17.5 hour workday #@$#$ **#$@^(#

As if yesterday was not bad enough there came today. After spending a f***$% 15 hours in the office yesterday all I managed to get was barely 5 hours of sleep. Meaning like all other days, today too i was feeling sleepy but somehow had so much work that i did not have the luxury of dozing off, like i usually do. (The hours from 12-1:30 PM are the worst. Am usually never able to control myself in this duration and have a few small nap breaks of 2-5 mins)

So I returned from office at 1:30 in the night. Could have gone off to sleep and had good rest for 6.5 hrs but I had just started another Grisham's novel yesterday and was really hooked. But managed to read only an hour or so and finally dozed off at three.

Morning had the alarm set at 7:45 but woke up only after 8. Hurriedly had a shave and a bath and the cab was here by 9. An hour's journey to office (Bangalore's traffic is hell) and there I was ready to begin a new day. But i had not imagined that this would be one of the longest days of my life.

Work kept pouring in, with the output rate being a fraction of the input. And not all of it was interesting. Some or rather a lot of it was pure manual labour (or better called shit work). And the time kept dragging. ManU's loss to Barca added to my miseries ( did not see the match though the TV was on, just heard the commentary). Time kept dragging on... and a good night's sleep still eludes me.

Finally got the day or rather the night off at 3:30 Am. But this was not the end. 17.5 hours stay in the office. But i had to come back too. It again took an hour - there were 3 of us and i was the last one to be dropped. Made it to the campus at 4:30 and still have not gone off to sleep. All for elaborating my nightmare, else with time the gory details are forgotten.......

Well have to get up at 8 tomorrow, so better have some sleep now........

Sunday Filmed

Had a really tiring week with firstly the flu getting to me for which i had to take a day and a half off. Unfortunately also had to compensate for the same by workin on a Saturday when the others went to the Legend of Rock and had a beer cannon. I fuckin hate this work.....

But i had a real good Sunday. Doc's friends in his company, for which he so called works ( have really seen him goin to office for more than a few hours and that too only 2-3 days a week) had organized a so called outing to the Innovative Film City, and I got the chance to go along too. Thankfully it was an informal trip and of the eight people there no one knew more than 3 of the others so it really went well.

Our trip started in the morning when I was woken up by Doc who was too anxious for the trip (or meetin the so called friend of his) barely 4 hrs after i had slept ( NO matter how much tired u r but u rarely sleep early on weekends). And we reached the meetin place Wockhardt Hospital Bannerghata Road, a bare 5 min walk from the campus gate. There I met the gang with whom i was gonna spend my whole day.

Off we left at 10 and after an hours drive reached our destination. Located in a remote area the place was crowded with several families who had also come to have a good day. The place is really expensive for we sheeled out Rs 800 each for the ticket which allowed for so called 16 attractions for which the individual tickets would have otherwise costed Rs 1350. A 100 bucks extra for the camera and we were inside.

Our first stop was an old theater which played 10 min of scene from Sholay and charged 20 per ticket, but the hooting and hearing Gabbar sayin "ab tera kya hoga Kaalia" made up for it. After a click click here and a click click there and we clicked almost everywhere we started getting things knocked off from our ticket.

There was the mirror maze which was really fantastic, with everyone movin around in circles and bumpin into mirrors. The dino park was fun with pics being clicked in different and funny poses. But the fossil museum was a bore - bones had been placed in a hall with a T rex structure at the centre, it was all fake..

By 4 we had only 4 things ticked off with another 12 to go and we did not think we would cover it all. The next stop was the haunted mansion a scary place for kids and enjoyable too. The ripley's believe it or not and the Louis Tussaud's wax museum were great.

Wanted to go for go karting .. to lay off my last years fears of the broken hand but alas it was a huge line. Got a chance though at the very end but since it had gone dark we were given those bigger family cars which were way too slow and the only fun i had was not lettin doc get thru ahead. The Mini golf started great but after the first 4 holes everyone lost enthusiasm and the rest 14 were completed in a hurry and by stroking the ball any which ways and from just about anywhere.

The 4D theater was good. (was my first experience with the 3D glasses too and it was great. But the 3D effect was told is better in IMAX ). The rumbling of the seat, the sudden gust of air as well as the squirting of water made the experience great. But the best part were when the rats jumped at your feet and one feels a tickling sensation by the wires that come out from under the seat.

But the part I was lookin forward to the most was the bungee jumping. But it turned out to be a damb squib. It was actually Bungy jumpmin, the equipment one sees in malls in Delhi where one gets in a harness and is pulled up and down on a trampoline. I was however not able to do it due to the funny sensation that i always have in my stomach ( get the feelin while riding the swing too) and so had to stop after just a few seconds..

It was way past 8, everyone was leavin but still none of us wanted to come back. So we went to the skatin rink where music was playin and started dancin and enjoyin. Call it luck or whatever for a small boy of around 12 broke his hand from a skating accident and there we were with 2 doctors among us to handle the situation. A sling was made and tied before he was sent away in the ambulance by our very own Doc......

Sunday BANGed

So the third weekend arrived after a really hectic week. Was very late coming back from office on Friday, with my body all tired up and showing full signs of the lack of sleep that i had endured the past week.

But still its funny how the concept of a holiday the very next day fill u with some sort of adrenaline to actually keep u awake that night no matter how tired u really are. So i watched a couple of movies before finally hitting the bed at 4. But it is also true that ur body does need its rest and so i finally woke up at 5 in the evening - a good 13 hours of slumber. And i would have definitely slept more had it not been for the informal fresher meet that we had scheduled for 5:30.

Ironically when at K 5:30 would have meant 5:29:59 here we (5 of us) left IIMB only at 5:25. We reached Leela Palace where our meet was scheduled at 6:30, the get together still on but a lot calmed out. I still remember how a year back i had asked 3-4 seniors the same damn questions about the stay at a hostel (it being the first time), but this time I did not find any enthusiastic junior. Don't know what will happen this year????

Finally people started leavin around 7 and there were just 12 of us left, when we decided to go out for drinks and a good dinner.

Next morning aka Sunday enthusiastically i woke up around 9 coz had planned to go on a second albeit a much better sightseeing trip. So me and Doc finally commenced our journey at around 11.

Boarded a bus to MG road/Brigade road (am still not able to distinguish where they exactly are and which is which). Our first destination was the Vidhan Soudha around 1.5-2 km walk from our bus stop. On the way we came across a post office which did not look anything less than a 5 star hotel from the outside.

A long walk but it was definitely a place worth seeing. Although it has now been closed and one cannot go inside but the architecture and the size was really awesome.

Our next stop was supposed to be Cubbon park but having already visited a park last week we just went along its boundary and did not spend much time inside.

It was almost 3 now. Had spent our time walking and so were feeling tired. We grabbed a quick bite @ McD and headed out to the Visvesvaraya industrial and Technological museum. It brought back memories of when i was a kid and was highly intrigued by science ( I still am). we spent a good 2-2.5 hours enjoying the wonders.

At six we made for what was supposed to be our last stop UB City mall, a highly expensive place where we could not even dream of stepping inside any of the shops given our shallow pockets and the hefty prices. Its another matter of fact that i had my office dinner scheduled at Khansama there later in the night.

On our way to drop Doc back to the bus stand we got a chance to tick off another item on our to do list. Had a chance to have the famous Death by Chocolate @ Corner House - Bangalore' s most famous ice cream. After it I went back for the dinner. Had a couple of drinks too but the best part was the food, which was totally awesome and really worth it.

Finally got back at around 1 and so was not able to have a good night's sleep for it was office as usual the next day, this meant i would again doze off in my chair but now i had to be more careful for i had already been caught napping once.

The world is expanding.....

The world is expanding....

Or atleast Bengaluru is...

that is what the autowaalahs will make u believe.

I have taken an auto from IIMB to my office on 4 occasions and the fare reported was Rs 71, 85, 91 and 99. Now how can it be so if u take the same route unless the world is expanding. And this is not thermal expansion also coz Bangalore is pretty cooler than other areas.

Bangalore autowalas are one of the roguest breed of people I have ever seen, always ready to con u. The auto rates are pretty high at Rs 7 per km but still no one is actually ready to go by the meter. They demand exorbitant rates as high as thrice of the actual fare. And their arguments are totally foolish - If i take u by the meter i will take a longer route and it will waste ur time as well as cost u more. Now how baseless can that be.

And of the few who are ready to ply by the meter they have tweaked their meters to show a higher reading. In my last trip the guy kept pressing his wiper switch on and off continuously while we were on the road (the wiper was non existent) and so instead of the 11-12 km the reading showed 14 km.

And all this happens because there is no control. People earning fat checks working at the numerous BPO's and other MNC's pay and so it is the common man who ultimately suffers. The police does absolutely nothing.

Why Not to be an I banker

well my internship started at XYZ company in Bangalore. Joined on Monday and hoped of having a good time and get a feel of how and what exactly one does on a job. Well we had our training sessions on the first two days in which since we were only 3 people we could not sleep no matter how boring it was. We used to go in the morning at 10 and leave by 7:30 which was still acceptable.

But trouble started on Wednesday, when we were assigned our terminals and projects. To tell about my division it is quite small but and there are a few highly enthusiastic people because of which it has reached its present level as well as is burdened with work. The problem however is that these people have absolutely no life. The come in the morning, some around 9 and leave late nights often after 1. Also many even prefer to work on weekends ( Now they prefer or are forced is a divided issue ) but still, this is insane. And to top it off they get only 9 holidays a year ( besides the weekends that they do come on).

Still i would not have minded it all except for the fact that they would like me to share their views on the same. So had to go the whole week (Good Friday turned to a Bad Friday), had a 12 hour workday at least, spend 2 hours commuting to and fro. And above all they expect me to put in weekends too.

Spent the last three days reading some silly reports without any idea as to what exactly is to be focussed on. And as for some of my friends in the same company but different division they enjoy just a 9 hour workday and weekends off.

I seriously don't think that I would like to ruin my life like this.

PS - the feelings expressed above are the author's views only and not to dissuade fellows vying to be an I Banker. The views are highly company specific so the situation may differ from company to company.

The Night and Day at IIMB

So as I mentioned earlier, am putting up in IIMB for the next 50 days. Arrived here at around 9:30 and was issued a room in a far flung corner, the last hostel block (i believe) and that too the third floor. Although this saves me from the insects that usually plague the ground floors but lugging my heavy bags and making this long journey, staying away from rest of my fellow mates is somewhat of a torture.

Finally got things settled by 11. Had to have dinner etc. So switched on my Mac and connected to the net. And what do i notice??? there are absolutely no restrictions besides not being able to run chat softwares (as i am not able to configure them), but everything else is accessible ( naughty naughty), alongwith downloading. So am awake till 3 when i realise have to get up before 7 to reach safely on the first day.

The IIMB campus - Located quite near the main city or rather the city is now located quite near the campus now. Lush greenery everywhere but the paths are pretty confusing. Everywhere it looks almost the same and one can easily forget one's way. The rooms are no match for those at IIMK but are not too bad also. The one thing that is good is the availability of playing space between the hostels ( but don't know if I will make any use of it or not, still its something very good) ( although all these sporting facilities could do nothing for IIMB in saving their face).

Waking up the next morning at 7 i got ready and had breakfast in the staff canteen. Must say the food was piping hot and tasty. The canteen was newly built and was clean and tidy. The workers even wore shower caps. Finally made the walk outside and caught an auto to take us on my first company experience ( most probably the topic of my next post). The auto charges are Rs 7/km which are way way high. Don't know then what the taxis must be charging.

Am waiting for a holiday ( tomm. doesn't seem to be one despite it being Mahavir Jayanti ) to explore the campus as well as the city.

A very short stint and the very long wait

Half done or half left, one can say whatever one feels but the relief I felt after the dreadful third semester was unmatched. Like always the ending of the exams meant holidays and a trip back home, but this time it was different. Had only 3 days to spend at home due to the training that is supposed to start from 6th and I need to reach Bengaluru by the 5th.

So left Calicut on the Fool's day to endure a 6.5 hour flight journey for Delhi. Was able to reach home only by 9:30 in the night. The next day received one of the biggest shocks of my life. Had never anticipated such a situation, and it shattered all my plans, coz I just did not feel like meeting up with my friends. These holidays turned out to one of my worst and the thought still haunts me, don't know what will happen on doomsday.

with this i left home at 8 on sunday, hoping to catch the 9:30 flight, but alas the airlines had changed the airplane. the no. of seats reduced and the vacant seats in J class disappeared. I was left stranded at the airport with my father waiting with me. The next flight was at 4:30 which also by the looks of it was somewhat overbooked. This meant an extra wait of 7 hours at the airport. Thank goodness for the Sunday papers (tried my hand at Sudoku after a very long time) and the net which helped me pass my time. The seat was confirmed only at 4:15 when the supposed passengers didn't turn up and I got a seat. Just rushed through the check-in counter for the flight had started boarding but it wasn't going to be this easy. The guard wanted me to open my attache. he ruffled through my stuff and removed my Victorinox Swiss multipurpose set (a miniature version with a 2 inch blade) and a matchbox. These people are afraid of a two inch blade but what about the steel crockery one gets on the plane??? I managed to return it to my father who was still waiting and he somehow got it sneaked inside to be delivered to me. But i being the non risky type refused and handed it back.

Reached Bengaluru by 7:15 and got outside 15 minutes later. IIMB being 45-50 km away and knowing the high rates of taxis, i decided to try the shuttle service. As i went towards the bus there were taxi drivers outside looking for a fare. Talked to 3 different people with the rates at ech level falling from 850-750, 700-650, 600-500. Boarded a shuttle to JP Nagar (the closest option I could find), charging Rs 80. After 1.5 hours i was at JP Nagar with not much clue as to what next. Tried looking for autos but to no avail. Got a cab which was waiting there, he did charge a lot Rs 75 for a 4 km odd drive, but atleast and at last I was at IIMB.

P.S. - Describing IIMB - Saved for later as haven't seen much and am yet to explore.