The Man Who Lived

Inspired to start writing again. I must do it more often. Life is on a roll. So much to do, such little time.

On that note I think of what to jot down. Nothing comes to mind. I think, may be a movie I watched recently, may be a book that I read. Indecisive as always! *Sigh*! Mental note, speak less, observe more, may be then I will have things to pen down.

On a different note, my grandfather passed away recently . The last one of my grand-parents. Its true, one never realizes the importance of someone till he is gone. How I wish he had lived longer.

And its his birthday today! He recently became my friend on facebook. It always amazed me how quickly he would pick up new things. He would innocently write "I like it" on our photos and messages because he probably did not know about the like button. Now, everytime I log on to my page and see him there, a tear trickles down.

The sorrow is much more, because we did not have the slighest clue that he would go like this. A healthy man, all of 83, he enjoyed, every bit of life. He had once asked me to come online at 5PM everyday so that we could chat. And now there is no one. Such is life.

The only consolation is that he is in a better place now. My grandmother left him 10 years ago. They are probably together now, or such is the hope! It's so tough to move on. But, like they say, "Agar apne mann ka ho, toh achcha, agar apne mann ka na ho, toh aur bhi achcha; kyunki woh bhagwaan ke mann ka hota hai" which is to say if you get what you wish for, its good, if you don't then its even better; because it is God's wish.

On this day, I pray with all my heart that he is well, where ever he is. We have with us very fond memories that we will cherish forever.

Love You Nana!

Malaysia- Day 2

Day 2 in the City was the most interesting. Our course was to start at 8.30 and since it was thefirst day, we decided to get there at 8! That was the only day that we reached there so

early :)

We were joined there, by three more trainees, from different Oil companies. We had a short session of introductions and our Coach seemed to be a very experienced man with great knowledge on the subject. Having come from a different background altogether, I had a lot of doubts, most of which I had encountered while working on the project back home. I was looking forward to coming to terms with them.

Training day 1 went fine. We had

a delicious lunch at the hotel, and the best part of it was the dessert. Lined there were at least 4 types of pastries, a number of ice cream flavors to choose from, fit for king souffle and scrumptious fruits. But this indeed wasn't the highlight of the day!

We set out to reach the top of the Menara, KL, and because one can see it from just about any place in KL, we thought it could not be too far. So we started walking, but we realized later on, we were in the wrong direction! We walked along the street from Concorde Hotel, and then were joined by the tea time rainfall which made us wait in the shades, wherever we found any. We walked till we turned into a road,

went a little uphill and entered a gate, which was actually some sort of a wildlife/forest path. We

kept walking up, in the rain, because we did not want the amount we had already walked to go down the drain. There were no people to be seen where we were treading, but finally a man, rigorously jogging down the hill, reaffirmed that we were on the right path.

After a good 45 minutes walk, we reached the top.The elevator took us 278m high in 50 seconds, which was very quick. The atmospheric pressure heavily pressing down on our ears. The top was a great view. The best part of this was that we could see the Petronas from here too, which would not have been possible had we been on the top of the Petronas!

It had been a very tiring journey up to the top of the Menara, but we still managed to pose for the pics. We took a ride back to our hotel, and made plans to hit the top of the Petronas next.

Malaysia- Day 1

I knew I should have started blogging while I was in Kuala Lumpur, but I did not get any time to do so. But now that I am back and at ease, I think I should put down the experiences which I had there.

We started in a group of 5, all set to attend our first ever international course on Reservoir Engineering, and we were not half as excited to attend the course as we were to explore the place and enjoy or getaway from office.

The date will go down in history as the 27th of February, 2011. Thats the day we boarded the flight to KL from Bangalore Airport. The start was not as good as we had thought it would be. We entered the executive lounge, the attendant there, scrutinized our tickets first, to confirm, cause it was a matter of disbelief for him that we were flying in the business class! We assumed it was because we looked younger than the other people who were seated there! :)

We went on in expectation of a great business class experience. But to our disappointment it wasn't. We had stuffed ourselves in the lounge and had no appetite to eat more, but I still tried the most recommended, Malaysian Satay. It was decently cooked but I wasn't sure about the meat that was used, so I did not finish it.

We landed in KL, at 7am, pepped up, awaiting the pick up cars, and only one of them had arrived! So we booked one by ourselves, and reached Sheraton Imperial on Jalan Ismail, (Jalan is road in English), and checked into our rooms. 21st floor was bliss. I could see the Petronas Towers and the KL Tower from my room (in picture above), I would have got anything else too, if I had asked for it, probably one of the millions of Lamborghinis which were all over the roads of KL! :)

The journey was good and I was looking forward to much more. A great Sunday. So while I was waiting to meet up with some of my other friends in KL, Ishan and I set out in the city on foot. The sun wasn't kind to us, the weather there was very

very humid (and I believe it is generally like that in KL). We walked till we reached the Petronas Towers, and it was breath taking. So tall! An expected adrenaline rush.

Our friends joined us for lunch, and then we left for the flee market of KL, China town. We took the Monorail to the market, a smaller version of or own Metro Rail and probably something we expect to have in Bangalore soon. Its a fast ride and connects the important places in KL, and it was the mode of transport we used most frequently during our stay there, or else would just have been stuck in the traffic that KL is characterized by.

China market was jam packed, well I think thats an under statement too! we did not have place to walk two in a row, to save ourselves from rubbing into the others. To my surprise the shopkeepers there (I use shop due to the lack of any other word to describe the little outlets they were selling their stuff at) are very high headed. They understand the importance of demand and supply, and stick to their prices. Bargaining works, only if one talks to them nicely, the moment you sound needy they stop obliging. So I successfully bought a bag, bringing it down from 95 RM to 25 RM. A good purchase. :)

There are rows and rows of fake merchandise all over the place and frantic shoppers juggling between shops to get the best buy. From fake Prada to fake Adidas, you get everything there.

We got home that day, really tired, the humidity was getting onto us. And we slept off early, in anticipation of what would follow the next day, as we started off in our first training session.

Bangalore-My destination in the South

Born in the East, brought up in the West, shifted to the North, and now in the South to stay...That's the tour of India for me..

What more apt a title than the city I am in...

Three months old to me, but much older actually..I haven't really looked around the city yet, but the exploring seems to be going good.

The transition from college to professional life has been smooth, with just few hitches along the way. Having said that, I recall the apprehensions I had as I sat in the first row of the Training Room 2 (I did not volunteer to occupy the first row, that is where my name card was placed), wondering how the first day would go and whether or not I would get along with the people around me.

It all did go fine, courteous people from the work place, were all eager to make us feel as much at ease at possible. My training went on for a little more than 40 days and then the grind at the job. However, it isn't a grind yet. My team mates are excellent, they give me a chance to learn before I can plunge into the real work, which I think is very considerate.

I have met a variety of people around me , ever since I have come here. Most of them are nice, yet different. Having gotten used to my own comfort zone and the type of people around me, I had somehow created a notion of the way people are and the way they behave. That definitely changed, cause even if they are nice, there are so many things about them that I might not like or even approve of. But then life goes on and it teaches you how adaptability plays the most important role when you shift places.

I miss my old life, my old friends, I really do. But then working has its own benefits, like getting up and going to shop whenever one wishes, buying n number of shoes if one may please to, and yes the "one" here is me!

As long as I can make the most of, I am at it. Independence has a whole new meaning. And I enjoy being Queen Imelda/ Jaya (as christened by my colleagues).

Cheers :)