Bangalore trip, circa 2010.

“Some trips give you memories, and some…give you friends for life.”

My tryst with the city of Bangalore started when I was seven years old, thanks to my parent's love for traveling. We visited the golden triangle of Blore, Mysore and Nagoresharif. (A famous piligrimage destination for Muslims). Though I don’t have very vivid memories of the trip, but the termite infested sepia colored photographs do take me down the memory lane sometimes. In Bangalore, I remember visiting a famous garden with a huge clock. I am smiling at the camera with a silly toothy grin in most of the pics. J

The second tryst started when I was posted in Mysore. Every long weekend took me to Bangalore, where my school/college friends resided. And the 2-3 days were packed with mindless shopping, gossiping and binging. Bangalore is the second best place in India to shop for ladies western formals. The only annoying thing about the city is the mind-numbing traffic. It kills the joy of commuting.  From a pensioner’s paradise, it has metamorphosed into a pensioner’s nightmare.

Nowadays, my Blore trips are restricted to trainings only. Whenever we have training, we visit Blore. Full day training sessions in campus and as dusk falls, its one destination! Forum Kormangala! Oh! I have such fond memories of that place. I remember, once I went there with two of my besties, Srikanth Golime and Sunita Soloman. And we had the best time of our lives there. Shopping, eating followed by some crazy action movie! That’s when we bonded, and these two people became a part of my life forever. Its almost 2.5 years to that day, and our friendship is still as fresh as a daisy. I have coined a saying, “Some trips give you memories….and some give you friends for life.” That was one such trip. Lot of things have changed since then. To be precise, 2 weddings and a baby. Sunita was the first one to get married, and Srikanth followed soon after. Couple of months back, Srikanth had a cute lil baby. At that point of time, 3 of us were with HRD Employee Relations and now…we have transitioned to BP HR role. But one thing that remains unchanged is our friendship. We talk nineteen to the dozen almost every other day and we make plans every time to have a re-union. Hoping that day, comes soon…

That’s it for now!

Cheers!

Issued in public interest, customers beware! (For Cuttack residents)

I have been planning to write on this particular subject since a long time, but it was slipping from my mind, every time. There is an infamous petrol pump in the famous city of Cuttack, Odisha. (Near Sati Choura Chowk, in CDA). Infamous ‘coz, they have this unique habit of stopping the meter at Rs.198 or 197 (If you are taking petrol worth Rs.200). And every time, you highlight the issue, they would just shrug saying, “The meter is faulty”. I used to give them a piece of my mind, each time I visited the petrol pump. But to no avail. Finally I got tired, and switched over to another petrol pump, which is bit farther from my home, near Kanika Chowk. I would rather traverse the extra kms, than fatten the pockets of such cheats and scoundrels.

Incidentally, Cuttack is a place, which is known for its non-tolerance for such absurdities. You see, any errant drivers or such cheaters, immediate justice is rendered to them. (In the form of a quick beating by the crowd).  Not sure though, why this particular petrol pump has been spared so far. Maybe the owner is not aware of this, or may be the workers are doing this for their own cute profit. Who knows!