28251034, Email: usbs.chennai@mea.gov.in
I walked for about 30 min and was relived as and when I was able to see the land mark as shown in the map like the school/church. I finally reached the education board where the early birds where doing their exercise. I approached a group of 3 gentlemen and showed them the address. When they were reading out the address they made me feel that I was suppose to walk for another Kilometer. After reading the complete address, without blinking an eye they told me to walk into the next compound. I was a bit surprised. If you knew it they why read the complete address ?
Anyway I walked in front of sampath Mallaligai at around 6:45. I tried to kill time by reading the book but could not do it for long. By 7:10 I guess my logical part of the brain woke up and made me realize that the office would not open before 10 and would be a fool just to be sitting in front of the building for next 3 hrs. I decided to have my break fast.
I had walked for about half an hour and I had not noticed any decent hotels on the way and the street side gaddis was a big NO for me.. just the sight of it made me sick. I guess as I was not use to seeing it here in Bangalore ( ok.. agreed we do have gaddis in Bangalore but not like the ones you see in Chennai... I would call it a mobile restaurant. You could get variety of dishes here but the clean factor is one which lets you down.)
I spoke to the sweeper and he gave me directions in Tamil which I hardly understood. I made him feel I had got the directions and walked off in the direction he was pointing too. :-) I then checked with another passer by on the street. He gave me proper directions but some how after walking for about half a kilometer I lost my way. By now I had started enjoying this. Asking people and getting lost. I happened to pass by Planet M where I caught sight of the sales poster. As it very early in the morning it was not opened. I decided to come back later. I then passed by Oxford book house, again I decided to pay a visit on my way back. After failing to find a the hotel that the locals where suggesting (Hotel Sangeeta), I decided to get into any restaurant that I could find. I saw a 3 start hotel. I decided to check out the restaurant of the hotel. I really didn't bother as to how much it would cost me, I was so tired.
I was surprised when buffee break fast was served that too for just 110/-. It also gave me a chance to freshen up. I took my own sweet time to relish the break fast and by the time I returned to the MEA office it was 9:30.
The office was suppose to open at 10 however we were let in by 9:45. I filled in the forms and handed over the document to the guy there. He asked me to come back at 11:30. Now I had another hour and a half to spend. I decide to go back to the planet M and check out the sale. It was much harder this time around as the sun was already out and it was scroching heat. As soon I got into the store, it was like a bliss.. not because of the music or the sale .. but because of the AC in the store. I decided to spend most of the time in the store. I was in the store for about 45 min checking out each and every title the store had finally picking up one CD. I walked out and decided to head towards Oxford book house. Half way through I decided to turn back because of the heat. I decided to push myself for another 50m. After spending about another 45 min in the book store, I headed back. I reached the MEA office by 11. I though I still had to wait for another 30 Min however to my suprise the document was already ready for me to pick it up. I finally got to see what the Apostil stamp was.
I took the document and was out of the building by 11:15.I headed back to the Central station taking the metro. As you might have guessed it was not easy because of the heat. I finally made to the Central station by 12:15. My train, according to schedule was suppose to leave at 14:00. When I saw was the arrival board, it stated that the train was suppose to arrive not before 15:00. Now I had about 3 hrs to spend in the station. I surfed the net for some time and then had lunch at Survana Bhavan. I had heard of this place in France but not in India. :-)
When I came back after lunch I was taken a back when I saw the departure time changed to 15:30. I went back to the surfing center and then read the book which I had. When I started to feel sleepy I decided to check out the book store in the station. The place was too cramped up so couldn't stay there for long.
I sat in front of the arrival/departure display board. By now the arrival time had changed to 16:30. I was not suprised this time around and went back to reading the book.
By 16:20 the train arrived. I thanked God for not delaying it any more. I was glad that I was on my way back home and I could finally sleep in my bed after 3 days. I boarded the train and went back to my book. When the TT came, I displayed my waiting ticket and also the writen ticket number. He didn't have my allocated seat number and he made a note of it in his list. Once he left I was back to my book. I finally finished the book. This was the first time I had finished a book in 2 days.
I reached Bangalore around 10:45. I was in no mood to take auto. I wanted the trip to be "No auto ride trip". I headed to the BTS Bus station. I happen to see 88 bus come to a stand still. The very idea of having to walk for about half a KM made me miss the bus. After waiting for another 15 min with no sign of the bus, I reallised my blunder and got to know that I had no options.. I had to get as close to home as possible. I finally got bus No.96. I knew I would take me on a mid night sightseing before droping me off to my place. The suprising thing was I happen to see traffic jam even at 12 in the night. :-)
Oh Boy... wasn't I glad to be back home..!!!
Once I got to know, that I would be getting my Certificate attested from Belgaum, I called up the MEA office in Chennai, claimed that I already had the document attested and asked them for the next course of action to get the apostle done.
The person on the other side of the phone, told me to carry a copy of my passport, the original Certificate (attested) and a DD for amount of Rs50/- payable to POA, New Delhi. (This is required if you are traveling to EU. In case you are traveling to Dubai or else where you won't need it).
I decided the day I returned from Belgaum, I would travel to Chennai the same night. I booked the ticket to Chennai from office. The train was to leave Bangalore at around 11pm.
As it was pretty late, dad decided to drop me to the station around 10:30. After checking with few people at the station got to know that the train was due to leave from platform 4.
I got into the train, it was Gawhati express. It was nothing like Channamma Express, as in - it was dirty and in just two words, it was "very bad". I had not yet completed "Witch of Portebello", so I had the book and had made up my mind to have finish it. The train was suppose to reach Chennai at around 6:45. After turning few pages, I dozed off.
At around 5:15 the train came to a stand still. I checked the time and though I had another 1hr 30 min, to reach Chennai. I tried to sleep again but could not. I though of washing my face and checking as to which station was it that the train stopped for so long. There was no water in the sink. I cursed the train as I had been doing since the time I boarded it, and looked out. I was taken a back when I saw the Chennai Central board. I ran, grabbed my bag and jumped out of the train. I sat on one of the chairs put on the platform, just thanking my god and my luck. :-)
I had a cup of coffee and started to plan for what I was suppose to do next. I was told by my colleague that the metro station was near by to the main train station. I had a map of the Chennai, thanks to Google maps. I had to reach Nungambakkam, thats where MEA office was. I walk out of the train station and auto driver where eager to drive me to my destination. I declined and asked them the direction to the metro station. At first the autodriver, who was pestering me, was reluctant and tried to change my mind. When he realized that it was in vain he gave me the directions. I followed it and found the station. As it was early morning the queue was very small. I took a return ticket, costed me 7/- and stood on the platform as I was directed. I didn't know anything about Chennai so you can guess that I didn't know where nungambaka was. All I had was the map, which also showed the metro tracks and all the stops. I broke into a conversation with a young chap. I asked him to alert me when my station arrived. He was more than happy to do so. We had a short conversation, in which I got to know that he was working for a MNC in Bangalore and as he was not able to get the train ticket to Chennai the next day, he had preponed his travel and was planning to work from home.. :-) "Work from Home" thats some kind of a new word (jargon) you will hear from IT professional. I guess my dad would have laughed if he had heard it in his working days. The phrase would have only meant that the person had his own business.
Our conversation included gamut of topics ranging from Work to studies to work culture across the globe. He was an attentive listener which I could make out from the kind of questions he was throwing at me so I decide to give him an advise too.. :-) I told him to read "World is Flat", if he actually wanted to know the changing trends across the globe.
I got off the train. I checked with few people about college road and also showed them the map. No one was able to help me. I walked out of the station and checked again. I was given a rough direction that was enough for me to get started.
I was looking for this address.
Chennai
MEA Branch Secretariat
68, College Road, E.V.K. Sampath Mallaligai,
7th Floor, Numgambakkam, Chennai -600006.
Phone: 044-28252200, 28251323
Fax: 044-28251034, Email: usbs.chennai@mea.gov.in
I walked for about 30 min and was relived as and when I was able to see the land mark as shown in the map like the school/church. I finally reached the education board where the early birds where doing their exercise. I approached a group of 3 gentlemen and showed them the address. When they were reading out the address they made me feel that I was suppose to walk for another Kilometer. After reading the complete address, without blinking an eye they told me to walk into the next compound. I was a bit surprised. If you knew it they why read the complete address ?
Anyway I walked in front of sampath Mallaligai at around 6:45. I tried to kill time by reading the book but could not do it for long. By 7:10 I guess my logical part of the brain woke up and made me realize that the office would not open before 10 and would be a fool just to be sitting in front of the building for next 3 hrs. I decided to have my break fast.
I had walked for about half an hour and I had not noticed any decent hotels on the way and the street side gaddis was a big NO for me.. just the sight of it made me sick. I guess as I was not use to seeing it here in Bangalore ( ok.. agreed we do have gaddis in Bangalore but not like the ones you see in Chennai... I would call it a mobile restaurant. You could get variety of dishes here but the clean factor is one which lets you down.)
I spoke to the sweeper and he gave me directions in Tamil which I hardly understood. I made him feel I had got the directions and walked off in the direction he was pointing too. :-) I then checked with another passer by on the street. He gave me proper directions but some how after walking for about half a kilometer I lost my way. By now I had started enjoying this. Asking people and getting lost. I happened to pass by Planet M where I caught sight of the sales poster. As it very early in the morning it was not opened. I decided to come back later. I then passed by Oxford book house, again I decided to pay a visit on my way back. After failing to find a the hotel that the locals where suggesting (Hotel Sangeeta), I decided to get into any restaurant that I could find. I saw a 3 start hotel. I decided to check out the restaurant of the hotel. I really didn't bother as to how much it would cost me, I was so tired.
I was surprised when buffee break fast was served that too for just 110/-. It also gave me a chance to freshen up. I took my own sweet time to relish the break fast and by the time I returned to the MEA office it was 9:30.
The office was suppose to open at 10 however we were let in by 9:45. I filled in the forms and handed over the document to the guy there. He asked me to come back at 11:30. Now I had another hour and a half to spend. I decide to go back to the planet M and check out the sale. It was much harder this time around as the sun was already out and it was scroching heat. As soon I got into the store, it was like a bliss.. not because of the music or the sale .. but because of the AC in the store. I decided to spend most of the time in the store. I was in the store for about 45 min checking out each and every title the store had finally picking up one CD. I walked out and decided to head towards Oxford book house. Half way through I decided to turn back because of the heat. I decided to push myself for another 50m. After spending about another 45 min in the book store, I headed back. I reached the MEA office by 11. I though I still had to wait for another 30 Min however to my suprise the document was already ready for me to pick it up. I finally got to see what the Apostil stamp was.
I took the document and was out of the building by 11:15.I headed back to the Central station taking the metro. As you might have guessed it was not easy because of the heat. I finally made to the Central station by 12:15. My train, according to schedule was suppose to leave at 14:00. When I saw was the arrival board, it stated that the train was suppose to arrive not before 15:00. Now I had about 3 hrs to spend in the station. I surfed the net for some time and then had lunch at Survana Bhavan. I had heard of this place in France but not in India. :-)
When I came back after lunch I was taken a back when I saw the departure time changed to 15:30. I went back to the surfing center and then read the book which I had. When I started to feel sleepy I decided to check out the book store in the station. The place was too cramped up so couldn't stay there for long.
I sat in front of the arrival/departure display board. By now the arrival time had changed to 16:30. I was not suprised this time around and went back to reading the book.
By 16:20 the train arrived. I thanked God for not delaying it any more. I was glad that I was on my way back home and I could finally sleep in my bed after 3 days. I boarded the train and went back to my book. When the TT came, I displayed my waiting ticket and also the writen ticket number. He didn't have my allocated seat number and he made a note of it in his list. Once he left I was back to my book. I finally finished the book. This was the first time I had finished a book in 2 days.
I reached Bangalore around 10:45. I was in no mood to take auto. I wanted the trip to be "No auto ride trip". I headed to the BTS Bus station. I happen to see 88 bus come to a stand still. The very idea of having to walk for about half a KM made me miss the bus. After waiting for another 15 min with no sign of the bus, I reallised my blunder and got to know that I had no options.. I had to get as close to home as possible. I finally got bus No.96. I knew I would take me on a mid night sightseing before droping me off to my place. The suprising thing was I happen to see traffic jam even at 12 in the night. :-)
Oh Boy... wasn't I glad to be back home..!!!
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