Just a thought...

A Toast to the year gone by!!

When was the last time you did something for the first time????
For me the year actually began on Dec 10 2003 when I joined as an intern. It was the fist time I was part of the corporate world.
My first job was in 2004.
The first time I drew a salary.
The first time I did rappelling.
The first time I rowed a boat.
The first time I had a ligament tear n was forced to bed.
The first time I attended meetings.:-D
The first time I was staying on my own. (Im ignoring the 3 months hostel life here)

Welcome to the big corporate world!!
Year 2004 marked the beginning of my career as a software engineer. The year I successfully finished my post graduation and entered the big, bad corporate world.:-)And every day I was learning something new. Be it studying the system, maintenance work in C++, just simple analysis work, or writing oracle queries or coding in C#, the fact that I was learning something new was stimulating enough. Dealing and interacting with people who are not our age group is an interesting experience. Varied ideas, perceptions, knowledge, behavioural patterns, principles, we see all this and much much more. Working has been fun too. Teasing Big-Man(Hems), being teased by Sengu, Sathish, usual gupshup with Ravi(Big Boss), bugging Kalidas with silly doubts, long chats n gossips with Mini and Aishoo, cribbing to and bugging Prakash, same-time chatting with Pranay, Vijay and Irfan are the lighter sides of working. The never-ending meetings, the long con calls, the code-drops that sometimes never happen, the code-drops that sometimes happens all of a sudden, the long hours of just staring into the monitor unable to figure out what went wrong, the feeling of utmost satisfaction when the code u write does what it was supposed to do, the feeling that responsibility brings… yes! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my short stint so far.:-)

I’m “LIVING” life!!!
As far as fun n masti was concerned Year 2004 was just grrreat!!! There were many many moments tht I can cherish.
There were 4 trips organized by the company. Each was special in its own way.

Shelters
The first was a trip to a resort called Shelters. This was mainly organized to get to know each other in our team. We were around 30 of us, but hardly knew each other. The fun part for me started way before the actual trip coz Aishoo, Prakash, Seshu and me were “supposedly” organizing the whole thing. The entire planning and organizing the games etc was top class fun. We would gather in the conference room and rag each other. The day of the trip was also superb more so coz I was pleasantly surprised by how everyone- literally everyone- just participated in every game with soo much of enthusiasm and vigour. Yeah… lets admit it..till then I had looked @ my teamies as Zombies without a life ;-)) But I stand corrected. That day I realized that they were a group of fun loving people who just gave everyone their private space. The day just went quickly with lots of games from morning and just lazing in the beach in the evening. It was a wonderful day.

Kadavu
After the enormous hit of Shelters :-), we immediately planned the next trip. This time a 2-day trip to Kadavu resort, a place in Kozhikode. Even though the trip as a whole was enjoyable, I would remember the trip for the amount of fun we girls had. Aishoo, Mini n me just had a blast in the hotel room. The highlights of the trip was the wonderful resort, the breath-takingly beautiful Tushagiri falls, the leeches and the fun we girls had!!

The Freshers days out!!
After 6 months as an intern and 2 months as an employee, the 2-month training period came as a breath of fresh air. Becoz here we were with around 70 other kids our age, coming from different parts of India. It was like removing our sombre, restrained and professional cloaks and donning on our “we are super-kewl college blokes” attitude. We (the interns..Me, Aishoo and Hems) were actually at an advantage coz we knew and belonged to both sides of the spectrum. Even though sleeping at the GRT hall and Synergetics was fun in its own way, I think Ill remember the 2 months for the 2 Freshers day out.
Go-Karting, Muthukadu lake (we actually rowed the boat for the first time), lotsa team games and then the disco floor with a DJ who was playing some happening songs. Everybody was on the dance floor.. letting their hair down n just having a good time. The whole day was super fun.
The second fun-day was also just grrreat. We had adventure sports organized. I did stuff that I would probably never ever venture out to do on my own. We were divided into groups and each group had to do rappelling, rock climbing, obstacles and shooting etc. I was in an absolutely fun-team. Anupam, Suneeth, Som, Indira, Krishna, Sunil etc. I had never exerted myself physically till then and that day I learnt that even if you are completely drained physically, you still can do things if you have the will power. With everybody egging u to do better in every step, u just don’t feel like giving up!! After that we went on rides in MGM and ended the day with disco again. Another truly memorable and exhilarating day in every sense!!!

Chennai gang welcomes Unni!
It was during my initial days in Chennai. Sometime in February, Unni decided to come to Chennai for a much deserved break. Sandhya was still with CTS then. Me, Sreej, Renu and Unni stayed @ Sandhyas place that day.(Only Shobhi was missing…as usual:-() I had work in the morning. So joined them in the afternoon. We ordered food from Taravadhu and then caught up with each-others’ stories. After that it was movie time as we drooled over George Clooney in “One Fine Day”. After the movie, had icecream n then we walked to the beach. It was full moon day and the beach was looking lovely. At around 9:30 we had dinner @ Lotus Pond(one of my fav restaurants in Chennai). We ended the day watching a hilarious movie called Rules. The next day SN and Renu treated us. After that we shopped big time. All of us ended up getting sarees of the same kind(thankfully diff colours) for our moms. Earlier in the year.. Kasam had come down from US; Sandhya and Kasam had given a treat to us. Me, rens, Sreej n Sandhya meet up often but itz always nice when the ever-so busy Unni n the always-unavailable Shobhs turn up.
I have lotsa friends who are great.. but somehow these five are kinda special coz Im most comfortable with them. They might not know the itsy-bitsy details of my everyday life, but I do know they’ll always be there when I wanna shoulder to cry or when I wanna share my biggest moments!

Dhanus Wedding!
After my sisters wedding, (thatz 6 six years ago) the much-awaited wedding came and ironically the date was one day before echi’s.Dhanu, me n Diboose are nearly of the same age with just a few months difference between us. I don’t thing therez anything that we three haven’t discussed. So me n Diboose were naturally excited about the wedding. We had gone to Kozhikode a few weeks before the marriage to rag her. If anyone thought that I am talkative (which I guez I am) they’d defn change their opinion if they met Dhanu. She can talk n talk n talk! All u have to do is listen. Shez real fun to be with. Well.. when we went there all her conversations started with Pramod n ended with Pramod. And we both had a blast ragging her. After that it was endless shopping for her wedding. Saree, matching accessories etc. I usually don’t go all out to shop but this is different..itz Dhanuz wedding after all. When the D-day arrived it was real fun as expected. I was meeting most of my cousins after a looong time n it was superb. Met Maghu ettan after 5 years. He had come along with Dhruv whos one of the most adorable kids. Also met Vidhyechi, little Shivani n Animechi n little Aadhi. It was nephews’ n neices’ galore!:-) Me, maghu ettan, Dhruv, Diboose, Anuechi n Vijayaellechan went in one car to send-off Dhanu n the trip was toooooooooooo good! We were singing along loudly n teasing each other. Dhanu so so badly wanted to join us. Poor thing!! Except for a few match-making attempts by my cousins n “Oh so U r the next one” comments by aunties whom we dint even know, the wedding was real fun.

CHES
CHES-Community Health Education Society-- a chapter in my life thatz become very dear to me.CHES is an NGO that spreads the awareness of AIDS and also provides care to young women and children infected/affected with AIDS. They have an ashram there. It is a house where around 35-40 infected/affected kids are given shelter. They are under the care of Dr.Muthupandian and his wife. The organization is being taken care of by Dr.Manorama. Met her once. She comes across as a very strong lady with a purpose in life.I came to know about CHES through Prakash. It started off as a silly payback for a gmail account invitation. I thought hez probably gonna ask for a chocolate or icecream..but to my surprise he asked me to contribute to an NGO (yeah..yeah.. everyone is not as silly as me..) . That was when my first salary was due and I was thinking about where to contribute, when Prakash told me about the CHES. And I’m glad he did.

When I first went to the aashram, I was totally unprepared for the effect it would have on me. There were little kids, ages varying from 2-3 months to 14 years. On the outside, they are just normal kids with their own dreams and aspirations. But each of them has a heart-wrenching history behind them. Some abandoned by their parents with the disease. Some abandoned by their relatives. Some just left to fend for themselves in railway stations n bus stops. Some even sold to others by their relatives. Even though the Dr insists that they don’t know what has happened to them, and they are brought up as other kids, I cant help but wonder what goes in each little head. Would’nt they wonder why they don’t have a family? Would’nt they wonder why people like us come to visit them? Wouldn’t they wonder why they are given so many pills? Would’nt they wonder why some of them go to the hospitals never to return? And I wonder what goes through their little minds when they try to seek answers to these questions? As they fight to get a hug, or fight to tell the story about Father Jesus, or very proudly tell an answer to a riddle we could’nt figure out, I just know that these little kids deserve much better than this. Every time I go to the aashram I come back with more questions than answers. Every time I go there, I realize there is more to life than what meets the eye. Every time I go there I question the purpose of my life. Every time I go there I realize I should be more grateful for all the love that’s been showered on me. Every time I go there, I wish that I could do something to fill the void in these childrens’ lives.


My dates with the beach
The best part about Chennai (and the one thing that is missing in Cbe:-()are the beaches here. I’ve always loved the beach. I somehow feel a strong connection with the sea. When I look into the horizon, and hear the sound of the waves crashing I just feel reassured. I tend to become very reflective, philosophical and quiet. Before, I loved the feel of water on my feet. But nowadays I’m just content sitting on the shore and watching the sea. It’s just so mesmerizing. Most of my weekends of 2004 have been on the beach. One of my biggest fantasies is to have a beach house so that I can take a stroll in the beach to watch the sunrise, to go n watch the sea roaring on full moon days with the reflection of moon on the ripples. But after the Tsunami debacle, I’m beginning to change my mind about the beach house.:-)

Me, Myself and My roomies Well, most part of the year, I was with 3 human beings whose patience and endurance I’ve gotta salute.. coz after all they are staying with me. While Sreej and Sathiya are the responsible ones, always remembering to remember all the things that need to be remembered, me and Vani are just the opposite. Needless to say, all the superlatives goes to my credit.. the laziest, the most careless, the most talkative, the most forgetful etc. Itz fun to get back home and laugh and talk and chill. Be it endless shopping in pondy bazaar or all of us ganging up together teasing Vani, or laughing over silly stuff with Vani late at nite until Sathiya asks “what are u girls upto”, or being pampered by Sathiya much to the irritation of Sreej, or talking endlessly to n bugging Sreej its somehow become home away from home!:-)


Well.. Before I knew it.. the year just whizzed past.. Hopefully, the coming year will bring many more opportunities to cheer, to learn, to live:-) Happy New year!!!:-)

posted by sreeshma @ 12:31 pm