Shame to Pride!

"TG1 and TG2,help TG5 and TG6" my learning co-ordinator announced in class.I was in TG6.I felt heartbroken.TG stands for technical group.Our batch was divided into technical groups based on our performances.TG1 means smart and TG6 means average.I realised this ,only when she made the announcement.I didnt perform well in my previous evaluation exams which gave a bad impression about me on my co-ordinator.
My friends criticise me as an under achiever to have been placed in 'MyCompany' and here inside 'MyCompany' I am an underachiever!.I felt ashamed.What could i do?Just prove to her that i am not what she thinks.And yes we did!Our TG topped the next evaluation, i got the maximum mark in my group.It was a moment of relief and pride.And at the end of the first phase of training when each member of our batch was given nick names, i was nick named KCK(King of coding kings),prabu of my same group as CK(coding king),arun of my group as topper!.Though i knew it was too much it felt good buddy!

Bye to shy!
"Show some emotions man!" one of my batchmates to whom i had rarely talked with, commented at me,as we rehearsed for Role Play( a part of our training program to develop oral communication skills).I was too shy and just recited the dialogues during my rehearsal.In fact i had written the script, i had to contribute.
The D-day finally arrived."Ms.McDonalds died on 23 rd july at 23 hours...".This was the topic given to us.We had to build a script and perform a play around that.Thanks to Dasavatharam i wrote a script which starts and ends in the same scene.I played the role of a neighbour of Ms.McDonalds.
First Scene, Ms.McDonalds lay dead and i come into the house.Seeing her dead i say some emotional dialogues.Hey nalla nadikiran di!(some girls voice i heard in the background!What else could a boy ask for!).Then it went on, with myself in full flow after the initial tonic i had got.At the end, our co-ordinator asked "Which actor got himself into the character!" .North indian guys said a north indian's name ,south indian guys said my name and i knew she was expecting my name.........Next Phobias

I had no emotions sparred at Orissa but humor dominated all other emotions.Humor mainly in the form of kadi jokes kept my days interesting.Here again simma gave me a very good company appreciating good humor and tolerating others(same blood! jokes).

Mega Mokkai Contest -Season 2:

No wonder Niranjan (The king of mokkai of our class at college) won the Mega Mokkai Contest- Season 1 at orkut, hands down.The competition was so overwhelming that he was chased out of Season 2.Wonder who won the Season 2 contest? It's ME! Even i cant believe it! Just a little amount of sharp axablade kadi jokes made me win this prestigious title.Just a small flashback:


Sibi from CIT college was one of my severely damaged victims.We were informed of our base branch locations one day.Moments of extreme joy,satisfaction,shock and despair created an ocean of emotions, where i was swimming just observing everything around.Sibi came to me:

Sibi:vijay unaku entha location da!
me:Enaku tamilnadu da!
Sibi:????

Appointment letters were distributed on the final day of phase I training.Sibi got his appointment letter.He had got posted at Karapakkam,Chennai.He was sitting next to me:

Sibi:Vijay unaku karapakkam area theriyuma?
me:Orissa la irunthu partha eppadi da Chennai karapakkam theriyum?
Sibi:ah ah ah...

Arun Parthiban from CIT was not subjected to extreme tests from me,though there was one such moment.I was along with my friends in BUS.BUS was about to take off.Arun was the topper in the first two exams in our batch.As it happens ,all his friends were ottu fying him so severely.As he entered into the bus he started shouing:

Arun:Aha! ellarum otta arampichiduvangale!
me:Kavalapadatha driver mattum than ottuvaru!
everyone( bursts into laughter):...

Sita raman is my room mate now in this second phase of training.Though i have not had much humorous moments this phase, occasional kadi' s did come out.Sita was lying on his bed.A palli(lizard) was on the wall over his bed.He called me:

Sita:Vijay antha palli ya ottu da!
me(at the lizard):he he! nee ellam oru palli ah!
Sita:???
Tortured by my kadi's ,sitaraman began to grade me for my kadis.In our first phase of training we had a grading system which varied from L0 for poor performance to L4 for wonderful performances.He always gave me L0 and blocked my kadis!(stomach fire!).

Each and everyday i kadichify simma and he understands my humor easily than others.Myself,simma and sita live together in a room,there is an attached bathroom in our room.Also there is one common bathroom which everyone use.One morning simma was getting ready for bath.He was entering the attached bathroom:

me:Simma nan intha bathroom la kulikiran da!
simma:Yen da common bathrooma use panna ve mattengura.Intha bathroom mela avalavu attachment ah
me:Ama da!
simma:yen da!
me:Yena ithu attached bathroom le!
simma(he found that i would say this and we both the made the same comment simultaneously)...

Lots more but shall limit to this extent......Next Pain and fightbacks at orissa!

New place! which means new visiting spots.I was quite interested in exploring Orissa and would wait for the weekends to appear so that we could visit as many places as we can

ISKON:

My first place of visit was ISKON(dont get alarmed by the name its just a krishna temple!).We went by auto.In Orissa autos are not autos they are mini vans!They carry as many people as possible (even in the driver seat three people sit,the driver usually stretches his hand to ride and all autodrivers here are experts in that).Orissa is known for its temples ,all built with great architecture.In fact it is known as the City of Temples.ISKON temple was also of different architecture,flags flying on top of temples,a green park like area and quite crowded.I love taking photos and did not miss that at this event.

Nandankanan:

Nandankanan is one of the major tourist attractions in orissa.Its quite vast.Two things grapped everyone's attention here.The Rhino Battle and The Blinking deers.
I had seen rhinos only at circus shows, where they would just come out from a short bath and yawn before the audience and go for bath again.Here though we could see rhinos battling in water.It was awesome given their giant size and big mouths, they would just sneak out from the pond and open their gigantic mouths to attack their fellow colleagues.
I have never seen deers in groups as i saw in Nandankanan.They were silently having their lunch when myself and simma made some whistle sound.Blink! then another blink! then another blink!blink!blink!....one by one every deer started to blink at us.After a moment they returned to their job(vera yarayo koopudaranka pola iruku).Again we whistled and again Blink!

Konark:

This place is not for people under the age of eighteeen.Parental Guidance is preferrable.I felt quite embarassed at the scriptures.Polygamy,lesbian relations and whatelse ,everything were picturised so REALISTICALLY!.Architecturewise Konark is a masterpiece!

Chilka lake:

Boating is a pleasure in Chilka lake ,it took myself to various stages of enjoyment.The silvery water,Photo session at the edge of the boat(Niranjan was balancing the boat at the other end so we could easily sit at the edge and have some beautiful snaps),Dolphins at a place where the lake kisses the sea,Island with a vast attractive beach,Heavy meal with prawns,fish and crabs and finally Return to the Shore in drizzling rain.Wow!

Puri:

I was tired after visiting Konark and Chilka lake and was more interested in leaving home.Yet one thing was interesting in Puri.Of course it is a wonderful piece of architecture .It has high towers and one of the towers has a huge flag flying over it.Everyday A SINGLE PRIEST GOES TO THE TOP OF THE TOWER WITH NO PROTECTION AND HOISTS THE FLAG!What if he loses his life?.May be he believes he is doing it for God.But does he ask this?


Next....Humorous Moments in Orissa

Having experienced the marvel of human excellence at Bangalore airport ,bhubaneshwar airport took me by surprise.A lazy dog was having its sleep near the runway.I later realised this was just an initial indicator of what i was going to see later(more dogs!).The airport was dull.It was small, still it was spacious.We were not really worried of how to find our destination as taxi drivers were waiting for us outside(No they were not send by TCS! It seems only tcs associates come to this airport...).Along the way i got an entire glimpse of orissa.Hardly we got few distance away from the airport cows started greeting and welcoming us.(There are more cows in orissa than humans!).We reached our allocated homes.Strange place..strange people ..but my mind was too exhausted to dwelve on these things .I was more concerned in settling down.I had to choose my room mates now..They happened to be narasimhan and navaneethan.My days in orissa would have been terrible but for this man narasimhan(we call him simma).Our wavelengths are quite similar we both are soft natured and we both enjoy witty kadi jokes(Everyday we kadi-chify each other..sometimes so severely!).He is my translator,close friend and also my health advisor(i appointed him so to develop my body:-)).We had a good sleep that night ....

"Oh no!not here again...i should not sleep like this here..m a professional now!" i said to myself in disgust when i saw the sun shining bright and coming into our rooms to wake us up.I looked at the clock.Alas! it was just 5.30 ,it looked like 7.30......The sun rises early in orissa ...but that doesnt mean people get up early here.They enjoy life ,enjoy sleeping.

I love putting on formal dresses for they make me look a bit fat...the tie and shoes add on to my weight to make it average.So we professionals started to our training centre.TCS has got Kalinga Institue of Industrial technology's facilities to run their training centre here.On the way to this centre(by kalinga' s bus) we are blocked by lethargic, cool cows which are adamant to move a little bit and give us a way.The helper boy in the bus would beat the bus door hard again and again ,the driver would blow his horn again and again ,thus by working together they will get the attention of these cows.They in turn will turn to the side probably saying to themselves "saniyan nimmathiya rodula ulava vida matenguran ...ivan appan kettina rodunu nenappu".

Apart from TCS canteen where we are advised to take our foods,we have food at Udipi hotel ,the only affordable and cheap SouthIndian hotel here.Even in front of this hotel, dogs have round table and square table conferences .At times dogs and cows join together and have a quiet discussion ("Orissa va namma kaikulla eppadi kondu varathunu").

Orissa is very eco-friendly.Dogs,cows,big frogs and insects can give you company so there is no question of loneliness.The city is well planned though.A single long road connects the entire city, so we wouldnt get lost here.Food in orissa is so sweeeeet(Even pickle tastes sweet!)

People in orissa dont go after money it seems.Shops will be opened at around 10 o clock ,they will leave for lunch at 1 o clock and then return after 4 or 5.If you ask them anything they will give a reaction which means("Enda poyum poyum en kadaiku vantha").

I have been enjoying these differences here..still a lot more to share...Next Tour de Orissa

Flight sound was an amazing experience during childhood.we would rush out of our houses and look upon the sky when we hear the sound.Also i used to like jet planes in special because they leave smoke behind forming a straight beautiful layer.Whenever we heard the sound of helicopters we would run shouting "hei gundamma pora"(at the then chief minister).I never dreamt of going by flight.That was not a possibility for the son of a petty shopkeeper.But it did happen and so soon at relatively cheaper a rate.
From Chennai i went by bus to bangalore along with my nagaland friend Obed.When i entered bangalore two things excited me.Software companies flooding along the roads like retail shops and then the long flyovers.Though it was early morning and i couldnt see them clearly i enjoyed them.After getting down at bangalore bus stand ,we tried to get a bus to the airport.Everything was written in kannada on the buses and we didnt know what bus to take.Obed knows hindi,he asked the conductors and bus drivers and even they didnt know properly.Finally however someone pointed at the right location.There are special buses to bangalore airport ,very luxurious and cheaper than autos(few of my friends took auto and spend money in thousands to get to airport).
I liked bangalore roads specially the ones near the airport.After a short travel finally we got into the airport.Two things took my immediate attraction.First the Spacious hall inside airport and then the girls working in the airport.Too much of make-up made them look like artificial dolls(i got the same feeling with airhostesses later in flight).we had coffee for forty rupees and sandwich for 75 rupees(ada pavikala 10 rubala mudika vendiyathe nooru rubala selavu panna vechudingale).We had our checking of ticket , an artificial girl again did that, then we gave our luggages.When it was time,we had another checking and we waited inside the waiting hall.
It was time for the final great experience now.I enjoyed the flight experience in three stages:
The initial take off .My heart throbbed.It was scaringly exciting.
Then the 'Google Image Experience' as the flight flew few kilometres above the earth.I was realising a dream.The earth looked small, everyone looked small,every building looked small.
Finally 'The Ocean on Top' experience.The blue sky looked like an ocean.I couldnt see the earth below.Clouds stood like icebergs and was breathtakingly astonishing.
Another thing which attracted my attention was the routine life or airhostesses.They all looked the same as if painted in white.And their speech and actions looked like as if they were computerised.An airhostess smiled at everyone when we got down ,rarely anyone smiled back and i dont know why , i smiled back.
Next......Initial days at Orissa.....

It was boring.I hated the loneliness back at home.Waited very much eagerly for my training.My mind began to visualise trivandrum and the kind of training i will have to undergo.Some of my friends had got training at trivandrum and were told we could get training at any place .I was messaging simma , one of my close friends, regarding the training .
me:Which place do u prefer for training da...
simma:I will be happy if i get any place other than bhuvaneshwar da...it s raining heavily there..i dont want to swim to office
And the same day evening
simma: i have got in bhubaneshwar da..
me:So ur swimming to office!
I was not interested in messaging further as i was eager to know where i got .I went to a browsing centre and checked my mail.No mail from 'MyCompany'.I didn feel relieved or excited for i was very anxious to get on to training.Few days passed away.Still i didn get mail.One day simma called me and said
simma:Vijay u too have got training at bhuvaneshwar da
me:but i didn get any mail!
simma:Its a Surprise Package from 'OurCompany' da..
I had very little time to make arrangements and prepare all documents(around one and a half day) .Along wit my father,two of my relatives and my neighbour friend i made sure everything was fine.Then my journey to orissa started.First i landed at chennai,had no idea of abt my travel plan to orissa as the train i booked got cancelled.At the last minute i decided to go by flight wit obed.That was a great experience .....Next....First Flight Experience....