Trip to Nellore- Part 2

So finally I am back to post the continuation of the biking trip cum interview travel to Nellore.

Where was I? Oh.. ya. My bike screeched to a halt on the road but not before hitting the leg of the person who was crossing the highway. Though it hit him the speed had considerably reduced and no injuries were sustained. I gave him a cold stare and contd my journey. This time at a much controllable speed.

Another hour or so and I reached Naidupeta. I decided to take some rest near the roadside restrooms but was forced to leave soon thanks to the Universal stench that haunts any ill maintained public structure in India. I gave it a thought and then decided to go ahead with the travel. I was getting tired by the moment but my glucose water kept me awake and strong.

I reached Nellore at around 11.30 AM approximately and reached the Hotel where the interview was supposed to take place. I parked my vehicle in the basement and went upstairs to enquire. I was told that it would take more time and was asked to have lunch and come back at around 1.30 PM so that the interview could go on as per schedule at 2.00 pm. I had no other choice but to leave the place for the time being. But where was I supposed to go? I went to the parking lot pondering over such thoughts. I then asked the security guard for some more parking time and he helped me out saying that I could leave my bike there and would take care of it(of course he had to be take care as well). I left the bike there and ventured out on foot to the bus depot. I found myself a good place to sit amidst the crowd that was waiting. I had the puliodarai(tamarind rice) that my mom had packed though I could not finish it off. I had some water and decided to take rest. I had to catch some sleep in the remaining one hour or so. It was 12.30 by then and I had time till 1.30 pm. I rested my head on my bag that I had kept on my lap. I woke up after half an hour and could not sleep after that. I decided to return to the hotel. I sat in my allotted place. Time passed by slowly and my eyelids were threatening to close by the moment. It was almost 27 hrs since I had last had full fledged sleep. The BPO life had really taught me to stretch my body to unknown limits. Meanwhile the interview time was getting delayed and it was not till around 4.30 PM that I was called in. I then went in with my hair looking like that of a typical spoilt brat. The interview panel had 5 members which usually is the case only in an UPSC interview. I have never had the experience of attending an interview by such a big panel inspite of having started my career in HR. The questions contd for another 30 minutes and then it was all over. I did reasonably well but was not sure whether I had given them the answers that they required. My reminiscences about this interview after my interactions in Delhi tell me that it was not all fine.

Well, putting all that behind me, let me continue the real part of the story which is that of the travel. It was 5 PM already and around 200 km to go. My scheduled log in time at office was 7.30 pm but I had asked my new supervisor, permission for about 2 hrs. So that meant I had time till 9.30 PM but the biggest problem was that of the last 20 km that I had to travel in the City during the peak hours. I had my doubts regarding that. And the other problem was that I was under dual supervision and my new supervisor was also on leave that day. I had to inform my old supervisor with whom I did not enjoy good rapport. With all these thoughts in mind, I started my bike and hit the highway about 10 mins later. I saw that after about 30 km, the roads were blocked by some agitating students and the traffic was blocked for miles together. I was really shocked and wondered if I would ever make it home that day. I know that if I had taken the bus, I wouldn't have reached home on that day, leave alone office. Why it was so important is because, as most of the pvt sector employees would know that an employee is not entitled to leave during his notice period and if he does take leave, it would mean that he would be blacklisted and put on the absconding list. Worser in my case was that my client was a banking and Financial services company which was very particular about such things. So it was not just a day at office, but my entire career was at stake.

My mind raced ahead with a crazy thoughts. Some recollections were that of a cinema style self made byepass on the side of the highway till the point were the road was clear. I had no other choice and set out doing the crazy thing. I carefully treaded the empty plots on the side of the highway which was crowded on both sides by heavy vehicles. There was also the fear of being attacked by the protesters which would have been the worst case scenario.

I somehow made it to the point where the last vehicle in the queue was standing. I heaved a sigh of relief and gave myself a hi five. After that there was no stopping me, except for a toll gate where a security guard tried stopping me. I just could not stop for two reasons first was that Bikes had no user fee to be paid and second was that I was too scared to stop as I did not have my bike's docs. I know I didnt do the right thing and I saw the guy noting down my bike s regn no. I couldnt help but to spare a thought for the former owner of the bike as it was a second hand one whose transfer of ownership had not been done. I thanked my dad for his lethargy had helped me this time. I decided to bent the Number plate on my bike so that No one stopped me till I reached TN. I did not face any further hiccups till I reached office at around 8.45 PM about 45 mins earlier than planned. But as soon as I entered the bay I realised that everyone was watching me in shock. Usually it has been a routine for to have been subjected to few gazes from everyone thanks to my unkept hair. But still, this time the gazes were stronger. A shocked Karl (my supervisor) asked me what was wrong,(It seems he thought I was drunk) and requested me to have a look at myself in the mirror. I rushed to the washroom and I realised that I looked really in bad shape. I knew that my eyes were burning, but I never thought they would be blood red. I looked sick and I knew I wouldnt be able to sustain another night without sleep. I went and sat in chair and was trying to guide some new joinees who were working for the first time. My TL said I could leave at around 2 AM. I was roaming around here and there till around 11 AM and after which the customary farewell was given. It was obviously my last day in the company and though most of my senses were numb, I was feeling sad, a little bit. Anyways the farewell was over by 12.30 AM and I still had a solid one and a half hours left before my rule abiding supervisor would let me go home. I really do not know what happened after that. Karl then was waking me up saying, "You can now go home, get up." The last thing I remember was typing the farewell mail, I do not know who sent it and who gave my credentials to my supervisor. It was almost 3.00 AM by then. I said bye to all my colleagues with whom I had spent so many nights working and then left for home. Of course, my brother who was sleeping, woke up and was scared to the extent of calling me a ghost when I reached home.


And that is how my adventure ends.....

PS: For all my relatives who are reading this blog, please note that my parents and my brothers do not know about this crazy trip of mine and for them there is a disclaimer of mine which says"All that has been written on this blog is confidential information and is restricted to the users of the World wide web and to my family members this is nothing but imaginary stuff..."
Most importantly, for all those who want to know the status of my interview results, well its not that very important, because of the very simple reason that I did not get through.

Trip to Nellore- Part 1

This week, I was recollecting a crazy thing that I did some months back; about 3 to 4 days before I left Chennai. Bank exams were never my cup of tea, thanks, to my ever existent enemity with numbers. So most of the exams(infact all of them) that I had attended did not take me to the interview board. But S bank was special I qualified directly for the interview since they did not conduct a screening test and so my qualifications saw me through. But the venue of the interview was not disclosed till about a week before the date of interview. It came as a real shocker to me as the venue was Nellore in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh and above all the date was in the middle of the week which also happened to be my last date in the company I was working in since I had resigned due to various reasons. I could not take leave, and I could not rely on the buses/trains as the distance was more than 200 km and most of all I was in the night shift. So what was I supposed to do? My dad had taken pains to get the application posted and he wanted me to attend the interview though he didn't force me to do so.

This, along with a spark of adventure, prompted me to do something really crazy. I decided to go by Two wheeler. I contacted a few of my friends to accompany me since it would be too risky riding without sleep for 200 kms on a stretch and then again the same distance by return. None of my friends were available for the trip and so i had to take the call.

Sep 17 2009- 7 AM-Home Chennai- I had just returned from 12 hrs of work in the night and was tired but had work to do. I asked my mom(My parents do not know about this till now) to pour Glucose into a bottle full of water and she also packed up my lunch. I got ready, dressed up, but the one big problem I had was the hair as I had not cut it for nearly 9 months, I decided to go ahead without a hair cut. I started off at 8.00 AM from home. My interview was in Nellore at 2.00 PM. It would take 4 hours atleast to reach the place.

I visited the nearest ATM and withdrew cash for the fuel. I filled up the tank with petrol in Koyambedu which is the official Moffusil Bus depot of Chennai and then began the longest ride of my life. My two wheeler was a second hand Bajaj Platina. It was without documents as they were with the bank.

The first stop was Red Hills, I reached the place in 30 mins, had my first gulp of Glucose water which relieved me of any sleep that was threatening to come out.I then continued on my path for another hour or so till I reached TADA where the Number plates of the vehicles told me that I had reached AP border. The fear of being stopped by the police was lurking in my mind but I was not stopped anywhere. After crossing TADA which also happens to be the place nearby Sriharikota, I realised that I was almost travelling alone on the road except for a few stray vehicles. All of a sudden a group started crossing the road. I was traveling at 90 kph. I applied the brakes..........

The predicament

Deepan sat on the bed deeply immersed in his thoughts early in the morning. He had been cheated again by some people he had trusted. This had been happening ever since he set his foot in this new city. Born to middle class parents to whom their eldest son was the apple of their eyes, Deepan had always been always pampered and spoonfed almost throughout his life except, for a certain period of time where in he had to take up the mantle of being the "Man of the family", when, his father was working in another town. A middle class upbringing always has its own set of flaws and strengths which make or mar an individual in the future. One for example, is the fact that children are extremely aggressive at home and when it comes to the life outside, they become extremely unpredictable. They become very much hidden in their personalities and are very much vulnerable to frauds. They start searching for reactions and tend to enter what you call depressions. Deepan also was one such kid who always wanted to go the simplest way possible even if it is the longest. He did value his principles however unrealistic and impractical they had become. He trusted people though not blindly, to an extent more than what is required. The biggest problem that Deepan faced was that he was extremely unpredictable in voicing his dissent. He usually took time to come out of his shell and this resulted in a lot of losses for him. But having said that, many a time he had taken decisions which were hasty so one could say that the delaying habit he had acquired now should serve him good. Inspite of all that, Deepan's main problem was his inability to strike a balance between the two. The present situation was even more difficult, as Deepan was in an environment that required the toughness and smart attitude of a seasoned professional even to survive. He knew that these people around him had the chance to cheat him the way they had done but he did not take the ultra most care to avoid that. The result was that he had to loose some valuable money that he had saved for his daily bread. Now his only questions were about his ability to learn from this and his next course of action to get his money back. He had little time left and his mind was searching for ideas. What next????

To start off with

I did something that I had planned not to do till I finished my stint in Delhi. I bought a netbook(a low end pc) using the money I had saved for my stay here. Well, for all my friends who are wondering what this guy is doing in the national capital,I would like to inform you that I have shifted base from chennai to Delhi and I have been here since september. And yes, this is the first time that I have been away from chennai for more than a month(I have been in vijayawada and Hyd-but not for more than a month continously) I do miss my city and ofcourse south Indian food. I have never had two vadas for Rs 25 in my entire life. Most of all I miss my family and my system. The last one was so hurting that I had to take this no frills PC at the cost of my day to day expenses. And that is primarily the reason why I am able to write this. Lots of things have been happening at a hectic pace in the last 2 months. My arrival in Delhi,admissions to the training institute, the headaches with my land lord, my struggle with studies,the memorable and frequent visits to my sister's kashmiri in-laws(I can never ever forget the food and hospitality), my budgeting of daily expenses, my 32 hour railway trip by general compartment to Hyderabad during which I met the real India(the migrant labour class). My Hyderabad visit requires an entire blog entry as it was special.

I can never forget the way my parents saw me when I left them in the Delhi Metro station. The expression was that of worry, fear and loneliness. Their Raj Kumar(that is my second name) was trying out his last option in his list of careers and they would not meet him for many more days to come.

I somehow held back the tears that were threatening to come out of my eyes. I know that my cousins are staying away from their country for a long time now and my seperation is nothing when compared to theirs. Infact even my brothers are thousands of kilometres away from home. But I really do not know why, I miss my family, my home and not to forget my sisters' blogs. I am not trying to maska my way out as I know I will surely get scolded by her for buying this PC. But I know this maskaing will reduce her BP levels atleast. It sure is a challenge to overcome all this but it is a greater challenge to crack the toughest exam in the planet.