We went to the Bangalore Royal Challengers vs Rajasthan Royals IPL match. On Saturday night. 8 PM to 11 PM. Now this whole IPL thingy is not very appealing to me. If I had to vote either way, I would vote against it. What with the big shots and their over-fed cricket players. Its not like Vijay Mallya isn't rich enough that I should spend money and watch some crappy cricket and make him richer. But I went. To keep company. Subhash's IIM friends were going and this was one opportunity to meet all of them. So 4 couples, us counted, went on our way.
We went with K and his wife G. They live in the apartments next to ours. S and S also live in the same place. So all of us set out around the same time. We were going to park in STs office which was near MG Road. After everyone parked we started walking towards the stadium. Stopped at a place called Tavern Inn or something to eat a little bit and set off again. We reached the stadium a little after the laser show was over. Such a pity! At least that might have been worth watching.
Anyway, so the match began and we had something to eat again at the stadium (tickets came with complimentary dinner and beverages). Initial part of the match I was somewhat excited because I got to see Shane Warne :D One check mark done ;) Then the cheerleaders of course. I didn't particularly like the Royal Challengers' cheerleaders. I hated their outfits. I think cheerleaders should look cute. And I think they look cute in frilly short skirts. When they are wearing really tight and really short bottoms, they look needy. Not cute. But anyway, the Rajasthan Royals' cheerleaders looked much better, they were a sight to my eyes which went sore after I saw the RC cheerleaders ;)
The cheerleading part was a little awkward too. It was funny, one has to see it. The cheerleaders for RC would sit and laze and whenever someone hit a 4 or a 6, some loud and blaring music would start and that was like a whip to these cheeries and they would stand up as soon as they heard that music and start dancing. It was so artificial, it was funny.
The RC innings was OK. Not too great. But the Rajasthan Royals' innings was even more insipid. The RC team hardly put up a challenge. It was as if they saw where the batsmen were tending to hit the ball for a 4 and then removed all fielders from there. Absolutely no energy, no enthusiasm and no spirit. I saw Kumble bowling, which was another check mark done. But other than Shane Warne and Kumble, really it would have been just as well if I took that money and threw it down the drain. I really think, at least for the sake of their team's song, the RC guys should have shown a little more spirit. (What with "Khel nahin ye jung hain" and all that!) It was as if Vijay Mallya just took money and gave away the match. Damn!
After the match we had ice cream on the Kwality Walls cart and then later at a Kulfi corner. S and S drove us back and we called it a day.
A huge waste of effort, time and money. That is what my T20 experience was :( I think the Deccan Chargers match was a much better option, but they weren't playing it in Bangalore. I will cheer for Deccan Chargers any day. They belong to Hyderabad and their owner (Deccan Chronicle) is probably the least moneyed of all IPL big-shots ;)
Go Deccan Chargers!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The brand new airport
I saw it. That brand new Hyderabad airport. As we drove closer and closer, I realized I was actually excited to see what its like on the inside.
The first thing that strikes you as you exit the road and drive towards the airport is that there is no sight of it ;) You have to drive a good 6 KMS after taking the exit to reach the airport. So much to the inside. Hmm..things look good already.
I had to collect my new ticket (as I had postponed my trip back to Bangalore twice) from the Air India counter. Everything was shiny new. Of course it will wear. And I pray hard that they maintain this place well. I would hate to see it covered with pan stains a year from now. I say, they should execute whoever spits on this building, it was really that shiny.
Surprisingly no lines anywhere. Even Air India/Indian Airlines counters were well staffed and quite efficient. I went to this glass paneled counter, and noticed there was no opening for me to speak to the person on the other side. I was wondering how she would hear me, and then I saw it. A neat black round thing which sat quietly outside the glass and said "microphone" on it. I was impressed. I don't think I've seen such counters in any government run facility earlier.
I took my ticket and went in. The carts for the luggage were also brand new and I really had to hold the handle down to prevent it from braking ;) I went to the check-in counters and was generally looking around trying to take the sights in. Hmm..every counter equipped with an LCD monitor, attendants checking people in, airline staff giving directions. Seemed pretty normal. So what is the big deal. Why did they make such a noise about this airport? WAIT...this is not Singapore. This is not Kuala Lumpur. This is Hyderabad!!!!!! This is not NORMAL for Hyderabad. Yes, then I remembered that old Begumpet airport. Although it was one of the better Indian airports I have seen, it was a FAR CRY from what was in front of me. It was as if someone transported one of those world famous airports right into the city. When you have consistently seen good, great, amazing airports for over 5 years, you begin to undervalue it when you see an equally good one. So yes, this airport was amazing that way.
Added to the splendor of the airport itself, there is the Indian convenience. As soon as I got off the cab, someone came by asking if I had any luggage and needed any help. I saw a lot of people, some coming, some going, and in general everyone making noise. Every thing was written in English, followed by Hindi, followed by Telugu. Now I'd give a hand and tooth any day to see those two languages at a world-class airport :D
I went in to clear security after check-in and guess what, I was directed to the "last counter", I was wondering what it was all about. Yeah, if you already guessed, full points to your spontaneity. Of course, it was the "ladies" security post. Just for us gals ladies! Imagine that. Of course I never beep through the detector at any airport and I have been through quite a few over Europe, South East Asia and the US. But, I beeped at the Hyderabad airport. Better security detectors? Any one's guess. The lady checked me and sent me off on my way. Wow!
Then I went to the gate. I was a full two hours ahead of time so was looking forward to getting bored. The lounges are world-class too. I mean the ones at the gate. Very spacious, very well lit. 15 ft between any row's last chair and the nearest wall/glass/partition. Yeah, that spacious. I sat down for a bit, called a lot of people, then reverted back to watching the airport and the buzz.
I decided to grab something to eat. Just for the heck of "eating at the airport", before I left for the airport, I had curd rice you see;) So I went to the nearest "Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf". Yeah, there is more US in India than I would like to see :( I don't want to see the US here at all. I wanted to go away from it. Why don't we open our own brands and not just have Subways and other things like that! Well, I guess US is still the rage here. Or maybe its just the Subways and the KFCs getting really entrepreneurial and tapping the potential of the Indian food space. Whatever it is, I don't particularly like it.
I ordered a Veggie Pie (yeah, the brands are American but the food they sell is totally desi, if you eat a Veggie Delite from an Indian SUBWAY, you will know exactly what I mean;) Its way superior to the Veggie Delite you get in the US). The Veggie Pie costs INR 120!! Man, I don't think I will ever eat at the airport again. What it costs virtually gave me a stomach ache;)
I checked out the shops and the HUGE screen showing Indian ads and cricket news and a bunch of other potpourri. Cool! Then while I was coming back to the gate I realized that the glass between the lounge and the inside of the gates actually had things etched in it. Like a picture of Birla Mandir which said "Birla Mandir | Hyderabad", a picture of Vidhan Soudha which said "Vidhan Soudha | Bangalore", other ones like "Hussain Sagar | Hyderabad", "High Court | Bangalore" etc. But the best I saw was some letters etched in the glass which said "Tamil Script". This is something I haven't seen in any airports. Of course, they do have some shady pictures of the famous symbols in that city/country etc. But etched into glass with such precision, well, as far as I remember, I haven't seen it anywhere. Hurray!!
I was so engrossed in observing everything and just lazing around that I didn't realize the time till Subhash called and said it was 9.30. And my flight was at 9.40!! And the gate I was sitting at still showed the earlier flight and which still said delayed. I hurried out of my slumbered-daze and went to the nearest LCD monitor to check my gate. I heard an announcement for our flight just then and waited to confirm that this was the right gate and hurried down to that gate. Got into an Indian Airlines bus, got off at the plane and got into it. I was reading the AI magazine, I think it was called "Namaskar" and an article in it about our seasons, I found fascinating. Greeshma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemant, Shishir and Vasant all our seasons and festivals, fruits and activities associated with each of these seasons. The pictures were bright and colourful :) The air hostesses brought out Veggie brunches and man, was it amazing. Sandwiches, Veggie Spring Rolls, something that resembled a cutlet and a Veggie filled bun. Pineapple juice and water to go with it. Did I ever mention in my blog how I fly Air India where and when I can? I simple love their food. I hear a lot of grumpy people complain about it but excepting old aircraft and hostesses (both of which I don't particularly care about), I haven't had problems with their in-flight amenities. Always good food, timely luggage delivery and on-time flights. I am not so sure I care about the rest;) Personal TV screens they do have on some of their Boeing fleet, but hey, I sleep for as much time as I can on the flight so what do I care about that. In fact 80% of the time, I've flown Air India, and when I haven't, unless its Singapore airlines, I have almost ALWAYS had a problem with misplaced luggage.
I got off at Bangalore, took a pre-paid Karnataka Government taxi and went straight to Cisco. Feeling content and happy to be back home, to be back in India. To be surrounded by its sights and sounds and smells wherever I go. Not wanting to leave it again anytime soon:)
The first thing that strikes you as you exit the road and drive towards the airport is that there is no sight of it ;) You have to drive a good 6 KMS after taking the exit to reach the airport. So much to the inside. Hmm..things look good already.
I had to collect my new ticket (as I had postponed my trip back to Bangalore twice) from the Air India counter. Everything was shiny new. Of course it will wear. And I pray hard that they maintain this place well. I would hate to see it covered with pan stains a year from now. I say, they should execute whoever spits on this building, it was really that shiny.
Surprisingly no lines anywhere. Even Air India/Indian Airlines counters were well staffed and quite efficient. I went to this glass paneled counter, and noticed there was no opening for me to speak to the person on the other side. I was wondering how she would hear me, and then I saw it. A neat black round thing which sat quietly outside the glass and said "microphone" on it. I was impressed. I don't think I've seen such counters in any government run facility earlier.
I took my ticket and went in. The carts for the luggage were also brand new and I really had to hold the handle down to prevent it from braking ;) I went to the check-in counters and was generally looking around trying to take the sights in. Hmm..every counter equipped with an LCD monitor, attendants checking people in, airline staff giving directions. Seemed pretty normal. So what is the big deal. Why did they make such a noise about this airport? WAIT...this is not Singapore. This is not Kuala Lumpur. This is Hyderabad!!!!!! This is not NORMAL for Hyderabad. Yes, then I remembered that old Begumpet airport. Although it was one of the better Indian airports I have seen, it was a FAR CRY from what was in front of me. It was as if someone transported one of those world famous airports right into the city. When you have consistently seen good, great, amazing airports for over 5 years, you begin to undervalue it when you see an equally good one. So yes, this airport was amazing that way.
Added to the splendor of the airport itself, there is the Indian convenience. As soon as I got off the cab, someone came by asking if I had any luggage and needed any help. I saw a lot of people, some coming, some going, and in general everyone making noise. Every thing was written in English, followed by Hindi, followed by Telugu. Now I'd give a hand and tooth any day to see those two languages at a world-class airport :D
I went in to clear security after check-in and guess what, I was directed to the "last counter", I was wondering what it was all about. Yeah, if you already guessed, full points to your spontaneity. Of course, it was the "ladies" security post. Just for us gals ladies! Imagine that. Of course I never beep through the detector at any airport and I have been through quite a few over Europe, South East Asia and the US. But, I beeped at the Hyderabad airport. Better security detectors? Any one's guess. The lady checked me and sent me off on my way. Wow!
Then I went to the gate. I was a full two hours ahead of time so was looking forward to getting bored. The lounges are world-class too. I mean the ones at the gate. Very spacious, very well lit. 15 ft between any row's last chair and the nearest wall/glass/partition. Yeah, that spacious. I sat down for a bit, called a lot of people, then reverted back to watching the airport and the buzz.
I decided to grab something to eat. Just for the heck of "eating at the airport", before I left for the airport, I had curd rice you see;) So I went to the nearest "Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf". Yeah, there is more US in India than I would like to see :( I don't want to see the US here at all. I wanted to go away from it. Why don't we open our own brands and not just have Subways and other things like that! Well, I guess US is still the rage here. Or maybe its just the Subways and the KFCs getting really entrepreneurial and tapping the potential of the Indian food space. Whatever it is, I don't particularly like it.
I ordered a Veggie Pie (yeah, the brands are American but the food they sell is totally desi, if you eat a Veggie Delite from an Indian SUBWAY, you will know exactly what I mean;) Its way superior to the Veggie Delite you get in the US). The Veggie Pie costs INR 120!! Man, I don't think I will ever eat at the airport again. What it costs virtually gave me a stomach ache;)
I checked out the shops and the HUGE screen showing Indian ads and cricket news and a bunch of other potpourri. Cool! Then while I was coming back to the gate I realized that the glass between the lounge and the inside of the gates actually had things etched in it. Like a picture of Birla Mandir which said "Birla Mandir | Hyderabad", a picture of Vidhan Soudha which said "Vidhan Soudha | Bangalore", other ones like "Hussain Sagar | Hyderabad", "High Court | Bangalore" etc. But the best I saw was some letters etched in the glass which said "Tamil Script". This is something I haven't seen in any airports. Of course, they do have some shady pictures of the famous symbols in that city/country etc. But etched into glass with such precision, well, as far as I remember, I haven't seen it anywhere. Hurray!!
I was so engrossed in observing everything and just lazing around that I didn't realize the time till Subhash called and said it was 9.30. And my flight was at 9.40!! And the gate I was sitting at still showed the earlier flight and which still said delayed. I hurried out of my slumbered-daze and went to the nearest LCD monitor to check my gate. I heard an announcement for our flight just then and waited to confirm that this was the right gate and hurried down to that gate. Got into an Indian Airlines bus, got off at the plane and got into it. I was reading the AI magazine, I think it was called "Namaskar" and an article in it about our seasons, I found fascinating. Greeshma, Varsha, Sharad, Hemant, Shishir and Vasant all our seasons and festivals, fruits and activities associated with each of these seasons. The pictures were bright and colourful :) The air hostesses brought out Veggie brunches and man, was it amazing. Sandwiches, Veggie Spring Rolls, something that resembled a cutlet and a Veggie filled bun. Pineapple juice and water to go with it. Did I ever mention in my blog how I fly Air India where and when I can? I simple love their food. I hear a lot of grumpy people complain about it but excepting old aircraft and hostesses (both of which I don't particularly care about), I haven't had problems with their in-flight amenities. Always good food, timely luggage delivery and on-time flights. I am not so sure I care about the rest;) Personal TV screens they do have on some of their Boeing fleet, but hey, I sleep for as much time as I can on the flight so what do I care about that. In fact 80% of the time, I've flown Air India, and when I haven't, unless its Singapore airlines, I have almost ALWAYS had a problem with misplaced luggage.
I got off at Bangalore, took a pre-paid Karnataka Government taxi and went straight to Cisco. Feeling content and happy to be back home, to be back in India. To be surrounded by its sights and sounds and smells wherever I go. Not wanting to leave it again anytime soon:)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A month already !
Today we finish a month. Since we moved back to India for good. Has it been a good month, has it been a bad month? Its difficult to put it all in one word, so some more words to torture you guys;)
I've literally seen it all in this one month. Right from taking RTC buses to haggling with Autowallahs, to learning back Kannada out of compulsion, to tending to my Dad in the hospital, to flying, to taking the train AC class, to taking the train Sleeper class, to visiting relatives, to attending a wedding, to eating mom's food, to eating Subhash's moms food, to setting up a place, to sweating hard by the sun, to sleeping by the moonlight, to eating berus, to eating sapotas, to drinking mosambi juice, to reading Tinkle, phew! Yes, I think I can say I done it all.
The best part has been of course that Subhash and I have been together for a month without apprehension of when he would have to leave for the next project, in the last two years. *TOUCH WOOD* I really have to say touch wood. Or maybe I should say "Buri Nazar Wale Tera Mooh Kala" lorry-style. Now that is a thing with my blog though. Whenever I write about something nice that happened, it seems to immediately manifest itself into something horrible. An example is when I wrote that post where I said I haven't done household chores for three days, the very same day, the water purifier got installed and the outlet pipe for dirty water slipped out of its place and the water was all over the living room. And I actually had to do repeated rounds of soaking it up with a cloth. And this mind you, I have never done in my life :( And the next day was worse, we went shopping and the thing slipped out again and this time it was like that for longer so I had the dining area and most of the sitting area as a bonus to clean, all this with a train to catch in two hours. Sigh!
Unlucky times maybe, or just people getting jealous, but whatever it is, I have seen more mishaps happen to me in the last one month than in the last three years put together. Small irritants like this, just ruining everything and tiring me out. Hopefully its a passing phase.
I really didn't think I would see my Dad unwell almost as soon as I got here. But I am glad that I was around. Long distance worries are even more killing. I really cannot bear to see my Dad helpless and being taken around in a wheel-chair in the hospital. It tears me apart, it makes me want to cry. It just kills something within me. But then to see it is better than to imagine it. At least when you see it, you know exactly what you are dealing with. When you are half way around the globe, its all left to your imagination and I can imagine really worse things really vividly. Plus I always mistrust information given to me over phone. That status is usually given with a "why worry the children, they are so far away, they anyway cannot do much" attitude and usually the situation is shown to be much nicer than it actually is. Or at least you always fear that. Plus I did what little I could to help my mom out. Which makes me feel much better than that time in 2002 when I couldn't do a thing to help my mom through my Dad's second heart stroke. I am a happier person both for being here and being around.
Work has been piling, I have been slashing it down, then it piles again, then I slash it down again and that saga continues as-is. Nothing much has changed. Its been good in a way. Same manager, same work, not much to adapt at work, no new learning than the ramp I already am on. Except for familiarizing myself with the place and meeting new people and adding on some more things to do locally, pretty much 70% of my work has remained the same old story.
All in all, both good and bad, both lucky and unlucky, but whatever it is, its been a very much "happening" month. California seems like a far away dream already. Was I ever in the US? That seems so so so distant. And I am happier because I moved. I am happy to see people like me around me (it wasn't that different in California but still, its not the same), I am happy to be meeting my aunts and cousins every now and then. I am happy to be with Subhash without having to depend on the phone to stay in touch. I am happy to be with my family.
I am just happy to be in India :)
I've literally seen it all in this one month. Right from taking RTC buses to haggling with Autowallahs, to learning back Kannada out of compulsion, to tending to my Dad in the hospital, to flying, to taking the train AC class, to taking the train Sleeper class, to visiting relatives, to attending a wedding, to eating mom's food, to eating Subhash's moms food, to setting up a place, to sweating hard by the sun, to sleeping by the moonlight, to eating berus, to eating sapotas, to drinking mosambi juice, to reading Tinkle, phew! Yes, I think I can say I done it all.
The best part has been of course that Subhash and I have been together for a month without apprehension of when he would have to leave for the next project, in the last two years. *TOUCH WOOD* I really have to say touch wood. Or maybe I should say "Buri Nazar Wale Tera Mooh Kala" lorry-style. Now that is a thing with my blog though. Whenever I write about something nice that happened, it seems to immediately manifest itself into something horrible. An example is when I wrote that post where I said I haven't done household chores for three days, the very same day, the water purifier got installed and the outlet pipe for dirty water slipped out of its place and the water was all over the living room. And I actually had to do repeated rounds of soaking it up with a cloth. And this mind you, I have never done in my life :( And the next day was worse, we went shopping and the thing slipped out again and this time it was like that for longer so I had the dining area and most of the sitting area as a bonus to clean, all this with a train to catch in two hours. Sigh!
Unlucky times maybe, or just people getting jealous, but whatever it is, I have seen more mishaps happen to me in the last one month than in the last three years put together. Small irritants like this, just ruining everything and tiring me out. Hopefully its a passing phase.
I really didn't think I would see my Dad unwell almost as soon as I got here. But I am glad that I was around. Long distance worries are even more killing. I really cannot bear to see my Dad helpless and being taken around in a wheel-chair in the hospital. It tears me apart, it makes me want to cry. It just kills something within me. But then to see it is better than to imagine it. At least when you see it, you know exactly what you are dealing with. When you are half way around the globe, its all left to your imagination and I can imagine really worse things really vividly. Plus I always mistrust information given to me over phone. That status is usually given with a "why worry the children, they are so far away, they anyway cannot do much" attitude and usually the situation is shown to be much nicer than it actually is. Or at least you always fear that. Plus I did what little I could to help my mom out. Which makes me feel much better than that time in 2002 when I couldn't do a thing to help my mom through my Dad's second heart stroke. I am a happier person both for being here and being around.
Work has been piling, I have been slashing it down, then it piles again, then I slash it down again and that saga continues as-is. Nothing much has changed. Its been good in a way. Same manager, same work, not much to adapt at work, no new learning than the ramp I already am on. Except for familiarizing myself with the place and meeting new people and adding on some more things to do locally, pretty much 70% of my work has remained the same old story.
All in all, both good and bad, both lucky and unlucky, but whatever it is, its been a very much "happening" month. California seems like a far away dream already. Was I ever in the US? That seems so so so distant. And I am happier because I moved. I am happy to see people like me around me (it wasn't that different in California but still, its not the same), I am happy to be meeting my aunts and cousins every now and then. I am happy to be with Subhash without having to depend on the phone to stay in touch. I am happy to be with my family.
I am just happy to be in India :)
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