Jumping away to glory in a circle with family... That's how I welcomed 2014 after bidding goodbye to 2013, a year filled with many goods. But then, looking back now, I just realize that 2014 was much merrier and thanks to the universe for that! I believe better things are yet to come. The first day of the year saw some fun with family and friends. A couple of friends from hostel had come home for lunch and that was the first time amma-appa got to meet them. Once the lavish lunch settled down in our tummies, the chit chatting started and after a while, we went for a round of evening snacks before I bid goodbye to them. It was a fortnight since I had joined GE Healthcare as an intern and I was getting used to working in the industry during that period. The seven interns from IIITB had our share of fun at GE, whether it was running for the bus asking someone to make the bus wait for us, or occupying a long table at the cafeteria having breakfast and lunch like we were having at college, or the new intern additions to the group with very few being able to bear with us the next day. We had some great fun! With a minor make-over, the new hair-cut and new pair of glasses, travel was calling. The year started with a memorable trip to Pondicherry in the second weekend of the year with the Fab Five :) Probably, one of the first few trips we have been to together till then, but after that there has been no looking back. They've been with me through ups and downs, joys and sorrows and that rendezvous hopefully continues forever. Pondicherry was memorable for more reasons than one. Booking bus tickets at the last moment and managing to get seats in a bus introduced for the festival season was a lucky start. The bus broke down mid-away at 4am and we were clueless about the route to proceed. Hitching on a truck was a fantasy, but then saving my back for the next few days seemed more important. Walking to the nearby tea shop and finding out how to head to Pondicherry taking a local transport, we got into a bus that took us to Tiruvanamalai. From there, another bus to Pondicherry allowed us to discuss on 101 theories thrown on us by the society and how we have fallen prey to it. On reaching the accommodation, the most exciting part of the trip was the bike ride. Over the next two days, we roamed the city on the bike around Pondicherry to the list of tourist places that I had neatly printed out from the tourist guide website. Riding around 100kms with a pillion without a helmet seemed weird at first but then it was normal for the people of Pondicherry. Breaking the traffic rules and giving the policemen a reason to smile was a cherry on the cake. The Matir Mandir left us amazed and the option of getting back to the place to meditate in their halls that needed prior permission is in our to-do list now. Riding on the bike as a pillion sitting reverse, getting a thumbs-up from a rider on the road for it and then Humpty Dumpty having a fall were certainly humorous moments of the trip. The Paradise Beach was more like a paradise on earth. I do not remember the last time I have stayed in water for so long fighting with the waves. The view, the sea and the moments were priceless. Two days passed rather quickly and it was time to pack our bags and get back home. The Fab Five Connection certainly strengthened after that trip and cheers to that!
February, they say was a month for love and to the couples. But for once, being single seemed great. After attending the Spicmacay concert by returning early from office and then having a specially cooked meal with the girls with some great music playing at the background set the tone with some love in the air. With all the fun around, there was some level of insecurity around placements and preparing towards it had to become the priority. And, thankfully, there were people to give me periodical reality checks to get me back to having some rigor in my preparation. One such day, that I clearly remember, was certainly Morgan Stanley placement day. That was the day I set my mind to serious systematic preparation not just to clear exams but to appreciate the concepts that exist. Consistently sitting with Vee and solving Karumanchi problems religiously in about a week or two was one such turning point. It was a tough choice to choose between Raajay's wedding and the VMWare interview. I certainly missed being in all those selfies with cousins because of my decision but then attending the VMWare interview was a confidence booster for certain things. I got my program perfectly right for the first time, thanks to Karumanchi, Vee and Sir. The two rounds of interviews were good and a call sometime in the next few weeks was intimated. So far, so good!
March, after joining IIITB, became the month for sports. Spandan is the biggest event here and taking part in it is always special. Defending champions in Basketball and new rules for the girls this time got that urge to win the gold again! Though, we had to settle for silver this time, we played good basketball against a good team of opponents. That was the consolation. Games like carom with Piyush and TT with Manzoor were played for fun in the spirit of games. Loads of cheerleading for the Vanarsena was as exciting as playing a game of volleyball, football or cricket. Badminton was more special this time because of the practice hours I had put in for it this year. Playing with Sandeep and Ayushi was fun. Playing with a pro like Sandeep was more special than going till the quarter-finals of mixed-doubles. Spandan also saw me preparing for my interview that was scheduled the next day under strict instructions of my gurus. With an interview scheduled at 11am, I was busy playing and watching games till 2.30am. It was impossible for me to get back to the room without seeing Spandan close in my last year as a student at IIITB. The interview was special because I entered the room half asleep, thanks to the toll that sports had taken on me, but I luckily seemed to know the answers to all the questions that were asked. Thanks to those books given to me by a friend for preparation. It also saw me starting my super-awesome hibernation mode which raised a million eyebrows but then my determination to do it to perfection won in the end.
The first week of April was when I got a confirmed placement offer from MaFoi Analytics. It was one of the easiest interviews I have attended which tested my skills but at the same time kept me interested and excited in answering the questions, whose answers needed to be attacked by thinking from various perspectives. Entering the next quarter with April meant another trip was round the corner. It was a short trip planned to just get a break from work and stress. This time, it was a one-day trip to Hogennakal. We booked an Innova to take us there and planned to return back the same day. The drive and the water at the pseudo-island summed up the trip. Not to forget the juices overdose that I had that day to keep myself going. The coracle ride was amazing and at its best when the boatman stopped under the falls and let us drench ourselves while we were sitting on the coracle. We spent around 3-4 hours in the water and came back home tired. Getting back home the same day was the strict instruction given and it had to be adhered to at any cost. That was the only time I travelled in a KIAL bus from Electronic City to home in my two years at hostel. Vishu followed with the excitement of arrangement left to the kids this time and collecting the Vishukani is the awaited moment, no matter whether you are earning or a kid. Preethy's wedding was around the corner and we had to travel a day before to attend the Mehendi and the wedding. The wedding was special because the first from the four of us was getting married and everyone at her home were sweet enough to excuse me from eating at the wedding. Meeting and talking to people is always special and getting to know so many people during the wedding added to it. From picking up the Vanarsena from the station in the morning, to distributing set mundus, to getting dressed up for the wedding was special. I learnt that weddings are not only about food, but about winning hearts. Attending a wedding with family and friends together is rare unless it is your wedding. But this one was one of a kind where I got to stay with Amma during her birthday. Getting back to hostel and having very few days left with the chillar party was difficult. They were off for vacation and would return back only after we graduated. So it was the time for treats and some fun with them. All the fun was great but it was the time I decided to take up the stretch of learning web development after office hours and understand various aspects of designing and creating a website. It took perseverance and great support to get back from office and code learning a bit of Springs, servers and bootstrap but there was always motivation from Sir to do it. The learning that started then seems to continue even today.
May was the month where my visits to the Kanavalli increased. This was the time when I stopped cooking in the room and started going out for dinner. Regained back my appetite in the little time that I got. I learnt to ride a gear bike. Thanks to my buddies for teaching me to do that with great ease. Yes, it was risky to teach two girls with no experience, to ride the Caliber but you guys took that risk. Learnings were on and more interviews with managers and HR at GE followed before I finally got a confirmation from the HR that I would join GE Healthcare as a full-time employee. The place, the people and the product that we deliver made it easy for me to make the choice of continuing with GE in the years to come.
June was the month of nostalgia. Internship tenure came to an end and six months in the industry seemed to have passed so quickly. The month was more for finishing formalities in the hostel and vacating the rooms as soon as possible. The two years had been so special that I had planned to leave the hostel only on the last day given to us. For the first time in two years, I had taken my bike to college and it saw many joy rides. Short trips around Electronics City and long trips to shop in Bangalore ensured that I put the vehicle to good use for the short period that it was in college. Graduation shopping for the girls at commercial street, taking sometime out to roam around the city marking the end of the hostel freedom, getting the guys book their new homes and experimenting with variety of eat outs as diverse as the local family dosa center to the authentic food at Jalpaan and chill-out time at Guzzlers, we did it all. I cannot forget my last game of basketball just before vacating the hostel on the last day. Frustrations vanish after a game and celebrations always call for a game. But this game was different. I played decent basketball but then the intense game caught onto to me and I fell down with a thud. I had my hand injured for a week post that not letting me to ride back home.
Come August and the trip of the quarter was the much awaited, Munnar trip. Right from the long weekend rush and not getting accommodation, to the four hour wait at the reservation counter for tatkal tickets, it was a quick planned trip. Everything happens for a reason and on recommendation, we got in touch with River Rock Homestay which I would rate as one of the best home stay in terms of the ambience and location. After being directed by Mr Varghese on how to reach Anachar from the railway station, we had our mouths open on reaching the place. Lavish rooms with balcony facing the river was way more than what we expected. We quickly got ready, had breakfast and had a cab booked for us to roam in and around Munnar. The scenery was at its best in Munnar and the photographs were infinite. The four of us had two days of good fun visiting some great locations, having a rickety jeep ride to Eravikulam, watching the brave Kalaripayatu, a martial art in Kerala and above all, exposing my Malayalam speaking skills. We had no tickets to return, thanks to the full bookings due to a long weekend. We had to do a break journey to Bangalore. It took us more than twenty-four hours to get back home. We managed to do some quick shopping before taking a bus to Udamalpet followed by one of the yummiest budget lunches ever. I can still how my friends dropped their jaws on seeing me break the papadaam, tambrahm style. :P We travelled from there to Tiruppur and from Tiruppur to Bangalore, all in local state transport.
September celebration began with Onam Sadhya at home for friends. A mini re-union with the Vanarsena at Meghana Foods, Marthahalli after a few months brought back memories of good old times spent eating, laughing and pulling each other's legs. Foundation Day got us back to college to listen to the experts from the industry sharing their wisdom. It also meant going back to college after a long time with friends. My first 12'o clock birthday surprise for a friend came true. Dinner at Chettinad followed by birthday surprise before heading to Nandi Hills after eating hot poha at 4am was fun. The second innings of hibernation came in. Deciding to join GDG Blrdroid was a tough choice since it needed commitment to work hard for the community. But looking back, it was a great choice. I attended their first meet up on 27th September at Intel.
October saw me joining as an energizer at office and being allotted my first task of helping in release train planning arrangements. It was not tough as this is something that I have always done in school and college. Regarding the life outside office, the four of us have attended many musical concerts together but this one was special. Our first over-night musical concert with many artists giving some mind-blowing performances and getting back home at 6am on a chilly morning will be a hatke-experience. Ethnic day at office to celebrate Diwali was one of the many celebrations that I witnessed this year at SWPE. Frequent lunch outs and meet ups with friends were always happening as days passed.
Closer to the year end, November bought in some time for celebrations. First, it was the Google Women Techmaker Workshop that took place at Google Office, Bangalore. It was an honor to be with nine other women from the country who have bought in some change through technology. We instantly connected very well with each other helping each other to get the best out of us put us all at ease. The team from San Francisco had Sammy, Antony and Melissa who did a fantastic job in coaching us throughout the workshop and the mentors from Google who were great guides for us through the journey were rocking. The Improve Thinking session, the story telling from random slides session, small talks and the actual recording which meant we were in charge of the scripts, sound, camera, make up, timings etc. gave us a great exposure to video recording, understanding the importance of little things and improving our stage presence. It was a real feel good factor after interacting with such amazing people over those two days of the workshop. The first of the twelve from class X at Kensri was getting married. Vrithika's wedding was fun where we connected with batchmates and juniors from Kensri. A lot of preparations went into Veena's birthday celebrations and we had a grand children's day together. A great dinner with so many people felt nice. A lot of fun was added in life at office through Xbox, foosball and energizer events. Quarterly team lunch at Bakasur followed by Interstellar at Phoenix Mall gave us a lot of bonding time with the team. The family outing planned at Golden Palms for CSER 4.0 release was a grand success. I had a blast with friends organizing, playing, dancing and chilling out. The families found it extremely refreshing and a great time to catch up with our colleagues at work. The last weekend of the month was spent at Mysore attending Bharath's wedding. The trip was well planned, well executed and above all had some great arrangements made for us. Two girls taking four hours to get themselves ready for a wedding. Sounds normal right? It's great fun too!
A celebration ended while another started. We had a team outing at Marriott with Jamling Tenzing Norgay as the motivational speaker followed by some interesting minute-to-win-it games and the super car challenge. The next day was the big day. I had my slot at 10am for the video recording at Google Labs. This was the final product of the Women Techmaker Workshop. I nailed it at the first take after a small trial shot. It was a great experience to face the cameras and having all the limelight on you. It would be great if I can keep myself engaged with such videos every quarter. The next celebration was for my birthday. It was certainly more special than I expected. With a pleasant morning walk with Aditi followed by a surprise visit from friends followed by cake cutting was nice. But the bigger surprise was the video compiled for me by the Fab Five! It had some amazing moments and really warm messages from people wishing me. After a two and half hour ride to office as a consequence of missing the office bus, the day seemed hectic with work but that gave the others time to decorate my desk with balloons, flowers and what not. It certainly felt special. Post that, we got a mail from the managers to collect our year end gifts from their cabins. Post that, we made our way to MG Road not knowing where we can have dinner to end the day with a special dinner. And then as we were walking through MG Road, figuring out where to go, we hit the Barton Center. 13th floor it was!! The view was amazing and the weather could not have been better. With the moon right over our heads, we had a great dinner at Ebony. I visited the Free Enterprise Day with Vee, met many people from the community and got to hear the work they do. The next week was for the event that I had to put together to bring in more women in Technology as a part of GDG Blrdroid. Assistant Organizer at Blrdroid meant that things had to be arranged to perfection. The agenda was set, the speakers were ready and it was 20th December that we put together WomenDroid. I gave my first talk in front of an audience walking them through my journey with technology. It was an opportunity to meet folks and network more. There was an alumni meet scheduled in Kensri calling upon 10 years of alumni. We had some ice breaker sessions, music, dance and food. The last trip of the last quarter was a lone one. I wanted to venture out alone to some place and the first place that came to my mind was Mumbai. I spent a good five days in Aamchi Mumbai with Appa visiting tons of places and living the small fantasies that I have in life like shopping, cooking and travelling. The last group dinner of the year was at Fenny's Koramangala. More cherished memories piled up to the already existing list. Three hours of laughs, food, talks, and teasing ended rather quickly. The last few days of the year were spent in working and playing. There was cricket, basketball, table tennis and my favorite, foosball. With nearly the entire team at office on vacation on New Year’s Eve, we could afford some time for games post work. With a peaceful year ending with family, life, just like the earth, had come one full cycle in this year.
2014 was a grand year for more reasons than one. As I bid goodbye to this exuberant action-packed year, hoping that 2015 bring us more smiles and more love, care and affection.
Happy New Year 2015 :)
