Hi All,

I got my Domain Name renewed for another year. I also bought an upgrade of web space. Essentially , that means I am going to spend more time on my website and it’s features.

To start with, I have put up a Gallery section where I could share some precious moments of my life with all you guys. Check it out !
I am also thinking about various features that could be added to this site. Any suggestions are invited. 🙂

It’s been a while I posted something. I am a liitle busy these days that I am not able ot spend one or two hours to sit quiet and think about life. Life is moving so fast. Mumbai life is catching up on my calm lifestyle. I generally don’t lke rock parties, big events etc.

I want to be with one or two of my close friends… watching a good movie, playing games or debating something…. Or else I love to read books, sleep, swim ( which I am deeply missing since I left kerala ). I love football and watching cartoons and animated movies.

Last saturday, One of my friends in mumbai called me up and asked if I could help him in some purchase. I thought it would be another round to the big shopping malls. But as it turned out, We went out to the outskirts of mumbai and it was really a really refreshing trip. The small hills that were on the sides were fully greenish due to the recent heavy rains which made the entire route look like we are travelling via a hill station. We stepped out of our car here and there and took some snaps. He dropped me at home by evening and I must say – It was like a recharge…very good. Nothing special about the landscapes or anything.. but I feel quite relaxed now. May be it’s because I was exhausted by the long schedules and pressure of work and it proved to be the perfect remedy.

I always wanted to travel thoughout India and I have already shared this dream with a lot of my friends. Now I am starting to realize how much my soul is getting attached to the pleasures of travelling to new places. I think I should start planning whihc places to visit, when to visit, cost factors etc etc…

Any suggestions are welcome… 🙂

BTW , Here is some Pictures ..

It was the next day of our team building event, on which we exulted playing games and having no worries about work/projects. The rains which started on monday never stopped and by tuesday evening we all knew that things are not going to be smooth.

Reports started flowing in saying that some areas are hit by the rains. We immediately announced a day off and asked each and every staff to go home. By that time, the rain was at it’s peak and started to show nature’s strength. One by one, we were getting isolated from the outside world. First, it was our network. Our network link was down, then the landlines cut off. Even the mobile networks were jammed. Some of us decided to stay back. We worked as a central point of communication for the stranded office staff. Some of them were only able to reach half way home then. We arranged food for those who stayed back and the ones who decided to come back. Meanwhile we managed to get our networks partially up using a very slow internet connection ( Something is better than nothing !).

By 10 P.M., the Cable TV network broke down, and our slow internet connection too. We continued to talk to our fellows through mobiles ( Mobiles worked sometimes …) and made sure that everyone reached home. Then we had a little nap on the tables in office. By early morning , we had only one car left with all of us to go home. We decided to give it a try. The scene outiside was shocking. There were abandoned vehicles all over the highways, all the roads were filled with muddy water, some vehicles were even moving along with the flow of water. We clenched to our seats when our car was moving through the high waters. Sometimes, the waterlevel raised above the tyres and I could hear the roar of the engine.( It sounded like ” i am going to die”…) . I couldn’t even think about what I could have done if our car stopped there. Finally we got home only to find out that, the electricity also cut off. We were too tired of the efforts, we just fell down to the bed and slept, we did not even talk, my mind was blank, just blank that I could not think about anything.

I got up by 8:00 am and called up all my friends and family and informed that I am safe. My brother stays in Thane with his family. He informed me that water is doing the damage over there also, but they were safe. Then the bad thing happened, All of our mobiles drained out of charge and we were totally isolated from the outside world within minutes. We cooked some rice, ate and slept again, as there was nothing left to do. In the evening I felt a cool breeze on my shoulders and it took some time for me to realize that it’s the fan. I was overtaken by joy. I jumped up in my bed yelling to my room- mates, “bijli aayi , bijli aayi”. We charged our mobiles to full and started calling up people. It was only a day without communication, but it felt like talking to them after a very long time. We were getting calls too.

Our office declared another day off ( Thursday ) . We went out to the street and had some Vada-Pavs as there was nothing left at home to eat. By noon, some shops were open and we bought some rice and other things home. Someone called me and informed that the death toll was still rising and there were landslides and explosions happening in some parts of mumbai. I was getting calls from home and friends continuously and that made me really confident. We went to my flat in the evening to take my laptop in the hope of getting connected to the net. I know, internet doesn’t seem to be a choice of the occation, but that was the only way to get some news about what’s happening. We were able to connect to net using the telephone line ( Oh.. Telelphone lines were fixed by that time.) . We went to some news sites and saw the devastation that happened to mumbai.

Today, I am back in office..everything looks fine. Everyone is talking about how it affected them. But it’s good to see them smiling… the smile which says it all..

I am proud about “mumbaikars”… for their “never-say-die” attitude. It’s this willlingness to go on is what drives this city forward..

🙂

I am starting to realize how good is it to be a part of Nokia.

Last monday, we went for a day out and had a lot of fun. It was organized as a “team building” event and each one of us undoubtedly enjoyed it.

We went to “Golden Swan” , a resort very near to the Borivily National Park. It was a nice place with a lot of pools, games etc. We made each and every moment unforgettable. I really enjoyed playing table tennis ( after a loooong time ), biking thorugh the nice curvy road through the gardens inside the resort, and other games organized by our team.

There was gifts for everyone who came.( FYI, no one was absent ! )

The only issue was no mobiles were working because we were too far from the city limits. And that’s actually a good feeling when you observe no one is busy talking on the phone in such occations.

🙂