Tree Plantation Drive !!!

It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning. I woke up with a sourly face. I looked at the watch through sleepy eyes, taking around 5 minutes just to figure out the time. "7:30 ???? How can that be ? CRAP !! I'll be late for work." These were the thoughts going through my mind at super fast speed. Then, I realized that it was Saturday, meaning NO WORK !! Now I had a big smile on my face as I prepared to go back to sleep. Suddenly I remembered something else and my smile disappeared. It struck me that my office was holding a tree plantation drive and I had signed up for it. Also, I had to reach the designated meeting point, Army Public School, by 9:00 am. My lazy inner self chided my by saying,"S**T !! why did you sign up for it ?? You've ruined Saturday completely !! Now you have to get ready and rush like everyday..." I ignored it and got up from the bed to get dressed.

I reached the meeting point by 9:10. There were only 5-6 people present out of the odd 30 who had agreed to come. We waited for the others to arrive and then proceeded towards the actual tree planting venue. The venue was the Rajputana Rifles training center, deep inside Delhi Cantt. It was an open, airy and a beautiful place. We were given approximately 50 trees to plant. The army men at the training centre had already dug some holes for planting the trees and plants. But, some of us were really excited about the whole thing and wanted to try our hands at digging. So, we took the equipment from the center people and started digging ourselves. It was a very difficult and physically taxing task. But still, I dug two holes on my own and helped other people in digging 3 more holes. At the end of it each one of us was filled with sweat, mud, soil, manure and what not. But, instead of feeling tired or dirty we all felt a sense of achievement and a different kind of satisfaction.

The real "fun" started after we were finished with the plantation. The training center had organized many activities for us. The first one was SIMULATION SHOOTING. We were taken into a small room. There were 3 monitors (computer screens) kept there and a rifle was attached at the front of each screen. In simulation shooting a target appears on the monitor. The person with the rifle focuses on the target on the screen and shoots. The rifles were placed with different orientations. The first rifle was such that the person shooting with it would do so while standing. For the second rifle we had to kneel down and then shoot, while for the third rifle we had to lie down on our stomachs, completely on the floor. It was simply Amazing !!!
After the shooting we had a small demonstration on rappling, rock climbing and slithering. Rappling is when a person comes down a rock with the help of ropes. Rock climbing is self explanatory, and slithering is the procedure of landing on the ground after jumping from the helicopter. The army jawans gave us demonstrations for all the 3, and even allowed some people of our group to try out these things.
Third and the final activity was horse riding. Well, it was not much of a ride because it was a small round and only for 5 minutes, but we felt ecstatic just sitting on top of those magnificent, shiny, beautiful and tall animals. The name of the horse that I rode was Chetak..:D
Finally it was time to leave. But, the day still hadn't ended. The grand finale was still left.

After leaving the army area we went to our Managing Director's (also the co-owner of the company) house for brunch !!! Well, the M.D's mom is a minister so he took us to her official bungalow in Chanakyapuri. OMG !!! it was a gigantic house..The main house had 9 bedrooms, 3 gardens (with swings) and there was another smaller house on the same property. We sat in the garden and chatted for a while. Then we went inside for the feast. There were a lot of things to eat and drink. Both veg and non-veg food was available. We were famished and so all of us stuffed ourselves. When we had finished, we roamed around inside the house, marveling at its size and the interior decoration. Then we proceeded outside and suddenly something happened to all of us. Everyone took to the swings. Some were on the slide, some on the seesaw and the others on the other swings. We were acting like 3 year olds, shouting and laughing and screaming. Even our MD was with us in all this. All of us were having a ball.
Finally it was time to leave. Each one of us was tired, but still did not want to go. So, after procrastinating some more, we ultimately left for home.

I could'nt believe how much I had enjoyed myself. My Saturday wasn't ruined. In fact, it had been one of the best and one of the most memorable Saturday !!!

Children, Shopping, Recipes blah...blah...

DISCLAIMER:  This post is not meant to offend anyone in any way. It's a humorous post and should be taken in a lighter vein.

This post is not about any of the topics mentioned in the title. In fact, this post is about a person who is my colleague, and also a friend. These 3 subjects are an integral part of her existence. Whenever she opens her mouth, all a person hears is something pertaining to either her relatives' kids, or what all shopping she did over the weekend, or maybe how to make a certain vegetable.

My college friends know that I really love to talk. I have the ability to chat for hours non-stop. During college days my whole group used have long and lively discussions about movies, books, politics, religion and so much more. But, back then too there were a few topics that were forbidden territory, and it was nothing less than sacrilege to even bring up subjects like children or recipes in a discussion. So, when I heard the female in question talk endlessly about these things, for once I really had nothing to say.

Here is a sneak peek at my routine lunch time: At 12:45 pm sharp 'the one who must not be named' comes to my work station to call me for lunch. By the way, I have told her hundreds of times that I won't go for lunch before 1:15 pm, but I think that she has some ear-mind co-ordination problem. The reason why I say this is because she hears everything I say, but somehow her brain fails process this information. For example, she asks me my Project Lead's name everyday at least thrice (no, I am not exaggerating), and forgets it almost immediately. Anyway, moving on. So, I send her away and ask her to come later. Then, at 1:15 we move to the cafeteria. We heat our food and then sit down to eat. As soon as we are seated, she starts with her "discussion". The only problem is that it's totally one way. I sit mutely, while she blabbers on continuously. Here is a sample conversation:

She says," Pata hai kal mere mama ke bacchon ne kya kiya ?? blah blah.. ( Do u know what did my uncle's kids do yesterday?..)
My thoughts: "How the hell would I know what they did. I was not at your uncle's place spying on them, and frankly I care a damn. Neither do I know your uncle nor do I know the kids !!!"
My response: " No, yaar what happened?", and then she goes on about the kids.

Next topic:
She tells us," Tumhe pata hai ki meri mami roz subah uthh kar subzi banaati hai, phir woh gym jaati hain, uske baad nashta banaati hain etc. etc. Aaj unhone Kele (banana) ke kofte bannaye hain. Uski recipe hai..blah...blah...blah"
My thoughts:"WTF !!! where am I stuck ?? God please save me !! I am not interested in learning to make friggin kela koftas, nor am I interested in your aunt's daily routine..@#@###&&& !!!"
 My response:"Wow yaar, she's an efficient lady."

Third topic:
She says,"Weekend kaisa tha tumhara ?"
My answer," It was fine."
Then I make the mistake of asking her about her weekend. Here's what she has to say," Maine toh bahut kuch kiya. Saturday ko main shopping gayi. Wahaan, maine yeh khareeda, yeh khaaya, yeh kiya..."
My thoughts: "Another 15 minutes gone..:( Damn you girl !!! what the bloody hell is wrong with you !!! Can't you act like a normal person for once. Just shut up and let me have lunch in peace !!!"

Now, from what I have written it seems that she is some middle aged married female. But, the truth is that she is just 1 year elder to me and holds an MBA degree (from a college that I haven't even heard of). Well, if this is what an MBA does to a person, then I am surely having second thoughts about going for it..:)

I guess I will learn to live with gibberish. Who knows, maybe the next time I meet my friends I start my conversation somewhat like this: "Pata hai kal meri mummy ne tinda banaya tha. Uski recipe hai......."..:-D
   

DELHI METRO COMES TO NOIDA.. :-)

As all of us are aware that the Delhi Metro started its services to NOIDA on Friday, the 13th. So, I want to write something about it. You all must be wondering as to why am I writing about somethig that has been covered extensively by all the newspapers and news channels. Also, this blog is supposed to be about my daily office life and routine, then how does the metro fit in here?? Before I proceed, let me inform all of you that my office is located in NOIDA, and the metro train that goes there is the one that passes  through the station which is very close to my house ( I know it's a complicated sentence, but I hope you get my point ). Basically, the metro is really beneficial for me.

So, when the metro started its operations to Noida, I was really Excited !! In fact, my family was even more thrilled than I was ( mainly because I would not be hijacking the car everyday and leaving them CAR-LESS). Over the weekend, my family and I told everyone this good news.My folks went out and proclaimed that I am the metro's lucky charm and wherever I go, the metro follows. You must be curious to know that how exactly did they come to this weird conclusion, right ??

Well, here's the thing: When I joined NSIT in 2005, the metro line to Dwarka had not started, and traveling to and from the college was a real pain. I used to travel in blue line buses everyday. It was horrible and really miserable. Then one fine day, the metro people saw my plight and suffering, and they felt sorry for me. Hence, they decided to start the metro up til Dwarka. Therefore, within 4 months of my joining NSIT, the metro line to Dwarka opened and the ride to college and home became convenient and fast.

Now, when I started coming to office I used to drive to Noida everyday. As I have mentioned in my previous post, driving on that route is 30 Kms. of pure misery and torture. I came to office by car for 1 whole month, and everyday I suffered more. So, what happened is that these metro people once again realized that I am in trouble and I need a convenient mode of transport, and that also soon. All the metro officials must have had a high profile meeting to discuss this major problem. After the meeting they must have instructed the employees to work faster. As a result of this, the metro route that was supposed to start sometime in December, 2009,  started on Friday i.e. 13th November, 2009.

By now, all of you must have realized that Delhi metro and I have a very special connection. It's actually true that wherever I go the metro will eventually come.



P.S: What is the experience of traveling in the metro on this route will be described in my next post.   

MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

First of all, my apologies to everyone for not updating the blog more frequently. The past few weeks at office have been pretty uninteresting, with trainings and exercises taking up all the time. However, a weird thing happened at office on Friday, the 13th. Well it was not anything tragic or unlucky ( as you all might have thought after reading the day and the date ). In fact, it was one of the most hilarious and memorable incident for each one of us at the office.

This Friday was also like any other normal Friday morning. I woke up in the morning and the first thought that came to my mind was TGIF !!! So, I got ready earlier than usual. Surprisingly, I am always excited to reach office ASAP on Fridays..:) Well, I left home at 7:50 am, wishing and hoping that I beat the Delhi traffic and reach Noida by 8:30 am. So, I drove 30 Km., all the while yelling at and abusing anyone and everyone who came in front of my car. Finally, I made it to my office building and rushed up to my office and punched the card. While punching the card I glanced at my watch, 8:37 am. DAMN !! I cursed under my breath, now I won't be able to get out at 6:00 pm. See, my workplace has a policy that each employee must spend nine and a half hours in office everyday. So, by that calculation I would be able to start for home at 6:07 pm only. Anyone who travels on that route is aware that even 5 minutes make a hell lot of difference in the amount of traffic one encounters on the way. After catching my breath and cooling off my anger I started working. Here I would like to mention that my workstation is close to the Cafeteria.

Everyone was engrossed in their work when suddenly there was a loud shriek from the cafeteria. Before anyone could understand the reason for the shouting there were a few more shouts from that direction and people started running around. At that moment I saw a big, fat and gray coloured mouse running out of the cafeteria and into the main office. Behind the mouse were 5 of our office boys, each of them holding a special weapon for it. One of the boys had a dustbin in his hands, another one was holding a broom, the third one had a polythene with him and the other two were following the mouse wherever it went. All of us in present in the office started running helter-skelter, some of us were actually scared while the others were just having fun. The girls started standing on chairs, tables, basically any elevated place they could find. The guys, on the other hand took out their mobiles and digicams (yeah, people in my office keep digicams in their drawers) and started shooting the chase. It looked like a scene straight out of a hindi news channel, probably Aaj Tak or India TV, and I could almost hear the correspondents shouting on top of their lungs: Yeh dekhiye ek anokha nazaara !!! Iss office mein ghuss aaya hai ek chuha jisne yahhan ke logon ki zindagi mein uthal-puthal kar di hai !!! 
Lekin, kya yeh ek maamuli chuha hai, yaa doosri duniya se aaya hua aliens ka bheja hua ek jasoos hai jo dharti pe base insaano ke raaz jaanane aaya hai !!! (ok, I confess I have had an overdose of these alien programs on TV)


For the next half an hour this ugly and fat mouse created havoc in the office. After every 20 seconds there used be a shout from a new corner of the office and the whole mouse catching army (including the photographers) would rush to that place, only to find nothing there. Ultimately, all the employees had dustbins in their hands and waited with baited breath for that creature to cross their workstation. Finally, after much running around and burning of calories by all the people, the mouse was caught with great difficulty. After being caught it was displayed by the catcher as if it was a prized possession.

The office resumed its work after sometime but the mouse sure taught me a few lessons. First, who says my office doesn't have recreational facilities ? We don't even need treadmills to run on in order to lose weight. Second, never make fun of someone else's workplace. A few days before this incident happened, my mom was cribbing about the presence of rats in her school. At that time I mocked her and said," This is the state of Govt. schools. Yuck !! Look at my office, you can't even find an ant there. It's so clean and hygienic."
Lastly, teamwork is a value instilled within all the employees of my office. Whether it's solving a major work related  problem or catching a little mouse, everyone's always ready to help one another.

THE INTRODUCTION

Hey people !! First, lets get over with the formalities. So, here goes:

Welcome to my blog. I hope you all like it and keep on returning to it blah..blah..blah..

Now the real part: Many people are aware that I have started WORKING. Yeah, it's true that my awesome 4 month long vacation has ended...:(:( Just to make sure that everyone knows about my work status, I would like to inform everybody reading this blog that I have completed two weeks at the office. In these 10 days there wasn't much to do except attending unbelievably long and boring training sessions, keenly observing the other employees, or surfing the internet which had nothing in it. You all must be thinking that I am CRAZY saying that the internet had nothing in it. Guys, here's the thing. Due to "SECURITY" issues our office has blocked Gmail, Yahoo mail (basically all web mails), facebook, youtube, music sites, online games etc. Now, you understand why I said what I said.

Anyway, last night after watching an emotionally staggering episode of Grey's Anatomy ( for the uninitiated, Grey's Anatomy is a show about the lives of surgeons working at a hospital ) it struck me that if such a brilliant show can be made on a hospital (all of you know what hospitals are like, rite ?? They are dull and gloomy places with grim faced doctors and nurses walking around and a strong smell of antiseptic all over the place !!), then why not my office ?? I slept with this thought in my mind. This morning when I woke up realization dawned on me. My inner self asked me, " Gurl, have u hit a jackpot or won some lottery ? "

I answered, " NO"

It yelled at me and said, "Then how the hell are you gonna get money to make a show on your work place !!!"

Now, here was something to ponder on. While figuring out a solution for my problem I started surfing the net, and as a daily ritual visited my friend Preeti's blog, hoping that she would have updated it. When the web page of her blog came in front of my eyes, the nerves in my brain shouted, " EUREKA !!!" The problem was solved. The internet was an answer to my problems and concerns. I could start a blog describing the office and its people.

So, here I am with a story that will take you through my office life. I seriously hope that all of you will find it interesting and intriguing. That's it for now, CHAO !!