Smile

I was having lunch with one of my colleagues, Vinith, at office where we had started discussing about matrimonial market. I questioned Vinith about his marriage. He said, he was in love already and his would surely be a love marriage. My curiosity was at its peak and the conversation continued…

“So, you are in love?” I questioned again.

“Yes.” Vinith replied in a cool tone.

“Do your parents know?” The next question was already dwelling in my mind.

“No. I’ll tell them post my elder brother’s marriage. But, her parents know.” He looked up at me. His look said that he hadn’t finished. So, I didn’t pitch my next question. He continued.

“And they are completely fine.” His face lit up with a sweet smile.

“Nice..!” I had already stopped eating now I put my spoon down too.

“But, there will be problems, I know.” Vinith continued and smiled again.

“Like?” My curiosity was very obvious in my tone. “Different caste?” I continued.

“Not caste”. He smiled fully. “This is inter-state”.

“Where is she from?”

“Madhu Saha. Bengali. She is from Kolkata. They are now residing at KKNagar.”

“Then how do you guys talk?” I was really very surprised.

“English..!” Vinith said and smiled again.

“Really..??!!!”

My voice was much above my normal pitch; my eyes bold and bright and eyebrows painfully stretched and curved.

The conversation continued and he narrated how she had maintained an unknown identity for more than 2 weeks during when she had made up that she was in love with him and was willing to live her life with him. Not able to track down any friends who could talk so well in English, he had asked for an in-person meet during when he had identified that she was his gym friend. Madhu had also confessed that she was in love with him from day one. They had spoken about the possibilities of this relationship for a few months and given a green signal for it. Madhu had convinced her parents with no trouble and the relationship was going on smoothly.

After coming back to my seat, I was feeling energetic. Something had happened that had improved my mood and poured in me lot of positive energy. I closed my eyes and tried to recollect.
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Vinith’s smiles flashed in my mind. Then, I smiled too…

Smile like a sunflower and the world smiles with you..! :)
~ Unknown

Unbelievable

It was an unbelievable offer...

Lunch @ the Le-Royal-Meridien... On Day 4...!

On the occasion of 10 years of partnership between my employer and my client, the offshore team was offered Team Lunch at the above mentioned 5 star hotel. The entire team was picked up from SEZ in bus by 11:50 am. When we reached the hotel it was close to 1 pm.

We walked into the hotel in batches. Welcomed by a lighted-water-fountain and 4-level hanging light I was already impressed. The ambience was amazing and mind blowing. We walked a few steps down to enter the basement were the lunch buffet was being served.



The floor was awesomely decorated with wall hangings, paintings and ceramic articles. One side of the hall was an artificial waterfall (behind the glass door). That waterfall point very soon became “Facebook-Profile-Picture-Click” location. The misted glass and the waterfall, indeed was a nice point to have a click.



If you look closely, you can find my partial mirror image in the above click.

Adjacent to the buffet hall was the hotel Ball-Room, where the client meet was actually scheduled... (Funny...!) When I looked up, the ceiling was beautifully decorated with blue-glowing-crystals in bubble shapes. A section of the ceiling was mirrored which made me feel that people were walking upside down on the ceiling. We were 450+ people and the hall could still accommodate more people.

The lunch was served and below was the menu:

• Gobi Kurma
• Daal Tadka
• Aalu fry
• Panneer Tikka Dry
• Bindi Masala
• Veg Kofta
• Naan
• Mint-Cashew pulav

• Italian Pasta
• Potato-Curd salad
• Sprouts salad
• Sweet Corn salad
• Semiya curd rice

The Dessert list:

• Vanilla or Butter Scotch Ice cream
• Custard pineapple pudding
• Jelebi with Rabdi

If you were awaiting a big list of non-veg dishes, I am so sorry. There were only 2: Butter Chicken and Fish Fry.

I feasted on the desserts thrice and filled my tummy. After completing the fantabulous feast, we were asked to assemble at the Ball-Room for the client meet. My so-called-brain started working...

I was at Guindy which is very close to my residence. We had already decided that, post the client meet we would go home directly and saying so, we had carried our bags too. I was waiting for a good chance to sneak out stealthily and abscond from there.

I planned and sat in the corner seat of the last-but-one row. People kept walking into the room and the back row seats were getting filled very quickly. Suddenly the last row was asked to occupy the front seats. My heart skipped a beat – may be next would be my row...! I kept my fingers crossed...

Then a few delegates walked into the room. My mood dropped completely thinking about the utter failure of my plan. The guests were seated in the front and there was a lot of hustle-bustle in the room. Suddenly, the power fluctuated and the room went dark. In a second, the room was lit with emergency substitutes.

After 15 seconds, when the power was back, my seat was empty...

Frankie??!!

I never expected that I would end up eating a FRANKIE...!

Being the first day of induction at HCL... it was a tiresome day. Submitting documents, getting documents verified, attending policy explaining sessions, intranet portal walkthrough sessions... My god...! The sessions were too exhaustive and ripping me of my energy...

After completing the sessions and my joining process, I made my debut to the “Cafeteria”.

It was a two floor food court. Though not as big as Infy’s Food Court, the counters in the cafeteria were interesting – Madurai Appu restaurant, Muffin parlour, Ratna cafe, Pitstop, Curry & Noodles and... A FRANKIE corner...!!??!!

I had tasted a Frankie long back in my college days. Whenever I visited Nilgiris with my hostel friends, we all used to feast on Frankies with Lemon Iced Tea. When I was lost in my memories, the Frankie smell got me back into state. I smiled at the vendor and ordered a Panneer Tikka Frankie.

I munched on it, actually ate it piece by piece and relished it. It was hot, fresh, yummy, spicy and tasty...!



For Frankie lovers, this is the home-made Frankie Recipe:

1) Make wheat-maida (80:20) dough with water, oil, a pinch of salt and set it aside for an hour.
2) Chop onion, tomato. Deep fry them in oil. Add salt, pepper powder, chilli powder, garam malasa, coriander and leave it on low flame till they roast to golden colour. Add asafoetida and garnish with coriander and ghee. Set the gravy aside.
3) Make chapathis with the dough.
4) Add oil to the tawa and roast both sides of the chapathi to golden colour.
5) Spread ghee on top of the chapathi. Spread the Tomato-Onion gravy on the chapathi.
6) Sprinkle Chaat Masala on the chapathi and roll it.
7) Place the rolls on the Tawa and sprinkle water.
8) Cover the rolls with the Tawa-Cover and leave it on low flame for 1-2 minutes.
9) Then remove the rolls and serve them with sauce.

Hope you guys enjoy the FRANKIE..!!

Bubbye Infy..!

When I look back today, there are a lot of things to think about from Jan 23, 2012 to till date.

Joining Infy was not an instant decision. Having missed two rating cycles horribly in my previous company, the only thought that stuck in my mind was to quit and prove my worth-for-a-hike to my managers. I had two offers – Infy and CTS of which I chose the former. But...

• Paranur was a station which I had never heard off.
• Mahindra City, Chennai was not even in my globe.
• Making a note of train timings and running to catch trains hadn’t been in my daily schedule.
• Missing trains and waiting for the next train – I had never thought I would undergo it.

Gone were those days when going to Chengelpet was “Oorukku porathu” (going out of town). MCity has become an IT employment hub. Close to 20,000 people commute to MCity everyday – but MCity is actually amidst forest. There are a few more things that come to my mind when I think about my Infy life...

Train Pass:
Not being a regular train commuter, I had never had a necessity to buy train passes. When I enquired the ticket vendor about the train to board for Infosys, Mahindra City, he said, it was better to take the pass till Chengelpet as fast trains stop both in Mambalam and Chengelpet. I purchased my first train sub-urban monthly pass on Jan 23, 2012.

Samosa:
"நாலு பத்து ரூவா நாலு பத்து ரூவா சூடான சமோசா.."
Not having travelled for more than 20 minutes continuously in sub-urban trains, Samosa vendors were completely unknown to me. These vendors carry a basket full of bright-orange-coloured samosas with oil-fried-green chills. It does smell and look yummy and I have tasted them a few times.

Paranur Station:
Paranur is the station just before Chengelpet i.e. 9th from Tambaram. (Perungalathur – Vandalur – Oorapakam – Guduvanchery – Potheri – Katankalathur – Maraimalai nagar – Singaperumal Koil and... finally... Paranur)

Not having heard of this station, when I enquired about it in the railway ticket counter, he said, “The train will become almost empty in this station. Get down with the mass.” Paranur station wasn’t like the previous stations. It was completely modelled and constructed by “The Mahindra” and it is posh and attractive.

Shuttles:
Infosys shuttles picked up its employees from Paranur station to the Infy campus. The shuttle travel was about 7-9 mins. The shuttles were of 3 different models – Single centre door low platform bus, double door low platform bus and single front door 3+2 seat bus. Off late, I always preferred the second model as people could easily board and alight from the shuttle easily.

Infy Campus:
The Infy campus starts with a security check and turnstile. This is where the employee attendance is accounted. We need to scan our bags, swipe our card, go in, take our bags and walk on. The campus consists of B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, FC1, FC2, FC3, Leisure block and ECC. There are 2 bus bay entrances one close to B4 and another close to B1 from where we have to board the shuttles to Main Gate and Paranur. Apart from these, we have a cricket ground (which was never used according to me, till I was there) and amphitheatre (which was rarely for cultural celebrations alone).

Food Courts:
Infy food courts are special due to various reasons. Most of my “Jobless” times and “special-friend” times had been in the food courts.

FC1 is a dual floor food court and FC2 is a big ground-level court. KCS coffee shop in FC1 and Kaveri coffee shop in FC2 were my evergreen points to relax with my friends. Apart from these two points, the cafeteria in the ground flood of B8-C wing was my all time favourite for evening snacks. The Dominos in FC2 was my most liked treat point. Latest entry into FCs was the soda corner. Though I am not sure of the most liked flavour of mine, the memories associated with them are really awesome.

Leisure Block:
The most visited place in the Infy campus is the Leisure block. It consists of the CCD, ICICI bank, More, Bowling point, Carom & TT point, Connections and few more. I learnt bowling only after joining Infy. The times when I played and enjoyed with my friends were really memorable. Few Fridays had been special – bowling followed by treats at the Juice shop or pastry shop. My farewell happened at the CCD.

Last but not the least...


Friends:
My life at Infy wouldn’t be complete if I do not mention my friends. They made my stay awesomely pleasant and extremely memorable. Sundar Raman, Malathy, Shobana, Nayeem, Thenral, Anbu Raja and few others constituted more life, colour and spice to my life at Infy. Most of my “Enjoyed” times consisted of the above mentioned friends. Thank you friends for making my stay at Infy memorable.


Good Bye, Infosys..!