Hyderabad - The city full of life...

Today m gonna speak about "Hyderabad"... fondly i cal it the "city full of life". I truly wonder whether i wil be able to do justice to this blog of mine, but yeah... lemme giv it a try. My profile status on Orkut or Gmail always says... "bored of Hyderabad", "Wanna Go home" etcetera.. and people keep on asking me wats the matter and wats rong wid Hyderabad.
Frankly speaking, i dont find any fault in Hyderabad city as a whole... its jus tht i feel homesick a bit too often and miss my home and home food... apart from tht i would say Hyderabad is the best place to stay.

Now where do i begin... I said i call it "the city full of life".. lets start with Life at Hyderabad itself. "Hectic" is a word i would life to associate with Software professionals like us... Life is very hectic for us... and tht will be hectic even if v stay anywhere in India where Software industry is flourishing. But wat abt the rest of the people?? I find life quite easy here... every basic commodity available within 50 meters of ones house. Transport is not as difficult compared to my hometown. Various services like domestic help.. bill payments etc are easily available... G irls are very secured .. and i dont find problem walking down the lane after 7 ... wish i could do tht at my hometown.. Hyderabad has its pros and cos... I will speak about it in details later.

Coming to the food habits at Hyderabad, I would say ppl here hav a very simple kinda food habit... with not much of fish and sea foods, Nonveg is restricted to Chicken and Mutton. I had heard a lot about Hyderabad Biryani... but believe me.. i hav tasted it just thrice and i dint find it much of a delicacy... Being a Goan, M used to having one gravy and one "Dry Sabzi" and ofcourse lots of Fish... everyday of the week..but my perception of food changed after staying here for the past 20 months.. People here manage to hav food wid jus Rice and "Dry Sabzi" which is called "Fry" ... I learnt the concept of "Sabzi Fry" in hyderabad... and yes.. people here cant stay witout curd... curd being the all time favourite... I was just comparing my food habits to that of ppl in hyderabad.. so i think any Hyderabadi reading this should not take any offence..

People.... wat do i say about the people in Hyderabad... very cordial and warm... I feel helping nature is in the blood of Hyderabadi's... But i would like to specifically mention the younger generation (My age people)... considering all the bad experiences I had with some of the older ones... i found the younger people more hospitable than the older ones. But one thing i must admit... I never found any person with Crab mentality here...
Reservedness is in the bloodline of Hyderabad and its people. Coming to the girls here... I would not say they are very outgoing, but definitely sweet and cute in their own ways... It becomes difficult for them to say things in public which we normally dont find so shameful or so... The guys... hmmm... they too r very reserved.. hesitant to speak on topics just like how the girls here do..
I would say if only ppl in he world would be so helpful as the people i find here... the world would be a better place..

Social life at Hyderabad... one thing i terrible hate about Hyderabad is the Dowry system... its just boils my blood wid rage... How can they expect and also give so much dowry... makes me get the feeling tht the girl is a burden to the family.. imagine if this was the case in Goa... I would have never ever stayed there...

Hmm... and the caste system... Chaudharies and Reddy's... My Gosh.. the Caste system is so stringent.. people ready to kill... something i haven't heard in India.. Killing for honor... I mean, considering the intercaste marriage... How can parents sacrifice the child's happiness or sacrifice the child itself? If in Goa.. parents do oppose inter caste marriages... but not to an extent of killing their kids to save their face in society.. The child's happiness is given the first priority... i dont know wat drives the parents here to do so.. but watever be the reason, it cant be a convincing explanation to the very harsh treatment given to caste related issues here.

Films .... about the Telugu films n telugu heroes... For people who dont know wat Im talking about... just type "Balaiyya/BalKrishna" on Google.. this is just one example.. If these are wat r called heroes.. then i think i should stop watchin all movies... watever be it... Im an ardent fan of Mahesh Babu... ppl mite call me crazy.. but thts how I m.. Com'on.. hez cute(handsome??)... But 1 thing i will clarify.. they show tremendous dialogue delivery and emotions in those movies.,.. n believe me.. some of them r really gud to watch... even though i cant understand Telugu so much.. I have so manygud friends here who see to it tht i understand at least wats going on substantially..

People shop here like crazy... every new mall is crowded and so are the new ones.. you get varieties over a wide range... Hyderabad is now becoming kinda metro now will people from all faiths coming and settling here..

The best thing about Hyderabad i would say is the acceptance of Hindi... wherever you go u will not find it difficult to traverse and get through the place .. even though majority of the people speak Telugu, you find atleast some person who can understand Hindi... saves you from an embarassing situation of using sign language like how it happens in many places in India.

About the places to hangout at Hyderabad, its a cool place to be with friends... resorts, restaurants... but yes.. wherever you go ul get a whole lot of crowd..
How can one forget the BombBlasts here couple of months back... I had to miss my rommie's marriage due to it.. But it was so nice to see the city springing back to life immediately after the blasts...trains running as usual and people shopping as usual... watever be the case Life at hyderabad returns to normalcy.. everything continues as usual.

All in one I say.. Hyderabad is a cool place to say.. a place you can accept as your own. The city accepts you with all its vigour and strength. I really call it the city full of life. A city where people are so very tolerant and helpful... the life so very colorful... But.. how can one be happy staying away from one's home.. n thts exactly how i feel... and thts why people ask me about my status on orkut and gmail... I hope all my friends reading this blog will stop asking me about my status on orkut/gmail.

The strength of my life.. My Father...

Hi... Today i will talk about my feelings about my father... .
Yes.. my father.. this could be anyone's feeling.. just portraying my feelings towards a wonderful person whoz the strength of my life...

My father... A person who is always there as a pillar of strength for me... If only i could do quarter of the things in return to all tht my father has done for me, i would b honored...

From the time i can remember my childhood.. i hav always had this pillar of strength wid me.. Can I really start penning down the things tht my father has done for me??? No.. i really cant... Im just not matured enuf to delve into his thoughts and figure out what sacrifices he has made time and again to make my life the most beautiful as he can for me...

My father... the credit for wat Im today, goes to this man. To give an example, I always wanted to go for a job after completing my engineering degree in Electronics. But my degree had come at a time when the IT industry was experiencing the worst problems.. wen thousands of software professionals were laid off.. and i wanted to go for a software job... But, for a freshe like me tht time, I couldnt find my job...
I had this frustration, coupled with my father telling me to study further... I just scorned bac.. "I dont want to study further...."

But, My father ... being a banker and knowing nothing about the IT and engineering brought a prospectus for me after reading and AD... He forced me to fill it up and go for further studies.. though i felt tht time tht these efforts will be futile...

I got comments from my near relatives and family friends saying tht "You r wasting your fathers money...", "Why is your father investing so much to further educate a girl??"... and so on... BUT.. My father dint listen to anyone... He accompanied me to Pune and saw to it tht i was safe int he hostel there... Even at the time my mom felt insecure about me staying in a faraway place and in a hostel, My father put all his trust in me and supported me... and now here I am... working for a company which can be called as anyones dream company... But how many ppl know tht if it was not for my father, who had taken a huge loan just for my studies is the lone person whose responsible for this dream of mine to come true???

That was just an example, but if i go to write down everything tht my father has done for me, it will take a lifetime for me to rite and still it wint b enuf...

Truly, My father is the strength of my life, I always saw his tuff, strong face as a child... did get scared of him... But, I dint notice the caring and tender heart and the protective hands at tht time... But now.. yes i do... I do recollect all those past misdeeds and feel bad... wish id always hav had listened to all tht he told me to do.. wish i would...

Wat a wonderful person god gives to everyone right from childhood... strong hands to protect, a tender heart to care... asking nothing in return but your happiness...
Tht tender heart only yearns for your happiness even if it means hampering his own...
So caring, so simple yet so complex to figure out all those sacrifices...

I wish I could do every possible thing to make him happy... I wish God continues to bestow me his blessings in the form of my fathers care amd concern... I wish God gives such a caring hand to every child...

This was all i could rite, as i said earlier, it will take me a lifetime to rite all tht my father has done for me.. and still some chapters will remain unwritten...

If at all my father reads this anytime, I just want to say to him, which i could ironically never b able to say on his face... "You are the source of my strength... I Love you very much and i hope God will always bestow me wid your care and affection... I just cant say thanx for all tht you hav done for me for the simple reason tht it will underestimate all your care towards me... "

SRK - Chak De India : A treat to the Eyes

I'm not the one to write long reviews on movies.... neither the one to badmouth particular ones... I can say I'm a movie buff... n yeah... an ardent SRK fan... not tht i watch n like all SRK movies...the one i dislike the most is Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna...

But but but..... Just pay a visit to watch the "Chak De India" ..... Its just a nail biting thriller i can say..with every single second keeping your eyes glued to the screen.... Chak De... i will give it 5/5 ranking..a truly entertainer....


I happened to pull my friend to the theater late afternoon at the PVR Hyderabad multiplex... n yeah... those couple of hours were a treat to my eyes... .watching SRK on big screen after a long time...truly the Khan deserves to be the "King Khan"... What an acting..what emotions...a truly SRK show....

So used to seeing SRK in the so called romantic dramas.. i was a bit apprehensive about the movie... I wondered how the movie will be..devoid of any lead actress.. but SRK.... wow.. the one man itself is sufficient to keep the movie ticking..... With the apprehension of seeing something related to a sport i hardly know... and devoid of heroines... I entered the theater.. had read the reviews tht its a hit... but still..the lack of a lead actress stil made some stir in my mind..

The film started and yeah... wen it was time for intermission i dint know.... the 1st half just passed by without my knowledge..... such was the appeal of the movie...
I just kept on waiting for more n more to come...

The second half began to pass amidst whistles by fellow movie watchers... such was the magic of the movie... the song... "Chak de..." is nice... the girls hav done a very gr8 job..they look like professional hockey players... n SRK.. is simply gr8.. those golden framed sunglasses... almost everything goes well with SRK...such is the magnetic personality

The theater's Dolby surround sound system with 6 channels added more effects to the movie... It looked as if the movie was going on in front of the eyes and the girls were just behind us shouting n playing... The movie gave the feeling of full Paisa vasool...

I dont know what the next SRK release will be... but m sure it will also b another gr8 piece of work from our dear SRK.. hats off to the undisputed king of Boolywood.. hats of to SRK.... cheers Chak De India.....

Today....1st May.. My Roommate left our flat...

My First job... a new place... apprehension abt the time at this new place... that was wat i felt wen i landed at hyderabad airport accompanied by my father.. I dint know a single soul in hyderabad..

My first day in office... induction program for new joinees.. all unfamiliar faces.. do i know anyone out there??? Yes... i do...just 2 classmates of mine.. Then comes a group of Telugu speaking girls.. i dont know them... the only common thing between us is tht we all r new joinees... we ( me and the telugu group) sit together for the induction... we get introduced... i find the group very warm... we get acquainted wid each other...

I come to know that they stay in the same guesthouse which has been provided by the company.. but in a different building... I also come to now tht the group also is newly formed..they themselves dint know each other before coming to hyderabad..

We decide to search for a girls hostel..but the plan flops on seeing the pathetic condition of the hostel... Then ... Gayathri.. the tallest girl comes out with a solution... a flat at KPHB or kukkatpalli housing board colony..a 3BHK.. we check out on it and we all unanimously agree to stay there...thankx to Gayathri...

And...from then on we hav been living happily here...except yesterday... The girl who found out the flat for us left the flat...reason being her marriage being settled.. It did feel odd to all of us..its been 10 months that we hav been staying together.. laffing continously on silliest of jokes... facing problems together... small internal strifes but still bonding together again...

Today as i was saying but to her... tears welled up in my eyes... she was going for better.. but we hav got used to each others presence around ... we definitely will miss her.. n yes.. last nite it was her topic that we continously spoke on... her gud qualities... negative ones.. etc...

Noww tht she will b flying to US in a couple of days... i wonder whether we will meet ever.. coz we all will get married in some 1-2 years from now... n after tht..
I just couldnt say Gudbye to her yesterday.. i felt i was meeting her for the last time..as i wont b attending her marriage ..thts the exact time i hav to be at my home town... i knew even she was feeling bad while saying bye...

Its been 10 months.. 10 months of teasing her... arguing wid her... advising her... doing things together... n now..she wont b there..

Today as i write these thoughts down... i just wish a life full of goodness to her.. may the almighty show her the directions when need be... may she b happy in her new endeavour..called marriage....

Wish u all the best dear.. we will miss u....

Reminiscences of my Life : My First Job - CA Hyderabad

Well guys, I wonder if it is possible for anyone to pen down in words ,the ecstasy when they first join their job and they get their first salary. Same thing applies to me too. I got placed thru campus for CA India pvt ltd in feb 2006 and the joining was supposed to be in June 2006. and here I am.. working for CA since then... I will make an effort to jot down my feelings about CA, my first job here at Hyderabad.

I joined here on 14th June 2006... I just had 2 of my classmates joining wid me and we all were put in separate teams and separate projects. So that made me fend for myself. I dint know any person, and I dint have any accomodation. I along wid 5 other Telugu girls who also had joined wid me, started the search for a flat to stay... we initially searched for girls hostel, but our search returned no results, as the hostels we saw couldnt be called as fit to be lived in... So finally on the last day when we had to vacate our company accomodation, we found a spacious 3 BHK at a place called KPHB...

Initial hardships for a person who couldn't be called a Telugu girl... The Telugu language itself. I found it prety tough to even get to the basics of the language... but then gradually with time, i could manage to understand wat ppl spoke.

There started my life into this corporate world. The ways I had to cast and mould myself to fit in this new culture were myriad. Software field seems so lucrative at the start.. but then wen 1 goes into this field and gets adjusted to the lifestyle, your needs start to increase.. anyways thts an altogether different blog topic...

Talking about CA, how these 24 months passed, m stil not able to forget... I made lots of really cool n trustworthy friends here who can be with me in times of despair... I found ppl here whose sight i couldn't bear to stand... There were people i met, so indifferent... so ful of life sometimes and dull at other..

At times you feel so bad about leaving your first company, but then at some times you just feel like getting lost from there... and it happened to me many a times.. Many a times I met people at CA who looked to be so nice and caring, but turned out to be backstabbers. and beware dear friends, it could happen to you too... thts how I realised ...my friends who had been telling me tht "there r no friends in this field" is so very true... Tht was my exp at CA... but who cares... we find such people in every other field... isn't it... just coz you found 1 rotten apple, can you term the entire basket as consisting of rotten apples??

way way... seemingly too frustrated??? wel frankly, i really dont find CA to be a place where campus selected enggrs should join... the virgin dreams and hopes for a lively environment tht is portrayed at the time of joining directly from college is crushed under the harsh reality of so called professional life... Its not just about work, i mean thts wat we really r here for... but can you imagine a fresher coming out of college hoping to make a career in a particular technology is made forcibly to work in a technology he is least interested in?? and thts wat exactly happened to me at CA... even though I took it as a harsh reality... but it stil haunts me sometimes and makes me wonder if I would hav been better off if I hadn't joined CA...

Yes i will say tht m not tht happy working for CA... but then ppl wil say tht I could hav spoken to higher authorities and got myself the field tht i so much enjoyed... but but but... I had already raised this concern and it fell on deaf ears... I had heard tht the HR system of a company if strong, can attract or retain employees... but wat if the HR system itself turns hostile??? You raise a request today at CA and it wil b addressed after eternity.. or if you r unlucky enuff, it wouldnt b answered at all until n unless you ask repeatedly for it...

You think I am only criticizing?? well... I had those high spirits wen i had joined CA and the HR had told me at the time of recruitment tht the work culture is one of the best out here... but if u gonna believe my words then... dont believe wat the HR tells ... be sure tht pratically it does happen... ask ppl who hav been working there...

I dont say CA is a bad company... CA is a very gud company.. a place where opportunities are created.. not gained... a company where everything seems to be fine.. but just becoz of certain processes not falling in place, and certain people the work culture gets hampered... so should i say tht all the apples in the basket are rotten??? Nopes.. I dont hav the right to say tht... well if things turn out to be just fine...

Now let me concentrate on all the gud things tht happened to me at CA...
As i said earlier. i made quite a lot of gud reliable friends. I found a lunch group 4 myself whom i enjoy being wid... I found a manager so very concerned whose people management skills i will always appreciate... I also found a manager whom i can call as totally apathetic...

One noticeable thing about CA i would like to highlight are the facilities here. A well maintained Cafe, good games court, a gud gym with proper instructor, gud pantries etc... A place for freaking out i would say... wenever we feel bored at our desk, the best thing we can do is either take a cofee break, hangout in the Cafe or just take a games break... No one stops anyone from doing wat they feel like as long as the work remains completed...

Another thing is the trust which is shown in employees. Like in other companies tht i hav seen, security personnel will not ask you any question the moment you flash your ID cards... and also anyone can just walk around the company with CDs, Pendrives, mp3 players and even Laptops. No one checks your bags here at the entry and exit doors... one flash of your ICard does the job... probably i will not find this kind of environment elsewhere...

anyways.. those were some good and a bit of bad experiences from my side... tht winds up this topic friends... Things do turn out to be gud here... though evry system has its gud and bad points... but still we like the system ... just becoz it makes us feel comfortable.. and CA has just done this for me... The Life experiences i had over here will remain forever down my memory lane...and yes, definitely i would recommend my friends to join here whether they be freshers or experienced. freshers get lot of self testing time here and Experienced people gain more of it... So in short, thumbs up to this gr8 company, my first job and a new life. Wil always have CA as my first choice if i someday decide to change my job!!!

Reminiscences of my Life : ISquareIT days - Pune

Destiny takes man to places he never ever had imagined - This is what life at ISquareIT has taught me. Being associated with I2IT was a distant dream for me, for never did I, after my Engineering thought about joining a post graduate course away from my Hometown-Goa.
Of Course I wanted to continue with higher education, and that aim of mine, brought me to this distant place.

Whenever any fresher joins a college he’s always scared of ragging, the same thing I thought would be my fate, but life in I2IT was such fun, no senior junior language out here. When I first stepped into I2IT, I felt I had come into a sophisticated world with all the complex structures and infrastructure around. My life seemed to take a route which was beyond my imagination, but slowly it turned out to be just another college and my perspective towards life did change after my stay out here.

Being at I2IT, as I see myself almost for the past 1 year and a half, it has been a great learning experience as well as living experience.
My first trimester in I2IT was fun, with most of the lectures being off; we just had 4 subjects to study. Classes combined with the networking students, more time was spent chatting and knowing each other. People coming from all corners of India, with diverse languages and diverse cultures, and yeah, how can we forget the Koreans!

Our seniors had so called arranged the Fresher Party, totally different from the ones we had during graduation. But yeah, the common thing for me was the DJ Party that used to be at my college.

The best thing I learnt over here is “Making PPTs” All the lecture notes going out as PPTs , just going through them at the last minute and going for the exams, whether be it mid terms or final trisem exam became my study habit.
I remember visiting the I2IT library hardly ten times in my entire stay at I2IT. Never had the need to do so, especially when we had the readymade PPTs. At least for me, they were the only source to rely upon during my trimesters.

Guest lectures at I2IT were always compulsory. I remember going for certain lectures just for the sake of it and just to show our faces. We had earned a rapport of being the class with the least number of people attending the guest lectures. Who would by the way want to dress up as if for weddings, guys in their blazers and girls in the college saree! For people like me who hardly knew how to drape that thing and handle it altogether, I2IT has given a good experience! I can now get dressed up in less than 10 minutes. Thanks to I2IT my mom was very happy she wouldn’t have to spend time teaching me how to wear it!

How can one forget about the hostels at I2IT? The Takshashila, Nalanda and Mithila.. I had stayed at Nalanda 4th Floor for the entire span of stay at I2IT...Little did I think before joining over here that I’ll be staying in a Co Ed hostel! But life over here is also nice, I got the opportunity to closely observe people both guys as well as gals. And yeah, I did make a couple of very close friends out here too. I, not a very keen movie watcher, became a movie freak, thanks to the hostel inmates and the movies being circulated on IP Messenger.
And yes, never in my life will I forget the cold water baths that I had to have in winter, the poor me, coming from an equable climate, this cold water baths did add to my body resistance! No amount of complaints could ever solve this issue.

The place for us to hang out and chill became “Saundarya” –a garden restaurant which we frequently visited for any reason of partying, be it placements or birthdays or GPA. We can never forget our local “Cafeteria” the place for late night birthday parties.

First trimester just passed by so fast, giving us a taste of being an ISquareITian and before we knew it, we were into the second. The second trimester brought with it tremendous amount of workload and pressure of assignments, projects and mid terms. Also the second trimester brought us together as a class. We no more had combined lectures except for one or two. Amongst the busy schedule also we made couple of friends and that added the spice to the life at I2IT.

Stepping into a new arena of technology was what I2IT led us into, combined with the different aspects of life that it made us familiar to. Team building is a major value added by I2IT. This was how the second trimester slowly merged into the third. With more knowledge building up, placements also started with full swing. We would be in a span of another 3 months, either would be project trainees or employees.

The third trimester brought along with it lots of mock aptitude tests and technical tests and lots of preparation. The guest lectures had subsided and its place was taken by the company presentations. Now dressing up was for a purpose- the purpose being a job or a project, and watching the presentation on I2IT became a daily affair. The parties did continue, parties thrown by people who already got placed! The parties keeping us wondering, when it would be our turn to make merry!

Now into the final semester and just 3 months for the course to get over, I still used to wonder how this one year and a half was passing by. And then it was.. i had got placed before I knew it.. I was placed at CA India Hyderabad.. a totally new place i had never been to before... Used to always wonder... how difficult it would b to adjust in a totally new environ... And ya.. i had become so attached to my friends at I2IT that i was finding it difficult to accept the fact tht soon we will b departing...

The fourth Trimester.. or Semester was a project Trimester... lil busy becoz we had to travel daily for 24 KM.. It was my first corporate experience.. though not a very rosy one... but stil.. it used to b fun..being wid friends... The weekend Movies (ESquare, INOX), The CCD, Barista, Burger Kings,Chaitanya Parathas... Pizza Huts, Pune Central.. everything continued .. n with a renewed life.. we had got so used to this life now...

And ya... trips to Saundarya had become more frequent.. with we partying even for no reason.. Mite b the thot of not able to see each other after 3-4 months made us b together all the more....

By this time we had been accustomed to our Teachers n Labs.. n all the people over there.. The thought of departing it was a terrible feeling .. Our Teachers. now knew everyone of us by names.. .n I2IT had become a HOME for us...

The fun and frolic atmosphere that I'd been experiencing at I2IT is still being continued by our batch as well as juniors and will be continued forever by future fellow ISquareITians.

This was the story of my stay at I2IT. All people out here will have a different tale to tell but not quite different from the one I just now narrated. Their experience at I2IT will almost be the same with minor variations. I don’t know what life has in store for me, but my experience at I2IT was one of the best experiences in life that I will be treasuring and keeping in memory forever!
The I2IT culture will continue to evolve for more years to come, and I2IT will go places, we will have memories deep within our hearts.

Reminiscences of my Life : School days

School days... those days, when everything around you seemed so innocent, so lively, so colorful... School days... Tensions of studies, skirmishes between friends and patchups... competitions, sports, pranks in school ... those school days...

Rightly said, school days are the most memorable days of ones life... My Life?? Well i wen to 2 different schools... my first school St Anthony's HS Mapusa... I completed my lower KG to 7th std in this school... My uniform consisted of a white blouse and navy blue pinafore, a neck tie, blue canvas shoes and a house color badge, a blue belt and yeah a house color tshirt to be worn for Mass PT...

I dont remember many things happening in this school, thanks to the weak childhood memories. I can remember myself better through my 5th standard. Though vague memories of KG do linger around, they r not so strong so as to become the topic of my blog...

Well, i can remember my fifth standard and onwards, those class assemblies, Mass PTs, exams, sports day, annual day etc. I never took tuition classes during this time... so evenings used to be free to do watever i would like... and yeah... I dint make much use of the time tht i got in the evenings except for either sleeping or playing.

I remember having quite close friends during these times, but now m not in touch with many but a few ones... those ones i can count on my fingertips. Though friendships blossomed during these times, it wouldnt be considered to be strong one specially in my case. It was only confined to playing together, sharing notes and sharing tiffins. One funny incident i remember is: I came home with 2 different types of sandals on 2 feet of mine, one was mine and one was my bench partners. School days seem so funny now, we had someone like a class leader called "Monitor" to monitor the class, whose responsibilities contained nothing but to control the class when the teacher wasnt present.

St. Anthonys was fun, we had huge assembly, specially on saturdays when we were compelled to wear our "House" color tshirts and badges and be present for the 1 hour assembly followed by the 2 hour Mass PT... It was fun in its own way though considering now tht we had stayed for 3 hours continously in the sun tht time, its not possible for me to stay in the sun now even for 3 min...

The sports day and annual day used to be so much fun in the school with ppl preparing and slogging out jus to make their "House" win... eveything revolved around points given to the house... Green charts for green house n so on...i remember making so many charts for the class tht there was no room for others to put their charts... even the class ranks used to give points to the house...

Come my seventh std and the best part was the debate competition, and i used to love tht... but i was present only till my 7th standard so could participate only for 1 year... there used to be so many competitions singing, drawing, handwriting etc. My favorite competition was the Fancy dress competition. I remember on one occasion i had become a nurse and my father had all the way to go to his friends house to fetch met the nurse's cap. and on another occasion i had become a "bhajiwali" or "sabziwali"... and i remember i had cried out loudly wen the naughty 10th standard boys had taken away all my vegetables from my basket on the head one by one... but i had got the 3rd prize for tht... My writing hobby had begun wen i had got the first prize for the essay tht i had written for the School Eco club...

I never missed my first rank in school... was also the teachers pet... i still meet my school teachers, and believe me, its so nice feeling to meet your school teachers... It feels so nice when they ask you about your job and life... wish i could get my school days back... I had to leave St Anthonys for some personal reasons and join another school in a different locality, I joined New Goa High school in my 8th standard.

New Goa High school was a very memorable experience in my life... It was here tht i got some close friends who are still very close to me... Life here was no different from any other school, but this school had the most number of state rankers in the SSCE board and was distinguised as one of the best schools of Goa. Though the school was very old and the building dilapilated, the spirits were always high... the teachers were too gud, the principal very nice to the students...
My uniform here consisted of a blue and white chequered dress, a blue and white belt and white canvas shoes...

we had home science periods where we were thought to cook, do embroidery and so on...homely things... so i can say i got my first cooking class here... we also were introduced to Red cross here... The competitions continued as usual... Ranks in my previous school were converted to grades here, and i would either get an A or a B+.

The best part of this school was the Anand Bazaar... normally used to b held in Jan or Feb. Students had to put stall and be present there for 3 days... this bazaar used to b present for 3 days. We used to collect all sorts of books, soaps, biscuits etc to be given as gifts to the ppl winning on the stalls... This bazaar used to teach us "Business"... So much efforts used to go towards this... Coz finally the stalls making the highest turnover used to get rewarded, and also the points used to got to the "House"...

My friends... every one so close... we had cried so much on our last day of school... almost every student and every teacher... The teachers at New Goa had become emotionally attached to everyone of us... The teachers knew us personally, each and every student in the class... If students studied in New Goa's, it was because of the encouragement and pains taken by our teachers... i still meet many of my teachers, and they seem to be so glad to see us too... Wenever we meet, it comes to so much time of speaking on various topics... the pranks we played in school... the punishments we got... Life was so different in our school.

But alas... since gud times dont stay for long, we grew up and moved in different directions... and since it is rightly said, all things change... My school too changed in the course of time... the building is no longer rickety... It is brightly painted, and stands more tall... 3 more floors added to it... the board scraped out the state rank system and so, we no longer can say tht we hav the highest state ranks... Its just tht once upon a time... we did hav...
Most of the Teachers hav retired... so even if we wish to pay a visit to them, it has to be their home, coz now no longer we meet them in school... and ya... it feels bad to see them growing old...ofcourse, we no longer hav the Anand Bazaar now... and the school uniforms hav changed too

And... the biggest ever change?? My school lost its old name too... From New Goa HS, it became "GS Amonkar Vidyamandir"... what could be better described as a change???
New Goa will still remain as New Goa for us even though the name says something else...

Those memories of my school life will always be rooted close to my heart and die along wid me... But these words written by me will remain forever... even though after some years this site mite close down... It will still remain as backup data somewhere as my memoir... My School days... those unforgettable memories... those lively days... those pranks... Those friends...

Reminiscences of my Life : College days

My college days..Those wonderful days

Its been 3 years I've left my college... I passed out in june 2004 from the Goa Engineering college as a Electronics and Telecomm enggr..a class of 70. The above picture is my Class photo in the final year final semester..the time when everyone was busy with their project completion....n also final placements..Those moments wen evryone laffed n cried as a class..

I remember the first day i entered GEC (we called our college by this short form...n we were ENGICOS..we called our selves tht...Engg college students...) It was full of chaos.... I had come to this college after completing my first semester from PCCE Goa..a well organised college..n now here i was in this chaotic situation with just 1 gud friend i knew... n i cursed myself for choosing this option...i literally said..."Aasman se tapki..khajoor mein atki.." Wow wat a college...wat a building...seemed like it was painted in the 15th century... n soon i was supposed to get adjusted here.. n least did i know tht 7 years after this moment i was supposed to write a blog on this ...n call it the "Best days of my life".

Ok..coming back... my first day was a horror....n the deadliest part was.."THE SENIORS" ..coming from a college where ragging was just time pass..this college showed the severity of ragging..answering embarrassing questions..n running away wenever the seniors were around... i remember we used to find ways to escape... i remember having our tiffins in some bushes jus coz of seniors...hiding in the mechanical workshop where we had our mentors protection... Though ragging was banned it was a huge craze amongst seniors... its was their birthright to harass any newbie... I remember we used to walk everyday from the hillock on which our college was located ..to the bus stand...avoiding the college bus since it used to b full of seniors...n why shudnt we....it was a rule..no fresher allowed on college busses...rule made by our seniors...I just preferred travelling..n so did all freshers..travelling everyday from all corners of Goa jus coz hostel was the deadliest place to stay..n it was really very tiring for me to travel 4 hours everyday in the crowded buses of Goa..where half tickets was a crime in the eyes of the private bus conductors..

My college was situated on a Hillock on a 100 Hectare area..Labs..hostels... Gym... ground.. workshops.. staff colony..electricity dept.. childrens park etc etc..was a mini colony...

The first year passed by ..it was the longest year i can say.... but yeah... i did make lots of friends..really a lot..so many seniors..the ones we used to get so scared of now became the best of pals..n yeah..my batchmates too... since during the first year we had mixed batches..so now we had gud friends in almost all the streams..be it mech..civil...computers or electrical.. n mine was electronics..tht constituted the 5 streams in our college.. Second year was pure fun..tht was the time i started staying in the hostel affectionately called the SE girls hostel(second year girls hostel..) full of roaches..lizards..n all possible insects.. it was a 5 storey building (appartments like) n we stayed 5 ppl in the flat... It was so much fun during tht time... my roommates became my best pals.. n till today wenever we meet we remember our days in the SE hostel... Me n my roommates...going on the terrace after a stroll after dinner n sitting there till morning 2 'o clock.. cracking jokes...enjoying.. looking at the faraway lights.. the deadline for us to be in hostel was 10.00 at nite we had to be in... our SE caretaker was a funny kinda character... i a very naughty SE at my time..i remember locking her once in her room n running...n then slowly unlatching the door as if nothing had happened... making a fool of her in front of others..

The SE days were fun... we had hardly had classes during college days... tht was wat was nice abt GEC... we studied every semester on our own n we dint expect lecturers to spoon feed us.. in fact we made fun of every lecturer who use d to b strict abt time n studies ... Now it was time for us to take our birthright... we did rag..n believe me..it was fun..but our ragging was not of the extreme type we had had..it was pure fun..n i made lots of junior friends... i still hav them in contact...
Here we got the first taste of GEC life...almost every 3 months we used to hav our HOP..or Hostel party ... full of fun... it used to start by 10.00 at nite n get over by 2.00 in the morning... wid ppl dancing til they fell on the ground..n guys boozing n smoking.. those HOPs every ENGICO will remember... day scholars used to stay in the hostel for a day for the HOP... so tht they could enjoy...

Our Happenings... The biggest ever youth festival in Goa... visit GEC Happenings
Our happenings.. every participant college used to start preparing themselves long before the event ...it was the biggest honor to win the most prestigious youth event...the Happenings...
N ya...our college used to bag prizes at other college youth events...n why couldnt we... we had the best breed of students from every corner of Goa..it was considered to b the best college in Goa.. 3 days of fun filled activity...wid loads of competitions n activities... n the biggest attraction was our Rock show ..used to b held on the last day... n i along wid my group used to witness it till the end..i.e. till morning 5.oo and of course we used to hav the Engico nite..exclusively for engicos and the DJ nite for everyone...Rock show used to be the biggest rock event in Goa..with the best bands playing...

Ok the Second year passed and we were now TE's.. the happenings organisers.. TE time was hectic as well as fun.. i remember playing so many pranks on so many people.. our class used to b very naughty.. guys hiding lecturer's shoes... drawing lecturer cartoons on the board etc.. we had some lecturers who had passed out from the PCCE... n ya we did hav a tough time wid them.. obviously...they were the well organised lot..n our GEC was the fun filled lot.. but yes..finally we did change our lecturers..n guess wat some of them hav become my close friends..I still stayed in the SE hostel..coz there was no separate hostel for TE's... but again the same story of hostel nites...fun filled...

We used to just wait for Fridays... dear friday to pack our bags n start for home... every hostelite used to b waiting... TE days..so wonderful of them... WE.. (me rupesh priya farooq shilpa rowee.. etc) my group..used to hav fun sitting in the childrens park n chatting... my dear swing on which i used to play like a kid...n every person used to shout seeing me go high up there... but i loved to do tht...

We all used to get fed up of our food.... the hostel food was bad.. we used to hav a bus going down the hillock at 7.00 pm n it used to come up at 8.30.. the last bus... n we used to go down for dinner..me rupesh farooq shilpa rowee... n literally finish dinner soon n rush back... coz else it was not possible to get back to hostel..no other mode of transportation.. but it was really nice.. i made lots of friends in my TE days..n tht too close friends... My roommate Shilpa and my best pals rupesh, rowee ,Priya, Karishma, adi... i just miss them..
The Aunty's Gado... it was the place for hostelites to hang around during evenings..for snacks..n Chai... n ya who will forget the "Zhopdi" or the HUT.. called tht...but was not.. it was a small eating place where we could get snacks..n colddrinks n also i suppose booze for guys... it was a gud hangout ..

n ya..my dearest Windmill,it was said to b a final year project or somthing... but watever... for us it was our dear windmill...we used to go there once in a while n stay there under it.. was a nice place...it was around 50 m high.. i remember climbing half of it..n had to come down due to my friends shouting from the bottom... The following year we left GEC..i heard lightning struck our windmill..n one fan blade got burnt entirely.. but it still is present in our campus..

The water problem in the hostel..was worse... if there was a water problem...no bath..heheheh no food also... literally... but yes..we did hav tanker facility... imagine climbing 4 floors with a bucket of water.it was too tiring... so we used to fill 3-4 buckets in our room n keep... so dont worry..we used to hav bath daily...heheheh..


This picture is of my College library a big place where i spent quite a lot of time during the approachin semesters.. Come semesters and the 15 days before it used to be hell..photocopying books..making notes..nightouts.. etc etc..but tht used to b over by the end of the semester exam...i remember guys taking their toothbrush n going to reading room at nite..stay there entire nite.. get up in the morning...brush n again start studing..hehehehe

Final year was very hectic... with no time to rag..we had to finish wid our project n also start for our campus placements... Now i stayed in the BE girls hostel... the same rocking hostel life continued.. 7th semester we had just 4 days college with one day spared for project n final semester we jus had 3 days...n 2 days project.. But yes..happenings.. hops... childrens park ...Aunty's Gado etc still continued...

How could i complete this blog without riting about our Fun week... the best part of an Engicos life.. the fun filled 5 days... the first days normally chocolate day with some dresscode for particular stream... the second day.. cards day ribbon day and water day... wen every one used to get drenched n every person throwing water on each other..i remember taking 6 big bottles filled wid water to college..the campus scene used to b nice.. The third day normally satyanarayan pooja and traditional day..wen girls normally used to wear sarees and guys...dhotis.. it used to b a gud blend...all religios meet kinda wen any person of any religion used to arrange for the event n also sing aratis...
The Fourth day .. Formal day with Cross feast.. The entrance of our college had a holy cross.. every year on formal day we used to hav a cross feast with a big procession and also a mass...again a blend of all religions...
The last day used to b any other normal day...say Hawaian day where girls used to dress up like Hawai ppl...this day used t normally change every year..

The friendships became more stronger... n the only thot of leaving GEC within few months brought tears into our eyes... we just couldnt think of leaving GEC... the place where we spent 4 years of our life..n had so many friends... n we being hostelites knew almost every person b it electricity dept... the cooks in the hostel..the PWD.. the campus staff kids... the transport dept... everyone..

Classroom sessions used to be naughty...throwing paper rockets in class during classhours..passing paper messages... looking blankly wen questions were asked in class. drawing funny cartoons on the board... gossiping.. rumors about results.. viva preparation... staying out n noting all the questions asked for viva..

I miss u GEC...n the atmosphere der... It used to b fun wen in college... all the fun filled activities... the events... everything... Feel like going back to those days... be there at the Gado.. stay in my room...eat the same old food we once considered uneatable... i just miss those classrooms.. those friends... tht mischief...

There are no better days than my college days... Those were really ... "THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE"

Another tiring day at office!

Hi..m back wid some thoughts..but this time m just too tired to think about anything other my aching back and tired mind...
well well... yes m very tired today.. its just another hectic day and tht too another hectic tiring day of April in Hyderabad..
Coming from place with an equable n humid climate like Goa.. its becoming very difficult for me to bear this Hyderabad Heat.. Coming for a Place like Goa where i hav hardly seen temperature above 32.. life is turning out to b a horror for me with temperatures soaring high at 40 degrees.. I wonder how it will b in May and June..

Ok back to my tiring day story.. My normal day began in office just like any other day. Mid of the day the hectic schedule assigned to me gave me terrible headaches n backpains..

The hectic schedule... i just dint get up from my seat except for the half n hour lunch break and 10 min snacks break.. I just cant sit crammed in tht stupid red chair for more than n hour..n today i was... i really was sitting there as if the chair was my best pal!!

How i wish we could work from home..just frm home..we would report our work only on specified days...say twice a week.. how nice it would be...we would work at our convenience...but Alas!! Its just a dream.. wish it would b possible!!

And back home after having my dinner in company today.. I just can hear all by bones cracking today.. all my nerves hav become insensible to all senses... and here i am chatting n orkutting and riting blogs( Did i really rite anything worthwhile??)
n ya... friends hav also got bored of me replying wid one word on my yahoo chat.. Gosh ... Someone would some day measure tiredness with a scale.. i would show it to my friends..i know m talking full nonsense today... but yep..i need to vent out my blocked thoughts somewhere..n which could b a better place to do so???

I really need a gud sleep n i think i shud obey my brain ..its just telling me to go to bed...n m gonna just do tht right now...

Hope so i have not spoken any crap here..i really cant help it today!! Gud nite Pradnya.. u really need to sleep!!

Final Destination

Did this thought ever occur to u....what is our final destination?? where will we be in say another 50 or 60 years??
On my way back home from office i have to pass across a crematorium. Almost every day i see a dead body cremated there..Almost every time i see this scene this thought of final destination comes to my mind and today i thought of putting it down over here..

For how many years does a man actually live??? 10 years 50 years?? 80 years?? No one knows... but ya i feel a man hardly lives...He is so immersed in his day to day routine tasks..his tensions... he hardly lives.. we simply keep on worrying about wats going to happen and we spend so much time repenting over things happened in the past tht we forget we r living in present.... and time slips by...

Wat is man's final destination?? a 2Sq mt grave?? a small pot of ash??? is that wat man is meant to be alive for in this world?? We all live our own lives... we all hav our own people, our own likes..our own dislikes... and one find day...we all need to bid good bye to this materialistic world...everyone of us..man is mortal and no one stays forever...

In his quest for career...a bright future...a supposedly beautiful life.... man forgets the basic beauty of living...

Sometimes thinking about my life i just feel the difference...Suppose i wasnt a software professional..but n ordinary girl....i would b having a different life... but do i really think i wud hav missed this software hype and the lifestyle it gets along wid it??? i really dont think so... yeah to a gr8 extent my lifestyle has changed... i dont mind spending extra for the same thing i wud hav got at a different place at a cheaper price...

Cant i hav a normal simple lifestyle?? any girl at my age whoz not into software is enjoying her days wid parents and close ones...but me...far away from home...can think of going home once in 4-5 months.. in return wat do i get??? a bank account wid money enuf for me to use as and wen i want???

I dont mind shelling out 80-90 Rs over one cup of coffee..wen this money cud be enuf to provide a day's meal to a poor family. Is this really wat i call is my lifestyle?
I dont mind shelling out a thousand or two for the pretty dress that i see..but this amount is enuf for the fees of a deserving student...is this wat im earning for??
Now anyone will ask me..who is stopping me you from being simple... but trust me..this software field is tht way..u need to keep up wid its pace..lest ul b called "outdated"...

So hav i really outlived my own expectations?? or in the bargain of this so called modern hi tech life..i hav lost my identity..my basic aim for living....
I sometimes envy those girls who are satisfied ...and who are not into this software line...would b having proper diet..home food...safe and healthy..not junkies like wat i eat.. they enjoy life with family and friends..unlike me among colleagues and wellwishers...yes..than definitely i would say M living....

M i sulking??? Yes i think so..I am...definitely...n i dont want to bother anyone for this... but i just m penning down thoughts that come to my mind...wen i think wat my final destination wud b....Wen from the auto i see another body being cremated...the soul leaving for its FINAL DESTINATION...

Turns in Life!

I always had a smooth kind of life right from my childhood. It so happened that my childhood and also my teens were very rosy days...had loads of fun.. loving n caring parents who were and still are submissive to all my demands and ya whole lots of friends...

After getting a job days seemed to be just flying... wen the monday morning dawns.. when the happy friday evening comes..i just cant imagine..time really is flying for me..

It so happens at times tht u just cant imagine your life turning around..and ya same thing has happened wid me too... loads of tensions...of course il rite about this thing in a separate topic..cant just think of riting now..or not in a proper mindset to pen those things down..or i cud say..i dont hav the guts to rite it now..may b in some other blog il surely rite...

well... sometimes i feel..i mean to say lots of people feel...how gud it would be if we were jus kids..but can u imagine...we all wud require someone to take care of us..n how was tht possible?? So i dont think so it wud b just to b a kid throughout our life..

ok coming back to my life now... it becomes so difficult for you wen u are walking a straight road and you come across a split road wherein u hav 2 roads..both roads seem to be going in different direction..u need to go both ways..but how?? u need to travel both roads at the same time.... is tht possible...???

i personally hav experienced this situation lately where i had to check out on the two roads... i just cudnt make up my mind which one to go on... n now i hav left this decision of choosing the roads to God..my ultimate guide and angel..the guide who has helped me al through my life to take the best possible decisions...

i somwhow think my situation is not so tensed..i just feel the two roads lead to different directions.. ok fine..why not give a new dimensoin to my thoughts..why not think it this way ..a positive way... why shud i always think tht the roads are leading to different destinations...why shudnt i just think ...these roads mite just seem to go different places..they mite somehow b parallel to each other..mite go to the same destination..


I really feel i shud think the positive way..at least i see some hope..rest depends upon my guide..watever b the case i hav strong faith in him..he will choose himself the correct path for me.. why shud i then worry??i m just leaving this decision upon him...i believe..it will b the best decision made for my life...
well both the roads seemed to be equally important for me...both the roads..very dear to me.. how do i choose between the two...

Well now shud i think tht the question really remains??
Is it really possible to travel both the roads at the same time???wel i stil dint get answer to this...mite b in some later blog i will b able to decide whether or not the roads go to the same destination..till then...wait n watch!!!

Today when everything went wrong...

It so happens at times when we just dont like the way things turn up and when everything goes wrong and your plans seem to go haywire, how do i cope up with it??

Well the start of the day i woke up with a start from my so called deep slumber at around 5.30 am, not that i get up at this time everyday, but circumstances made it so.... i woke up finding very restless due to a very bad dream tht i saw... not knowing what to do i called up my parents relieved to hear them...i still cudnt sleep... i just surfed like a fool early in the morning... heard much Gita recitation from the internet and went back to sleep.

Lazy monday morning..how i hate to go to office on mondays...wish v cud hav alternate days off at office..or how nice it wud b if i cud just always work from home...phew...come out of dreams pradnya..is wat i can at al say to myself..

Well....moving further.... i just had a small scuffle with my roommate over a petty issue which on normal days wudnt affect me..but ya i did take it to heart... n thot i wud never see her face again.. Reached office to hear tht my best friends aunt is in a serious condition and tht made me feel worse...

Office was very boring..my colleague and gud friend Rajesh was on leave..i cudnt just move to his desk every hour like i always did..i did miss his presence in office today.. How a clumsy lil place... wish i cud run faraway from there..

Lunch was a boring story.... no one spoke ..actually there is normally lots of laughter wen my group goes for lunch..but today they all seemed t be monotonous... just quitely eating...how i hated tht... somehow after tht i spoke to my best friend and everything seemed to work wonders..my mood started to change..but..yes more was yet to come..

i started working on the thing i was working on earlier ...interspersed with music n then tea wid mohan babu..i had decided to leave office by 6.00 pm..but ....
i just for namesake happened to call up my credit card service to knw about my payment details ...but..wat was tht..there was some mistake in my statement.... caling the customer service n talking to them n also to the third party service whom i blasted ...it was around 7.00 that i finally left office...

going to the tailor to pickup my clothes..i found the tailor shop closed...

frustrated and tired..i had no energy left for anything...i just came home and latched the door from inside n broke off...i just cried like a baby for around 10 min... but somehow i dont know..my best friends seem to hav a kinda telepathy wid me..whenever im sad i receive a call from either one of them...

They just seem to make me laff from any grieving condition tht i m in... i just had a nice chat wid my friend n then my roommate called me for dinner ..she was banging my door so hard...n guess wat ..it was the same roommate wid whom i had a small scuffle in the morning...

Suddenly things started to b in place...all issues getting solved..but the credit card once remainig..hopefuly it will b solved...

but yes..i hv restored my peace of mind.. the magic tht worked for me..is...
i just told myself..just keep cool in whatver circumstances... Pradnya be cool.... and lo... m back though not in my jolly mood..but yes... feeling quite nice and accepted..

so this was my day for today...a day wen i felt nothing worked fine..but in the end..making me a stronger person... thank you God for this wonderful day that you gave me!!!